Fitbit vs Apple Watch

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Katherinelittle24
Katherinelittle24 Posts: 63 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I was wondering, which one do you prefer? Fitbit, or Apple Watch. I really want to get one soon. I have always had fitbit and I like fitbit but since I have an IPHONE now, I was thinking about getting an Apple Watch but I cant tell which one would be a good fit for me, they both seem exactly alike. Is there any real difference? I was looking at the new Apple Series 6 and also kind of interested in the Fitbit Versa 3. Any comments on either one of these?

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  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
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    I really liked Fitbit, great customer support and it got me moving. Yay! I have an Apple Watch now, has a ton more features and works great with all the Mac stuff I own. Cost would be the biggest difference between fitbit and Apple. To add, Apple has the absolute customer service. They suck. I kind of miss the simplicity of fitbit.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    honestly (unless money is no object in your world) id start with a fitbit. see how you like it. see how you use it. see what benefits it brings to your life (or not!)

    if you love it, later on you can upgrade to an apple watch. i have an iPhone and a fitbit. i see no need to pay (a lot more) for something that I have that works just fine and does what I want and need it to, at a lower price point.
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
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    L1zardQueen wrote: »
    I really liked Fitbit, great customer support and it got me moving. Yay! I have an Apple Watch now, has a ton more features and works great with all the Mac stuff I own. Cost would be the biggest difference between fitbit and Apple. To add, Apple has the absolute customer service. They suck. I kind of miss the simplicity of fitbit.

    Edit. The WORST customer service. Lol
  • anthophora
    anthophora Posts: 74 Member
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    I have a Fitbit Charge 3 and will not be getting another one. In particular, I found the mileage to be really off for my bike rides and runs. The Fitbit was indicating that I went further and thus faster than I really had. Further, this was not consistent so that sometimes it was 10% off and others 15%. I checked against google maps and my car. The Fitbit was the problem. I tried to get help on this but to no avail. It is a known problem. And yes, I linked my Fitbit to my phone so that it could use cellular to track when I ran.

    So I am just using my Fitbit for steps until it dies (it seems ok for steps). I use MapMyRun on my phone for runs.
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,224 Member
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    I have both (Apple Watch series 4 and an assortment of Fitbits).

    Fitbit is less expensive by quite a bit. It also has substantially longer battery life. Fitbit also has weekly challenges that are much more accessible in my circle (zero of my IRL friends have Apple Watch and only a couple online, where I’m in 3-5 Fitbit challenges per week) and the social side seems more robust (including forums and feeds and things).

    Apple Watch is a far superior product. I have had exactly 0 Bluetooth issues with my Apple Watch in 2.5 years (vs 5-8 issues per day with every Fitbit device and multiple phones). The Apple Watch has actual apps-not just (sketchy) notifications. At one point I was making a connection at LAX and the only place my terminal and gate showed up was on my Apple Watch (not my phone and not even the LAX screens until I was at the right terminal).

    Apple Watch has the ability to respond to texts, answer calls, play music from your phone, give directions with haptic feedback (vibrations on your wrist) when you should be turning, record a GPS activity without having to have your phone, has fitness goals that are far more flexible and appropriate than Fitbit, and roughly a million other things that I don’t use it for (like camera remote, etc.). Fitbit does none of these things.

    Also all the Apple Watch data syncs to Apple health (which is more comprehensive and available than Fitbit). Lastly, the workout data from Apple Watch is a touch better than Fitbit and the trending data is far superior.

    Apple Watch battery is advertised as 18 hours. It has no built in sleep tracking because the battery isn’t supposed to last that long. Many people (including me) are able to get 24 hours out of an Apple watch (although I often have to charge it a bit before I go to bed). I am almost never more than 30 ft from my phone (so my watch has cellular but I almost never use it-so that extends life as well) and I don’t have the most common notifications displaying and I don’t use Siri and a bunch of other stuff. So just realize the battery life will be a vast difference.

    On the sleek thing-there are some apps you can add to the Apple Watch that do sleep tracking, but it’s not built in like it is with a Fitbit. Apple assumes you’ll be charging the watch overnight.

    Apple Watch is a phenomenal smart watch. If you don’t mind the less than optimal battery life, and you have the cash, I would go with the Apple Watch without question.

    I wear both because my brother has a Fitbit and it’s important (for my inner 6 year old) that I beat his step count.
  • panda4153
    panda4153 Posts: 417 Member
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    You would have to pry my Apple Watch from my cold dead hands, and then I would seriously haunt the person who tried to take it lol....I love my Apple Watch.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,150 Member
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    Garmin is another option. Maybe you've considered and rejected those because reasons, which is fine.
  • Theo166
    Theo166 Posts: 2,564 Member
    edited January 2021
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    Apple makes a better 'smart watch' but I prefer FitBit, it's way cheaper (Versa Lite) and does what I need. I don't want all the 'smart' features on my wrist.

    But if I had other Apple products, I can see getting their watch as well.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,393 Member
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    I'd not buy either. Apple: the battery is the issue for me. I don't want a watch i need to charge every day.
    Fitbit: they've been bought by google and are likely not supporting their current products properly anymore. They've stopped fixing some errors on the iOS app last summer. Looks like they'll be switching over to a Google OS with new models
  • saintor1
    saintor1 Posts: 376 Member
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    You can get a cheaper Apple Watch 4 or 5, if 6 sounds expensive. I would not go with the Fitbit option if you already have an Iphone - the Apple Watch is a better overall package with better BPM accuracy. Being in the Android's world, I am pleased with my Samsung Galaxy Smartwatch 46mm. Almost as well-rounded as the Apple IMO. Yes, recharging is a daily thing; I was reluctant to get another device to charge often, but I got used to it and the reward is better than this little annoyance. Not impressed with he MapMyRun app that doesn'even report average BPM for exercise. I prefer and use Samsung Health.
  • bcalvanese
    bcalvanese Posts: 32 Member
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    Katherinelittle24 wrote: »
    I was wondering, which one do you prefer? Fitbit, or Apple Watch. I really want to get one soon. I have always had fitbit and I like fitbit but since I have an IPHONE now, I was thinking about getting an Apple Watch but I cant tell which one would be a good fit for me, they both seem exactly alike. Is there any real difference? I was looking at the new Apple Series 6 and also kind of interested in the Fitbit Versa 3. Any comments on either one of these?

    I have tested the fitbit versa 3 as well as the fitbit sense. I have also tested the Apple Watch series 6.

    If you want a smartwatch with basic fitness features then the apple watch is the best smart watch on the planet IMO.

    If you want a device mainly for fitnes but with some basic smartwatch features then take a look at Garmin. They have devices in every price range and their devices have more features and are more accurate than fitbit devices. They also have better battery life.

    here is a link to the Garmin website, and if you click on the "compare" button, you can compare the features...

    https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/c10002-p1.html

  • Frodobaggins29
    Frodobaggins29 Posts: 70 Member
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    Fitbit - unreliable tech keeps having faults , inaccurate , needs replaced every year.

    Iwatch/ Apple Watch- very accurate, reliable, lasts for years and lots of new updates always improving.

    I’ve been told garmin is the best from a few reliable sources if you want something cheaper than iwatch, but you can always pick up a cheaper second hand iwatch 🤷🏻‍♀️
  • 2furryfriendz
    2furryfriendz Posts: 283 Member
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    I've had a fitbit and I have Apple Watch 3. My watch although was more expensive, has lasted longer than my fitbit. Since you have an iPhone, it is more useful in many more ways than just a fitness tracker so you get more out of it. I like the different options it gives you for exercises to track. I am not 100% confident with the calories burned but I use it as a guideline (I don't often eat my exercise calories). I like my techie stuff so I vote for Apple Watch.
  • HerNameIsMischief
    HerNameIsMischief Posts: 158 Member
    edited January 2021
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    bcalvanese wrote: »
    I have tested the fitbit versa 3 as well as the fitbit sense. I have also tested the Apple Watch series 6.

    What didn't you like about the Versa 3?

  • HerNameIsMischief
    HerNameIsMischief Posts: 158 Member
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    Duck_Puddle wrote: »
    Apple Watch has the ability to respond to texts, answer calls, play music from your phone, give directions with haptic feedback (vibrations on your wrist) when you should be turning, record a GPS activity without having to have your phone, has fitness goals that are far more flexible and appropriate than Fitbit, and roughly a million other things that I don’t use it for (like camera remote, etc.). Fitbit does none of these things.

    I just got a Fitbit Versa 3 and you can do everything you listed above (except the fitness goal part). The Versa came out last fall, so maybe you used the Versa 2.

    I've been setting it up and disabling some of the features like voice assist and phone/text. I agree, these phones are loaded with stuff I don't want or need. A lot of the extra features you can only get through Fitbit Premium, but I don't want a fitness coach, will probably never use any of the challenges and goals, and already gave a dirty look to the "motivational" features, as well as junk like recordings of falling water or peaceful forests to help fall asleep.

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