Does where you wear your ware affect the experience?

[John6Plus]

This is a serious question though, and I don't mean around your neck vs. your ankle vs. your cat. I mean above or below your wrist knob, whatever that's called. Cue giggling.

My FitBit Charge HR recommends, for best heart rate monitoring, to fit it two finger widths above the bone. Because my arm is tapered, like most arms, I find that virtually impossible without having it slip, but it is comfortably snug and not too tight about 1cm above the bone.

When I went for my try on at Apple, the employee who helped me said the recommended place is pretty much exactly where I was wearing my FitBit. I don't know if this is the official recommendation from Apple or not, but this guy was great and seemed genuinely very knowledgeable. Now, I see a LOT of pictures where the Apple Watch is either pressed right up against the base of the hand (to the point I wonder if the crown gets turned or pressed accidentally), or sometimes right over the wrist bone knob.

I wonder then, if the variability I'm seeing in reports of reliability of heart monitoring or movement tracking is because of watch placement. Has anyone experimented with this?

 

[dmonnin]

This is a serious question though, and I don't mean around your neck vs. your ankle vs. your cat. I mean above or below your wrist knob, whatever that's called. Cue giggling.

My FitBit Charge HR recommends, for best heart rate monitoring, to fit it two finger widths above the bone. Because my arm is tapered, like most arms, I find that virtually impossible without having it slip, but it is comfortably snug and not too tight about 1cm above the bone.

When I went for my try on at Apple, the employee who helped me said the recommended place is pretty much exactly where I was wearing my FitBit. I don't know if this is the official recommendation from Apple or not, but this guy was great and seemed genuinely very knowledgeable. Now, I see a LOT of pictures where the Apple Watch is either pressed right up against the base of the hand (to the point I wonder if the crown gets turned or pressed accidentally), or sometimes right over the wrist bone knob.

I wonder then, if the variability I'm seeing in reports of reliability of heart monitoring or movement tracking is because of watch placement. Has anyone experimented with this?

I just got mine yesterday and I have been wearing right at the base of wrist. I'm also in PA school and I can tell you that for the way this watch measures your HR , the main thing it needs to be is relatively snug. The main problem I think is people wearing it too loose. It needs direct contact with your skin and a little pressure to get the best readings. Since you get your radial pulse at the base of your wrist on your thumb side, this area of your hand would be the best placement for the watch since your pressure is the highest there. Ive noticed inaccurate readings immediately when I loosened the watch up.

my watch is also 38mm Space Gray with Sports band and I'm loving it so far

 

[John6Plus]

I just got mine yesterday and I have been wearing right at the base of wrist. I'm also in PA school and I can tell you that for the way this watch measures your HR , the main thing it needs to be is relatively snug. The main problem I think is people wearing it too loose. It needs direct contact with your skin and a little pressure to get the best readings. Since you get your radial pulse at the base of your wrist on your thumb side, this area of your hand would be the best placement for the watch since your pressure is the highest there. Ive noticed inaccurate readings immediately when I loosened the watch up.

my watch is also 38mm Space Gray with Sports band and I'm loving it so far

I wonder what the difference is in technology that the FitBit uses for heart rate vs. the Apple Watch. My fitbit has two green LEDs that are constantly pulsing while they're on your wrist. Even when it's off your wrist, if you move the watch at all the LEDs fire up looking for your wrist. It seems pretty accurate, but the placement recommendation did seem odd to me too.

The Charge also has a wedge-like shape that makes it very uncomfortable to wear on the hand side of the knob - its highest point is higher than the Apple Watch (but it's just the peak of the wedge). Otherwise it's quite comfy.