tkam Posted February 23, 2016 Report Posted February 23, 2016 Figured we could use a thread to discuss fitness trackers for those of us trying to lose weight and/or get into better shape. I have a Fitbit Charge, I'm actually on my 3rd one (2 replaced under warranty) and today the button on it stopped working. It's nice that they keep replacing them for free but damn it's getting annoying. The build quality is just garbage. Any suggestions on a different brand or model to try?
MexicanDragon Posted February 23, 2016 Report Posted February 23, 2016 I'm enjoying my Garmin Vivoactive. The screen isn't great, but the battery life is EASILY getting the 3 weeks it mentioned. I wear a Charge HR on the other wrist, and it gets maybe 3 days if I'm lucky (this was a new warranty replacement after the first lasted about 4-5 months.) I agree, love that they replaced it, hate that it needed it. The Garmin doesn't do HR, though, and I don't love the app relative to the Fitbit app, but that's just for what I want to do. This does have different options for tracking workouts such as indoor treadmill, indoor cycling, etc. It will hook up to other sensors (HR, various cycling ones), but not doing HR natively is a bit of a bummer, as it's something I really enjoy tracking. Are you open to more watch style, or sticking to bands? **BRENT**
Aimless1 Posted February 23, 2016 Report Posted February 23, 2016 Got the Garmin VivoSmart at the end of 2015. As Brent said, great battery life. Good luck reading the screen. Works well for what I want.
tkam Posted February 23, 2016 Author Report Posted February 23, 2016 12 minutes ago, MexicanDragon said: Are you open to more watch style, or sticking to bands? While I prefer the smaller size of the bands I'm open to a watch style.
Grand Enigma Posted February 23, 2016 Report Posted February 23, 2016 My dad... whole extended family for that matter, is fanatical about their Fitbits. They daily compete with each other for steps and what have you. I tried on briefly, but never got into it.
MexicanDragon Posted February 23, 2016 Report Posted February 23, 2016 Garmin Vivosmart HR seems like a better Charge HR feature wise, but with more bulk. The Garmin Vivoactive I have is barely more $$$, is insanely thin/light, and fairly narrow (I think it's 38mm, which is much smaller than I like in a watch, but fitting in this.) Only a 40$ difference, but the Vivoactive doesn't do HR. I'm wondering if a newer model will come out. I'd also possibly consider one of the Garmin watches, but I'd talk to Nate about that, as he has some experience lately, IIRC. **BRENT**
shellylh Posted February 23, 2016 Report Posted February 23, 2016 Enjoying the Fitbit Charge HR but I've only had it for 3.5 days. Two of my friends have the Charge HR for a while and they've never had any problems with it. If anyone wants to be a Fitbit friend, pm me and I'll send you my email.
MexicanDragon Posted February 23, 2016 Report Posted February 23, 2016 I like the design of the Charge HR much more than the Charge, but I've had an HR delaminate, and the battery life just kills it for me as an only tracker. There is a newer watch-style Fitbit that I would be inclined to try called the Fitbit Blaze. On paper, at least, it would do what is desired, but I haven't seen one or heard of anyone getting one yet. This is HC, though, so I imagine 6 people will have them by end of business Thursday. **BRENT**
crappyjones123 Posted February 23, 2016 Report Posted February 23, 2016 (edited) Brent would be more into it if he didn't get his ass kicked on weekday challenges in fitbit every week he might actually have a chance this week since I have finals. I love my fitbit flex. Great battery life. Tracks steps. Don't need it to do anything else. Edited February 23, 2016 by crappyjones123
MexicanDragon Posted February 23, 2016 Report Posted February 23, 2016 Heh. I was in first place yesterday, but I'm pretty sure I'm smoked by now. I love the Fitbit ecosystem, but the build is lacking. I own two Flexes (each kid now has one, somewhere), and the old Charge HR (given away and used daily, albeit with a little duct tape) and the current one. If I got a week of battery, it would be fantastic. At 3 days (the old one got 5,) it's tough to give a full endorsement to as an only device. One nice thing about the Garmin is that it has media controls I can have the phone on the charger and do basic play/pause/skip in Tidal. If you're out walking/running with your phone hooked up to headphones in an arm band, the watch controls are fantastic. **BRENT**
Aura Posted February 23, 2016 Report Posted February 23, 2016 (edited) Funny timing with this thread... my Charge HR really fucked up over the weekend for the first time. Battery completely drained from a full charge in less than two hours and stopped syncing with my phone. I tried a basic restart, then removed the device from my app (unpaired from phone), then multiple factory restarts only to find that the app wouldn't recognize it or let me add it back to my profile. Finally just let the damn thing charge overnight and tada! magically let me add it back to my profile. The battery still seems dicey but it hasn't drained like that again, so for now I'll keep rolling with it. I've stopped caring about all of its functionality outside of tracking my daily training and my heart rate. Everything else is mostly useless for me. Note - running version 102 firmware. Some quick searching online showed that this firmware update has been horrendous for the Charge HR in particular and that many people are having all sorts of charging and syncing issues. Fitbit is aware but hasn't released any sort of update for whatever reason. Edited February 23, 2016 by Aura
shellylh Posted February 23, 2016 Report Posted February 23, 2016 37 minutes ago, MexicanDragon said: Heh. I was in first place yesterday, but I'm pretty sure I'm smoked by now. I love the Fitbit ecosystem, but the build is lacking. I own two Flexes (each kid now has one, somewhere), and the old Charge HR (given away and used daily, albeit with a little duct tape) and the current one. If I got a week of battery, it would be fantastic. At 3 days (the old one got 5,) it's tough to give a full endorsement to as an only device. One nice thing about the Garmin is that it has media controls I can have the phone on the charger and do basic play/pause/skip in Tidal. If you're out walking/running with your phone hooked up to headphones in an arm band, the watch controls are fantastic. **BRENT** If you wanted to be in first place, you shouldn't have invited me to be part of the challenge. 1
MexicanDragon Posted February 23, 2016 Report Posted February 23, 2016 I'm always back of the pack, largely because fitbit doesn't pick up my indoor workouts. Took it outside yesterday and had some fun in the rain with Xavier. Now? Who knows. I am going to Universal Studios Friday/Saturday, so I expect things may get interesting. **BRENT** 1
crappyjones123 Posted February 23, 2016 Report Posted February 23, 2016 3 hours ago, shellylh said: If you wanted to be in first place, you shouldn't have invited me to be part of the challenge. Welcome Shelley. The more people to kick Brents butt the better 1
Salt Peanuts Posted February 25, 2016 Report Posted February 25, 2016 While I like my Fitbit trackers, the build quality leaves a lot to be desired, as already mentioned. I think I'm on 6th or 7th tracker (currently Charge HR) at this point - at least they were all replaced under warranty. 1
Mister X Posted February 25, 2016 Report Posted February 25, 2016 Looks like the Vivoactive HR could be worth waiting for.... It's pretty huge though. http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/02/garmins-vivoactivehr-vivofit3.html#
tkam Posted February 26, 2016 Author Report Posted February 26, 2016 The vivofit 3 looks pretty interesting as well, I really don't need any of the fancy stuff, just step, distance, calorie, etc tracking and the ability to manually enter data that it can't track.
n_maher Posted February 26, 2016 Report Posted February 26, 2016 Much like the Apple watch I feel like we're in the infancy of this type of tech and that there's going to be a lot of churn, updates, mid-cycle refreshes, flops, etc. as the kinks get worked out. So after I tried a couple of the more expensive trackers (Fitbit Surge and Garmin Forerunner 235) I backpedaled and went with the much cheaper and simpler Charge HR. It's battery life is good for me (at least 5 days) although not to great for my wife (more like Brent's 3 days) and my hope is that it'll last a year - basically until something much better comes along and convinces me that spending more than ~$100 is worth it. 3
Aura Posted February 27, 2016 Report Posted February 27, 2016 Charge HR totally dead... Customer Service sent me shipping info for my free replacement though! 2
MexicanDragon Posted March 6, 2016 Report Posted March 6, 2016 http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/garmin-vivoactive-hr-212727 OK, I'm not sure I'm sold on the looks of it, relative to the Vivoactive that I have, but all it's missing is a HR monitor to be a fantastic tracker for me. I'll have to remember to win one of these later this year so I can test it, but seeing as how my Vivoactive is on my arm, and my Charge HR is on the Charger, I'd be happy to have this as an only device, I do believe. **BRENT**
shellylh Posted March 16, 2016 Report Posted March 16, 2016 (edited) Well, my Charge HR was going strong but I took it off last night and now I can't find it. The only place I haven't looked is the trash which unfortunately is full and gross. I keep hoping I'll think of another place to look because I am definitely not looking wearing a watch that is in the trash. Anyone have an idea of how to figure out if it is in the trash without putting on some gloves and going through it? Edited March 16, 2016 by shellylh
n_maher Posted March 16, 2016 Report Posted March 16, 2016 Try to sync with it to get a general idea of where it might be. You should be able to narrow it down a bit doing that. 1
shellylh Posted March 16, 2016 Report Posted March 16, 2016 I did that, it did sync in the room with the trash can though. I guess I can take the trash outside and if doesn't sync, it is in the trash, right? How far do I need to take the trash? Will the balcony be far enough or does bluetooth work through glass?
Aura Posted March 16, 2016 Report Posted March 16, 2016 I'd try to sync from more than 30 feet away from wherever the trash is. That's normally about the distance my bluetooth earbuds disconnect. 1
shellylh Posted March 16, 2016 Report Posted March 16, 2016 I also found this which should be helpful. https://www.reddit.com/r/fitbit/comments/2udrg1/fitbit_lost_and_found_how_to_find_your_mia_fitbit/ 1
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