Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Let's be honest, It's not a fitness watch

S

Symtex

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 27, 2005
515
2
The optical sensor use for Heartrate monitor are nowhere near the level of having a strap around your chest. The GPS in your iphone will never beat a dedicated gps chip like in the Suunto and Garmin watches. It doesn't have water resistant level close to theses watches either. The fitness part is the novelty part of the watch. It also doesn't have the backend analysis once you upload your workout. Part of Suunto product is the movecount website. I am very skeptical so far that Apple Watch will get the same level of details/analysis.

I have an Suunto Ambit 2 + heartrate strap and I will put it against the Apple Watch. I am willing to be more than willing to share the charts gathered by the 2 watches.
 
It is disappointing because the watch is far far from a fitness product, I'll get one for work as a cheap toy, but will still wear a fitness band and wear a real timepiece when not at work.
 
Symtex said:
The optical sensor use for Heartrate monitor are nowhere near the level of having a strap around your chest. The GPS in your iphone will never beat a dedicated gps chip like in the Suunto and Garmin watches. It doesn't have water resistant level close to theses watches either. The fitness part is the novelty part of the watch. It also doesn't have the backend analysis once you upload your workout. Part of Suunto product is the movecount website. I am very skeptical so far that Apple Watch will get the same level of details/analysis.

I have an Suunto Ambit 2 + heartrate strap and I will put it against the Apple Watch. I am willing to be more than willing to share the charts gathered by the 2 watches.
Click to expand...

The Apple watch is not a niche market device like the one you are describing. The average Joe doesn't strap sensors to their chest and go running in the hills.

The Apple watch is a minimal health tracking device that will try to motivate people to get off their behinds once in a while and be more active.

The funny thing is the Fitbit Surge is a dedicated fitness device and even that one doesn't hold up to what you are describing that yours can do.
 
Symtex said:
The optical sensor use for Heartrate monitor are nowhere near the level of having a strap around your chest. The GPS in your iphone will never beat a dedicated gps chip like in the Suunto and Garmin watches. It doesn't have water resistant level close to theses watches either. The fitness part is the novelty part of the watch. It also doesn't have the backend analysis once you upload your workout. Part of Suunto product is the movecount website. I am very skeptical so far that Apple Watch will get the same level of details/analysis.

I have an Suunto Ambit 2 + heartrate strap and I will put it against the Apple Watch. I am willing to be more than willing to share the charts gathered by the 2 watches.
Click to expand...

Yes, you definitely have a point. I'm sure over time Apple will add more sensors to newer generations of Apple Watch.

Armen said:
The Apple watch is not a niche market device like the one you are describing. The average Joe doesn't strap sensors to their chest and go running in the hills.

The Apple watch is a minimal health tracking device that will try to motivate people to get off their behinds once in a while and be more active.

The funny thing is the Fitbit Surge is a dedicated fitness device and even that one doesn't hold up to what you are describing that yours can do.
Click to expand...

Yes, you also have a point. I'm one of those average Joes.. I'm not the most fitness minded person, but I'm excited about the fitness aspects of Apple Watch. But I'm definitely more excited about it's other features.
 
The fact that it needs an iPhone and lacks GPS rule it out for me as a 'fitness watch.' I have a Nike+ GPS watch (TomTom powered) that does what I need.

As much as I would like one, I can't find any justification to buy one. I have an iPhone 6+, and iPad Air 2, and a cMBP. I don't have any real social life, so those features would not be helpful to me. Apple Pay? Already have the phone and my bank doesn't support it (of course).

Buying one just because? At $399 (43mm and a decent band), I'll have to think about it.
 
jbachandouris said:
The fact that it needs an iPhone and lacks GPS rule it out for me as a 'fitness watch.' I have a Nike+ GPS watch (TomTom powered) that does what I need.

As much as I would like one, I can't find any justification to buy one. I have an iPhone 6+, and iPad Air 2, and a cMBP. I don't have any real social life, so those features would not be helpful to me. Apple Pay? Already have the phone and my bank doesn't support it (of course).

Buying one just because? At $399 (43mm and a decent band), I'll have to think about it.
Click to expand...

We will have to wait and see about the backend (data) the watch will gathered compare to Garmin and Suunto. I really like movecounts. I get so much data after my runs.
 
No, it's not going to be the same level of a dedicated device. That's like complaining that the iPhone doesn't take pictures like a dslr.

It's intended to work fine for the average user. While I too would need gps to make this passable as my running watch, I can totally understand why they left it out. The gps chips available at this time consume an enormous amount of power and occupy a lot of space. It doesn't make sense to include it when most users will always have their phone nearby anyhow.

One thing I do think you are missing is that with apps, any company that wants will have access to all your fitness data and will be able to aggregate it just as they do from other devices. Nike+ already has an app. I would expect RunKeeper and Strava to have ones soon as well.
 
Symtex said:
The optical sensor use for Heartrate monitor are nowhere near the level of having a strap around your chest. The GPS in your iphone will never beat a dedicated gps chip like in the Suunto and Garmin watches. It doesn't have water resistant level close to theses watches either. The fitness part is the novelty part of the watch. It also doesn't have the backend analysis once you upload your workout. Part of Suunto product is the movecount website. I am very skeptical so far that Apple Watch will get the same level of details/analysis.

I have an Suunto Ambit 2 + heartrate strap and I will put it against the Apple Watch. I am willing to be more than willing to share the charts gathered by the 2 watches.
Click to expand...
We have no idea how good the HR sensor is in the watch. And are you saying that the iPhone gps is less accurate than Suunto or Garmin?
 
Runt888 said:
We have no idea how good the HR sensor is in the watch. And are you saying that the iPhone gps is less accurate than Suunto or Garmin?
Click to expand...

Yes. I ran all the time with my iphone 4 in my pocket while using the Suunto Ambit 2 watch. Elevation changes and GPS is more accurate on the watch than the Iphone.
 
@Symtex

aGPS has made significant strides in consumer products and fills not only a technical holes in GPS tracking, but also further increases accuracy.

To an average consumer, the accuracy of one well made product is negligible to another these days.

edit: quoted the wrong person, yo.
 
Symtex said:
Yes. I ran all the time with my iphone 4 in my pocket while using the Suunto Ambit 2 watch. Elevation changes and GPS is more accurate on the watch than the Iphone.
Click to expand...

Interesting - I wonder if the barometer in the iPhone 6 helps with that.
 
Symtex said:
Yes. I ran all the time with my iphone 4 in my pocket while using the Suunto Ambit 2 watch. Elevation changes and GPS is more accurate on the watch than the Iphone.
Click to expand...

How do you know it's more accurate? What is your reference point?

I am good friends with one of the major race promoters in my area, so I run with him fairly regularly to track his courses. There is always a discrepancy between all of the watches and phones that are brought along to do the tracking. There is no saying which one is 'right.'
 
Symtex said:
Yes. I ran all the time with my iphone 4 in my pocket while using the Suunto Ambit 2 watch. Elevation changes and GPS is more accurate on the watch than the Iphone.
Click to expand...
I don't know how accurate the Suunto is but the iphone is not very accurate. I cycle with my Iphone 6 in my pocket tracking my route and when I play back the data it often drifts off the trail by some 25 metres.
 
nebo1ss said:
I don't know how accurate the Suunto is but the iphone is not very accurate. I cycle with my Iphone 6 in my pocket tracking my route and when I play back the data it often drifts off the trail by some 25 metres.
Click to expand...

If you are in heavy forest any gps is going to have that problem. Otherwise I haven't noticed a significant difference between the tracking capabilities of phones vs. watches.
 
nebo1ss said:
I don't know how accurate the Suunto is but the iphone is not very accurate. I cycle with my Iphone 6 in my pocket tracking my route and when I play back the data it often drifts off the trail by some 25 metres.
Click to expand...

I don't have that issue at all with the Suunto. It even track on which side of the street I am running. I didn't try with the Iphone 6+ because it's a big phone to carry around but I promise I will try using runkeeper on the phone while wearing the Suunto as well. I will post both result.
 
It's hard for any one device to do everything right now without being insanely expensive or huge. I'm guessing Apple would want to include more sensors on the watch but couldn't get more to work well enough. People who need more accurate readings with other devices will continue to use them, and hopefully they will more and more connect to the iPhone Health app. I would love to eventually have the option of storing all my health data, including doctor visits and info, in that app and just sharing it with the doctor. I went to a new place this morning and had to fill out three forms on paper as if it was 1994.
 
Symtex said:
Yes. I ran all the time with my iphone 4 in my pocket while using the Suunto Ambit 2 watch. Elevation changes and GPS is more accurate on the watch than the Iphone.
Click to expand...

If true, I can only assume it's because the Suunto antennas might be better. Otherwise, there should be no difference. After the antenna and receivers, GPS is just math.
 
Symtex said:
The optical sensor use for Heartrate monitor are nowhere near the level of having a strap around your chest. The GPS in your iphone will never beat a dedicated gps chip like in the Suunto and Garmin watches. It doesn't have water resistant level close to theses watches either. The fitness part is the novelty part of the watch. It also doesn't have the backend analysis once you upload your workout. Part of Suunto product is the movecount website. I am very skeptical so far that Apple Watch will get the same level of details/analysis.

I have an Suunto Ambit 2 + heartrate strap and I will put it against the Apple Watch. I am willing to be more than willing to share the charts gathered by the 2 watches.
Click to expand...
I'm a huge SUUNTO user / advocate. I always upgrade to their latest fitness gear as it's at the center of my daily workout / training / competition regime.

Having served me in an exemplary fashion for years, by doing the work and tracking my efforts to the minute detail I have achieved a level of fitness year after year that keeps my BMI precisely at my target and the success I enjoy in competition truly rewarding. My mental acuity is better than I ever thought possible.

To set aside all my proven tracking gear for an Apple Watch?

It's_not_happening... Even if they gave me the Apple stuff :)
 
czecho7 said:
Yes, you also have a point. I'm one of those average Joes.. I'm not the most fitness minded person, but I'm excited about the fitness aspects of Apple Watch. But I'm definitely more excited about it's other features.
Click to expand...

I wasn't much of an active person. I've been more of a couch potato. With the steps taken data on my iPhone 6+ always pointing out to me how little I move I started challenging myself to reach target steps per day.

These steps taken turned into jogging. I'm now consciously tracking my health daily. All thanks to the iPhone. When I get my Apple watch I'm going to set it to remind me to stand up once in a while. I forget to sometimes at the office.
 
technosix said:
I'm a huge SUUNTO user / advocate. I always upgrade to their latest fitness gear as it's at the center of my daily workout / training / competition regime.

Having served me in an exemplary fashion for years, by doing the work and tracking my efforts to the minute detail I have achieved a level of fitness year after year that keeps my BMI precisely at my target and the success I enjoy in competition truly rewarding. My mental acuity is better than I ever thought possible.

To set aside all my proven tracking gear for an Apple Watch?

It's_not_happening... Even if they gave me the Apple stuff :)
Click to expand...

Well I am still a little bit out of shape but I did take down my BMI from 30 to 25 in the last year. Not bad for an 40 years old geezer.
 
I think the simplicity of the watches fitness program is going to motivate a lot of people to be a little more active. Just the advertising has made me get more focused on standing up more. Seeing a simple graphic that tells me to stand, get my heart rate up more, and to walk more will be good for me. I did not even realize until this week that the fitness program on the phone has already been tracking the steps I take while I have the phone in my pocket.

I have not seen the full extent of the watch options but I hope one of them is to tell it I am using a rowing machine. That is the only time the phone is not in my pocket. It is on the machine using the Kindle app to make my time go faster without noticing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back