Garmin vs other Trackers

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teebojones09
teebojones09 Posts: 8 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've been using the Garmin Vicodin for a couple years now. But have recently lost it! I know since the purchase there are other trackers out on the market as well as apps. Any suggestions on what's best to consider to look at these days?

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  • Gimsteinn
    Gimsteinn Posts: 7,678 Member
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    I love my Garmin VivoHR :P
  • Jaramdel
    Jaramdel Posts: 6 Member
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    Very happy with my ForeRunner 225 and I haven't use all its features yet.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    Love my Fenix 3. Pricey but nicey.
  • VegasFit
    VegasFit Posts: 1,232 Member
    edited October 2016
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    I'm a fan of Garmin. I currently have the Vivoactive HR. Only previous trackers/HRMS I had were Polar, Bodybugg and my Forerunner 305, which still works and because it's a little more rugged I still use it for hiking. If you have an REI near you I would check them out because they have almost every tracker in the store so you can at least see it and try it on and get an idea sizewise, etc., if that is what you are looking for plus their sales staff is very knowledgeable. In addition I like DCrainmaker for reviews.
  • Richie2shoes
    Richie2shoes Posts: 412 Member
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    HeyaBerg wrote: »
    I love my Garmin VivoHR :P

    Seconded.
  • Rusty740
    Rusty740 Posts: 749 Member
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    I love my Garmin Vivosmart HR. The big thing with Garmin is they are for sure waterproof. You'll also find Polar, Suunto, TomTom, Moov, Misfit, Nike, Under Armour, FitBit, UP out there.
  • singletrackmtbr
    singletrackmtbr Posts: 644 Member
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    I had a Fitbit Blaze. I quickly returned it and now am very happy with my Fenix 3 HR. I would have also been happy with the Vivoactive HR at the lower price point. Waterproof, built-in GPS, better battery life, a store with tons of free apps and watchfaces. It's just better.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited October 2016
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    Do you run or bike.. If you do perhaps the Forerunner or Fenix series will be a great upgrade to that. I did the vivosmart for a while, but needed more..
  • teebojones09
    teebojones09 Posts: 8 Member
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    Thanks for the info everyone! I jog and ride bikes. Sounds like I'm overdue for an upgrade for sure...
  • Anvil_Head
    Anvil_Head Posts: 251 Member
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    For cardio and everyday wear I use an Apple Watch. For cycling I use a Garmin 520. I also use a Scosche Rhythm+ HRM strap, which pairs to the watch via Bluetooth and to the Garmin via ANT+.
  • Fayecg89
    Fayecg89 Posts: 35 Member
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    teebojones09 wrote: »
    I've been using the Garmin Vicodin for a couple years now. But have recently lost it! I know since the purchase there are other trackers out on the market as well as apps. Any suggestions on what's best to consider to look at these days?

    What do you use it for?

    My boyfriend and I both used Garmin, his is a Garmin vivosmart HR and mine a Garmin vivoactive watch. From What I have found is that the battery life is excellent compared with most of the equivalent fitness trackers on the market now and offer a lot of different activity selections for tracking different types of exercises like swimming, riding, running and more. My advise is look at what you'll use it for and set a budget and have a look at what the Garmin range of tracker has to offer. Some may disagree but stay away from fitbit, I feel they generally have crappier battery life and your paying over the odds for a name rather than a good range of functions.

  • powered85
    powered85 Posts: 297 Member
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    Love my Garmin Fenix3
  • teebojones09
    teebojones09 Posts: 8 Member
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    Thanks! It should be reading Vivofit in my original message. I went and order a Vivofit HR this morning. The Fenix 3 seems like too much of a tracker for what I need right now.....
  • sdoddi31
    sdoddi31 Posts: 3 Member
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    I absolutely love my Microsoft band
  • pedermj2002
    pedermj2002 Posts: 180 Member
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    I would avoid the MS Band for one reason: All indications are that MS is discontinuing it. The development team has been disbanded, no updates planned, no new version planned or announced, etc.

    I've been using my LG G Watch R, but it's been becoming more irritating. I used the Google Fit integration to get my steps/calories into MFP, and Strava for my biking tracking. Google Fit would upload flat out invalid data for my biking (cutting my time and distance in half, more often than not), and I couldn't shut that off. And then, somehow, *only* the biking data got uploaded to MFP, leaving my step adjustment out of the equation entirely.

    Looking around, the Garmin VivoSmart HR+ got the best reviews out of everything I saw, so I went and got that today. So far, the data looks good. I'm just waiting to see where things will shake out for my calorie counting. If the data isn't appearing in MFP, it might go back. I just don't know yet.
  • thenananator
    thenananator Posts: 273 Member
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    The only thing I am not loving about my Garmin vivoHR is the bulk of it...I am not used to wearing anything on my wrist so ....but I love it otherwise. The data tracks well.
  • CincyNeid
    CincyNeid Posts: 1,249 Member
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    I am a huge Garmin fan. I have and use, their VivoActive HR, and Edge 520. And I've retired their VivoSmart HR, and VivoFit [gen 1] ...... not to mention my Forerunner 230 .....
  • law102189
    law102189 Posts: 85 Member
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    Richie2shoes wrote: »
    HeyaBerg wrote: »
    I love my Garmin VivoHR :P

    Seconded.

    I third that! Very pleased with mine.
  • Msjournie
    Msjournie Posts: 16 Member
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    This is a great 5 minute video on fitness trackers.

    http://www.today.com/health/fitness-trackers-do-they-count-steps-calories-accurately-t103060
  • pedermj2002
    pedermj2002 Posts: 180 Member
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    Yep, no fitness tracker will be 100% accurate. They simply can't be. And even logging your food down to the gram won't be 100% accurate, since each gram of a given food item will have different amounts of the materials that make it up.

    The idea here is not to provide perfection, but rather a useful estimate. For that, the fitness trackers do a good job. Even with inaccurate step counters, they still provide something that will be close enough to reality that they provide a guideline for you. How you interpret that guideline is just as important as anything they can tell you.

    Basically, take the numbers with a grain of salt, and keep your calories consumed lower than your calories used as realistically as possible. You'll never have perfection, but you can have something good enough to keep you moving in the right direction.

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