Fitbit

[Deleted member 4366]

I wanted a heart rate monitor to see what happened when I ride my bike. I tried a couple of Aldi/Ebay ones, but couldn't get them to work. I cashed in my pension, so have cash to waste and I thought I would try a Fitbit.

It works really well and provides all sorts of interesting information. It logs your cycling with a map and your heart rate so that you can see what's happening. It also logs your sleeping, which has some interesting results. I don't know how, but it knows how many steps you've done and how many stairs you climbed. As well as all the fitness info, it also tells the time, does alarms and syncs with your phone to show SMS messages, emails, calls and things like that. You have to charge it about every 5 days, which is a bit of a nuicance.

It also compares your performance and health with other people of the same age. Despite my weight, my cardio is in the top 5%, which is encouraging. No wonder I can overtake al the guys on their electric bikes when I'm on my road bike.

I love this device and would recommend one to anybody. It keeps you entertained for ages looking at all the stats. Don't take it too seriously though. Many of the measurements are approximate, but you can always pretend that they're real.

Mine is the Fitbit Charge. There's other versions which might be better or worse.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/332007616827?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

[topographer]

I wanted a heart rate monitor to see what happened when I ride my bike. I tried a couple of Aldi/Ebay ones, but couldn't get them to work. I cashed in my pension, so have cash to waste and I thought I would try a Fitbit.

It works really well and provides all sorts of interesting information. It logs your cycling with a map and your heart rate so that you can see what's happening. It also logs your sleeping, which has some interesting results. I don't know how, but it knows how many steps you've done and how many stairs you climbed. As well as all the fitness info, it also tells the time, does alarms and syncs with your phone to show SMS messages, emails, calls and things like that. You have to charge it about every 5 days, which is a bit of a nuicance.

It also compares your performance and health with other people of the same age. Despite my weight, my cardio is in the top 5%, which is encouraging. No wonder I can overtake al the guys on their electric bikes when I'm on my road bike.

I love this device and would recommend one to anybody. It keeps you entertained for ages looking at all the stats. Don't take it too seriously though. Many of the measurements are approximate, but you can always pretend that they're real.

Mine is the Fitbit Charge. There's other versions which might be better or worse.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/332007616827?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

My guess is steps are ascertained with an accelerometer and stair climbing with a combination of accelerometer and barometer. I think some smartphones do this.

 

[Croxden]

I'm quite happy living in ignorance, I don't wish to know if my heart stops working.

 

[Bigdaddyuk666]

Samsung gear fit 2 is a great bit of kit and if auto uploads stats to Strava when tracking a journey.

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

 

[anotherkiwi]

There are people who wonder if I have a heart. Buying a heart monitor would not work, I want to keep them guessing...

 

[GLJoe]

I wanted a heart rate monitor to see what happened when I ride my bike.

The fitbit logging software is pretty cool, and it is indeed interesting to look at at all the recorded stats.
However when I last checked, wrist based heart rate monitors have one major flaw - they are notoriously inaccurate when exercising!
They are remarkably accurate at rest, so excellent for things like monitoring your sleep patterns, or seeing your true resting pulse rate, but once there is movement between the optical sensor and your skin, all bets are off (although they don't stop working - they just display a best guess value).
So for running - forget it. Cycling? Hmmm. Not sure. I suppose it depends on how smooth the ride was!
For HR accuracy during activity, you still have to rely on a chest strap implementation. I wasn't prepared to spash out a lot of cash on a fancy garmin etc, so I went for the most basic (but reliable) model I could, which was a Polar FT1. Its about £35. But its a VERY basic model.
My wife however did want to be able to view logged results, and she also does some martial arts activities where a phone isn't going to be within blutooth range, so she ended up with a Wahoo Tickr model, that is a chest strap, with a built in logger (tickr x?) that downloads data as a bulk job, rather than most wireless straps that simply transmit continuously, and the phone has to do the logging. I think it was around 60-70 quid. The software that comes with that seems ok and is quite comprehensive.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The heart rate monitor seems to work pretty well while cycling. You can correlate the increase in rate to individual hills, so I doubt that it's doing much guessing/estimating.

Obviously, some of the other functions can't be 100% because it only gets inputs from its sensor. It doesn't actually know what you're doing unless you tell it. My Samsung health app kept congratualting me for walking so far when I was just sitting in my boat doing a 12 hour crossing.

I do like gadgets, but I can say that this one gives a lot of value. It's interesting and entertaining, plus, you can't help letting it guide and motivate you to a healthier life. I'd say that it's one of the most useful gadgets that I've bought.

If you're a couch potato and like watching East Enders, Coronaion street , Emmerdale etc, it's probably not the gadget for you, but pretty good if you're trying to motivate yourself to sort out your lazy lifestyle. There's a lot of similar gadgets that do similar things, which I'm sure are equally good if not better.

 

[grldtnr]

I'm quite happy living in ignorance, I don't wish to know if my heart stops working.

I think you will be pretty damn sure ,when it stops working! Then it depends on a flip of fate whether you survive, should you want to.

 

[Will Tinker]

I bought a Fitbit Blaze before Xmas, but really struggled with it.

It didn't like syncing with my phone. Also, the strap made my wrist swell up!

I think fitness watches are quite a personal thing, and what works well for one person might not work for another in terms of design, etc.

But the technology is great. Really impressive.

In the end I went with the Microsoft Band 2. It has built-in GPS so I don't need my phone with me when I go for a run. Helped me with my running - tells me my speed, so I can pace myself really accurately.

Apparently, the pulse-rate monitoring is pretty accurate on most devices (though you get what you pay for). Calorie burn estimation isn't great though. So yes, use as a general rough guide

 

[Deleted member 4366]

There's load of alternative straps on Ebay. You can get just about every style, material and colour. I've ordered a black stainless steel one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/332213700748?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&var=541233970469&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

I thought about a GPS one, but the GPS always sucks the battery on a watch. I always take my phone with me anyway for other things, like listening to the cricket, so it's no problem to use the linked GPS.

It's surprising how many similar such devices are available now. Even our Chinese friends have their own versions (cheaper of course).

 

[Bigdaddyuk666]

Surprisingly the Samsung gear fit 2 battery life is great compared to the first galaxy gear .

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

 

[topographer]

Apple Watch is better at heart rate and Fitbit is better at calorie counting:
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/05/24/apple-watch-heart-rate-most-accurate-fitness-study/

For what it's worth, people who combine the Apple Watch with the Lose it! app swear by its miraculous ability to make them lose weight.

 

[Bigdaddyuk666]

Big price difference you can get the gear fit 2 bnib under £100 If you look in the right places . I got mine with a pair of Samsung level active headphones also bnib on gumtree both for £105

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

 

[Will Tinker]

Apple Watch is better at heart rate and Fitbit is better at calorie counting:
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/05/24/apple-watch-heart-rate-most-accurate-fitness-study/

For what it's worth, people who combine the Apple Watch with the Lose it! app swear by its miraculous ability to make them lose weight.

Yep, I read an academic study comparing the most popular brands and the Apple watch did seem to come out on top, largely.

The Samsung struggled a bit.

d8veh - I can still get a day's use out of mine with GPS on. Just need to remember to charge it at night! A day is all it will manage.

 

[Bigdaddyuk666]

2-3 days with GPS on and it auto uploads map and stats to Strava non premium as I'm tight lol

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

 

[Crockers]

With your fitbit try swinging you arm. It will read this as walking. When in South Africa on Safari the ride was so bumpy that it registered I did 25000 steps without getting out of the Jeep.

My wife has hers linked to Vitality health and gets points for doing 7000, 10,000 or 12,000 steps in a day. Points give premium reduction.

 

[StewC]

If you get a Fitbit Surge or Charge, make sure to keep the receipt, as the straps either break, crack or bubble up. I've had a surge for a year, and it seem the straps only last about 3 months. Saying that Fitbit Customer care is very good, and they have sent me 3 replacement Surges in the first year, but after the first year they only give a 25% discount on buying a future Fitbit.
I have 4 Srges now, 3 that I have superglued up, and keep one for going out Smart, but now the one I look after has started to bubble up and looks tatty.
I also had a charge, and a charge HR, that I also had problems with. I bet your thinking I'm a clumsy type that always breaking things. I'm not I very careful with items, I even have an iPhone that is over 3 years old.
£200 for watch that only last 18 months is not great value for money really. I believe the newer Charge2 has an interchangeable strap, so hopefully that will be a better design/material.

 

[Bigdaddyuk666]

That's another pro for the gear fit 2 straps are cheap to replace or change £7 - £15 on Amazon real leather straps , stainless steel , silicon .
Plenty of choice

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Surprisingly the Samsung gear fit 2 battery life is great compared to the first galaxy gear .

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Its battery life is about the same as the Fitbit Charge 2, but when you put the GPS on, it goes down to 9 hours., which is not very practical.

My last watch had an infinite battery and the one before that had a battery life of 10 years. 5 days battery life without GPS is a bit of a pain, but 9 hours could be flattened on a good day out.

These smart watches have a way to go yet before they're really practical. Who wants to take their watch off and leave it charging for an hour? They need to find a way of quick-charging while it's on your wrist.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

If you get a Fitbit Surge or Charge, make sure to keep the receipt, as the straps either break, crack or bubble up. I've had a surge for a year, and it seem the straps only last about 3 months. Saying that Fitbit Customer care is very good, and they have sent me 3 replacement Surges in the first year, but after the first year they only give a 25% discount on buying a future Fitbit.

Plastic straps don't last on any watches. I used to buy top of the range Casio watches, but you could only get them with plastic straps that cracked up after a few months - complete waste of time on a watch that cost hundreds. I'd only ever consider stainless steel or maybe titanium.