Fitness tracker recommendations?

Hello all - so I’ve got a basic cheap fitness band that I bought about 6 months ago just to get an idea on daily steps. I’m getting more serious about fitness and weight loss and am considering an upgrade. I’ve been looking at both Fitbit and Apple Watch and have read some mixed reviews - so to the community if you use a tracker which one and why (regardless of the price tag - say that doesn’t matter)?

I’m going back and forth on the options and some of the fancier ones do some fun things and look visually good but are they really worth it? I’m really just looking for something that tracks daily activity (steps, exercise etc) and will integrate with MFP and has a good app so that I have good data to move and fuel properly for weight loss. I want it to be easy to use and not look like a big clunky thing. I’m never going to read a text or make a call from my wrist and I pretty much keep my phone with me. I do like GPS (but again I have my phone always so it doesn’t need to be stand alone) and I definitely want a heart rate monitor (but don’t feel like I need or want the Apple EKG thing on their newest). Like the ability to change the bands.

I was leaning towards the Fitbit charge or inspire but there were a lot of reviews that they are buggy.
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Replies

  • Spadesheart
    Spadesheart Posts: 463 Member
    I'll make a darkhorse suggestion.

    The Amazfit Bip is inexpensive, reliable, has a month long battery life, customizable front face, always on e-ink screen, notification support, some other goodies, and costs less than $100. It is by far a better value than anything else it competes with.

    It does not sync with this site, but I do suggest it.
  • Sunshinelinzee
    Sunshinelinzee Posts: 49 Member
    Thanks. I don’t have any expectation that these things are 100% accurate all the time. Personally for me I find it helps to motivate me and give myself small challenges quietly during my work day that gets me up from my desk more. It’s also a constant reminder to stay on track and keeps my mind in the game when holding myself accountable. Food and studies aside having that extra motivation, the reminder to move regularly and to stay accountable to myself has value to me and that isn’t a bad thing - I just don’t want something buggy and I want it to communicate and have a robust app. I’ve got a cheap one already that has the same features you described so I would just stick with that if I don’t upgrade.
  • AustinRuadhain
    AustinRuadhain Posts: 2,566 Member
    @Sunshinelinzee - I get a lot of bang out of my Garmin Vivosmart HR. It's way less expensive (under $100) than the Apple Watch and has all the features I want: sturdy, easy to use, step tracking, heart rate, activity tracking, integration with MFP, its own social site so I can do challenges and earn badges.
  • DrizztGirl82
    DrizztGirl82 Posts: 85 Member
    I personally love my Fitbit Charge 3. I also don't expect it to be 100% accurate. But the couple times I tested various features, they seem to be pretty close at least close enough for me. I like the features on it and having it helps keep me motivated. :)
  • Suuzanne37
    Suuzanne37 Posts: 114 Member
    I had a Fitbit Alta and loved it; especially the challenges with friends and over the years to correctly determine my TDEE.

    I currently have an Apple Watch and I am also quite happy with it although it’s focus is a little different from the Fitbit.

    One advantage that the Fitbit has over the Apple Watch is its easier to link to Fitnesspal.

    Regarding cost, when I bought the Fitbit, it was under $200 Canadian Dollars.

    My recommendation is choose based on the features that are most important to you within your chosen spending limit.
  • fuzzylop_
    fuzzylop_ Posts: 100 Member
    If you just want basic activity training, then I think a fitbit would be ideal. That said, your phone is probably adequate for that purpose as well.
  • fuzzylop_
    fuzzylop_ Posts: 100 Member
    Suuzanne37 wrote: »
    One advantage that the Fitbit has over the Apple Watch is its easier to link to Fitnesspal.

    How so? Isn't it basically identical? I never noticed a difference between connecting apple vs fitbit to mfp.
  • Womona
    Womona Posts: 1,582 Member
    I’ve always trusted the Polar heart rate monitors. They do a more accurate account of calories burned than a Fitbit.
  • simcon1
    simcon1 Posts: 209 Member
    I had about 3 Fitbits (One, Blaze, Ionic) over many years and loved them, and then one lost my run during my 5K PR (where I was very curious about splits), so I moved on to a Garmin, which tends to be more popular with runners. But for syncing and estimating calorie burn, Fitbit worked for me for a long time. I also think the Apple Watch seems trickier (partner has one).
  • CoreyLust
    CoreyLust Posts: 42 Member
    I've been using these things since they first came out. I can recommend the Garmin Fenix 5 for accuracy - assuming you set it up correctly. Fitbits are a monumental waste of type. They horribly over calculate your calorie burn.
  • Sunshinelinzee
    Sunshinelinzee Posts: 49 Member
    Thank you everyone....I’m going to check out Garmin too. I honestly didn’t even know they made trackers.
  • Suuzanne37
    Suuzanne37 Posts: 114 Member
    fuzzylop_ wrote: »
    Suuzanne37 wrote: »
    One advantage that the Fitbit has over the Apple Watch is its easier to link to Fitnesspal.

    How so? Isn't it basically identical? I never noticed a difference between connecting apple vs fitbit to mfp.

    See comment by @heybales re: syncing.
  • Phirrgus
    Phirrgus Posts: 1,902 Member
    I'm also quite happy with my fitbit. Maxematics pretty much covered it, so I'll just leave it at that.
  • HokieBrad
    HokieBrad Posts: 1,670 Member
    I have used a Garmin, AppleWatch and Fitbit. They all have plus and minus. Of the 3 the AppleWatch was my least favorite, mainly due to the connectivity to MFP. I wasn’t in to all the extra bells and whistles. Passed that on to my daughter and currently use the Fitbit Versa. Love the simplicity of it as it does exactly what I want. Track steps and keep my exercise tracked and tells me what time it is!!! Consider battery life the Fitbit is much better. Liked my Garmin as it was my first tracker. I personally didn’t like Garmins App.
  • wenrob
    wenrob Posts: 125 Member
    I have had a string of FitBits (Zip, Charge HR, Alta, Charge 2, Flex 2) and liked them all for various reasons. Never thought I needed a smart watch and then my family bought me an Apple Watch for Christmas. Man, I love the damn thing. I sync through Pacer and so far it has served me well.

    That said, it sounds like you’d be happy with maybe a Charge 3 or equivalent tracker.

    As far as claims that they’re all highly inaccurate I disagree. I’ve found all I’ve used to be excellent tools and pretty spot on. Do I need them? Not really. I lost and maintained for years without them. But, having that data in front of me has been immensely helpful and pretty much has taken all the guesswork out of things. It just makes things easier IMO.
  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,593 Member
    I have the inspire HR that I pair with my phones GPS. I love it
  • CoreyLust
    CoreyLust Posts: 42 Member
    edited May 2019
    Maxematics wrote: »
    CoreyLust wrote: »
    I've been using these things since they first came out. I can recommend the Garmin Fenix 5 for accuracy - assuming you set it up correctly. Fitbits are a monumental waste of type. They horribly over calculate your calorie burn.

    This isn't true at all. Many users here have Fitbits and they have been accurate enough for them, myself included. There have also been reports of fitness trackers, specifically Fitbit, over/underestimating by ~ 200 calories which isn't too bad considering all of the variables.

    No fitness tracker will be 100% accurate because that's highly improbable but those who claim that a fitness tracker is horribly off usually did not use the device properly and blame the device when it comes down to user error. Examples include:
    • people who take the TDEE given by Fitbit and eat that on top of their MFP/other site's calculated calories.
    • people who take exercise calories from Fitbit, manually add them to MFP/other site's calculated calories, and eat all of them back when calories burned during exercise on Fitbit are gross, not net (they include your BMR).
    • people who don't weigh their food so they are actually eating much more than they think.

    For people who can interpret data properly, understand how to use the technology, and are honest about their calorie intake, fitness trackers can be a useful tool. They are not perfect nor are they mandatory but they can really help someone understand how physical activity, even walking, can affect their TDEE.

    Most places in the diet world shout from the rooftops how women must eat 1200 calories to lose weight. I used to buy into that mentality before I started using my Fitbit and joined MFP. I'm 5'3", 109 pounds, and I maintain on 2000 to 2300 calories per day on average. I would have been starving myself and it would have taken a much longer period of adjustment in realizing how much I need to eat without the help of my fitness tracker.

    Fit bit was sued for 35 million and lost in a class action suit over their inaccuracy. Nuff said. Oh and I know exactly how this stuff works. Cheers.