Good Fitness device?

[matt9013]

How well do you guys think this will be as a fitness device? The sport edition of course. Now I'm not a major fitness person. Just the normal walking, biking etc. Better than a fitbit or worse.

I know these aren't out yet, just asking for general opinions from what people have read or seen.

 

[eastamherstbias]

How well do you guys think this will be as a fitness device? The sport edition of course. Now I'm not a major fitness person. Just the normal walking, biking etc. Better than a fitbit or worse.

I know these aren't out yet, just asking for general opinions from what people have read or seen.

Better

 

[saving107]

I know these aren't out yet, just asking for general opinions from what people have read or seen.

The only thing that I have seen or read is that it looks nice, like really nice.

 

[Ries]

How well do you guys think this will be as a fitness device? The sport edition of course. Now I'm not a major fitness person. Just the normal walking, biking etc. Better than a fitbit or worse.

I know these aren't out yet, just asking for general opinions from what people have read or seen.

From what apple has shown until now, worse by far.

 

[Mildredop]

How well do you guys think this will be as a fitness device? The sport edition of course. Now I'm not a major fitness person. Just the normal walking, biking etc. Better than a fitbit or worse.

I know these aren't out yet, just asking for general opinions from what people have read or seen.

An awful lot of effort is going into pushing the Apple watch as a fitness tracker, and the public are lapping it up.

Everyone who is overweight or unfit knows exactly what the problem is: they eat too much rubbish and excercise too little. There are endless mechanisms for eating more healthily and excercising more frequently, but nothing can substitute will power - something these people clearly don't have. Chips, ice cream and beer are more important to them than a healthy heart and a normal waistline.

The Apple watch may help people at first, but they'll soon slip back into eating doughnuts, drinking coke and sitting on the sofa whilst the watch sits in a drawer without being charged for the last six months.

No-one should kid themselves thinking a watch will change their life.

 

[rasputin1969]

How well do you guys think this will be as a fitness device? The sport edition of course. Now I'm not a major fitness person. Just the normal walking, biking etc. Better than a fitbit or worse.

I know these aren't out yet, just asking for general opinions from what people have read or seen.

Well, it isn't waterproof for so you'll be unable to pace laps when you swim, or even take it to the beach if you intend to hit the water. It only has 18 hours of battery life so you'll be unable to take it camping or hiking over multiple days. The battery life issue stops it from tracking your sleep so forget that.

If you want a good sports watch get a seiko 5. If you want a good fitness tracker get a Fitbit surge.

 

[fitshaced]

An awful lot of effort is going into pushing the Apple watch as a fitness tracker, and the public are lapping it up.

Everyone who is overweight or unfit knows exactly what the problem is: they eat too much rubbish and excercise too little. There are endless mechanisms for eating more healthily and excercising more frequently, but nothing can substitute will power - something these people clearly don't have. Chips, ice cream and beer are more important to them than a healthy heart and a normal waistline.

The Apple watch may help people at first, but they'll soon slip back into eating doughnuts, drinking coke and sitting on the sofa whilst the watch sits in a drawer without being charged for the last six months.

No-one should kid themselves thinking a watch will change their life.

There's a lot to be said of visible improvement and an activity tracker goes far in getting people off the couch and reaching targets of 5000 steps, then 10000 and so on. Sure, most people fall back into their ways but there is nothing wrong with making an initial investment into taking the first step, so to speak.

The Apple Watch is an expensive tool for this but I guess people will feel like they have more expertise on their side or a more premium digital coach on their wrist. If it gets people's heart rates up a bit, even if it's a few months, it will be better than nothing.

 

[maflynn]

How well do you guys think this will be as a fitness device? The sport edition of course. Now I'm not a major fitness person. Just the normal walking, biking etc. Better than a fitbit or worse.

I know these aren't out yet, just asking for general opinions from what people have read or seen.

I think other products may be better then the apple watch. While it has some features/sensors that most fitness watches have, the absence of a a GPS is a deal breaker for me. I have all that I need out of my fitbit surge.

 

[Dave245]

How well do you guys think this will be as a fitness device? The sport edition of course. Now I'm not a major fitness person. Just the normal walking, biking etc. Better than a fitbit or worse.

I know these aren't out yet, just asking for general opinions from what people have read or seen.

I think it's going to depend on the individual, for example i use an app on my iPhone called Steps+ it is very good for telling me the amount of steps i take in a day, however i'm looking forward to the feature that Tim Cook mentioned where the Watch will remind me to stand up and move around after nearly sitting for an hour at a time.
Being a University student and sat at a computer i sometimes forget to exercise, this will be a very good tool for reminding me that i have sat for nearly an hour and i can then do something about it, i.e. go for a run, to the gym or if i'm at university simply walk around the campus.

However i think if people are going to be buying this watch just for the fitness aspect they may be wasting their money, personally i'm buying it for a number of different reasons, with one of them being fitness. I also think that have poured a lot of research into the fitness aspect of the Watch, you only have to read the article that shows Apple's fitness lab to see this.

 

[VFC]

The folks who can afford an AW should be financially well off; enough to pay someone to workout for them.

 

[Piggie]

Given that 30% of Americans right now are clinically obese. Not just overweight a bit, but Obese.
Find the nearest fast food outlet, will probably take top spot over health apps

Population of the USA is 321,362,789
And whilst it's a nice idea in theory, I struggle to believe that a cheap £340 device on your wrist with a few apps, is going to make a third of them stop eating way to much, get off their fat asses and start to exercise.

However, if even a tiny handful do, I guess that's still a good thing.

 

[nanosour]

Thinking this watch is going to affect peoples fitness one iota is a joke. First off, the sloughs won't be interested in this in the least bit. Especially at this ridiculous price point. Not to mention you must have a current iPhone to pair it with. The true fitness buffs will shun this do to the complexity of operation, not to mention the inaccuracy of HRM compared to polar technology, and the fact that it can not be used while swimming.

My prediction is this will be a bigger bust than the TV. Which actually is a pretty useful device.

 

[kdarling]

Thinking this watch is going to affect peoples fitness one iota is a joke. First off, the sloughs won't be interested in this in the least bit. ...

Gee, I dunno.

Never underestimate the tendency of people to be happy just because their device CAN do something, whether they actually use the capability themselves or not

There's going to be lots of people who proudly proclaim that their (fill in the blank maker) watch can read their pulse, or time their laps, and yet they'll never do either more than once or twice to show off the feature.

Such is human nature.

 

[Knowimagination]

How well do you guys think this will be as a fitness device? The sport edition of course. Now I'm not a major fitness person. Just the normal walking, biking etc. Better than a fitbit or worse.

I know these aren't out yet, just asking for general opinions from what people have read or seen.

It will be better at fitness than all fitbit models except the surge. The only exception being sleep tracking but honestly my Charge wasn't all that great at sleep tracking anyway. The surge will be a better fitness tracker, but at this point it is the combo of fitness stuff and other smart features that are what will be keeping me with apple watch. I don't have a need for just a fitness tracker.

 

[Runt888]

Thinking this watch is going to affect peoples fitness one iota is a joke. First off, the sloughs won't be interested in this in the least bit. Especially at this ridiculous price point. Not to mention you must have a current iPhone to pair it with. The true fitness buffs will shun this do to the complexity of operation, not to mention the inaccuracy of HRM compared to polar technology, and the fact that it can not be used while swimming.

My prediction is this will be a bigger bust than the TV. Which actually is a pretty useful device.

Posted in a different thread, relevant here:

When the health app was released for my iPhone I thought it was really cool that it would track my steps and flights of stairs. That got me into calorie tracking and more in depth health metrics. I've now lost 40 lbs since September and have made a complete life style change - all because I initially thought that tracking my steps was neat. I think you might be surprised how many big changes have very small beginnings. Making people aware of even a small part of their health might be the one thing that gets them to start thinking about change.

I'm very excited for the heart rate sensor (it's the next step for me in terms of tracking my workouts) - along with all of the other features (and yes, being able to see why my phone is always beeping without having to take it out of my pocket is a big deal for me).

 

[MH01]

It's going to be an average fitness device at best, but an excellent iPhone accesssory.

 

[ViktorVaughn]

I don't think anyone is trying to pass the Apple Watch off as the best: fitness band, sports watch, luxury watch, or even WATCH for that matter.

It is what is...and I for one am wicked excited to snatch one up. (Save for my fears of Apple Watch 2 in a year!!!)

 

[srshaw]

The watch might be able to collect information, but Apple health is a joke (at least on iphone). It gives absolutely no information other than totals for steps etc.

Its not a patch on the websites and apps from Garmin, Polar or Fitbit. I believe there is going to be a strava app for apple watch, so there may be hope that 3rd parties produce some decent apps.

 

[Piggie]

I don't think anyone is trying to pass the Apple Watch off as the best: fitness band, sports watch, luxury watch, or even WATCH for that matter.

It is what is...and I for one am wicked excited to snatch one up. (Save for my fears of Apple Watch 2 in a year!!!)

I think Apple is

 

[01silver4]

Apple say the have been developing the watch for three years now, and it's not like they don't have the money to do a serious research and development for the Apple watch. How can anyone really claim the fitness features of the watch is a joke if they haven't really use it yet? Like someone here stated, that big things comes from small beginnings. I cant really say how well this fitness feature will work. But if Fitbit and others does it well, I don't see why Apple can't do it well or even better. But only time will tell for sure.

 

[Julien]

The watch might be able to collect information, but Apple health is a joke (at least on iphone). It gives absolutely no information other than totals for steps etc.

Its not a patch on the websites and apps from Garmin, Polar or Fitbit. I believe there is going to be a strava app for apple watch, so there may be hope that 3rd parties produce some decent apps.

Health App is a depository for information and not an analytical tool. However I would like to see it improved too.

You will get a new App on your iPhone called Workout app that will be the companion App for the Watch. This should have mapping info in it. However Strava and Nike+ will be available on launch day and I'm sure almost all others will follow soon.

 

[David R]

I don't like hearing things like "this watch isn't going to fix anything for anyone, they will still be fat slobs."

All someone needs is a wake up call. If that wake up call is in the form of alerts or graphs on an Watch then so be it.

I love gadgets. I bought a fitbit as a toy more than anything else. I was also obese.

Seeing data and charts showing how little I moved got me thinking. And little by little I started trying to get my step count up. Seeing the step count go up together with the number of calories I burned throughout the day motivated me. And something clicked in my head.

In the span of about 1.5 years I lost 80 pounds. Now I run several miles every day. My Nike+ app for example currently shows that I have run 12,339 miles. This is for someone who used to be one of those "fat slobs, couch potatoes" that some of you are talking about. But it all changed for me because of a little piece of plastic called a Fitbit.

I trust, and truly hope, that the Watch will do the same for many other people.

mic drop

 

[jaymc]

Given that 30% of Americans right now are clinically obese. Not just overweight a bit, but Obese.
Find the nearest fast food outlet, will probably take top spot over health apps

Population of the USA is 321,362,789
And whilst it's a nice idea in theory, I struggle to believe that a cheap £340 device on your wrist with a few apps, is going to make a third of them stop eating way to much, get off their fat asses and start to exercise.

However, if even a tiny handful do, I guess that's still a good thing.

A fine post bashing Americans by a Brit named Piggie.

 

[Julien]

I don't like hearing things like "this watch isn't going to fix anything for anyone, they will still be fat slobs."

All someone needs is a wake up call. If that wake up call is in the form of alerts or graphs on an Watch then so be it.

I love gadgets. I bought a fitbit as a toy more than anything else. I was also obese.

Seeing data and charts showing how little I moved got me thinking. And little by little I started trying to get my step count up. Seeing the step count go up together with the number of calories I burned throughout the day motivated me. And something clicked in my head.

In the span of about 1.5 years I lost 80 pounds. Now I run several miles every day. My Nike+ app for example currently shows that I have run 12,339 miles. This is for someone who used to be one of those "fat slobs, couch potatoes" that some of you are talking about. But it all changed for me because of a little piece of plastic called a Fitbit.

I trust, and truly hope, that the Watch will do the same for many other people.

mic drop

Great post and GOOD for you. The Watch is an extra tool that WILL help a lot of people become more motivated and informed about physical activity. There is some strange sense of accomplishment we have by 'winning badges' or seeing progress bars. It works in video games and it works in exercise.

Keep it up and remember fitness is not a destination but a life long journey.

 

[Cashmonee]

This has been discussed a few times. It really depends on what you mean by fitness tracking. If you want to see what you did after an activity, or just want to count steps and maybe calories, it should be fine. It will have limitations, but in general, should be able to accomplish those tasks along with providing all the other benefits of being a full on smartwatch.

However, if you want to take your training to the next step, the Watch is a poor choice. It lacks many features that other sport watches have. For me, as a cyclist first and runner second, it has no bike mount (yet), uses a screen that may or may not be readable is direct sunlight, has too little battery life, isn't water resistant enough, no gps, plus it doesn't look terribly sturdy.

The Watch is a smartwatch that happens to have some fitness features. That will work great for most people. Others will want to look elsewhere.