Which is your preferred smartwatch/fitness tracker?

Technology@beehaw.org – 124 points – 1 years ago

I walked 4,000 steps with these 4 fitness trackers — here’s the most accurate

I have been using the Mi Band for years which I generally like, although it's quite a simple device

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I've been rolling a Fitbit Charge 5 for the last year and a half and it's been pretty great, had an issue at six months and Fitbit replaced it, no issues since. Good screen, reliable tracking, 1 charge lasts 5 days to a week, no issues with sync.

I've had Fitbits for years but I'm probably never buying another one.

The main thing keeping me locked into the Fitbit ecosystem was the social features - my family are dispersed around the country and all have Fitbits, so for years we did the weekly step challenges as a bit of friendly competition and a vehicle for staying in good contact. The competition made a genuine difference to our behaviour - especially for encouraging my parents to stay active in retirement.

Then after the Google acquisition they killed off the challenges on spurious grounds. It's generally suspected this is part of a drive to gradually kill off the Fitbit brand and drive people onto Google's own Pixel watches. Now Fitbit's USP is gone and so I'll probably just get a Garmin next time as people generally think that's a better product.

My wife has a Garmin (vivoactive 4s I think) and on paper it looked fantastic, in action she has had nothing but trouble. Terrible battery, ugly UI, ridiculous management app, nothing but sync trouble. Hopefully Garmin has picked up their game with newer watches.