Done with FitBit--alternatives?

stanmann571

MontyMuttland wrote: »

Psychgrrl wrote: »

MontyMuttland wrote: »

I was using Garmin devices but fell out of love with them because of poor step tracking accuracy.
Walking is my main activity, but most of it I do at a sustained walking speed of 4-4.5mph.
At speeds above 3.5mph the Garmin devices I've used begin dropping steps, getting worse as you go faster.
Typically at 4.2mph only 55% of steps get recorded. That means over the course of an activity you "lose" almost half of your steps and the resulting data collected is garbage.
This affects both the Garmin Forerunner 35 and VivoactiveHR and may affect their other models too.
Therefore if you do a lot of walking at a faster pace I'd recommend steering well clear of Garmin products.
Garmin are aware of the issue but in the several months that I was dealing with them they failed to come up with a fix despite more than one software update.
I'm now using the Samsung Gearfit2. It's got all the functionality the OP is looking for and does a good job of tracking steps accurately. You can even store music on it and playback to Bluetooth headphones (no need to bring your phone when you head out for exercise).

Garmin user for years, totally not my experience. I used to run at a good clip (9 minute mile). Now I walk a lot.

Please feel free to test it out as I've described it, it's 100% repeatable on the Forerunner 35 and VivoactiveHR.
Walk for 1 mile at a sustained walking pace around 3mph, checking total step count before and after so you can calculate how many steps the device records for the activity.
Then walk the same mile back again at a sustained walking pace above 4mph, again checking total step count before and after so you can calculate how many steps the device recorded for the activity.
Compare the two step counts.
For the VivoactiveHR you can actually monitor the step count as you're walking as well.
Try manually counting 100 steps and compare it to what the screen says (first at 3mph, then at 4mph).

I get between 1800 and 2200 steps per mile at 3 and at 4.5 mph. consistently over the last year. That's with a Garmin Vivoactive.... I can't speak the the HR, but the HR hasn't even been out for a full year.

MontyMuttland

stanmann571 wrote: »

MontyMuttland wrote: »

Psychgrrl wrote: »

MontyMuttland wrote: »

I was using Garmin devices but fell out of love with them because of poor step tracking accuracy.
Walking is my main activity, but most of it I do at a sustained walking speed of 4-4.5mph.
At speeds above 3.5mph the Garmin devices I've used begin dropping steps, getting worse as you go faster.
Typically at 4.2mph only 55% of steps get recorded. That means over the course of an activity you "lose" almost half of your steps and the resulting data collected is garbage.
This affects both the Garmin Forerunner 35 and VivoactiveHR and may affect their other models too.
Therefore if you do a lot of walking at a faster pace I'd recommend steering well clear of Garmin products.
Garmin are aware of the issue but in the several months that I was dealing with them they failed to come up with a fix despite more than one software update.
I'm now using the Samsung Gearfit2. It's got all the functionality the OP is looking for and does a good job of tracking steps accurately. You can even store music on it and playback to Bluetooth headphones (no need to bring your phone when you head out for exercise).

Garmin user for years, totally not my experience. I used to run at a good clip (9 minute mile). Now I walk a lot.

Please feel free to test it out as I've described it, it's 100% repeatable on the Forerunner 35 and VivoactiveHR.
Walk for 1 mile at a sustained walking pace around 3mph, checking total step count before and after so you can calculate how many steps the device records for the activity.
Then walk the same mile back again at a sustained walking pace above 4mph, again checking total step count before and after so you can calculate how many steps the device recorded for the activity.
Compare the two step counts.
For the VivoactiveHR you can actually monitor the step count as you're walking as well.
Try manually counting 100 steps and compare it to what the screen says (first at 3mph, then at 4mph).

I get between 1800 and 2200 steps per mile at 3 and at 4.5 mph. consistently over the last year. That's with a Garmin Vivoactive.... I can't speak the the HR, but the HR hasn't even been out for a full year.

I have months of test data stored on Garmin Connect. I'm also doing 1800+ steps per mile, accurately recorded at 3mph.
However, once my pace exceeds 4mph it drops to around 1000+ steps recorded per mile.
When I became aware of the issue at the start of this year whilst using a Forerunner 35, I contacted Garmin about it and after collecting some test data from me they replaced the device believing it to be faulty.
The second Forerunner was exactly the same.
I then upgraded to the VivoavtiveHR and discovered it was just as bad.
Garmin have had access to all my data on Garmin Connect and I've done many test walks specifically for them to analyse the results.
It's hard to argue with a graph showing that I apparently do less steps per minute when walking at 4.5mph than I do when walking at 3mph, despite the obvious fact that in order to walk faster I have to put one foot in front of the other quicker.
Of course it's not impossible that I've had three faulty devices and that others perform better, but if that's the case it doesn't say a lot about the quality of the Garmin products.
Either way, I got fed up with the rubbish data I was getting from my walks so I ditched Garmin and got a Samsung GearFit2 instead.
So far its' performance is spot on. It's got all the functionality of the VivoactiveHR too, but less bulky and far better looking.