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I cringe thinking about people using an Apple Watch for healthcare. I had to give my Apple Watch 3 away because: 1) its heart rate monitoring while running wa

I cringe thinking about people using an Apple Watch for healthcare. I had to give my Apple Watch 3 away because: 1) its heart rate monitoring while running was terrible. I run in a HR range and AW3 wasn't accurate enough for that. It would show a rate too low and then impossibly high within a couple minutes... couldn't use it to pace myself. 2) battery life. If you run for 2 hours, you likely can't get through the day. I had to charge it every night. In the case of a medical monitoring device, I guess you'll have to settle for being monitored for only part of the day??? I ended up buying a Garmin Forerunner 935 and its HR is more accurate and battery life is much better. (But not saying Garmin is OK for health care either)

stcredzero 8y ago
I run in a HR range I'm not familiar with this term. I just had an image of our Human Resources officer shooting at people running on an indoor track with a nerf gun.
- appleiigs 8y ago
  When I run, I target a heart rate of 140 beats per minute, plus or minus 10 beats per minute.
- nradov 8y ago
  Endurance athletes commonly do workouts around heart rate ranges, sometimes holding a steady rate or sometimes cycling up and down between zones. Heart rates are typically divided into 5 zones based on the athlete's maximum rate. Targeting specific zones for specific amounts of time can be an effective way to boost aerobic or anaerobic capacity.
joegahona 8y ago
Also a runner -- I had slightly different problems to you: - The GPS on the watch was terrible, often dropping out for me, and leaving out a mile here and there. Is this an Apple thing? My Garmin is way more accurate. - I need an always-on mode. I realize it drains the battery, but I own the battery and that is my choice. I need to be able to glance down and see my pace immediately, not fiddle with my wrist flicking until it comes on. - I'm also bummed that there's no Spotify support yet, and that it's not a true standalone LTE device. I want to ditch my phone and have a watch only.
- appleiigs 8y ago
  Yes, GPS on AW was worse than Garmin in my experience. That also caused the speed pacing on AW to not be usable. The GPS difference with friend who has Garmin Fenix 5 was even noticeable on the map. AW had a jagged line, whereas the Garmin tracked the trail exactly. Often when glancing at my AW when running it would show the wrong screen. It would either show "now playing" music (even though I don't run with headphones) or my Strava app... when I actually wanted to see the heart rate app.
nradov 8y ago
This shouldn't be down voted, you are exactly correct. Optical heart rate monitors can do fairly well for casual use as long as the watch band is fairly snug. But all of them whether from Apple, Garmin, or another vendor lose accuracy when they're bouncing around on a sweaty wrist. This is just a fundamental limit of the technology.
- skunkworker 8y ago
  There are armbands for apple watch that make it feasible to wear during a workout. But if I am going on a long run nothing beats the Garmin chest heart monitor I use with my forerunner.

stcredzero 8y ago

I run in a HR range I'm not familiar with this term. I just had an image of our Human Resources officer shooting at people running on an indoor track with a nerf gun.

appleiigs 8y ago
When I run, I target a heart rate of 140 beats per minute, plus or minus 10 beats per minute.
nradov 8y ago
Endurance athletes commonly do workouts around heart rate ranges, sometimes holding a steady rate or sometimes cycling up and down between zones. Heart rates are typically divided into 5 zones based on the athlete's maximum rate. Targeting specific zones for specific amounts of time can be an effective way to boost aerobic or anaerobic capacity.

joegahona 8y ago

Also a runner -- I had slightly different problems to you: - The GPS on the watch was terrible, often dropping out for me, and leaving out a mile here and there. Is this an Apple thing? My Garmin is way more accurate. - I need an always-on mode. I realize it drains the battery, but I own the battery and that is my choice. I need to be able to glance down and see my pace immediately, not fiddle with my wrist flicking until it comes on. - I'm also bummed that there's no Spotify support yet, and that it's not a true standalone LTE device. I want to ditch my phone and have a watch only.

appleiigs 8y ago
Yes, GPS on AW was worse than Garmin in my experience. That also caused the speed pacing on AW to not be usable. The GPS difference with friend who has Garmin Fenix 5 was even noticeable on the map. AW had a jagged line, whereas the Garmin tracked the trail exactly. Often when glancing at my AW when running it would show the wrong screen. It would either show "now playing" music (even though I don't run with headphones) or my Strava app... when I actually wanted to see the heart rate app.

nradov 8y ago

This shouldn't be down voted, you are exactly correct. Optical heart rate monitors can do fairly well for casual use as long as the watch band is fairly snug. But all of them whether from Apple, Garmin, or another vendor lose accuracy when they're bouncing around on a sweaty wrist. This is just a fundamental limit of the technology.

skunkworker 8y ago
There are armbands for apple watch that make it feasible to wear during a workout. But if I am going on a long run nothing beats the Garmin chest heart monitor I use with my forerunner.