If you are talking about Smart Watches, after my Apple Watch saved my life when I was in a serious car accident last year, I don't even think about other options. To me, every year they get better and add more health features, so I don't see me changing that direction.
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Fitbit or Apple watch
- Thread starter IPhonegirl1889
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I have used both the Apple Watch and Fitbit fitness trackers together for several years now and I love them both.
Currently, I wear the Fitbit Charge 4 on my left wrist and the Apple Watch on my right. I use both to track my daily runs but only the Charge 4 for sleep tracking as I charge the Apple Watch overnight.
Currently, I wear the Fitbit Charge 4 on my left wrist and the Apple Watch on my right. I use both to track my daily runs but only the Charge 4 for sleep tracking as I charge the Apple Watch overnight.
I’ve used Fitbits for years (since the One, which I wish they still made). When I got my first Fitibit, it really helped me to shift a lot of excess weight, for which I’ll always be grateful.
In fact, the desire to stay in my usual Fitbit competitions yet not have to wear two watches was one of the main reasons that I’ve put off getting an Apple Watch for so long.
Fitbit users have been asking for non-watch format wearables from them for years, but getting ignored. I think many people in caring or healthcare roles aren’t allowed to wear watches for hygiene reasons but still wanted an option to track their steps... Fitbit wasn’t interested - at least from what I read on their support forums - they discontinued the belt-clip-format ‘One‘ model and focused entirely on watch format devices for their main and premium range.
When I checked again recently, I was pleased to discover that there are now a few decent options for non-watch Fitbits: a belt/waistband/bra clip for the Inspire 2 and several similar silicone clips for other models made by third parties too.
Thus, I’ve decided I’m keeping my Fitbit for the competitions (on a belt clip), but I’m expecting my first ever Apple Watch to arrive soon (hopefully tomorrow - can’t wait!)...
Oh, and although the battery life on Fitbits impressive, the reliability of them varies between mediocre to terrible; I’ve been lucky with my Charge 3 lasting a few years but my wife has had to replace hers (same model) many, many times in that time.
I think there’s a place for both: if you just want a decent activity and sleep tracker and especially if you aren’t an iPhone user, then a mid-range Fitbit is a good option. If you have other Apple kit and/or want proper a smart watch with solid fitness/health features then an Apple Watch will be the better option by far, in my opinion.
In fact, the desire to stay in my usual Fitbit competitions yet not have to wear two watches was one of the main reasons that I’ve put off getting an Apple Watch for so long.
Fitbit users have been asking for non-watch format wearables from them for years, but getting ignored. I think many people in caring or healthcare roles aren’t allowed to wear watches for hygiene reasons but still wanted an option to track their steps... Fitbit wasn’t interested - at least from what I read on their support forums - they discontinued the belt-clip-format ‘One‘ model and focused entirely on watch format devices for their main and premium range.
When I checked again recently, I was pleased to discover that there are now a few decent options for non-watch Fitbits: a belt/waistband/bra clip for the Inspire 2 and several similar silicone clips for other models made by third parties too.
Thus, I’ve decided I’m keeping my Fitbit for the competitions (on a belt clip), but I’m expecting my first ever Apple Watch to arrive soon (hopefully tomorrow - can’t wait!)...
Oh, and although the battery life on Fitbits impressive, the reliability of them varies between mediocre to terrible; I’ve been lucky with my Charge 3 lasting a few years but my wife has had to replace hers (same model) many, many times in that time.
I think there’s a place for both: if you just want a decent activity and sleep tracker and especially if you aren’t an iPhone user, then a mid-range Fitbit is a good option. If you have other Apple kit and/or want proper a smart watch with solid fitness/health features then an Apple Watch will be the better option by far, in my opinion.
Exactly my experience . I used Garmin for 8 years and when I got the Fenix 6, as soon as I started a workout, my HR shot up 50 BPM. I was still standing still. I switched to Apple Watch AND had to switch to an iPhone. Cost 2,000 dollars and I don’t regret it at all.
I’ve had my AW for a month or so now.
From a fitness tracking perspective it seems that the Fitbit is miles ahead. Sure it cannot do anywhere near the sheer number of (non-fitness tracking) tasks that the AW can, but it was reliable. It did a small number of tasks (tracking run) exceptionally well. With flaws, but still well.
AW has trouble capturing heart rate figures and sometimes has trouble capturing the route. It usually works, far more of the than not, but I couldn’t recommend it above a Fitbit for someone who is really into fitness tracking.
Hopefully AW will improve in this area in the future.
From a fitness tracking perspective it seems that the Fitbit is miles ahead. Sure it cannot do anywhere near the sheer number of (non-fitness tracking) tasks that the AW can, but it was reliable. It did a small number of tasks (tracking run) exceptionally well. With flaws, but still well.
AW has trouble capturing heart rate figures and sometimes has trouble capturing the route. It usually works, far more of the than not, but I couldn’t recommend it above a Fitbit for someone who is really into fitness tracking.
Hopefully AW will improve in this area in the future.
Which Fitbit device did you have? My Charge 3 lost Bluetooth connection quite often and I had to start a GPS workout from the app, which beats the purpose of a fitness tracker, imo.
I've had a few. I had the Charge HR, Blaze, and Versa were the most recent ones I think. I had a few outright failures but no "weirdness". I found either it worked or did not work I never had anything like that (having to start from the app).
The most absurd thing I found was on the Blaze (I think) if I was sweating and the sweat touched the display it might trigger the end of the run. That was incredibly annoying. But in general they were rock solid. My AW on the other hand will sometimes not track my heart rate or not track the GPS route.
The AW is a great device overall, but it's just nowhere near as good as the Fitbit when it comes to activity tracking, at least for my uses (running and walking). The Fitbit was materially more reliable.
Thanks for your reply! It looks like our Fitbit experience is quite different, indeed. I forgot to mention the HR weirdness that I experienced during hikes. My heart rate (as tracked by the Charge 3) would not budge over ~120 bpm, even though I knew it was way higher than that. I thought the measurement was wrong due to my arm being sweaty but the Fitbit didn't seem to be "bothered" by it during a treadmill run, for example. Together with ghost HR spikes while brushing my teeth, I just couldn't trust it anymore.
There are those that insist the heart rate sensor on the Apple Watch is subpar, but in my recent experience during a treadmill stress test with an EKG my apple watch was within a beat or two of the test monitor. The doctor was impressed with the accuracy, albeit somewhat amused by my data correlating. The biggest difference in feedback was during the cool down when the EKG showed my stabilized HR before the watch did, but only by like 10 seconds.
I have worn a Fitbit for years. I am on a 256-day step streak of 12,000 steps. I recently got an Apple Watch 6. Today, my Fitbit which is on my non-dominant wrist, shows 12,396 steps and 5.3 miles. My AW shows 8,912 steps and 4.19 miles. The AW is consistently showing fewer steps. (I would like to wear only one or the other, but not both. Maybe the AW will motivate me to work harder. It certainly has many more features. I can’t read the display on my Fitbit in direct sunlight, but I need to charge it only about once a week.)
Can you tell me why there is so great a difference in the number of steps counted?
Can you tell me why there is so great a difference in the number of steps counted?
I wouldn't assume that either are going to be spectacularly correct. The Fitbit does have a "dominant hand" option. I don't think the AW does?
Regardless, the way that I use step count is to baseline, not for absolute. So if my regular activity reports that my numbers of steps of 10,436, then I know that I can try to be more active and get higher than that number. Whether the real number of steps I took was 9,995, or 7,394, or 12,302, or 14,203 is pretty irrelevant.
Prior to getting my first Apple Watch (S1) I had a Garmin Vivosmart, which I still miss on some days. It was a matte black strap with consistent width around the wrist, which was awesome for me as a person who hadn't worn a watch since the early 2000s. The battery was amazing and the notifications pushed from my phone were great for when I was working in areas that didn't allow phones.
I had that device replaced under warranty one time and when that replacement started having issues, they didn't have anymore to replace it and upgraded me to the Vivosmart 2 which basically killed my opinion of their products. Can't imagine having anything other than an Apple Watch these days, especially since I've been using Fitness+.
I had that device replaced under warranty one time and when that replacement started having issues, they didn't have anymore to replace it and upgraded me to the Vivosmart 2 which basically killed my opinion of their products. Can't imagine having anything other than an Apple Watch these days, especially since I've been using Fitness+.