Fitbit or fitness tracker?

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Hey everyone.. I'm looking to get a fitness tracker, just wondering peoples thoughts on them and if someone could recommend one that is pretty accurate on the numbers, without costing like 200 dollars lol!

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  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,476 Member
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    Accurate on what? Count your steps? Calories, and related to that: does it have a HR sensor it uses for that and what kind of exercise are you doing? Sorry, we need a lot more info. Generally, most big brand should work good on some aspects. But then individual people come into the equation as well: if your heartrate happens to be naturally higher than average you might get crazy burns on the device that simple don't exist. I wish my 20km hikes would really burn the 1500 calories my fitbit tells me I burned. But that's rubbish of course.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,558 Member
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    Any reputable brand will produce a "close enough" calorie estimate for the majority of people, one that's a little far off for a few people, or one that is quite for off for a very rare few people.

    So, pick a brand and model based on features you need or want, appearance of the device if that matters to you, and price.

    Some people have the illusion that these devices measure their calorie burn. They don't. They estimate it: It's just a very personalized estimate, but still (under the covers) based on statistical formulas from research. It will give decent results for people close to the average of the study population, but not as close for some. That's the nature of statistical estimates.

    Fitness trackers can be a very useful tool, but it's important to realize exactly what you're buying. :)

    Fitbit and Garmin are big and reasonably respected brands, but there are others.

    Best wishes!
  • TayaCurragh
    TayaCurragh Posts: 709 Member
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    Personally I love my Fitbit. I used to have a charge 2 but it recently broke after many years and I have replaced it with the Inspire HR.

    If you want more smartwatch like qualities you're looking at the higher price range, but I'm happy with the features of my inspire and it was only £70.
  • ashesnposies333
    ashesnposies333 Posts: 59 Member
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    I got my fitbit verse lite for $119 esrly this year. And a friend of mine got the versa 2 for roughly the same price.
    As for accuracy, the step count is kind of awful! Any movement of your arm that you wear it on it counts as steps so a lot of people actually have opted for a larger band to wear it on their ankles. And the exercise detector has told me I was swimming while I was at work and riding a bike while I was mowing the lawn. I had to turn that feature off, but when I actually say I'm exercising and it logs my heart rate and movement for that exercise it does really well. And its waterproof so i clean it in the shower 🚿

    But it tracks my heart rate and sleep pretty accurately.