Smartwatch as a fitness gadget - would like opinions on current offerings

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Smartwatch as a fitness gadget - would like opinions on current offerings

scoobydoo

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#141009 26-Feb-2014 23:09

So I'm looking at getting a wearable device, mainly for the fitness tracking side of life, rather than notifications of emails, tweets etc, although I'm sure that will come as part of the package.

What has really piqued my interest is the newly announced Samsung Gear Fit, so over the last couple of days I've looked to see what else is available.

What I'm after, is a device that can track walks, runs, cycles via GPS, either on it's own or paired with a phone (on it's own would be perfect, but not common). Can give speed / pace calculations on-the-fly, using said GPS functionality. Heart rate monitor would be nice, and is more common on the newer devices. Doesn't need to be able to control music on phone, as I have my iPod nano for that. Not fussed about taking photos or phone calls with it, but the notifications would be nice. If it doesn't have GPS, then it should be able to communicate with whatever fitness app you want to use on your phone (Map my Ride, Runkeeper etc).

As I have a Note 3, Android connectivity is key. My current short list:

Samsung Gear Fit (no idea on $)
Nike+ Sportwatch (not too badly priced, at around the $200 mark)
Adidas MiCoach (Really expensive, at $600)
Sonostar E-Ink Smartwatch (can't find too much real-use info on this)

I'd like opinions from anybody else in the fitness game, who is using some kind of wearable device for their fitness needs:

- What do you have
- What do you like / don't like about it
- What would you look for in a device, if you were to upgrade

Thanks all

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#995182 27-Feb-2014 01:12

What about Sportstracker app on your phone with their Bluetooth heart rate strap? This will do all the things you list and more for just the price of their heart rate strap. Www.sportstracker.com

Polar and Garmin do sports watches.

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davidcole

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#995222 27-Feb-2014 07:29

I'd look at the samsung gear fit as well if for the heart rate component on a fitness band. But of couse it only works with samsung devices.

I've been looking at proper gps watches (which almost sounds like what you should look at) most come with HRM connectivity (either BT or rf) - and the extra step is you have to connect to a computer to extract the track off and upload.

I like the idea of a small device that has a clock, pace information etc on a display being fed from a phone. But I also want waterproof so i never have to take it off (like a fit bit flex/force) but with the HRM component.

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#995257 27-Feb-2014 08:46

The Nike + sportswatch will be too limiting for you.
.
All it does is monitor distance, times. pace,route basically.
Some of the more sophisticated Polar watches may be better??

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Kyanar

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#995259 27-Feb-2014 08:53

TomTom Multi-Sport would be a good option, though at $400 comes in between the Nike+ (which is powered by TomTom) and Polar. Pairs with heart rate strap via Bluetooth Low Energy, syncs to your online accounts via MySports Connect (which is also MapMyFitness, so it automatically goes to that too) on your phone (again using BLE) so no computer necessarily needed (firmware updates and setup still require a USB sync with your computer though) and supports running, cycling, swimming.

To be honest the apps on your phone etc are terrible. I've found that Runkeeper routinely adds up to 20km to my 7.5km run each day because the GPS just isn't that accurate in my phone (even with the much touted M7 coprocessor) and the calorie burn estimate is wildly inconsistent (even if provided with raw heart rate figures).

k14

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#995263 27-Feb-2014 09:04

Whatever you do, do not buy the Adidas, it is crap. Go to www.dcrainmaker.com to get the most definitive info on anything fitness related on the web. I've got a Garmin 910xt, which is the gold standard in fitness watches but you pay for it. Although it doesn't have any connectivity to phones/tablets. It is probably more for the hardcore triathlete/multisporter but it does everything it is designed to do extremely well (anything Garmin produced does). There is the Garmin Forerunner 10 which will do everything you want (bar the smart functions) and that is very cheap. My wife has one and is perfect for tracking her runs/bike rides.

jeffnz

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#995272 27-Feb-2014 09:29

I don't really see the point of having a separate device to put on my bike when my phone can track give speed etc etc. I currently use Edmondo on my S4 but leave in back pocket as with screen on it wouldn't last a 5 hour ride but the tracking is good to record. I use a Polar computer to do speed , Cadence, HR etc on handle bars but would like to do away with all that and have something like the Gear fit that utilises the phone.

I have looked at the other devices and sure they can do the job but its just another device when I can carry one that is GPS tracking, HR, speed, camera, music player and maybe a phone. I think they are still a ways off with current offerings but getting there.

I would guess that the fit and gear line will eventually be able to be used on other product but thinking this is just marketing to tie in with phone.

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n4

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#995278 27-Feb-2014 09:45

Kyanar:To be honest the apps on your phone etc are terrible. I've found that Runkeeper routinely adds up to 20km to my 7.5km run each day because the GPS just isn't that accurate in my phone (even with the much touted M7 coprocessor) and the calorie burn estimate is wildly inconsistent (even if provided with raw heart rate figures).

That has not been my experience. I use a cheap smartphone (Huawei Ideos <$100 on TM) as my run tracker and its fine. If you are going to use a phone its key that you use an armband or mount/carry it somewhere it gets a good GPS signal. Pockets are not the best solution here.

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surfisup1000

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#995283 27-Feb-2014 09:53

i just chuck the iphone in my pocket and use the runkeeper app. Good to listen to some beats too. The only 2 issues I have with runkeeper are that it doesn't track laps on circular routes and no ghost runner race.

One thing i noticed is that after upgrading from the iphone 4s to the iphone 5s gps was less accurate.

You can tell when I bought the 5s because the runkeeper route history plots go a bit haywire from that time.

davidcole

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#995344 27-Feb-2014 10:47

surfisup1000: i just chuck the iphone in my pocket and use the runkeeper app. Good to listen to some beats too. The only 2 issues I have with runkeeper are that it doesn't track laps on circular routes and no ghost runner race.

One thing i noticed is that after upgrading from the iphone 4s to the iphone 5s gps was less accurate.

You can tell when I bought the 5s because the runkeeper route history plots go a bit haywire from that time.

Try iSmoothRun. It exports to runkeeper (and many others) but also has the ability to switch to motion detection. It will also discard waypoints over 100m from the last - I found with a iphone4 is was th only way to get an accurate reading. Being on a 5s makes it even better.

scoobydoo

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#995393 27-Feb-2014 11:37

Some good opinion here so far, thanks.

Up until now I have used Endomondo for any activity-based tracking, and have generally found the GPS quite accurate, except for one outing I had around the south coast of Wellington, where my tracking had added almost 10km, compared to my friends (using different apps though). I have only used Runkeeper for the last few days, so next to no experience with that as yet.

The way I see it, is I'm still gong to have my phone on me, so the wearable device doesn't need to be able to do everything, but it does need to be able to connect to the phone, and run the apps I want (or give me good alternatives).

I'm also coming around to the thinking that the smart-device should recieve notifications, as that will be very handy, more for cycling than running. So I think that puts the general GPS / sport watches out of the running. Also, since the phone itself is quite bulky, if I had a wearable that can do notifications, I could keep the phone in my bag instead of in my pocket, when out exercising.

Technofreak

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#995840 27-Feb-2014 21:33

Kyanar:
To be honest the apps on your phone etc are terrible. I've found that Runkeeper routinely adds up to 20km to my 7.5km run each day because the GPS just isn't that accurate in my phone (even with the much touted M7 coprocessor) and the calorie burn estimate is wildly inconsistent (even if provided with raw heart rate figures).

My experience has been the exact opposite, tracking and distance being very accurate on my phones. Though to be fair some phones seem to have better GPS tracking than others.

I'm a big fan of Sportstracker. I made an error with the link above. http://www.sports-tracker.com/

The app is free, the exercise results are stored on the phone but can be uploaded at any time to your Sportstacker account and then viewed on your computer. The app records track, distance, altitude, speed, heart rate with zones, and calculates energy used. Laps are catered for as well.

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alasta

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#995864 27-Feb-2014 21:51

Technofreak:
Kyanar:
To be honest the apps on your phone etc are terrible. I've found that Runkeeper routinely adds up to 20km to my 7.5km run each day because the GPS just isn't that accurate in my phone (even with the much touted M7 coprocessor) and the calorie burn estimate is wildly inconsistent (even if provided with raw heart rate figures).

My experience has been the exact opposite, tracking and distance being very accurate on my phones.

Me too. I have a regular route that I run in the evenings which is around 8km in total, and the distance readings for that route vary by a maximum of about 200m. When I run a half marathon I pretty consistently get a reading around 21.5km which is about right when you allow for turn radius variations (except for Round the Bays last weekend when the organisers screwed up the course).

I have an iPhone 5S, and previously a 4S.

Technofreak

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#995946 28-Feb-2014 04:44

alasta:
Technofreak:
Kyanar:
To be honest the apps on your phone etc are terrible. I've found that Runkeeper routinely adds up to 20km to my 7.5km run each day because the GPS just isn't that accurate in my phone (even with the much touted M7 coprocessor) and the calorie burn estimate is wildly inconsistent (even if provided with raw heart rate figures).

My experience has been the exact opposite, tracking and distance being very accurate on my phones.

Me too. I have a regular route that I run in the evenings which is around 8km in total, and the distance readings for that route vary by a maximum of about 200m. When I run a half marathon I pretty consistently get a reading around 21.5km which is about right when you allow for turn radius variations (except for Round the Bays last weekend when the organisers screwed up the course).

I have an iPhone 5S, and previously a 4S.

I'm able to compare with my Polar cycle computer where distance, average speed, max speed, etc are always consistent. One of the big advantages of the likes of Sports tracker is as well as a map of your route you get graphs of speed V time, heart rate V time etc.

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scoobydoo

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#996343 28-Feb-2014 13:10

These links are more for my own reference, but people here might find them useful

http://www.smartwatchnews.org/top-5-smart-watches/

http://www.smartwatchnews.org/top-5-activity-trackers/

http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/02/24/google-rumored-to-debut-nexus-smart-watch-with-new-operating-system-in-june

http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/01/09/hands-on-lgs-ios-compatible-lifetouch-fitness-tracking-wristband

scoobydoo

207 posts

Master Geek

#1008878 19-Mar-2014 11:50

Samsung S Band

http://www.sammobile.com/2014/03/14/this-is-samsungs-new-s-band-fitness-tracker/

A Gear Fit Hands-on (of sorts)

http://mashable.com/2014/02/25/samsung-gear-fit-hans-on/

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