Help? Now that Jawbone discontinued BodyMedia I need to buy a new tracker.

tmoneyag99
tmoneyag99 Posts: 480 Member
edited January 2016 in Health and Weight Loss
First let me say I am extremely disappointed in Jawbone. They bought the technology of the MOST ACCURATE fitness tracker for *EVERYTHING* and then stopped supporting it. Now no one can go buy the best. They bought it and ditched. GRRRRRRRR


Rant over. So which tracker, in your collective, experience is the most accurate and precise at calorie burn estimation. I lost so much weight 5 years ago using BodyMedia strictly for it's calorie burn estimation. It was so precise & accurate that I got to a point I would only wear it on the weekends, calculate my average calorie burn per minute based on my activities and estimate my own calorie burn during the week.

I'm looking for something/anything that will give me that sort of reliability in the calorie burn department. So who is happy with their tracker's calorie burn estimations?

Replies

  • Clobern80
    Clobern80 Posts: 714 Member
    I like my FitBit Charge HR. Just remember nothing we can buy is 100% accurate.
  • tmoneyag99
    tmoneyag99 Posts: 480 Member
    edited January 2016
    Agreed, nothing can be 100% accurate but a study done by Iowa State University found BodyMedia was about 9.3% accurate and you could see on the app by the minute your energy output changes. My understanding is that Jawbone and some others are not very precise. BM was extremely precise. So no matter what activity you did the relative calorie output was the same. So if BM was off by 10% it was consistently off by 10% and I was able to adjust accordingly.

    It is my understanding that Jawbone isn't as precise. Apparently it will give 100kCal burn for an activity one day and 200kCal burn for the exact same activity the next. If an apparatus is precise... I can figure out for myself the error rate and correct for that. :)


    PS thank you so much for responding! I will start looking into FitBit charge. :D
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    OP I hear you, I was going to get Bodymedia and I haven't got anything at all because I haven't found anything that seems to work as well as it did.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    I changed from BM to Garmin (Vivoactive). I've found it to be just as accurate in the 7 months I've used it as the BM armband was (technology has changed since that study was commissioned). It's also more useful and I prefer a watch to the armband.
    • Color display--I don't have to sync to my phone to know what's going on.
    • Watch faces to download, 'cause fun.
    • Trackers calibrated to different activities (indoor/outdoor, walking, cycling, swimming, golf--GOLF?).
    • Compatible chest HRM.
    • Waterproof--meant to be worn swimming. Can be worn in the shower.
    • Great app and website interface.
    • Good customer service.
    • Long battery life (weeks--less if use the HRM daily) and charges super fast.
    • Gives me a fireworks display when I hit my step goal for the day. Pretty!
    • Lots of apps to downlaod and more coming each day. When I bought mine in June, the app store was about 4 pages long, now it's 29 pages. Not including the pages of widgets and watch faces.
    • Nudges me if I haven't walked in 45 (it vibrates). The longer I wait to walk around, the longer it takes to clear the "move it" bar. My staff thinks it's hilarious when they see me walking around the office or when i get them all up during a meeting and we continue talking while walking around the table because "The Watch" said so. Made us all aware of how much seeing we do.
    • Phone notifications on the watch. I appreciate being able to glance at my wrist when a text comes in. Much more subtle in meetings than reaching for my phone.
    • Syncs with MFP.

    I'm very happy. :smiley:
  • jillybeansalad
    jillybeansalad Posts: 239 Member
    I currently use the Fitbit Surge (switched from BM). Fitbit does have a new one coming out (the Blaze) for cheaper if you're into the smartwatch thing. The Change HR is a good choice as well, my husband uses that one.

    I do miss my BM. Jawbone's up3 isn't that great with actual use and it didn't have a display, but I think it was more accurate. I wore both to compare for 2 months. lol
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    Another Vivoactive happy camper here. The fireworks made my ruddy day the first time it happened!

    I had the Vivofit before and it was okay. It paired to the same HRM chest strap I use with the watch now and I can now see just how inflated the old burns were as they were calculated generically. With the watch it comes with the pre-set activities as mentioned above but I also downloaded an app called Gymtimer and it's great for weighted cardio type stuff I do and the burns seems much more reasonable and in line with what would be expected.

    I know loads of people go for the Fitbit but I think that's more about marketing. Garmin, in my opinion and in looking at reviews when I wanted to upgrade, make a far superior product.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Do you need the chest strap for the vivo active to be accurate, ?
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Do you need the chest strap for the vivo active to be accurate, ?

    I honestly couldn't tell you, I have always used a chest strap when exercising. I would imagine its accuracy to be no better or worse than any other tracker not using a linked chest strap.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    tmoneyag99 wrote: »
    Agreed, nothing can be 100% accurate but a study done by Iowa State University found BodyMedia was about 9.3% accurate and you could see on the app by the minute your energy output changes. My understanding is that Jawbone and some others are not very precise. BM was extremely precise. So no matter what activity you did the relative calorie output was the same. So if BM was off by 10% it was consistently off by 10% and I was able to adjust accordingly.

    It is my understanding that Jawbone isn't as precise. Apparently it will give 100kCal burn for an activity one day and 200kCal burn for the exact same activity the next. If an apparatus is precise... I can figure out for myself the error rate and correct for that. :)


    PS thank you so much for responding! I will start looking into FitBit charge. :D

    That 9.3% isn't statistically much different from the 10% values the Fitbits got in tests, if you ask me.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/20/activity-monitor-accuracy-fitbit-jawbone_n_5516156.html

    Having owned both I strongly preferred the Fitbits overall. I now only have a Withings Activite, though.
  • zenjen13
    zenjen13 Posts: 174 Member
    I have a vivosmart HR and am finding it very good although it's early days. The sleep has been accurate, the exercise too, hr monitors every 5 mins at rest and every minute during exercise. Waterproof for swimming and showering, tells you when to move if you're sitting too long, no metal on band to react to. List goes on, I love it and I'm finding it very accurate so far.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Do you need the chest strap for the vivo active to be accurate, ?

    You need the chest strap for hrm only, not for everything else. I only wear the strap when exercising.

    When I bought in June, my final choices were: Apple Watch (I have Apple everything else), Mio Fuse, FitBit Charge HR and Garmin Vivoactive. What finalized my choice was research on the optical (wrist) hrm. Everything I read said the chest straps were more accurate (and I'm not fond of having tight things around my wrist). I only care about hr when I'm working out--pretty sure I have a hr other wise. :smiley:
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    VintageFeline wrote: »
    Another Vivoactive happy camper here. The fireworks made my ruddy day the first time it happened!

    I had the Vivofit before and it was okay. It paired to the same HRM chest strap I use with the watch now and I can now see just how inflated the old burns were as they were calculated generically. With the watch it comes with the pre-set activities as mentioned above but I also downloaded an app called Gymtimer and it's great for weighted cardio type stuff I do and the burns seems much more reasonable and in line with what would be expected.

    I know loads of people go for the Fitbit but I think that's more about marketing. Garmin, in my opinion and in looking at reviews when I wanted to upgrade, make a far superior product.

    I love the GymTimer app! :smiley: The watch face I downloaded has my total calorie burn for the day. I find it to be very accurate, both with and without exercise. Have also found the "Find My Phone" app handy when I haven't been near a computer (or my phone). :neutral:
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Psychgrrl wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Do you need the chest strap for the vivo active to be accurate, ?

    You need the chest strap for hrm only, not for everything else. I only wear the strap when exercising.

    When I bought in June, my final choices were: Apple Watch (I have Apple everything else), Mio Fuse, FitBit Charge HR and Garmin Vivoactive. What finalized my choice was research on the optical (wrist) hrm. Everything I read said the chest straps were more accurate (and I'm not fond of having tight things around my wrist). I only care about hr when I'm working out--pretty sure I have a hr other wise. :smiley:

    Ok thanks. I won't bother. I probably have unrealistic expectations but having to put that thing on for exercise is why I stopped using my HRM...

  • TanjoP
    TanjoP Posts: 13 Member
    I used to be a Jawbone user, but I switched to the Garmin VivoSmart HR and think it is much more accurate. I did a test with both of them and realized that when I would move my arm vigorously with the Jawbone ( I move my arms when I was talking) it would increase my step count. Then we did a drive where I was in the car for 8 hours and my jawbone registered 3000 steps during that time.... That is when I decided I needed to make a switch, and I love the VivoSmart HR.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    Psychgrrl wrote: »
    VintageFeline wrote: »
    Another Vivoactive happy camper here. The fireworks made my ruddy day the first time it happened!

    I had the Vivofit before and it was okay. It paired to the same HRM chest strap I use with the watch now and I can now see just how inflated the old burns were as they were calculated generically. With the watch it comes with the pre-set activities as mentioned above but I also downloaded an app called Gymtimer and it's great for weighted cardio type stuff I do and the burns seems much more reasonable and in line with what would be expected.

    I know loads of people go for the Fitbit but I think that's more about marketing. Garmin, in my opinion and in looking at reviews when I wanted to upgrade, make a far superior product.

    I love the GymTimer app! :smiley: The watch face I downloaded has my total calorie burn for the day. I find it to be very accurate, both with and without exercise. Have also found the "Find My Phone" app handy when I haven't been near a computer (or my phone). :neutral:

    My watch face has that too and my daily steps (and it's a cat, which was really the reason I downloaded it!). I also did the chest strap vs wrist read HR comparison reviews and came to the same conclusion. It's really no bother to me to wear the strap, it sits where my bra strap does so I don't even notice it, even when lying on my front. I expect ample breasticles helps with that............. I also like that it has GPS for my runs so I can leave my phone at home and just use a little clip on MP3 player instead.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    edited January 2016
    I used a Polar HRM with my BM armband. I like the whole thing being integrated now with Garmin. My current favorite watch face tracks my steps goal for the last week--each day and collectively. Little green bars for the days I hit it, ugly yellow bars for the days I don't. I'm competitive enough with myself to get to 10,000 just to not have a little yellow bar. The only way I'd like it better is another color bar for double!

    I run the same routes and when using the hrm i notice a different vs not using it when it comes to calorie burns. Sometimes I forget the strap at home, and sometimes I'm tired and not working as hard when I run wearing it. The hrm makes a difference in the calorie burns--they're higher when wearing it for the same distance vs just tracking steps. And the burn varies based on the intensity of the workout.
  • tmoneyag99
    tmoneyag99 Posts: 480 Member
    I wonder if you could try to wear the hrm for a week or two to get a good idea of what your average calorie burn is at rest. I once called mine with bm at 10 calories per pound of body weight at rest per 24 hours. That is the kind of data I am looking for
  • BrandonW86
    BrandonW86 Posts: 17 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Do you need the chest strap for the vivo active to be accurate, ?

    I use the vivofit 2 with the chest strap it's really accurate I've compared it to the pulse oxy in our ambulance and it matched up great way better then the Fitbit charge hr did

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