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I have bought my share of fitbit, Band etc. The only way to make wearables tolerable is making them less smart and more accurate. Accurately measure my heart r

by sremani 10y ago

I have bought my share of fitbit, Band etc. The only way to make wearables tolerable is making them less smart and more accurate. Accurately measure my heart rate and stop bugging me about a stupid text!

Johan-bjareholt 10y ago
Totally agree. The only wearable I have is a Xiaomi Band 2, and the only reason I use it is for its 18 day battery, detects when I go to sleep so I don't have to toggle it every night, that it vibrates when I get a call so I can have my phone on silent and has a clock. I rarely check how many steps I take even though that's what is supposed to be it's primary functionality. I use that wearable to make my life easier, not to interrupt me every time I get a notification, and I certainly don't want to charge it every few days.
trendia 10y ago
The new Charge costs more than the old one and doesn't have a GPS. Now I have to run with my phone on me to get accurate location data. They're regressing.
- CN7R 10y ago
  The charge 2 is the same price as the old one -- but I'd agree if they could put an actual gps tracker on a $150 watch -- like with polar m200 -- it'd be a better competitor to other fitness bands.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- Quppa 10y ago
  Only the Fitbit Surge has built-in GPS (the first generation Charge and Charge HR didn't). The Charge 2 does cost more at retail presently, however.
TarpitCarnivore 10y ago
This is why I've been eyeing a Garmin Vivoactive HR. I know people slam Garmin because they feel behind but if there is one thing they know it's accuracy. There's a reason they're the goto brand for cyclists, runners and triathletes. It's because they work reliably.
- akgerber 10y ago
  I have a Garmin band and, at the 6 month mark, it's starting claiming I'm climbing 50 banks of stairs a day. So they're not perfect either.
- noyesno 10y ago
  Consider also the Fenix 3 - it was plagued with software bugs when launched but the firmware is now stable and delivers what it says on the tin. You get a nice smartwatch and fitness tracker with GPS/GLONASS and good integration to other sensors (Bluetooth and ANT). Plus, as the icing on the cake: you can easily get a week or more of use with a single charge, if you don't use the GPS.
  - asimilator 10y ago
    I have a Fenix 3 HR, and unfortunately I couldn't disagree more. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Automatic sleep tracking is abysmal (regularly off by >4 hours, sometimes more). The wrist heart rate monitor tends to have inaccurate spikes at least once a day, and when the watch doesn't detect motion the wrist heart rate sensor is essentially turned off (sampling rate goes to greater than once every 30 minutes). Resting heart rate is calculated in at least 3 different ways in various parts of the UI (and none of them seem accurate). And then there's the tons and tons of bugs (and terrible iOS companion app). Honestly the hardware is ok, but I get the impression that Garmin just hasn't invested in (or doesn't know how to do) software. It's not worth the (very high) asking price in my opinion.
    - gamblor956 10y ago
      I have the Fenix 3 HR, and I couldn't disagree with you more. It works almost flawlessly. GPS pickup is less than 30 seconds in nearly all situations. The wrist-based HR is accurate to within 1-2 BPM during activities when measured against Wahoo Tickr and Polar heart-rate straps (but the flaw: it's slow to pick up sudden jumps in HR, such as during intervals). The battery lasts at least a week with 2 hours of active GPS use a day (and almost 2 weeks with battery saving features enabled and GLONASS off). I've dropped it on asphalt, concrete, and rock and it doesn't even have a scratch. My guess is that most of your problems are on the iOS end. Apple is notorious for breaking interoperability with wearables through iOS "updates" since the iWatch was released. Polar and Suunto watches also seem to have issues for iPhone users that don't crop up for people syncing their watches with their computers or Androids.
akeck 10y ago
My most reliable fit wearable so far has been my Wii U Fit Meter. It's about as smart as a Tamagotchi, but it gets the job done for me. Data xfer via IR instead of radio. CR2032 battery goes for a few months. I find it a clever balance of cheap tech and engineering trade-offs - very Nintendo in that regard.
vannevar 10y ago
...less smart and more accurate Yes---all of these failed and failing players keep trying to push some overly ambitious platform vision, and no one is focused on perfecting the health tracking app that is getting them in the door in the first place. And for god's sake, give us the option to keep our own data locally. I don't want the Cloud to know every time I go to the bathroom.

by sremani 10y ago

Johan-bjareholt 10y ago

Totally agree. The only wearable I have is a Xiaomi Band 2, and the only reason I use it is for its 18 day battery, detects when I go to sleep so I don't have to toggle it every night, that it vibrates when I get a call so I can have my phone on silent and has a clock. I rarely check how many steps I take even though that's what is supposed to be it's primary functionality. I use that wearable to make my life easier, not to interrupt me every time I get a notification, and I certainly don't want to charge it every few days.

trendia 10y ago

The new Charge costs more than the old one and doesn't have a GPS. Now I have to run with my phone on me to get accurate location data. They're regressing.

CN7R 10y ago
The charge 2 is the same price as the old one -- but I'd agree if they could put an actual gps tracker on a $150 watch -- like with polar m200 -- it'd be a better competitor to other fitness bands.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
Quppa 10y ago
Only the Fitbit Surge has built-in GPS (the first generation Charge and Charge HR didn't). The Charge 2 does cost more at retail presently, however.

TarpitCarnivore 10y ago

This is why I've been eyeing a Garmin Vivoactive HR. I know people slam Garmin because they feel behind but if there is one thing they know it's accuracy. There's a reason they're the goto brand for cyclists, runners and triathletes. It's because they work reliably.

akgerber 10y ago
I have a Garmin band and, at the 6 month mark, it's starting claiming I'm climbing 50 banks of stairs a day. So they're not perfect either.
noyesno 10y ago
Consider also the Fenix 3 - it was plagued with software bugs when launched but the firmware is now stable and delivers what it says on the tin. You get a nice smartwatch and fitness tracker with GPS/GLONASS and good integration to other sensors (Bluetooth and ANT). Plus, as the icing on the cake: you can easily get a week or more of use with a single charge, if you don't use the GPS.
- asimilator 10y ago
  I have a Fenix 3 HR, and unfortunately I couldn't disagree more. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Automatic sleep tracking is abysmal (regularly off by >4 hours, sometimes more). The wrist heart rate monitor tends to have inaccurate spikes at least once a day, and when the watch doesn't detect motion the wrist heart rate sensor is essentially turned off (sampling rate goes to greater than once every 30 minutes). Resting heart rate is calculated in at least 3 different ways in various parts of the UI (and none of them seem accurate). And then there's the tons and tons of bugs (and terrible iOS companion app). Honestly the hardware is ok, but I get the impression that Garmin just hasn't invested in (or doesn't know how to do) software. It's not worth the (very high) asking price in my opinion.
  - gamblor956 10y ago
    I have the Fenix 3 HR, and I couldn't disagree with you more. It works almost flawlessly. GPS pickup is less than 30 seconds in nearly all situations. The wrist-based HR is accurate to within 1-2 BPM during activities when measured against Wahoo Tickr and Polar heart-rate straps (but the flaw: it's slow to pick up sudden jumps in HR, such as during intervals). The battery lasts at least a week with 2 hours of active GPS use a day (and almost 2 weeks with battery saving features enabled and GLONASS off). I've dropped it on asphalt, concrete, and rock and it doesn't even have a scratch. My guess is that most of your problems are on the iOS end. Apple is notorious for breaking interoperability with wearables through iOS "updates" since the iWatch was released. Polar and Suunto watches also seem to have issues for iPhone users that don't crop up for people syncing their watches with their computers or Androids.

akeck 10y ago

My most reliable fit wearable so far has been my Wii U Fit Meter. It's about as smart as a Tamagotchi, but it gets the job done for me. Data xfer via IR instead of radio. CR2032 battery goes for a few months. I find it a clever balance of cheap tech and engineering trade-offs - very Nintendo in that regard.

vannevar 10y ago

...less smart and more accurate Yes---all of these failed and failing players keep trying to push some overly ambitious platform vision, and no one is focused on perfecting the health tracking app that is getting them in the door in the first place. And for god's sake, give us the option to keep our own data locally. I don't want the Cloud to know every time I go to the bathroom.