Smartwatch vs Fitness trackers

[Novalee]

So I decided I'd like to get a fitness tracker. I had decided on the Fitbit Blaze.

 

But then I noticed smart watches. If a smartwatch can incorporate the main aspects of a fitness band, what is the downside of just getting the smart watch?

 

Does anyone have any advice / recommendations? My phone is a newer android.

 

Not bought either of these devices before and there is just so much choice!

[dblight]

If the build quality is as bad as the surge and the chargehr then I wouldn't bother. It was shocking. Liked the Fitbit app and things but the fact it split and fell apart moved me to an Apple Watch

[jdoyle]

have a Fitbit Charge HR and a Garmin Vivoactive (Garmin ForeRunner before this). iPhone 4c with apps for both.

 

Charge HR works well for steps, HR and sleep. Good for some of the challenges, step counts etc. Still in very good condition but every so often the wrist gets itchy.

 

https://www.fitbit.com/user/3PH4CF

 

Vivoactive is good as a watch and tracks my running, walking, swimming and cycling. HR option is coming but too expensive. The watch itself was too expensive but I needed to track my swimming. GPS is much faster than the ForeRunner. Bluetooth sync to GarminConnect and then onto Strava. The ForeRunner used to go via GarminExpress which was poor.

 

Very pleased with both.

Edited April 17, 2016 by jdoyle

[Novalee]

If the build quality is as bad as the surge and the chargehr then I wouldn't bother. It was shocking. Liked the Fitbit app and things but the fact it split and fell apart moved me to an Apple Watch

Oh that's a shame - they aren't cheap.

@jdoyle I'm not a swimmer so waterproof isn't a massive issue for me. How does the calorie intake thing on some of them work? Do you have to calculate your own calories and input them (can't see any other way, just curious how user friendly that is).

[DGardiner]

I've had 2 flex bands come apart at the joints, and heard nothing but bad things about the charge/hr - i wanted one but without replaceable straps it was a deal breaker after the flex...

 

Id love an apple watch but my wrists are pretty small so I'm a bit conscious about it not fitting well and/or looking too big

[Novalee]

I've had 2 flex bands come apart at the joints, and heard nothing but bad things about the charge/hr - i wanted one but without replaceable straps it was a deal breaker after the flex...

 

Id love an apple watch but my wrists are pretty small so I'm a bit conscious about it not fitting well and/or looking too big

 

Does the apple watch work well as a fitness tracker though?

Also, my issue there is that I have a Samsung Galaxy and am not in a hurry to go back to using an iPhone which I guess you need to use the apple watch.

[tmoon-mint]

Does the apple watch work well as a fitness tracker though?

Also, my issue there is that I have a Samsung Galaxy and am not in a hurry to go back to using an iPhone which I guess you need to use the apple watch.

 

I use my Apple Watch as a fitness tracker and it works well enough for me. If the in built functionality doesn't meet your needs there are tons of apps on the App Store for fitness.

[abillybob]

Install Google Fit on your android phone. Put phone in pocket. Run.

[jdoyle]

Oh that's a shame - they aren't cheap.

@jdoyle I'm not a swimmer so waterproof isn't a massive issue for me. How does the calorie intake thing on some of them work? Do you have to calculate your own calories and input them (can't see any other way, just curious how user friendly that is).

 

I don't use the calorie counter (though I did have a try originally with the FitBit service). If I did, I think it's entered via the website rather than via the unit.

[Novalee]

Thing is, the reason I want the watch is because my phones battery just can't hack it. It barely lasts the day without any tracking on - I've used them on there before but it needs charging by mid afternoon which isn't practical.

Install Google Fit on your android phone. Put phone in pocket. Run.

[Localtechie]

Original Xiaomi Mi Band 1S Heart Rate Wristband with White LED-17.84 and Free Shipping| GearBest.com

 

I have this and works well enough counts steps and automatically detects when your running also does call notifications etc.

 

Really good but of kit for the price and battery lasts a full month!

[jdoyle]

Thing is, the reason I want the watch is because my phones battery just can't hack it. It barely lasts the day without any tracking on - I've used them on there before but it needs charging by mid afternoon which isn't practical.

 

I started running using MapMyRun app on my iPhone.

 

Battery killer. (Also found that the accuracy was getting worse) As I do longer runs I want the phone to have plenty of charge left in case of emergency.

[PyROm]

I have the moto 360 and my wife has the gear 2 titanium. Both have heart rate monitors on them and both require you to not move (and normally press them hard into your arm) to measure your pulse, so not really useful for running. However they do both have good pedometers built in. The battery on the gear 2 was lasting about 4 days, the moto 360 1 day. Interestingly though my phone came with Jabra pulse Bluetooth earphones, where the heart rate monitor is built into the headset (reader is inside your ear), might be worth a look at as an alternative.

[DalekSec]

Re-mortgage your house, buy an Apple Watch, blend in with hipsters, become a sheep.

[tmoon-mint]

Re-mortgage your house, buy an Apple Watch, blend in with hipsters, become a sheep.

 

I would hardly call myself a hipster or a sheep, each to their own though I guess. When you consider that you can pay thousands for a Rolex or Tag Heuer watch I would hardly say re-mortgaging your house is necessary either.

[DalekSec]

I would hardly call myself a hipster or a sheep, each to their own though I guess. When you consider that you can pay thousands for a Rolex or Tag Heuer watch I would hardly say re-mortgaging your house is necessary either.

 

Just gonna leave this here

 

[Norphy]

I would respectfully suggest that once someone has seen that "joke" on multiple occasions, it starts to wear a bit thin. I buy Apple gear. I like it. That does not make me a hipster, a sheep, stupid, not technical, overrich or any of the other plethora of insults that people here and elsewhere like to make about people who buy Apple gear. It merely makes me an Apple customer.

 

In short, give it a rest.

[Mark182]

I have a TomTom for tracking all my biking/running/football ect. Best part is only needs charging every 10 days or so & I record something every other day using it. It then connects to my phone and uploads all my activates to strava! Happy days for me.

[Davit2005]

Started looking at these myself the other week as started running again.

 

Initially looked at the Charge HR and Garmin models, In the end I settled for a Polar H7 Bluetooth Sensor with a iPhone app ( 60Beat ) .

 

The app monitors your heart rate during the workout and tells you which zone you are working in, at the end it emails you the calories burnt and time spent in each zone.

 

The running machines where we work are Polar ready which can also read from the sensor and vary the workout appropriately.

Edited April 18, 2016 by Davit2005

[woodham]

I might suggest the microsoft band 2 very good by all accounts

[ICTDirect_Dave]

moved me to an Apple Watch

 

I've just got an Apple Watch Sport 42mm, totally worth the £200 (it wasn't new but it's mint cond) so far imo. The fitness aspect works really well, it tracks workouts, distance, active calories and general activities.

It's also pretty good for notifications and quick messaging. I certainly use my phone less now

 

Id love an apple watch but my wrists are pretty small so I'm a bit conscious about it not fitting well and/or looking too big

 

I thought this too but the 42mm sport on my tiny wrist doesn't feel/look too bad I think.

 

 

The taps it gives you when a notification happens are subtle and not very intrusive.

 

In short, I like it

[tmoon-mint]

Mine is the smaller 38mm and it feels fine on my wrist. I should also point out that mine came with 2 different sized bands in the box. The small/medium band didnt fit but the medium/large band did.

[ICTDirect_Dave]

Mine is the smaller 38mm and it feels fine on my wrist. I should also point out that mine came with 2 different sized bands in the box. The small/medium band didnt fit but the medium/large band did.

 

Mine had both sizes too, went straight for the large but i reckon i'd have been find with the other tbh.

[Bagpuss66]

I've had a 38mm series 1 watch since last Monday, I've realised after a few days that I should have bought a 42mm.

Went to my local Apple store but was told that I couldn't exchange the watch for a bigger version as even though it is within the 14 day return period I couldn't do it as I had bought the watch on Finance.

Seems I would need to send it back, cancel my finance and then re order the watch! A bit annoying as I had I.D. and the receipt and personal letters sent to the address on my order!

I've decided that this is too much hassle!! Still 50/50 on keeping the watch.

It has it's uses in a school with the ability to have notifications sent to the watch as we have a no mobile phone policy with students.

I've a few days to think about this!

[Joanne]

I've got a Sony SmartWatch 3 and I love it. Works with Google Fit and I have it running with my HTC M9. I like the fact I can discreetly read messages with it.