Wifey had been considering wanting a Fitness tracker that has a small display screen that would do simple functions like time, show who's calling her phone, etc... she's borrowing a Fitbit charge from our sister in law now and we're thinking of just getting something simple like that. Then her friend showed her the Apple Watch series 1. Great... so now she's kindve digging that. She's deep in the iOS ecosystem so the Apple Watch definitely had the most compatibility with her iPhone/iPad. Mostly just curious as to what people's experiences have been. How useful are they really or is less really better here. My wife even admitted she'd never thought she'd want a smart watch but now is digging the idea.
If she's after a serious workout-only type device, check out a Microsoft Band 2. You can set it up with a list of exercises of your choice, or add your own. Once you're at the gym, just follow the routine, and press the button to keep track of your sets and such. It also keeps track of heart rate, steps and there are running and bicycle functions as well. You can enable the GPS function and then look at the data later. It all gets uploaded to a Microsoft platform and where you can keep track of your progress. And, it tells you who's calling and shows texts.
I have the Apple Watch series 2. Water proof and GPS are the big things over series 1. If she's in the iOS ecosystem it's an easy choice. Great fitness tracker that allows me to control my music from it and tells me the time. Does a lot of other cool sh!t I'm told but I have no use for any of that.
I'm a Samsung / S Health user, so the Samsung Gear Fit 2 was the best choice for me. My only gripes are that it is a little spotty with the GPS and doesn't automatically upload runs to Strava consistently. Otherwise, it's perfect. (Just reread she's a iOS person...nevermind)
Bumping this thread. What are the latest and greatest smart watch/fitness trackers? Something not too bulky and you can wear when you ride.
Garmin fenix 5 plus. I went through Sony, Polar, fit it. This one rocks. Last a week doing two workouts a day. Don't need phone it plays my Spotify play lists directly to my Bluetooth earbud. Can use a waterproof hrm for tri training and also shows step oscillation and stride length/balance.
If I were to choose a wearable device it would be a Garmin for sure. I use a 520 plus on the bikes with a HRM strap and love it.
I've actually had the Fenix 5 on my Amazon wish list for a while now. I just wasn't sure how it would be on the bike since the pics make it look bulky. Good to hear from fellow riders it's a good buy .
I've had a Samsung Gear Frontier since Christmas and I like what it does. No, it doesn't have everything that the Garmin Fenix does but it's also $100's less expensive. I wear mine 24/7. I love the sleep tracking mechanism.
I keep debating between a watch and a chest strap/bike computer combo, and the only solution i reach is to have both... I like that the watch tracks my steps and stairs climbed, and is easy enough to check while running. But i want my speed/distance/HR/cadence displayed in front of me while cycling. Cheaper watch, good chest strap, decent bike computer. I think. *edit - currently wearing a garmin vivoactive HR 3 (i think). It’s old and crude, but it works.
Things I don't like about the Garmin fenix 5+. Sleep tracking is not as good as fitbit. Cannot do HRV test without chest strap, however they do a stress daily analysis that appears to take that into account. The music does drop out sometimes when wearing the watch on my left wrist and Jabra ear buds. Nothing bad but it will drop out if I'm stretching. Heart rate while mountain biking looses sync, I wear a HRM tri chest strap so no big deal but my Polar m600 did a better job. The maps and navigation are mind blowing. No phone, pre loaded maps in middle of nowhere Canada and it had all the trails and navigated me to a park.
I am wearing a Garmin 645 (non music) and use it for running, bicycle (indoors and outdoors), with chest strap and without. I can strap it to the handlebars and use the watch as a dash with a heart strap, and I can wear the watch over a sleeved running jersey with the same heart strap. Or just on the wrist without the heart strap. The 645 is functional for a Tri watch, but I'm not a swimmer so there you go. I compared the 645 to the Fenix and the Vivo; too far out of my budget for the Fenix, and not the right options for the Vivo (any model). I also didn't want a touch screen or slider on the side, as I'm a sweaty dude in the best situation, and with sweaty fingers (or water on the watch face or slider), the watch didn't seem functional. Look at dcrainmaker.com and look for his comparisons. I used his analysis and recommendations to select my 645, and I wear this thing every day in spite owning a couple of nice (for me) Seiko auto watches.
Wound up going with the same watch, I like how it looks n feels on my wrist, meaning just the right size. Not sure I know how to use all the features yet but hope to soon once the weather breaks I plan on using it for cycling/mt biking and wanna see how the GPS works. Major upgrade from my mono-tone Fitbit Surge. To the O/P, my wife loves her Fitbit Versa as does a former colleague of mine.
I have a fitbit blaze and my wife and I love ours. My son has the latest Gen 4 Iwatch. It depends on what is important to you. Both do pretty much the same thing, tell time, answer calls, see text messages, control music, count steps. However, the primary reason I bought the fitbit was to monitor my sleep patterns and heart rate while sleeping. The Iwatch does not do that. The fitbit is also very easy to set what type of workout you are going to do and is customizable to many workouts. The Phone app is easy to use and also has vibrate alarm and timers. The only drawback on the Fitbit blaze is it is not waterproof, so I put it on the charger when I shower. It holds a charge almost a week also. Much cheaper then the Iwatch. The latest gen Fitbit is also water proof now. When my Blaze craps out I will get the next gen. I have had mine two years and only had to replace the watch bands as I am pretty active.
Let me know how your battery life is working out. My son got the same watch too and like me, the battery seems to have a mind of its own. Sometimes it lasts for a couple of days, others it juices out in less than 24. Seems it's an issue if you check online. Other than that, I love the fitness tracking. Makes me get off my ass and move!
My fenix 2 finally gave up, so I’m in the market also. Having a difficult time justifying the “smart” features since I don’t wear it unless I’m running. The music feature may change my mind.
So far, I don't seem to be experiencing any battery life issues, other than maybe the first day or two I had it, constantly playing/exploring the features. It seems to get an easy 2-3 days of normal use, utilizing maybe 25-30% each day. However, I do tend to turn it off in the late evening if I know I'm in for the night, so maybe I'm cheating, battery life wise??? I just don't see any good reason to keep it on if I'm not wearing it, esp since I place my cell on the charging pad on my end table when I turn in. I kinda like that 'keep moving' feature it has! The one thing I'm having to get used to now is their S Health format, I was kinda used to Fitbit's format.
Yeah, "Keep Moving" kicks me in the ass all the time! I'll get up and jump around a little because of it. I keep mine on at night to track my sleep. For years I thought I was getting crap sleep but this watch shows that I'm actually doing OK. I've also set my daily steps to 6000 but my actual goal is 10K plus. As goofy as it seems, I'm getting in better shape simply because of this watch.
If you’re a serious cyclist a chest strap and computer are a must. The watches don’t really measure HR that well for long periods on the bike, if they have the battery life. On a bike you want to watch other parameters also. Check out the Lezyne computers. I have one they’re fantastic, much prefer it to Garmin’s stuff. Excellent service too. I had a problem with one that was out of warranty so they couldn’t replace for free, but I mailed it to them and they fixed it. I have a Garmin Vivosmart HR+ which was their first GPS fitness tracker. I really like it but it’s been really finicky about GPS acquisition the past year. Garmin helped me fix it but now it’s back to taking forever to acquire GPS. The data sync from the phone is supposed to send the satellite ephemeris data but it doesn’t seem to take. Battery has also become wonky with inconsistent life lately. This thing is a few years old maybe they’ve improved it since.
