The halo is very limiting and it requires that you frequently pick it up and move it - you can only quilt a few square inches without re-positioning. It hangs on the edge of your machine if the bed of your machine is even a little bit raised above the surface of the cabinet. You have to keep your hands in a pinching position, which is tiring and can lead to repetitive motion injury or stress. I've seen it demonstrated with hands resting flat on the halo, but I don't believe that works without pressing down pretty hard - stress in the shoulders and neck.
I use textured nitrile work gloves with the pointer finger and thumb cut out of them. Plenty of traction without strain on the hands. Machingers also work well.
I heap up the quilt around the needle, making sure that the area I'm going to quilt is smooth and has no folds or tucks. I pool the quilt around this one square foot or two, making sure that I can pull and push this area freely and without strain or the quilting fighting me. Then I anchor the first stitches and take off.
I have a square foot or two to manage at one time - I can be as big and sweeping or as tiny and intricate as I want to be in the designs I sew because of the traction on the outside edges of my palms.
If I need to thread the needle or change bobbins or snip threads, I can do it easily because my thumbs and forefingers are free.
I occasionally use the halo to draw circles.
I bought the square set of two frames, as well - they work a little bit better in that they have more room, but they still limit your work space and they still require pinching or gripping. The traction is better with the square frames than the halo, but so far, nothing beats the textured gloves.
I don't much
like wearing gloves, but they save me from having to pick something up and move it repeatedly. You get used to them after a while.