Smart Watch/Fitness Tracker

Generic_Excuse

Need recommendations. Looking for a smart watch fitness tracker that is accurate and reliable. Lots of different choices on Amazon, very overwhelming. Thanks in advance for all opinions and recommendations!

beccasembroidery

I just purchased the Fitbit Sense. I chose it because of the EDA sensor, heart health notifications, ECG app and the sleep tracker. I have a heart condition so I opted for one that could track changes. I’m also extremely tired all the time & my doctor wants me to be able to track my sleep. I have myfitnesspal synched to my Fitbit. I like the alexa pairing and the ability to answer my phone using the Fitbit. My phone is typically in the bottom of my purse, on a table in another room or in my back pocket, LOL. The watch is convenient.

angela_boinkers

I have an Apple watch, but now that I’m running again I wish I had a dedicated running watch (a garmin). The Apple Watch is fine for my purposes though.

Psychgrrl

I've gone through Garmin Vivoactive 3 (Vivo 2 and 3 for about 4 years), to Fitbit Versa 2 (2.5 years), and now to an Apple Watch 7 series. I do have an iPhone. My thoughts:

• Garmin hands down had the best battery life. Even when using timed exercise every day I could for weeks without needing to charge it. My Fitbit was fully charged before a long hike (20 miles, 11,600 ft, 965 intensity minutes) and died a couple miles before I finished. And I wore the Garmin and the Fitbit simultaneously for a while. I liked the app store and the watch faces.
• Fitbit overestimates my steps. I've been driving on decent roads (not too many potholes) and had it count steps. Garmin's app store was bigger/better, imho, which surprised me as Fitbit had been doing the apps longer. Timed exercise steps are consistent between the two (such as when I'm running/walking a mile), but for me Apple does a better job of not counting my fidgetiness. I did not notice any difference between Garmin and Fitbit.
• The Apple Watch's fall notification got me really interested. I often hike in a group and sometimes by myself and the thought of the watch summoning help for me is a good thing. Also, thinking it will do that if a mountain lion tries to eat me yeah, it's a possibility. I live in Orange County, CA and every hike starts with a mountain lion warning sign--long hikes with early morning starts are only done in a group). I paddleboard alone usually and a fall into the water should also trigger the notification (you have a certain amount of time to respond on the watch that you're OK before it sends out the GPS coordinates).
• Having many of my apps on my wrist is a huge plus. My paddleboarding app is on my wrist and it is so much easier to use on my wrist than on my phone (so hard to see the phone with all the glare from the sun through my waterproof holder). I can duo into to work systems using the watch which was super convenient when I had a mask on and my phone didn't recognize me. Still convenient. So is answering calls on my wrist when my hands are full. All Trails is also on my watch, very helpful!
• I like the all the health stats available through the watch (sleep, ECG, O2 sensor, notifications for high or low heart rate, etc.) I'm a total data nerd. I am monitoring my bp at home and can enter that into the app. I can link my insurance to the Apple Health app and have it on my list to talk to my doc about. And I add the sodium and potassium from MFP to my home screen in Apple health app as they relate to my blood pressure. My doc can see everything really easily.
• I charge the Apple watch the same way I charge my Fitbit; I trickle charge it when I'm getting ready in the morning or when I'm getting ready for bed at night. I have not yet tested the battery on an all day hike. So far, it's lasted fine for the day with a few hours of paddleboarding or hiking.

Honestly, any one of them will help you meet your goals. They all track exercise intensity, sync with MFP, track heart rate, sleep, track calories, etc. Kinda depends if you're iOS, (if not then no Apple Watch, I'd imagine). The really dedicated hikers (the ones who do the PCT (Pacific Coast Trail) and many triathletes I know all use high-end Garmins for the navigation. That's how Garmin started--really, really good navigation devices.

Hope this helps!

Generic_Excuse

Psychgrrl wrote: »

I've gone through Garmin Vivoactive 3 (Vivo 2 and 3 for about 4 years), to Fitbit Versa 2 (2.5 years), and now to an Apple Watch 7 series. I do have an iPhone. My thoughts:

• Garmin hands down had the best battery life. Even when using timed exercise every day I could for weeks without needing to charge it. My Fitbit was fully charged before a long hike (20 miles, 11,600 ft, 965 intensity minutes) and died a couple miles before I finished. And I wore the Garmin and the Fitbit simultaneously for a while. I liked the app store and the watch faces.
• Fitbit overestimates my steps. I've been driving on decent roads (not too many potholes) and had it count steps. Garmin's app store was bigger/better, imho, which surprised me as Fitbit had been doing the apps longer. Timed exercise steps are consistent between the two (such as when I'm running/walking a mile), but for me Apple does a better job of not counting my fidgetiness. I did not notice any difference between Garmin and Fitbit.
• The Apple Watch's fall notification got me really interested. I often hike in a group and sometimes by myself and the thought of the watch summoning help for me is a good thing. Also, thinking it will do that if a mountain lion tries to eat me yeah, it's a possibility. I live in Orange County, CA and every hike starts with a mountain lion warning sign--long hikes with early morning starts are only done in a group). I paddleboard alone usually and a fall into the water should also trigger the notification (you have a certain amount of time to respond on the watch that you're OK before it sends out the GPS coordinates).
• Having many of my apps on my wrist is a huge plus. My paddleboarding app is on my wrist and it is so much easier to use on my wrist than on my phone (so hard to see the phone with all the glare from the sun through my waterproof holder). I can duo into to work systems using the watch which was super convenient when I had a mask on and my phone didn't recognize me. Still convenient. So is answering calls on my wrist when my hands are full. All Trails is also on my watch, very helpful!
• I like the all the health stats available through the watch (sleep, ECG, O2 sensor, notifications for high or low heart rate, etc.) I'm a total data nerd. I am monitoring my bp at home and can enter that into the app. I can link my insurance to the Apple Health app and have it on my list to talk to my doc about. And I add the sodium and potassium from MFP to my home screen in Apple health app as they relate to my blood pressure. My doc can see everything really easily.
• I charge the Apple watch the same way I charge my Fitbit; I trickle charge it when I'm getting ready in the morning or when I'm getting ready for bed at night. I have not yet tested the battery on an all day hike. So far, it's lasted fine for the day with a few hours of paddleboarding or hiking.

Honestly, any one of them will help you meet your goals. They all track exercise intensity, sync with MFP, track heart rate, sleep, track calories, etc. Kinda depends if you're iOS, (if not then no Apple Watch, I'd imagine). The really dedicated hikers (the ones who do the PCT (Pacific Coast Trail) and many triathletes I know all use high-end Garmins for the navigation. That's how Garmin started--really, really good navigation devices.

Hope this helps!

WOW. Thanks for all of that information! That really helps alot, I really appreciate it.

perryc05

I've only used Apple Watch Series 2 and now on Series 3 paired up with an iPhone. It's good and has really changed my life. I mainly use it to track steps and other cardio type exercise. I have found it helps keep me on track each day.

AnnPT77

Good experience-based information from those above. I'm a Garmin user, have found my device (Vivoactive 3) very durable, plus it charges rapidly, and the charge lasts well. (Usually I put it on the charger when I shower, and it tops up to 100% by the time I'm ready to put it back on. As the battery ages, the charge declines a little more rapidly, but I've never had to charge it more than once a day unless I had some multi-hour GPS-intensive exercise activity happening; even then, the charging was more a decision to top it up, vs. it ran out of charge).

One comment about "accuracy and reliability", that's going to apply to all of these devices, any brand/model. Maybe you already know this, but some people don't, so I'm commenting.

Any of these devices are not measuring calorie burn, they're estimating it. They use some of the same research-based calorie burn estimating methods as do MFP or TDEE calculators, but they use them in a much more personalized, detailed way.

In that way, they can be more precise estimates than those other sources, but they're still estimates. They're still giving you results based on averages from people who are similar to you, in terms of the "user profile" data that they collect, coupled with the things they do measure (heart rate, GPS coordinates, altitude, arm movements, among other possibilities).

The nature of calorie burn data means that most people are close to average, so the devices can do a pretty good job estimating all-day calories. They may be a little high in some scenarios, a little low in others, still work out decently for all-day calorie estimates for people who are close to average.

A few people are less average, burn more or fewer calories than the devices estimate, for reasons that may not be obvious. A very rare few people will find the estimates to be surprisingly far off, still either high or low, because those rare people are quite non-average. That's just the nature of statistical estimates, and statistical estimates are what these devices do.

Any calorie estimate, including the nicely personalized ones from a fitness tracker, needs to be validated by our experience. It's not so much about "is the device accurate", more about "how average am I". Even for people who are non-average, the devices can be useful, for monitoring fitness parameters, even for calorie estimates once a person figures out that the device tends to estimate X percent high or low for them.

My Garmin estimates my calorie expenditure hundreds of calories daily below reality, as compared with nearly 7 years of calorie counting experience. MFP similarly underestimates my calorie needs, along with most TDEE calculators. I'm non-average. I have some theories about why, but no proof. It doesn't matter, I still find my Garmin a useful tool, for fitness and weight management.

yirara

No device is precise as they all estimate based on population averages. If a device works for you is something nobody can say. My Garmin watch is fairly good for me though. Also something to note: if a device uses HR to estimate calorie burns then there's a potential further source of problems if your HR deviates too much from 220-age, which many people do.

I think you need to tell us a bit more what you want from the device: track steps, have lots of different types of exercises? Smart watch function, and how smart? What's your budget? Do you want an app/website to go with it? Data export to other websites?

SuzanneC1l9zz

yirara wrote: »

No device is precise as they all estimate based on population averages. If a device works for you is something nobody can say. My Garmin watch is fairly good for me though. Also something to note: if a device uses HR to estimate calorie burns then there's a potential further source of problems if your HR deviates too much from 220-age, which many people do.

I think you need to tell us a bit more what you want from the device: track steps, have lots of different types of exercises? Smart watch function, and how smart? What's your budget? Do you want an app/website to go with it? Data export to other websites?

Some of these devices will let you enter a custom max heart rate. I have one on my Vivoactive 4S and had one on my 3 as well. I'm on a medication that artificially lowers my heart rate - if I tried to get into Zone 4 based on 220-age I'd probably give myself a heart attack!

NorthCascades

I love my Garmin. I'm a hiker, cyclist, skier, and climber, so the outdoor features are more important to me. It's smart enough they I don't need my phone as much, but it's not an Apple or Samsung. The balance in a Garmin works really well if exercise or outdoors is your priority.

NorthCascades

SuzanneC1l9zz wrote: »

yirara wrote: »

No device is precise as they all estimate based on population averages. If a device works for you is something nobody can say. My Garmin watch is fairly good for me though. Also something to note: if a device uses HR to estimate calorie burns then there's a potential further source of problems if your HR deviates too much from 220-age, which many people do.

I think you need to tell us a bit more what you want from the device: track steps, have lots of different types of exercises? Smart watch function, and how smart? What's your budget? Do you want an app/website to go with it? Data export to other websites?

Some of these devices will let you enter a custom max heart rate. I have one on my Vivoactive 4S and had one on my 3 as well. I'm on a medication that artificially lowers my heart rate - if I tried to get into Zone 4 based on 220-age I'd probably give myself a heart attack!

Garmin watches also auto detect your max HR. Like mine was 180 for the longest time, then it hit 181 (using a chest strap, so it really happened) and now that's my new max. 🙂

Used to be in the 190s. Couple decades later I've lost about 10 bpm. With lots of exercise, it's faded at about half the rate of the formula @yirara mentioned.

yirara

SuzanneC1l9zz wrote: »

yirara wrote: »

No device is precise as they all estimate based on population averages. If a device works for you is something nobody can say. My Garmin watch is fairly good for me though. Also something to note: if a device uses HR to estimate calorie burns then there's a potential further source of problems if your HR deviates too much from 220-age, which many people do.

I think you need to tell us a bit more what you want from the device: track steps, have lots of different types of exercises? Smart watch function, and how smart? What's your budget? Do you want an app/website to go with it? Data export to other websites?

Some of these devices will let you enter a custom max heart rate. I have one on my Vivoactive 4S and had one on my 3 as well. I'm on a medication that artificially lowers my heart rate - if I tried to get into Zone 4 based on 220-age I'd probably give myself a heart attack!

And with me it's the opposite: I have a condition due to which I need a really high HR to be able to do anything at all. If i don't get my HR up into crazy heights I'm not able to do much. When Fitbit messed with the ability to enter custom HRs and my device constantly lost this data I gave up and chose Garmin. Yeah, Garmin has a bit of a habit of bricking devices or killing the battery with new firmware updates (they even have a beta test programme, and still get it wrong every now and then) but as long as you switch automatic updates off and check about a month whether a new firmware works you're fine.