Do you use a wearable pedometer?
Options
rcrough
Posts: 23 Member
Hello everyone and Happy New Year. I'm am trying to decide what to buy for a pedometer and I need help. I went to Dick's Sporting Goods yesterday and was overwhelmed by the choices. Do you use one? What features do find useful?
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Replies
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I just have a fit bit zip - it links to computer or smart phone and to here. easy, simple and just right for me2
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I have he Fitbit Alta. I love it. Doubles as a watch for me and real motivator1
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The key question is, what are you hoping to gain from it?
I'd also ask whether you have friends/ family that use them?
FitBit have huge brand recognition, and a lot of market penetration. The technology is adequate, if a bit mediocre, and they have a high failure rate but very good customer service that has traditionally replaced defect units without issue. The social platform is good.
Garmin make a limited range of low end fitness trackers as most of their market are active sportspersons. The technology is better but the social platform much more limited. If you're into challenges then these are probably less attractive.
Polar make decent technology but interoperability is questionable.
If you have friends/ family and you want to interact, then find out what they have and follow the herd.
Personally, unless you run or cycle, don't worry about devices with built in Heart Rate. It's meaningless for most people, most of the time.4 -
The best feature you wanna look for are steps, calories, and heart rate. You want these so you can track your heart rate during your work out and after.2
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Nadine_A_Saad wrote: »The best feature you wanna look for are steps, calories, and heart rate. You want these so you can track your heart rate during your work out and after.
What about distance, does it measure that?
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My wife and I have used a BodyBug, Fitbit Flex, Fitbit Alta, and now I use a Garmin 235. I really like the Flex (used 2+ years) but once the Alta came out, I got it for my wife. It was such a great upgrade over the Flex. I can't recommend it enough.0
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MeanderingMammal wrote: »The key question is, what are you hoping to gain from it?
I'd also ask whether you have friends/ family that use them?
FitBit have huge brand recognition, and a lot of market penetration. The technology is adequate, if a bit mediocre, and they have a high failure rate but very good customer service that has traditionally replaced defect units without issue. The social platform is good.
Garmin make a limited range of low end fitness trackers as most of their market are active sportspersons. The technology is better but the social platform much more limited. If you're into challenges then these are probably less attractive.
Polar make decent technology but interoperability is questionable.
If you have friends/ family and you want to interact, then find out what they have and follow the herd.
Personally, unless you run or cycle, don't worry about devices with built in Heart Rate. It's meaningless for most people, most of the time.
The high failure rate is concerning. I did have a fitbit when they first came out and the strap broke almost immediately.0 -
I have a free app downloaded to my phone so when I go for a walk it's a pedometer. Not sure if its less accurate than a pedometer but it's free!0
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I asked the beau for a tracker for Christmas but to not spend a lot on it as I have a history of pedometers in the drawer. He got me a refurb Vivofit by Garmin. Works well so far. Very impressed with the wearability of it. I'm a person who rarely wore a watch because I found having something on my wrist annoying. This is light and the band material doesn't slip. I don't use the sleep tracking feature as I don't want to wear at night. One feature that I'm learning to like is the red band that appears if I haven't moved in a while to remind me to get off my butt for a while.2
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MeanderingMammal wrote: »The key question is, what are you hoping to gain from it?
I'd also ask whether you have friends/ family that use them?
FitBit have huge brand recognition, and a lot of market penetration. The technology is adequate, if a bit mediocre, and they have a high failure rate but very good customer service that has traditionally replaced defect units without issue. The social platform is good.
Garmin make a limited range of low end fitness trackers as most of their market are active sportspersons. The technology is better but the social platform much more limited. If you're into challenges then these are probably less attractive.
Polar make decent technology but interoperability is questionable.
If you have friends/ family and you want to interact, then find out what they have and follow the herd.
Personally, unless you run or cycle, don't worry about devices with built in Heart Rate. It's meaningless for most people, most of the time.
The high failure rate is concerning. I did have a fitbit when they first came out and the strap broke almost immediately.
Fitbit has somewhat addressed that failure issue - all their wrist trackers, except the Surge, now have straps that can be swapped out. You can get replacements through the Fitbit website or elsewhere, like Amazon and Ebay. So, rather than having to spend $100+ on a new tracker if the strap breaks after a year, you can spend much less on a band/strap and get more life out of the Fitbit.
I had a Flex and recently upgraded to the Blaze because I wanted notifications for everything, not just calls and texts. I likely would have gone with the Charge 2 otherwise since I prefer the horizontal display. The alta looks nice, but I don't think I would like the vertical display as much!
~Lyssa2 -
macgurlnet wrote: »MeanderingMammal wrote: »The key question is, what are you hoping to gain from it?
I'd also ask whether you have friends/ family that use them?
FitBit have huge brand recognition, and a lot of market penetration. The technology is adequate, if a bit mediocre, and they have a high failure rate but very good customer service that has traditionally replaced defect units without issue. The social platform is good.
Garmin make a limited range of low end fitness trackers as most of their market are active sportspersons. The technology is better but the social platform much more limited. If you're into challenges then these are probably less attractive.
Polar make decent technology but interoperability is questionable.
If you have friends/ family and you want to interact, then find out what they have and follow the herd.
Personally, unless you run or cycle, don't worry about devices with built in Heart Rate. It's meaningless for most people, most of the time.
The high failure rate is concerning. I did have a fitbit when they first came out and the strap broke almost immediately.
Fitbit has somewhat addressed that failure issue - all their wrist trackers, except the Surge, now have straps that can be swapped out. You can get replacements through the Fitbit website or elsewhere, like Amazon and Ebay. So, rather than having to spend $100+ on a new tracker if the strap breaks after a year, you can spend much less on a band/strap and get more life out of the Fitbit.
I had a Flex and recently upgraded to the Blaze because I wanted notifications for everything, not just calls and texts. I likely would have gone with the Charge 2 otherwise since I prefer the horizontal display. The alta looks nice, but I don't think I would like the vertical display as much!
Thanks for your feedback. I'll check these out.0 -
caryesings wrote: »I asked the beau for a tracker for Christmas but to not spend a lot on it as I have a history of pedometers in the drawer. He got me a refurb Vivofit by Garmin. Works well so far. Very impressed with the wearability of it. I'm a person who rarely wore a watch because I found having something on my wrist annoying. This is light and the band material doesn't slip. I don't use the sleep tracking feature as I don't want to wear at night. One feature that I'm learning to like is the red band that appears if I haven't moved in a while to remind me to get off my butt for a while.
Oooh. I like the nagging feature!
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kenyonhaff wrote: »I have a free app downloaded to my phone so when I go for a walk it's a pedometer. Not sure if its less accurate than a pedometer but it's free!
Yeah, This is sort of what I have now. It works ok as long as I always have my phone with me.0 -
Nadine_A_Saad wrote: »The best feature you wanna look for are steps, calories, and heart rate. You want these so you can track your heart rate during your work out and after.
Steps - all activity trackers will give you steps. Most will translate that to distance. Look for one that allows you to tweak for your stride distance. Trackers use average (for your height) stride lengths for your distance.
Calories - this is a guesstimate based on your height, weight, age, gender and activity level. Other important factors that can mess with this guesstimate are wrist vs. clip on; heart rate monitor (see below) or not. This is not a factor for most types of exercise.
Heart rate monitor (HRM) - this is useful if you are measuring steady state cardio (not walking, not strength training, not yoga, not circuit training, etc). This is going to be more accurate if the unit comes with a separate chest trap for heart rate. Wrist only jobs aren't that accurate.
I have a FitBit One - it works well for me because my cardio is step based. I do wish it had a nagging feature. I like that it clips onto my bra because it won't count steps when I'm driving, but it will count steps when I'm holding onto a shopping cart. If I were a swimmer or a cyclist this model would be a poor choice.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users0 -
I have just upgraded from a basic Fitbit one to a charge 2 ( with HR) and I'm really liking it. Do I need all the features ..probably not but do I enjoy playing with them, seeing how long I've done in each fat burning zone or at what HR - yes! It adds motivation to my excercise My son has a top range Garmin and mine calibrated to my stride is within 2% accuracy at 1/5th of the price.0
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I've had several clip Fitbits that I really liked and now use an Apple Watch. I don't have any experience with the watch band Fitbits but I have a friend who loves her Surge.0
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Nadine_A_Saad wrote: »The best feature you wanna look for are steps, calories, and heart rate. You want these so you can track your heart rate during your work out and after.
Steps - all activity trackers will give you steps. Most will translate that to distance. Look for one that allows you to tweak for your stride distance. Trackers use average (for your height) stride lengths for your distance.
Calories - this is a guesstimate based on your height, weight, age, gender and activity level. Other important factors that can mess with this guesstimate are wrist vs. clip on; heart rate monitor (see below) or not. This is not a factor for most types of exercise.
Heart rate monitor (HRM) - this is useful if you are measuring steady state cardio (not walking, not strength training, not yoga, not circuit training, etc). This is going to be more accurate if the unit comes with a separate chest trap for heart rate. Wrist only jobs aren't that accurate.
I have a FitBit One - it works well for me because my cardio is step based. I do wish it had a nagging feature. I like that it clips onto my bra because it won't count steps when I'm driving, but it will count steps when I'm holding onto a shopping cart. If I were a swimmer or a cyclist this model would be a poor choice.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users
I also have a FitBit One and agree with your pros and cons.
I started my research intending to buy a wrist unit with a heart rate monitor but a lot of the negative reviews mentioned either an allergic reaction to the device or it not being as accurate for steps as their previous models such as the One, so that's what I went with.0 -
If you are looking for something with advanced features, durable, water proof, and has all day heart rate monitoring, you can check out the Garmin vivoactive HR.
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/538374
If you want something even more advanced, you can check out the Garmin fenix3 HR.
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/545480
fitbits are great devices too, but not as durable, and none of them are water proof.
Within the next 2 or 3 months there will be many new devices coming out to check out, so you may want to wait and see what they are. I am hoping fitbit comes out with a more advanced device that is water proof and has a good GPS with GLONASS.3 -
I have the Fitbit One and love it. Great customer service too!0
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