Fitness trackers/bands/watches

Geordie Jester

Hey people,

I'm 40 next month and want to treat myself to a fitness band.  Does anyone have any experience and thoughts on them?  

I run a lot (using a garmin forerunner that I love).   I know I would really like all the steps/calories/distance stats that a tracker would give. The heart rate monitor would let me see recovery times too. Also, the sleep data would be interesting too.

So I've been researching and think that the features of the Microsoft Band look great.  The internal gps would mean I could have an all-in-one unit for running and the day to day stats.  The big problem....the style/shape.   The main complaint people have in the US (it's out there right now) is it being so clunky.  I have small wrists....so maybe even worse for me too.       It is out middle April, so I will try it on then I think.

So what of the others!?  There is a fitbit charge hr,  and the fitbit surge.   The latter having gps.  Both have standard watch straps...the charge hr slimmer.  Just don't look as nicely presented as the MS band....but does anyone here have firsthand experience of them?

As an engineer...the other thing that does go through my mind is that the 2nd generations of all these devices are going to all be so much better and that I should wait.    However....I am also really impatient

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Wardy257

I have been keeping my eye on fitness bands for both personal and professional use. I think they are still 6-12 months away from being worth the costs.

Battery life is one of the main concerns along with heart rate accuracy and reliability.

Geordie Jester

Yeah I think I agree.    The more I've read - the more I like the MS presentation of the data.  It's very very slick.  Sleep data is paritcularly dealt with well compared to the dry FitBit outputs. Heart monitor seems to test well against chest straps too, especially on the more veiny inside wrist, or tad higher up arm than normal watch position.   If it was slimmer I would treat myself I think - even though I'd know I was becoming an early-adopter first gen guinea pig !  Im still gonna try it on in a cpl of weeks and see for myself.       Other noises of anticipation are with the Jawbone Up3 - but massive delays and quality/production problems seem to have stalled it.

we'll see

Wardy257

Let us know how you get on, a client of mine is probably going for the MS one soon so I going to quiz him on it and see it in use.

Geordie Jester

will do

MIghtyG

I was looking at the MS band for a while at first as I have a Windows phone and it would be nice to 'complete the eco system' but the pretty poor battery life put me off. Also, as far as I know the HR monitor on the MS band isnt always on so you cant get a resting HR from it.

I ended up going for the fitbit surge, ive had it for about 3 weeks now though and im happy with it, battery life is about 5-6 days if you dont use the GPS (I usually charge it once twice a week and ive only had it die on me once), the HR monitor is always on and has been pretty accurate in my experience although it does seem to lag a little taking about 30s to get an accurate reading. I havent compared this with a chest strap though, just my own measurements the old fashioned way (holding my wrist and using a stop watch)

The fitbit site ties in nicely with myfitnesspal though if you have an account on both, so the fitbit measures how many callories you have burned based on your activity levels and this gets plugged into MFP to adjust your allotted callorie count you are allowed.

Only down sides I have to it are the exercise modes, if you are a runner no problem. Im not, I like to do workouts at home (rowing and cycling mainly) which is fine you can use the generic 'workout' mode but I also like to cycle on the road, and there is no road cyclind option as I would like the GPS data on aswel. I can use either running, walking or hiking to turn on the GPS but im pretty sure the callorie counter will be skewed.

But, there is talk of this being added with a firmware update at some point.

All in all though, im happy with it.

EDIT: Small disclamer, im not the fittest man in the world (far from it) and I bought the fit bit as a little kick up the jacksy to motivate myself a little. So regular fitnes folk may have a better/worse opinion than me! Im still getting into the whole regular working out thing.

Geordie Jester

Thanks very much for posting that,  it's great to get real world opinions!   The heart rate sampling of the MS band is below.   I think it sounds about fair.   At "general times" it takes heart-rate 6 time an hour.     The exercise part will be more important to me.   :

Microsoft Band heart rate sampling frequency
Exercise modes (Run and Workout): Heart rate records every secondSleep tracking : 2 minutes on, 8 minutes off. Repeats throughout durationAll other times : 1 minute on, 9 minutes off, and repeating the cycleManual: You can force-check your heart rate at any time by tapping the Me TileI still haven't decided what to do.  It is so frustrating as I can see how much MS have done well...but not being waterproof....being a bit cumbersome...and having poorish battery life (but probably livable in the scheme of things) is stopping me taking plunge.

I will decide this month (birthday at the end)

Geordie Jester

Well it is released today !

Think I'm going to see in person then decide
Microsoft Band review: sensor-packed – if you don't mind looking like an offender | Technology | The Guardian

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Geordie Jester

Well I grabbed a band last night.   Loving it so far....was very interesting to see the sleep analysis etc.  Tonight a proper test out running.

Will post back, comparing with my garmin watch

Geordie Jester

Distances were locked...and the GPS connected in seconds....compared with quite a while for the Garmin.  So all good so far.     I like being able to mute the screen (turn it blank) to help with the battery life whilst running.  The haptic (shake) feedback was good on the mile splits.  automatically puts screen on showing the mile time.....   then goes back off after few seconds.    Screen can be modded to show three bits of data....and a swipe to see pulse.

Sleep graphs are great too.   No wonder I feel poor....not getting great quality sleep..  see image (accidently made it black and white)