Deepinder Goyal says select people should not buy Temple wearable

Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal has once again advised people to think twice before buying his Temple wearable, asking sceptics to wait until more independent testing is completed. He has also hinted that the company may withdraw its current 14-day return policy in India, saying he is considering following the approach taken by Apple.In a fresh post on X, Goyal shared details of a study comparing Temple's heart rate tracking accuracy with five flagship wearables and two Polar H10 chest straps. While he claimed that Temple performed better than the other devices in the tests, he acknowledged that more independent validation is needed."Skeptics are urged to wait before buying," Goyal wrote. However, he encouraged people looking for better training performance to contact the company for more information about the wearable. Deepinder Goyal talks about his latest Temple wearable. Goyal also spoke about the possibility of changing Temple's return policy in India. The wearable currently comes with a 14-day no-questions-asked return option. However, he said he was tempted to follow the global standards set by Apple and stop offering the same policy to Indian buyers. "I will sleep over it," he added. Deepinder Goyal claims Temple beats flagship wearables in heart rate trackingThe latest update from Goyal focuses on Temple's ability to track heart rate during intense physical activity, particularly in Zones 4 and 5. These are high-intensity heart rate zones that are important for professional athletes and people involved in demanding workouts. For the study, Temple was tested against five flagship wearable devices and two Polar H10 chest straps. The Polar H10 is widely considered an industry benchmark for heart rate tracking.Goyal explained that the team taped one of the Polar H10 straps to participants' chests to prevent it from losing contact during movement. This helped create a more consistent reference for the comparison. The other strap was worn normally, as users would typically wear it during exercise. According to Goyal, Temple delivered the most accurate readings among all the devices tested. He also claimed that it performed better than the normally worn Polar H10 in Zones 4 and 5.The company attributes this performance to two factors - the adhesive used to attach Temple to the skin and the location where it is worn. Goyal said the temple area sits above a major artery and does not restrict blood flow during intense physical activity in the same way as some other body locations.Deepinder Goyal had earlier warned people against buying TempleThis is not the first time Goyal has asked potential customers to reconsider buying the wearable. Last month, he responded to an X user who suggested that people should focus on their basic health and fitness needs before spending money on advanced tracking devices.The user shared a fitness pyramid that placed adequate sleep and a balanced diet at the bottom, followed by strength training, sprinting and daily walking. Agreeing with the message, Goyal said, "I was going to post tomorrow to not buy Temple if your basics are not in place."Temple opened pre-orders for its first batch on November 1, with the wearable priced at Rs 85,000. The price includes a lifetime subscription.The launch also saw heavy traffic on the company's website. Around 21 hours after pre-orders went live, Goyal said on X that the website was struggling to handle the traffic, although customers could still place orders through the Temple app. He later announced that the website was back online and asked people not to rush their purchases.- Ends