Hiya.

I know some people have been using them for years, just wondering how people are getting on.

Got a Fitbit Blaze a month or so ago for my birthday and overall I’m very impressed.
The software is excellent – intuitive and comprehensive enough for me.

Went for the Blaze to replace a watch and it’s very comfortable and easy to use.
Works very well, no glitches.
Don’t use the phone notifications, just the tracking and it’s just right for casual use.

I imagine if I actually trained, a more sports orientated device would be much more suitable, but for my needs it provides the info I want in an easily digestible manner.

Have found the sleep analysis function extremely useful, much more so than expected.

Stepaughters have both had them for a couple of years now, wife has had hers since March and colleagues are starting to use them too.
The social, competitive element is excellent. Found myself popping out for a few late night walks just to make sure I keep ahead.
🙂

Downsides:
No built in GPS, you need to take your phone with you to map journeys.
Not waterproof, although it’s survived a couple of forgetful showers.
The design of the case doesn’t protect the module properly, leaving the top and bottom edges, which mark quite easily, exposed. Can see myself picking up a tougher case, but the aftermarket ones look a bit cheap. Fitbit are missing a trick here, tbh, I’d love a G-Shock style, well made case option.
Strap itself is fine though.

You lot?

garmin 235. does all your positives plus the negatives.

only thing I’ll change it for is a fenix 5s.

My fitbit flex didn’t recognise any of my friends or family, so the competitive element was out. It then felt like a guilt complex on my arm. Two kids, a 100 mile commute, I was killing myself to satisfay the vibrating bracelet.

It’s working very well in my central console in the car. Should probably get it out again really.

following with interest.

i quite fancy some of those fancy scales that sync with these things. Just wondering if its a waste of cash though.

I have had the Blaze for about 12 months I guess, it was bought as a replacement for the Charge HR which kept falling to bits… I have worn it every day pretty much, in all weathers. Its looking a little battered now, but still works perfectly.

Only things I dislike are the charger which is just a bit flimsy though still working perfectly in fairness, and the fact that the heart rate is horribly inaccurate once you actually start doing something other than walking. (But thats why I use a garmin chest strap when riding, I understand the limitations of the optical HR readers).

All in all its been great!

Same as jam bo.
235 is good for general purpose inc some gps work. Not so good for cycling but got a 800 and hr strap for that.
Screen is a bit scratchable but thats about the only downside. Happy enough getting dunked from time to time as well kayaking.
For andybrad: i found connected scales fairly good at making me look at weight and then lose some. Reduces the chances of not being arsed to check and write it down.

Hmm.. I have a Garmin vivofit 2.

It’s pretty basic (just steps and sleep monitoring) but compared to some others it does have some advantages:

– it IS completely waterproof and can be worn swimming
– it doesn’t need charging, the battery has lasted well over a year without issue.
– it is comfy (I basically never take it off) and seems relatively durable.

Can’t say it has radically changed my life, but it does nag me when I sit still too long which is probably a good thing and I do find myself taking walks just to get increase the step count on an otherwise inactive day.

For rides etc I still just use my phone for GPS tracking.

Garmin Vivoactive HR+

None of the downsides of the Fitbit Blaze and about the same price.

Surprising features I didn’t think I need include bluetooth audio controls and IFTTT integration.

Would only swap it for a Fenix 5.

I went the whole hog and got a Garmin Fenix 5 after i killed my Edge 520 and got fed up draining my phone too quickly using the GPS.

Its absolutely brilliant (and so it should be given the price of the damn thing). Tracks all my rides, runs and the odd golf game as well a tracking sleep/steps etc. Loads of data for the serious geek (suits me). And waterproof too.

Also has a tracking function so you can upload gpx’s and follow them (although there is no built-in mapping on the fenix 5 – you need to go to the 5X for that but that is more expensive again and is HUGE). There are however 3rd party apps you can upload which will give you a decent mapping function.

Killer function for me is the battery lasts ages. Up to two weeks if not using GPS and up to 3 days using GPS.

This is becoming more regular than what TV.

What Jamie said.

I agree, if the rest of the family hadn’t gone the Fitbit route, I’d have gone for Vivo HR+.

Drac – Moderator
This is becoming more regular than what TV.

Well, things move on pretty quickly and from personal experience they seem to be selling to people like me who wouldn’t normally consider this type of thing.

Close it if you like, I’ll stick it on the end of an old thread.

Apple Watch 2. Seems pretty good. Only problem is I’m not fit. Though the watch is certainly good at what it does.

The wife has a Samsung Gear Fit 2. She’s pretty happy with that too.

Well, things move on pretty quickly and from personal experience they seem to be selling to people like me who wouldn’t normally consider this type of thing.

Close it if you like, I’ll stick it on the end of an old thread.

They do but It’s only a week of so.

I’ll find a link in a bit.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/i-want-a-gps-watch-but-im-clueless

GPS so covers more than fitness.

Vivoactive here too. Still loving it. At the moment I’m avidly following my resting hr and seeing how it’s effected by other things I’m doing. And hr post exercise, quite interesting too. Another boon has been to pace my running, before I’d plod everywhere but now I’m keeping an eye on things. Long runs are steady and short ones are quicker.

The steps challenges have fizzled a wee bit but did gazump some colleagues last week. Logged in at 23:30, worked out what I needed to do and got marching. After 120000 odd steps for the week I won by a couple of hundred. Pointless and childish but I found it amusing.

I’ve had it 6months and wouldn’t hesitate to buy another.

I bought a Fitbit HR a while back, tbh I found it a pointless gimmick.

How many steps do I do in a day? Well about 8000 it seemed, technology told me if I did more, I’d be fitter, this wasn’t new information, I asked about walking a few miles during work, they said no, they’d rather I did my work.

What was my resting heart rate? 53 is seemed, technology told me that made me fairly fit, if it was lower, I’d be fitter.
How many hours a night did I sleep? Well about 7-8 it seemed, I was able to back up their claim by noting the time I went to bed and the time I woke up and counting the time in between.

How many calories a day do I burn? Technology told me about 5000 which was so wide of the mark it was laughable, this had been confirmed by many independent consumer tests

Once I learned the above I struggled to see the point in it – it can’t really tell you how fit you are, and if it did it would be so vague as to render the information useless. In reality what I had was a semi-smart watch, that wasn’t waterproof and self-destructed at an alarming rate, it needed to be charged every few days and crashed and froze often. I believe it’s true value was the let everyone else know that I’m “into fitness”.

I hadn’t noticed that one as I’d searched for ‘Fitness Trackers’ rather than ‘GPS’.
Please merge them if you like.

After 120000 odd steps for the week I won by a couple of hundred. Pointless and childish but I found it amusing.

🙂

Just under 105,000 is my best so far.

Beating my triathlon obsessed youngest stepdaughter makes me happy.
She’s upped her game recently though.

I splashed out on a Xiaomi Miband 2 – £16 on a slow boat from China.
It does everything that a fitbit does – heart rate, steps, sleep monitoring etc. It even tells the time! – all for a fraction of the price of a Garmin or fitbit etc.
The app is a bit clunky but it syncs fine with Google fit which is all I wanted.
For the money you can’t go wrong, a cheap way to find out if a fitness tracker is for you.

I had a Garmin FR235 and loved it for 4 months until it died suddenly. Returned it and got a Vivoactive HR and other than the looks I like it even more (barometric altimeter, better native sports support, better as an actual watch)

I won’t be swapping this one I don’t think, although if I find myself with a decent chunk of spare change I might get a new 935XT, cheaper and a bit slimmer than the Fenix 5.

Got a Fitbit charge, think the app is good and also battery life. Calorie estimates are far from accurate though.

I had a TomTom GPS watch for a little while. It was very good – so comfortable to wear that I wore it all the time as a watch. Maps it produced on the TomTom app were good too.
My problem was, after the initial novelty, I realised I had no interest in my daily steps/mileage/whatever, so I sold it.