Activity trackers

[Dave Davenport]

Mrs D has hinted that she'd like a Fitbit type gadget for Christmas, I've no idea how they actually work and whether they're of any use, I see some have a HR monitor and some don't.
She does exercise classes at our local sports centre most days and cycles a couple of times a week.
Any info gratefully received (before I shell out 90 odd quid).

 

[stephec]

There was a thread in one of the health forums a few months ago that was quite useful.

 

[stephec]

There was a thread in one of the health forums a few months ago that was quite useful.

This is the one -

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/best-fitness-band.168299/

 

[ufkacbln]

I used a FitBit one then upgraded to the VivoSmart

The Vivosmart was fine, until the strap cracked and was replaced, the replacement "bricked" and the second replacement lost the screen - still recorded and synced, but you could not read the unit... money refunded

The problem is where you wear them and the activity you perform

Cycling is poorly recorded. Changing from the Fitbit One (belt loop mounted) to the Vivosmart axed my daiy actvity by 6,000 steps. Ironically the VivoSmart was issuing "Move" prompts whist the FitBit was recording thousands of steps

Even weirder was a trip to Bergen

I use a GPS for geotagging my photos...

GPS recorded 11.8 miles of walking

Fitbit Charge recorded 12.000 steps and 6.3 miles

The Apple Watch recorded 2,400 steps and 3.2 miles


Accuracy is not good and in some cases it is spectacularly difficult to actually achieve daily targets on one whilst exceeding the target spectacularly on another

My favourite was a cycle ride from London to Portsmouth

Neither the VivoSmart or the Apple Watch reached my daily minimum yet the FitBitrecorded over 50,000 steps

 

[Tin Pot]

Fitbit Charge HR and Apple Watch differ in what they do but are generally the same from an activity point of view.

From an HR point of view I won't use either, having tried them both for several weeks. The cheapest Polar HR with a chest strap is more accurate and versatile than either. Particularly when it comes to cycling in my experience.

My wife had the charge HR for about six months, then wanted the Apple Watch. 3 months after that she doesn't use either.

So buy what you want to wear next Autumn is my advice.

 

[Piemaster]

DC Rainmaker does a lot of very deep reviews of fitness watches. He takes photos of his partner wearing them sometimes as they can be quite bulky, especially on a female wrist, Though there are some female specific versions of some watches, which may/may not be important to Mrs D. Think the HR equipped ones may be even worse on that front.
I'm still using a Garmin FR15 after 2 years and it suits my use well - I've not broken it and watches generally don't last too long in my job. Genuinely waterproof + reasonable battery life. No HR monitoring but I just pair it with a chest strap when running and the strap will pair happily with an Edge cycling computer too. It's recently been replaced with the FR25 which looks quite promising too.

 

[Dave Davenport]

Cheers all.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

I used a FitBit one then upgraded to the VivoSmart

The Vivosmart was fine, until the strap cracked and was replaced, the replacement "bricked" and the second replacement lost the screen - still recorded and synced, but you could not read the unit... money refunded

The problem is where you wear them and the activity you perform

Cycling is poorly recorded. Changing from the Fitbit One (belt loop mounted) to the Vivosmart axed my daiy actvity by 6,000 steps. Ironically the VivoSmart was issuing "Move" prompts whist the FitBit was recording thousands of steps

Even weirder was a trip to Bergen

I use a GPS for geotagging my photos...

GPS recorded 11.8 miles of walking

Fitbit Charge recorded 12.000 steps and 6.3 miles

The Apple Watch recorded 2,400 steps and 3.2 miles


Accuracy is not good and in some cases it is spectacularly difficult to actually achieve daily targets on one whilst exceeding the target spectacularly on another

My favourite was a cycle ride from London to Portsmouth

Neither the VivoSmart or the Apple Watch reached my daily minimum yet the FitBitrecorded over 50,000 steps

My Viviosmart was occasionally most generous. Just getting out of bed and making a cuppa could earn me a couple of miles.