Best fitness tracker ?
- Thread starter atatu
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torpantennis
Legend
Does any of them measure heart rate without HRM belt, and if yes, is the measurement accurate?
movdqa
Talk Tennis Guru
I believe that some of the smartwatches do this by shining a light on your wrist and looking for the beat but I've read that you usually have to be stationary for it to work.
I have a Garmin Forerunner 610 Watch with the chest strap and that works great, as long as you don't mind the chest strap.
I have a Garmin Forerunner 610 Watch with the chest strap and that works great, as long as you don't mind the chest strap.
atatu
Legend
Is the surge worth the extra money ? My son has the fitbit charge and he really likes it, but the Surge looks great.
maggmaster
Hall of Fame
The fuse has visual heart rate and it works great. Wore it through a half marathon last weekend and got a great graph.
couch
Hall of Fame
I would say probably not. The stores in my area were out of the charge so I went ahead and got the surge. If the charge were a bit smaller I would have held out for it.
I think really the only things the surge offers over the charge is gps, music control, and bigger display. I will probably still use my phone's gps and music when I run so probably not much of an advantage.
racertempo
Semi-Pro
I would go for the ChargeHR, I am using it now for tennis and love it. The Charge does not have Heart Rate monitoring, and the surge has the nice GPS feature, but not sure that is worth $100 over the ChargeHR
racertempo
Semi-Pro
The phone apps just don't work well with tennis. Ever try to play tennis with a big phone is your pocket? Not fun, and sometimes the signal goes bad as well. A good tracker will also track your heart rate though which is a major step up.
couch
Hall of Fame
Yeah, I meant Charge HR just in case there was any confusion. That's the reason I wanted one of the new fitbits- HR monitoring.
good for you. i had one of those HR monitors. I have no idea where it is now. Maybe gone or in the trash? i haven't seen it in years. it was running low on batteries.
Sending my up3 back after a week. It just doesn't offer much beyond the Up move I used while waiting for it. It is however, extremely comfortable. I used a Fitbit Charge HR for about 6 weeks and _loved_ it until it started burning through my wrists.
I'm probably going to get a Basis Peak as I want the real time HR, even if it's not super accurate.
I'm probably going to get a Basis Peak as I want the real time HR, even if it's not super accurate.
I found my fitness tracker. Looked up how to replace the batteries on Youtube, and I have to cut the thing open which would render it useless for swimming.
I stopped using the health monitors on my phone for various reasons. I just installed a HR monitor on my phone and stress monitor. Pretty interesting technology.
couch
Hall of Fame
I'm using a Garmin Fenix 3 HR. Best watch/fitness tracker on the market. A little big but I like my watches on the larger side. Used to wearing Panerais so I really like the look and feel of the Fenix 3 HR.
I think Garmin is making some great products right now. They really do have something for everyone.
HR monitoring is still erratic on wrist-worn devices but the nice thing with some of the Garmins is you can connect to an external HR monitor For better accuracy.
I think Garmin is making some great products right now. They really do have something for everyone.
HR monitoring is still erratic on wrist-worn devices but the nice thing with some of the Garmins is you can connect to an external HR monitor For better accuracy.
movdqa
Talk Tennis Guru
I think that the Garmin Forerunner 630 is currently tops on my list as a running watch. If they added an MP3 player, it would be perfect for me. I like the idea of the Fenix 3 (coworker showed me his a while ago) but I don't need the general purpose smartwatch stuff - just tracking and MP3 player.
There are some strong rumors out that the Apple Watch will have GPS in the next version but I don't think that I'd really like to take it into the gym for worry that it will get damaged. The Garmins tend to be a little tougher than watches that are designed for show.
I may just keep using the iPod Nano. I'm using a Forerunner 610 right now but I'll upgrade to something at some point.
Very cool watch/tracker. For those who might be interested, here's a great review: http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/02/garmin-fenix3hr-review.html
Did you try the HR monitoring while playing tennis ? I want to capture my HR data while playing tennis and am thinking about the Garmin Vivoactive HR, which uses the same HR optical wrist sensor as the Fenix 3 HR. I may give it a shot and if the wrist sensor has problems, I suppose I can go with the dreaded chest sensor.
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couch
Hall of Fame
I use the HR monitor all the time to track tennis and Crossfit. I think it gives you a general idea of your HR during workouts but not near as responsive or accurate when "just" running. An external HR monitor is much more accurate when trying to measure things such as tennis or working out.
Overall I think it does a pretty good job. Just don't go into it expecting 100% accurate results.
I love larger watches. Used to wearing Panerais, etc. If you like large watches the fenix 3 is a great option. If you don't, then the vivoactive HR is a great option.
Thanks couch. I notice the Garmin watches/trackers don't include "Tennis" as a selectable Activity. What Activity do you select for tennis ? Also, have you used a chest strap with your Garmin ? If so, which one ? Thanks.
couch
Hall of Fame
I think I use the running activity when I play tennis. You can actually rename activities if you want. When I do CrossFit I use the strength training activity but renamed it CrossFit. I believe you do this within the app but it's been a while since I did it.
Yes, I have used a chest strap with it but only when I've done CrossFit. I haven't used it while playing tennis. I have the hrm run chest strap. I'm pretty sure Garmin uses ant+ technology to connect their straps to their watches so make sure if you get a strap that it's compatible.
movdqa
Talk Tennis Guru
I think that Garmin has two straps - the older model that tracks your heart rate and the newer one with accelerometers that can analyze running dynamics. Garmin went with Ant+ tech because Bluetooth used too much power at the time. Bluetooth then came out with a low-power mode but a lot of other devices (digital scales, cardio fitness equipment) used Ant+ so you have two standards out there but Ant+ is the bigger one for legacy equipment.
Bender
G.O.A.T.
It was high intensity rallies and drills for three hours; basically full sprints from start to finish. But you could be right...I'm not sure...
Okay, in that case, it sounds right.
men8ifr
Semi-Pro
I'm loosing faith in the vivoactive hr. I don't think it recorded my hr correctly at all in the last singles match and now if I take it off my wrist the hr is going up and down wtf? I suspect it just guesses your hr if it doesn't have a good signal to detect properly but there's no way to tell if it's detecting a pulse properly. I'll try some more wrist positions as otherwise the watch is really good but I need some faith in the readings!
Bender
G.O.A.T.
It depends on how loose or tight your band is, I think.
It needs to be loose enough that you can just about fit three fingers between that bump at the base of your wrist / end of your outer forearm and the sensor.
men8ifr
Semi-Pro
Or arm straps seem to have accuracy equal to a chest strap... But do I keep £200 worth of watch that doesn't monitor hr? I do like many of the features on it though so it would be a good way to track fitness even if you have to for a strap for hr measurement.
movdqa
Talk Tennis Guru
I think that it's fine for activity-tracking, but not for athletic stuff. So if you want to see what your heartrate is like for the whole day, then it's fine. That's what most people want from a fitness tracker. If you want accuracy for athletic stuff, then go for a chest strap. I did do the chest strap thing for a while but you can usually read your body after a while. The Vivoactive has a GPS, right? That's usually useful for runners and cyclists (outdoors), so if tracking your runs is important to you, then that might be good enough.
I don't know if they have models that do both strap and wrist HRM but I think that the strap functionality is generally in their higher-end models as they support it using the proprietary ANT protocol so they have to add an additional radio for that and it's probably going to use more power for that radio than the wrist HRM. The models that support ANT also support some digital scales, fitness equipment like treadmills and elliptical steppers, stationary bicycles, etc. You'd think that everything would use Bluetooth these days and that's where things are headed but ANT, as a low-power protocol, came out before low-power Bluetooth so it was adopted by a lot of vendors early on.
I'm a runner so I went with the Forerunner 610 and I've been debating an upgrade to the 620 or 630. The only issue that I have with my 610 is the weight. It was 73 grams compared to about 42 or 43 for the newer models. Maybe I should wear it on my right wrist instead of my left wrist. I would probably add a little power to my shots.
men8ifr
Semi-Pro
Well I'm gonna send the Garmin back and get a Polar FT1 for £30. That uses a chest strap and the watch will just display min/max and current heart-rate. For any-one considering an optical HR watch I would say you need a way to test it to make sure you are happy with it. One thing I notice is my veins do not run up the centre of my wrist so the watch does not sit on top of any obvious veins - maybe that's why it doesn't work for me?
movdqa
Talk Tennis Guru
"That's the thing with a lot of these optical blood flow wearables. If you're just walking and running then they have good algorithms to get rid of light and movement artefacts, but if the intensity is a lot higher, above 160 beats, then the blood passing is so fast that when you add movement as well, it becomes really difficult to get the right reading.
"It's physiology not technology. It's a matter of the unpredictability of the blood through the wrist in an area you can't control. Ear tech is going to beat the wrist because it suffers less physiological interference.
http://www.wareable.com/sport/optical-heart-rate-tech-the-experts-speak-9763
There are a ton of articles out there on the problems with Optical HRMs. Ear-based systems look like they're going to be a lot better but I can still see problems with them with workouts. A ton of sweat can come down around the ears and the head can move around quite a bit. The tried and true approach of the chest strap is still the most accurate right now.
heninfan99
Talk Tennis Guru
I just ordered one of these too. I hope it is wearable while hitting though I mainly got it for more boring forms of exercise.
dak95_00
Hall of Fame
Ugh!!!
I keep reading all of these reviews online and here and I can't make up my mind. I want to buy for my daughter and wife too. I hate the chest strap but my wife doesn't mind them. Here are my thoughts. I'll use it for tennis, golf, soccer officiating, running inside on a treadmill and outside, etc. My daughter will use hers for general fitness, soccer officiating, and running. My wife will be using for fitness and running.
My daughter and I need a stopwatch feature for timing soccer. We'll need GPS too for running. My wife is looking to upgrade from her more basic Fitbit thingy and to leave her old Garmin Forerunner 305.
My thoughts are for these models in no order:
Garmin Vivoactive HR- does it have a stopwatch? It has a golf gps capability but so does my phone. $170
Polar M400- it has a stopwatch but requires chest strap. $170 but come with Polar Loop 2 for free.
Polar M200- it has wrist hr. I'm not sure about other features. $150
Tom Tom Spark w/ hr and MP3-$150 requires Bluetooth headphones. Would be good for my daughter. She'll want a small music player.
Polar A300-no gps but has hr strap good with the other models for $90. The strap itself is $50-70.
Too much information for me to go through. My last big watch I used was the Garmin Forerunner 201 and the gps really helped me to improve my speed. I'm not worried about all of the tracking stuff but my wife loves it. I'm thinking my daughters will love it too.
I'm looking for personal experience from tt!
I keep reading all of these reviews online and here and I can't make up my mind. I want to buy for my daughter and wife too. I hate the chest strap but my wife doesn't mind them. Here are my thoughts. I'll use it for tennis, golf, soccer officiating, running inside on a treadmill and outside, etc. My daughter will use hers for general fitness, soccer officiating, and running. My wife will be using for fitness and running.
My daughter and I need a stopwatch feature for timing soccer. We'll need GPS too for running. My wife is looking to upgrade from her more basic Fitbit thingy and to leave her old Garmin Forerunner 305.
My thoughts are for these models in no order:
Garmin Vivoactive HR- does it have a stopwatch? It has a golf gps capability but so does my phone. $170
Polar M400- it has a stopwatch but requires chest strap. $170 but come with Polar Loop 2 for free.
Polar M200- it has wrist hr. I'm not sure about other features. $150
Tom Tom Spark w/ hr and MP3-$150 requires Bluetooth headphones. Would be good for my daughter. She'll want a small music player.
Polar A300-no gps but has hr strap good with the other models for $90. The strap itself is $50-70.
Too much information for me to go through. My last big watch I used was the Garmin Forerunner 201 and the gps really helped me to improve my speed. I'm not worried about all of the tracking stuff but my wife loves it. I'm thinking my daughters will love it too.
I'm looking for personal experience from tt!
movdqa
Talk Tennis Guru
I generally prefer the chest strap to wrist HRM for accuracy. If it's not a big deal then you could go with the wrist sensor. Some of the newer Garmin GPS watches may be able to do both - something to check out. The 235 would be a good model to check.
The Garmin models that can run apps should be able to do stopwatch. I know that the Fenix 3 can but it might be overkill.
The Garmin 230 is on sale at Amazon now for $180 and the 630 is $229. I assume that this is a Black Friday deal.
I've looked at combination GPS watch and MP3 players and I think that the general consensus is that they eat through battery life quickly unless the device has an unusually large battery.
I've taken to running more with my iPhone 6 since finding shorts that can comfortably hold the phone. I have an old Garmin 610 that I still use but it's annoying in that it takes a while to get satellite lock. If you get a GPS watch, make sure that it has GLONASS.
HRM is interesting for a while if you're mainly doing recreational running but the novelty wears off. It's more important for high performance and intensity workouts where you want to know that your heart rate is too high.
movdqa
Talk Tennis Guru
Looks very nice.
