Which is better for runners? Fitbit Versa or Apple Watch 3
sheltondq
Posts: 51 Member
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.
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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.
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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.0
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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.2 -
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.
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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.0 -
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.
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Garmin!0
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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.0 -
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.0 -
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.
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I just switched this week actually, the technology on the Apple Watch is amazing! The only thing I miss is the Fitbit app.0
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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.2 -
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.
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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.0 -
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.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.
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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.1 -
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.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 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.1 -
Read Panini911’s first post. She uses 2 separate watches... I just meant that I wouldn’t be able to do what she doescwolfman13 wrote: »
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.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 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.
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How do the garmin fitness apps stack up to those of the Fitbit or Apple?0
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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.0
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if you are an apple person already, i could see getting the apple.
i have a vivosmart. i like the garmin products
garmin has nice 24/7 fitness products. waterproof, decent battery life, the HR is decently accurate.
the app is straightforward and clear. you can have as much or as little info as you want. if that doesn't work for you, you can connect it to Strava
I also have my garmin connected to mfp.2 -
Read Panini911’s first post. She uses 2 separate watches... I just meant that I wouldn’t be able to do what she doescwolfman13 wrote: »
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.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 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.
I wouldn't even see the need to do what she does.
I think you just need to determine what you are actually wanting to get out of the watch.
The Versa is basically going to give you the same exact information that your Charge 2 gives you and will make for a decent smart watch as well. Decent smart watch, solid daily activity tracker, average at best fitness/exercise tracker depending on what kind of data you're looking for.
The Apple watch will be a superior smart watch and good activity tracker...I'd say average at best fitness tracker.
I currently have a Charge 2 that I bought just to experiment with whether or not I would find something like this useful...I will be upgrading to the Garmin vivosmart or 935 this fall...I find the daily activity data I get from the Charge 2 useful, but it gives me next to nothing on the fitness front and I can track way more data with a Garmin.
So really, it comes down to what you want out of the watch and what kind of data you're looking to see and what level of smart watch you want.0 -
How do the garmin fitness apps stack up to those of the Fitbit or Apple?
Fitbit wins on the social side. By a lot.
Garmin has a possibility of a ton of data that you’ll never get from Fitbit. Fitbit gives you pace per mile and a HR chart. Garmin will give you that, plus moving/total time, max/avg HR & pace, etc. per mile. With graphs you can overlay on top of each other so you can analyze if your pace/HR change was because of elevation or what not. Garmin gives you your estimated VO2max over time (Fitbit tells you “today’s” value). Garmin measures stress levels 24/7. Fitbit doesn’t. Garmin just records considerably more data and that data can be exported to tons of other places for more analysis and comparisons. From a training standpoint, Garmin wins by a landslide. Huge landslide.
But-the Fitbit app is simpler and easier to navigate. I can easily get my TDEE out of the Fitbit app. but it’s not really available in the Garmin app (except to scroll one day at a time). If mountains of training data isn’t super important to you, and you’re perfectly content with the info you get from Fitbit-then Fitbit might be the right choice for you.
You will get exactly the same data from a Fitbit Versa that you do from a Charge 2. There’s no difference. The Versa is considerably more attractive and makes a decent smart watch, but you don’t get any enhanced fitness functionality over what the Charge 2 does.
Ultimately-I run and my primary fitness focus is improving my running. I use my Garmin and the mountains of training data I get from that to aid in that pursuit. My Garmin also works as an activity, sleep and stress tracker. But I tend to gravitate towards my Fitbit for the basics because it’s jusy easier there, and that’s where the challenges are. But my Fitbit absolutely does not give me the data that I need to really become a better runner.
So I use both. My Fitbit is a requirement because it’s the only tracker brand that ties to an incentive program with my health insurance. That’s super important to me (because $$$$). But the Garmin is my primary training device. And if the incentive program started linking to Garmin, I would drop my Fitbit.1 -
How do the garmin fitness apps stack up to those of the Fitbit or Apple?
Garmin's fitness app is head over heels better than Apple's. A thousand times better. IMO, the app is Apple's biggest weakness and what cripples their watch the most as a fitness device. It's absolutely dismal, and is one of the biggest reasons I left Apple and went to Garmin (and I'm a big Apple fan, I love and own a lot of their products).
As far as FItbit's app - while Garmin Connect does have a social media/community aspect, Fitbit's seems to be more popular and thus stronger, if the community aspect of it is an important criteria to somebody. Other than that, I think Garmin is stronger as far as the amount of data it gives you and how it's presented (disclosure: I haven't used Fitbit's app in a number of years, so they may have improved it since then).
Fitbit and Garmin also both have a cloud/web-based presence, whereas Apple's data presence is only within the watch and iPhone app.1 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »
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.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 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.
Depends what generation of ForeRunner. My old 310XT didn't do any step tracking.
That said, of someone has a legacy forerunner I'd question why anyone would but a FitBit. They're toys in comparison to Garmin or Sunnto.1
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