Which is better for runners? Fitbit Versa or Apple Watch 3

Options
sheltondq
sheltondq Posts: 51 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am currently training for a half marathon and want to get a new fitness or smart watch. I currently have a Fitbit Charge 2 that I loved, but it is on the fritz. I was wondering which watch would be better for tracking daily activity and runs. I don’t mind having to take my phone on runs with me, but I do not want my Watch to die during a long runs. Does anyone have any insights.
«1

Replies

  • fuzzylop72
    fuzzylop72 Posts: 651 Member
    edited July 2018
    Options
    Apple watch 3 imo, since stryd works with it and the upcoming watchos 5 has a few new features for running (cadence, pace alerts -- still no heart rate based alerts, though). However, neither are amazing running watches, and something like a forerunner 935 on the high end (or any number of similar garmins) would be a bit better.

    AW3 should be fine on your long runs if you start with a full charge, particularly if you bring your phone with you. The big power draw is gps so having your phone with you lets the watch use the phones gps instead, and disabling cell can help as well.
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
    Options
    I have a Garmin Forerunner that i use for runs. I have a fitbit Charge that i use for daily wearning but when i run i use my garmin.
  • OldAssDude
    OldAssDude Posts: 1,436 Member
    Options
    Check out some of the Garmin devices. They have better battery life, track daily activity, as well as more advanced fitness metrics.

    I have a fenix 5x, but they have several less expensive devices that are great for running.
  • sheltondq
    sheltondq Posts: 51 Member
    Options
    Panini911 wrote: »
    I have a Garmin Forerunner that i use for runs. I have a fitbit Charge that i use for daily wearning but when i run i use my garmin.

    I did look at the Garman Vivoactive3 Before I actually got a fit bit. And I like what they have to offer I just can’t afford to get two watches for daily life and exercise.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
    Options
    sheltondq wrote: »
    Panini911 wrote: »
    I have a Garmin Forerunner that i use for runs. I have a fitbit Charge that i use for daily wearning but when i run i use my garmin.

    I did look at the Garman Vivoactive3 Before I actually got a fit bit. And I like what they have to offer I just can’t afford to get two watches for daily life and exercise.

    I'm not understanding why you would need two watches...the Vivoactive3 tracks daily life and exercise...it's an all in one smart watch.

    I'd personally go with Garmin...they've been doing this longer than anyone.
  • fuzzylop72
    fuzzylop72 Posts: 651 Member
    Options
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I'm not understanding why you would need two watches...the Vivoactive3 tracks daily life and exercise...it's an all in one smart watch.

    I'd personally go with Garmin...they've been doing this longer than anyone.

    I personally think garmins make awful smart watches. I use a 935 for running, but I wouldn't personally want to replace my apple watch with it for daily use, so everyone has different needs.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Options
    Garmin!
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
    Options
    sheltondq wrote: »
    Panini911 wrote: »
    I have a Garmin Forerunner that i use for runs. I have a fitbit Charge that i use for daily wearning but when i run i use my garmin.

    I did look at the Garman Vivoactive3 Before I actually got a fit bit. And I like what they have to offer I just can’t afford to get two watches for daily life and exercise.

    Why would you need two watches? The VA3 is also a smart watch/daily activity tracker in addition to being a running/exercise watch.

    FWIW, I used an Apple Watch for a year, and have also owned Fitbits in the past. I now use a Garmin (935), and like it far better than either of the other two.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
    edited July 2018
    Options
    fuzzylop72 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I'm not understanding why you would need two watches...the Vivoactive3 tracks daily life and exercise...it's an all in one smart watch.

    I'd personally go with Garmin...they've been doing this longer than anyone.

    I personally think garmins make awful smart watches. I use a 935 for running, but I wouldn't personally want to replace my apple watch with it for daily use, so everyone has different needs.

    I'm interpreting the OP as thinking that the viviosmart doesn't track daily activity and exercise and she would need two watches to do that so she went with the Charge2 which isn't even a smart watch.

    I personally despise Apple products, and Garmin is going to be a far and away better product that anything FitBit puts out there. I'd personally go with the 935 myself as a daily wearable and fitness tracker.
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,224 Member
    Options
    I have a Fitbit Versa and a Garmin Fenix 5s. I run. I recommend Garmin. Most of Garmin’s running watches also function as activity trackers and the the type of training data you’ll get with Garmin is more than Fitbit will ever provide. Garmin can also connect to a multitude of additional sensors. Fitbit can connect to headphones. Which seems kind of dumb since you need your phone anyway for the GPS.

    I looked at Apple watches but the stated battery life with GPS use was only 5 hours. My Garmin is 16 with options to extend to 24 (I think). That means I can do a long run/bike/hike/etc (or more than one) and my watch will still have enough juice to get through the day (and night).

    Garmin is not as great as a smartwatch, but it excels as a fitness device.
  • jennacole12
    jennacole12 Posts: 1,167 Member
    Options
    I just switched this week actually, the technology on the Apple Watch is amazing! The only thing I miss is the Fitbit app.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
    Options
    Duck_Puddle wrote: »
    Garmin is not as great as a smartwatch, but it excels as a fitness device.

    IMO - Garmin is a great fitness watch which also serves as a half-decent smart watch; Apple is a great smart watch which also serves as a half-decent fitness watch.
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,224 Member
    Options
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    Duck_Puddle wrote: »
    Garmin is not as great as a smartwatch, but it excels as a fitness device.

    IMO - Garmin is a great fitness watch which also serves as a half-decent smart watch; Apple is a great smart watch which also serves as a half-decent fitness watch.

    Exactly.

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
    Options
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    Duck_Puddle wrote: »
    Garmin is not as great as a smartwatch, but it excels as a fitness device.

    IMO - Garmin is a great fitness watch which also serves as a half-decent smart watch; Apple is a great smart watch which also serves as a half-decent fitness watch.

    My thoughts exactly.
  • sheltondq
    sheltondq Posts: 51 Member
    Options
    fuzzylop72 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I'm not understanding why you would need two watches...the Vivoactive3 tracks daily life and exercise...it's an all in one smart watch.

    I'd personally go with Garmin...they've been doing this longer than anyone.

    I personally think garmins make awful smart watches. I use a 935 for running, but I wouldn't personally want to replace my apple watch with it for daily use, so everyone has different needs.
    I meant in response to the person I replied to. She has a fit bit and a Garmin that she uses interchangeably and I cannot afford to do that.
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    Options
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    Duck_Puddle wrote: »
    Garmin is not as great as a smartwatch, but it excels as a fitness device.

    IMO - Garmin is a great fitness watch which also serves as a half-decent smart watch; Apple is a great smart watch which also serves as a half-decent fitness watch.

    I agree, and to take this one step further, Fitbit's higher end watches are half-decent period - both in terms of being a smart watch and a fitness watch. Also for the OP, the Versa doesn't have an onboard GPS, it uses your phone's GPS. It does have an accelerometer which it will attempt to use for pace and distance if you don't have your phone connected, but how accurate that is will probably vary.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
    Options
    sheltondq wrote: »
    fuzzylop72 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I'm not understanding why you would need two watches...the Vivoactive3 tracks daily life and exercise...it's an all in one smart watch.

    I'd personally go with Garmin...they've been doing this longer than anyone.

    I personally think garmins make awful smart watches. I use a 935 for running, but I wouldn't personally want to replace my apple watch with it for daily use, so everyone has different needs.
    I meant in response to the person I replied to. She has a fit bit and a Garmin that she uses interchangeably and I cannot afford to do that.

    I'm still not understanding...the Garmin is going to do everything and more that the FitBit does if the Garmin is a daily activity tracker and fitness watch which the vivosmart is. Perhaps your friend just had a Garmin fitness/HRM watch which is not a daily activity tracker?

    There would be zero need to have two watches with a vivosmart.
  • sheltondq
    sheltondq Posts: 51 Member
    Options
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    sheltondq wrote: »
    fuzzylop72 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I'm not understanding why you would need two watches...the Vivoactive3 tracks daily life and exercise...it's an all in one smart watch.

    I'd personally go with Garmin...they've been doing this longer than anyone.

    I personally think garmins make awful smart watches. I use a 935 for running, but I wouldn't personally want to replace my apple watch with it for daily use, so everyone has different needs.
    I meant in response to the person I replied to. She has a fit bit and a Garmin that she uses interchangeably and I cannot afford to do that.

    I'm still not understanding...the Garmin is going to do everything and more that the FitBit does if the Garmin is a daily activity tracker and fitness watch which the vivosmart is. Perhaps your friend just had a Garmin fitness/HRM watch which is not a daily activity tracker?

    There would be zero need to have two watches with a vivosmart.
    Read Panini911’s first post. She uses 2 separate watches... I just meant that I wouldn’t be able to do what she does
  • sheltondq
    sheltondq Posts: 51 Member
    Options
    How do the garmin fitness apps stack up to those of the Fitbit or Apple?
  • rachel780mpg
    rachel780mpg Posts: 83 Member
    Options
    I use a Garmin Vivosmart HR for my workouts and as a daily tracker. I wish I had bought the HR+ for GPS but I carry my phone and use Map My Walk for GPS.

Categories