fitness trackers

[kfeusse]

I currently have a Garmin Vivofit 3.  I like it ok.  But my insurance company is giving me $100 off if I pick a new one from a list of about 8 trackers.  A couple are above the price point of $300 (so $200ish with my discount)...but to me that is a lot of money for a fitness tracker.  I am not a huge exercise person, but I do like knowing my level of activity each day, and a few other options on trackers.  That all being said, these are the ones I am most interested from the list.  If you own or have owned any of these will you please give me your opinion?  I am most interested in overall performance, battery life, accuracy of information and syncing to the app.  But any information is welcomed.  Thanks.

Fitbit Luxe

Garmin Lily

Garmin Venu SQ

Fitbit Versa 3

[TheReader]

I have the Fitbit Versa 2, and I would imagine the Versa 3 to be similar/better. 

Battery life is good; I don't use the "always on" function of the screen, but the battery lasts several days. And then recharges quickly. 

Syncing to the app is quick/easy. 

Accuracy of steps and things....not sure, but seems pretty accurate. I've never had anything to compare it to (I don't keep my phone on my person, so can't compare to that), but it definitely shows a higher step count on my more active days, etc.  And the heart rate stuff seems pretty accurate, as does the sleep record/sleep score. (that's maybe my favorite feature, the sleep score). 

Seeing/dismissing texts & calls from my wrist has been fantastic. 

The timer is clunky to use and I prefer the one on my phone for that. 

Otherwise I'm enjoying it. 

[kfeusse]

thank you for your response. 

[KungFuPanda]

I wouldn’t stress about an expensive tracker or accuracy of steps. None of them are accurate and none of them are accurately counting your steps. They’re measuring motion and trying to convert that to steps using an algorithm so they’re off a lot. I think they’re useful in seeing your general trend of motion and motivating you to consistently move more to push your numbers higher overall. However, any little thing like holding your water bottle in that hand, can throw the count. In bellydance, the higher the level of the class, the fewer steps you get. These people are trained to isolate movement so all that work your feet and hips are doing never gets transferred to your arms. Mine has a “dance mode” that I use for class. I’m not even sure how that’s calculated, but I get a better number than not using it. 😬

I’m too suspicious to let my insurance get involved with my personal fitness level in any way. We passed on their fitness tracker offer years ago. I just have something cheap from Amazon. It’s doing the job and if my activity is low for a few days, I do step up the effort so I can keep my weekly average up. I’m enjoying wearing a watch again and I like that I can see phone calls on it and hang up. I don’t tend to have my phone in my hand every moment, so I have caught a few calls because of it. 

The feature that reminds me to move does get me to leave my desk at work and do a few extra laps around the building. 

You may even get the best results with a plain pedometer. Some people get really obsessed with their Fitbit stats and it can be anxiety inducing to chase heart rate and sleep trend numbers that aren’t accurate on ANY of these things. 

[kfeusse]

I guess when I mentioned accuracy as a thing, I meant things like, when I am pushing a shopping cart, do I have to take my tracker off and put it in my pocket just to get steps...that sort of thing.  I really am not tied to the step count thing...but I do find interesting...it at least alerts me to how many days a week I am more active than others.  

The only reason I am looking at these trackers is the $100 discount...I am aware of cheaper ones on the market...but I thought I would start with this list first. 

I sort would like the feature of getting notified of a call or a text...that would be nice. Do these features also work with FB messenger? 

Thanks for your thoughts. 

[TheReader]

55 minutes ago, kfeusse said:

I guess when I mentioned accuracy as a thing, I meant things like, when I am pushing a shopping cart, do I have to take my tracker off and put it in my pocket just to get steps...that sort of thing.  I really am not tied to the step count thing...but I do find interesting...it at least alerts me to how many days a week I am more active than others.  

The only reason I am looking at these trackers is the $100 discount...I am aware of cheaper ones on the market...but I thought I would start with this list first. 

I sort would like the feature of getting notified of a call or a text...that would be nice. Do these features also work with FB messenger? 

Thanks for your thoughts. 

re: messenger, I had the choice to send those notifications to my Versa 2 or not; for me, I don't have it send notifications even to my phone at all, so I kept it off, but it did give me the choice. 

I don't know that it would count steps while pushing a grocery cart; I've not looked at it to check. I'm a dominant wrist wearer, and they warned me that it will count "every little movement" but it doesn't seem to (there is a setting where you tell it which wrist you are using, dominant or not). It does seem to accurately register how many times I go up/down the stairs, which I wanted. It does seem to alert me sufficiently when I've been sitting for too long. 

 

[KungFuPanda]

1 minute ago, TheReader said:

re: messenger, I had the choice to send those notifications to my Versa 2 or not; for me, I don't have it send notifications even to my phone at all, so I kept it off, but it did give me the choice. 

I don't know that it would count steps while pushing a grocery cart; I've not looked at it to check. I'm a dominant wrist wearer, and they warned me that it will count "every little movement" but it doesn't seem to (there is a setting where you tell it which wrist you are using, dominant or not). It does seem to accurately register how many times I go up/down the stairs, which I wanted. It does seem to alert me sufficiently when I've been sitting for too long. 

 

A clip-on pedometer would count steps while your wrist isn’t moving. 

[gardenmom5]

I'm currently on my second fitbit.  The first all but died so I replaced it.  This one is difficult to read unless I'm in a dark room - and it's getting worse.  It's just over two? years old, and I'm ready to replace it.

now - I'm looking at a smart watch i can pair with my android phone as they also have the fitness apps on them. (plus other features. - and you can easily read it in daylight.)

eta: dh started with a new dr who has him using a fitness "ring".  you can only see the info on the computer/app, but it has it.  don't know the brand.

Edited September 7, 2021 by gardenmom5

[matrips]

I thought I’d like the VenuSq; I really wanted to like it. But one corner of the square kept bumping my wrist bone and it was too annoying.  

I ended up with the Vivoactive 4S and love it. I charge it every 3-4 days I think; the clock face I use consumes more power than others.  I appreciate the sleep tracking and it’s made me more aware of getting better sleep. I do see incoming calls and texts and found out it’s really handy! I like the alerts. Syncing is fine and easy.  
the only initial issue was the watch band was too small (smaller because of being a 4s).  Garmin sent me another which was nice customer service, and I also bought a pack of various colored ones from Amazon.  I love switching them up.