A quick primer on Fitness Trackers

I’m intrigued that you consider anything over GPS, HRM, and syncing to Strava/Garmin/whatever that other one is as overkill but you want a Fenix 6x.

I’ll put that aside for a moment.

There are tons of features that people value in a fitness tracker-which include the things the tracker actually does, as well as budget, style, longevity, third party integrations (mfp, other tracking systems, health insurance incentive programs, etc).

Fitbit tends to be stylish, budget-friendly, excels in the social aspects and third party integration area. They lag way behind on reliability, longevity and advanced fitness features. They also have lagged in waterproof design (although I think all of their recent models are waterproof/swim-compatible).

Polar (not on your list) makes a lot of very good bang for the buck devices. Quality measurements and features in typically budget friendly packages. Someone looking for a device to get the job done reliably and with a lot of customization (for the price) would do very well with Polar. They lag behind in social areas and integrations And style. Holy cow do they make some ugly stuff (although they are getting better). Smart watch features are mediocre-on par with Garmin though.

Apple Watch is a phenomenal smart watch. Top of the heap of possibilities (if you have an iPhone). No other tracker on the market now or maybe ever will match Apple Watch smart Watch capabilities (if you have an iphone). Apple Watch is an ok tracker and a mediocre fitness training device (no real advanced fitness features). Battery life is atrocious compared to nearly every other device on the market.

Garmin makes a wide range of devices-from very basic tracking devices with almost no fitness tracking capabilities, up to $1000+ practically indestructible devices that will massage where your wallet used to be when you go for a run. Their advanced fitness features and capabilities are phenomenal (device dependent - the higher the price, the more features you’re going to get). Their devices tend to be extremely reliable and long lasting. They are making strides in the social and integration areas and some of their more recent offerings are making strides in the fashion department as well. Smart watch features are mediocre.

My current lineup includes:
Apple Watch (series 4 with cellular)
Fitbit charge 4 (GPS has worked completely 0 times since I’ve had it).
Polar Vantage V
Garmin Fenix 6s.

I’ve had I don’t even know how many trackers from each of these brands (and others) over the years.

I use Garmin for my training data/metrics, Polar as part of my suite to monitor training load and recovery, Apple Watch for anything smart watch, and Fitbit to make sure I beat my brother’s step count (and I’ve got a number of step challenges I’ve been part of for years - so that’s another social group).

There is no single best.

Also-strava only considers the moving time for my run activities that are imported from elsewhere. I think there’s a setting somewhere to change that but I’m not really a big strava user so I don’t care enough to look.


And my “advanced fitness features” is stuff like the ability to connect to sensors, assorted physiological/training metrics like vo2max, FTP, lactate threshold, training benefit of a workout, form analysis, etc, the kind of training data minutia that makes Garmin a leader and Fitbit.. not.

Duck_Puddle wrote: »

There are tons of features that people value in a fitness tracker-which include the things the tracker actually does, as well as budget, style, longevity, third party integrations (mfp, other tracking systems, health insurance incentive programs, etc).

Fitbit tends to be stylish, budget-friendly, excels in the social aspects and third party integration area. They lag way behind on reliability, longevity and advanced fitness features. They also have lagged in waterproof design (although I think all of their recent models are waterproof/swim-compatible).

Exactly. I don’t care about the social aspects in Fitbit, but I do care that my tracker (Inspire HR) is slim and light enough for 24/7 use, and with the metallic wristband I purchased it looks like a watch and not an ugly clunky fitness tracker. The fact that it’s comfortable and stylish enough for everyday wearing is one of the main criterion for choosing a tracker.

Other important features include all-day heart rate, step counts and calorie sync with MFP. I also have the Fitbit smartscale so I appreciate the sync features there, but if I didn’t have a Fitbit tracker I would probably be happy with a different smartscale.

I upgraded to a newer Fitbit model about a month ago and considered Apple watch as an alternative, but decided against it for three reasons: it’s too big and clunky, I don’t actually want a smartwatch to follow me everywhere (the amount of information I can read from the Fitbit wristband is so limited I can actually unplug while still wearing it), and it’s so much more expensive than the Fitbit that I couldn’t really argue for paying that much more without it being any better against my criteria.

M0n1KCR wrote: »

Hagensieker wrote: »

My final conclusion is that my favorite fitness watch is the Apple Watch. The major downside to it is the cost and the fear of whacking it against something. Too expensive and too nice to dent.

The Apple watch is really sturdy. I have a series 4; a car hit me while I was cycling - I went flying and landed on my apple watch (fortunately, I just got a few bruises). The point is, the edge of the apple watch got some scratches from the asphalt, nothing more. It kept working perfectly, and wanting to call the emergency service while I screamed at the driver for his recklessness. The scratches are not nice, of course, but I don't thing any other watch would have survived.

My Fenix 3 survived a very similar crash except it hit the hood of the car that got me. Bike did not survive. I spent the night in the ICU.