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I was about to buy a new fitbit as my current one is basically dead after 4 years. But the way Google handles things they buy doesn't inspire confidence. I gues

I was about to buy a new fitbit as my current one is basically dead after 4 years. But the way Google handles things they buy doesn't inspire confidence. I guess I'll investigate others and probably end up with an Apple Watch.

ocdtrekkie 6y ago
I'm waiting for PineTime, personally. My significant other just switched from a Fitbit Ionic to an Apple Watch SE and definitely likes the upgrade. Battery life is your biggest loss if you leave Fitbit, almost nobody was making smartwatches as battery efficient.
- erinnh 6y ago
  How long do they last? Personally, Ive been using Garmin smartwatches for a few years now and they last about a week, with O2 sat scanner enabled over the night. Definitely been happy with them.
  - ocdtrekkie 6y ago
    New Fitbits are similar. (Battery life in all devices decays over time.) Your Apple Watch or Google Wear OS will give you a day or two.
  - miguelrochefort 6y ago
    I get 24-36 hours on my Colmi P8 (same hardware as PineTime), with step tracking and heart rate monitoring turned off. The PineTime is a huge downgrade from pretty much everything on the market. It's only good, at least for now, as a platform to prototype on.
    - Avamander 6y ago
      > The PineTime is a huge downgrade from pretty much everything on the market. Not really, no. Very popular Mi Band 1 up to Mi Band 5 are very much on-par in terms of hardware. The software just has to catch up and that's probably coming. If the project is successful, a PineTime 2 with some minor HW upgrades would be doable. Then it would take much less time because now there's a community and software out there that can be reused.
- cosmojg 6y ago
  RIP Pebble. Their watches lasted over a week on a single charge. Fortunately, my Pebble Time Steel is still ticking, but it's only a matter of time before it breaks somehow. I already cracked the screen. :(
  - user-the-name 6y ago
    That doesn't sound very impressive, my Fitbit Charge 3 lasts a week or two easily.
    - zaarn 6y ago
      My new and fresh Pebble did that too. But after 3 years, it's lost a lot of charge on the battery, so it's more like 4-5 days now.
- PurpleFoxy 6y ago
  I’m not sure the pine time will be powerful enough to actually use. Iirc it has a 64mhz cpu and 3.5mb storage space. It looks like more of a toy for developers than something you would use normally. The mi band might suit your needs better.
  - Avamander 6y ago
    > The mi band might suit your needs better. The Mi Band 4 has a 96MHz MCU and not a lot more storage. > I’m not sure the pine time will be powerful enough to actually use. I suspect you're grossly overestimating the compute power needed for a lot of the features smartwatches currently have because you're not very familiar with ecosystem.
breck 6y ago
I have the Versa 2 and absolutely love it. Just gave the Apple Watch another spin but returned it. If you want an iPad on your wrist that's the way to go. If you just want health features I'd recommend the FitBits. Will probably upgrade to the Versa 3 or Sense, but the 2 is just awesome. I've also had the Charge 2, Charge, Ionic, Microsoft Band 2, and Microsoft Band 1. Versa 2 was a major leap. Finally, I still consider these things early adopter territory, but in 10 years I think everyone and their dog will be wearing one.
- that_guy_iain 6y ago
  That is the thing, FitBit does exactly what I need. Tho considering my last one lasted me 4 years, even if I get a new one and Google destroy everything I'll still have 3-4 years of usage so it might be worth still buying a new FitBit.
silicon2401 6y ago
Same. The Google brand is a kiss of incoming death as far as I'm concerned. They were in fact one of the primary motivators for my beginning to work on a personal archive last year. I'm glad I did, not a few months after I bought some hard drives, google photos announced their service changes with no longer allowing unlimited storage. I really think they made/buy some great products, their management just makes it crazy to me to have a dependency on something they own.

ocdtrekkie 6y ago

I'm waiting for PineTime, personally. My significant other just switched from a Fitbit Ionic to an Apple Watch SE and definitely likes the upgrade. Battery life is your biggest loss if you leave Fitbit, almost nobody was making smartwatches as battery efficient.

erinnh 6y ago
How long do they last? Personally, Ive been using Garmin smartwatches for a few years now and they last about a week, with O2 sat scanner enabled over the night. Definitely been happy with them.
- ocdtrekkie 6y ago
  New Fitbits are similar. (Battery life in all devices decays over time.) Your Apple Watch or Google Wear OS will give you a day or two.
- miguelrochefort 6y ago
  I get 24-36 hours on my Colmi P8 (same hardware as PineTime), with step tracking and heart rate monitoring turned off. The PineTime is a huge downgrade from pretty much everything on the market. It's only good, at least for now, as a platform to prototype on.
  - Avamander 6y ago
    > The PineTime is a huge downgrade from pretty much everything on the market. Not really, no. Very popular Mi Band 1 up to Mi Band 5 are very much on-par in terms of hardware. The software just has to catch up and that's probably coming. If the project is successful, a PineTime 2 with some minor HW upgrades would be doable. Then it would take much less time because now there's a community and software out there that can be reused.
cosmojg 6y ago
RIP Pebble. Their watches lasted over a week on a single charge. Fortunately, my Pebble Time Steel is still ticking, but it's only a matter of time before it breaks somehow. I already cracked the screen. :(
- user-the-name 6y ago
  That doesn't sound very impressive, my Fitbit Charge 3 lasts a week or two easily.
  - zaarn 6y ago
    My new and fresh Pebble did that too. But after 3 years, it's lost a lot of charge on the battery, so it's more like 4-5 days now.
PurpleFoxy 6y ago
I’m not sure the pine time will be powerful enough to actually use. Iirc it has a 64mhz cpu and 3.5mb storage space. It looks like more of a toy for developers than something you would use normally. The mi band might suit your needs better.
- Avamander 6y ago
  > The mi band might suit your needs better. The Mi Band 4 has a 96MHz MCU and not a lot more storage. > I’m not sure the pine time will be powerful enough to actually use. I suspect you're grossly overestimating the compute power needed for a lot of the features smartwatches currently have because you're not very familiar with ecosystem.

breck 6y ago

I have the Versa 2 and absolutely love it. Just gave the Apple Watch another spin but returned it. If you want an iPad on your wrist that's the way to go. If you just want health features I'd recommend the FitBits. Will probably upgrade to the Versa 3 or Sense, but the 2 is just awesome. I've also had the Charge 2, Charge, Ionic, Microsoft Band 2, and Microsoft Band 1. Versa 2 was a major leap. Finally, I still consider these things early adopter territory, but in 10 years I think everyone and their dog will be wearing one.

that_guy_iain 6y ago
That is the thing, FitBit does exactly what I need. Tho considering my last one lasted me 4 years, even if I get a new one and Google destroy everything I'll still have 3-4 years of usage so it might be worth still buying a new FitBit.

silicon2401 6y ago

Same. The Google brand is a kiss of incoming death as far as I'm concerned. They were in fact one of the primary motivators for my beginning to work on a personal archive last year. I'm glad I did, not a few months after I bought some hard drives, google photos announced their service changes with no longer allowing unlimited storage. I really think they made/buy some great products, their management just makes it crazy to me to have a dependency on something they own.