I only use devices supported by gadgetbridge. This way I can track me without giving all the data to somebody else. Currently I use a Mi Band 7, but I'm thinking about getting a device with onboeard GPS.
this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2023
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Never heard of gadgetbridge. Excited to switch over
How is gadgetbridge working with the 7? The wikipage has a long list of unsupported features, which has held me back from trying it out, but I really want to give it a go!
Steps, sleep, stress, workouts work quite nice. PAI is supposed to have a tab within the next few releases of gadgetbrigde iirc. My approach is more like... I use gb to collect the data from the watch and then use grafana for a visualisation. which might be overkill.
Apple Watch.
I had a couple of Garmins before and the difference is night and day. The Apple Watch isn't perfect, but it's clear that a lot of thought went into it.
The Garmins on the other hand, were lowest of low effort.
They blatantly didn't talk to even a single cyclists while building their cycling app.
Cyclists use average speed, not pace. Even the junkiest $3 cycle computer from Ali Baba gets this right, but not Garmin. They just copy-pasted the running screen.
This is a troll comment.
Let’s review: has “had a couple of Garmins”, but doesn’t know that both speed and lap speed are default data fields in the bike activity. And can be trivially changed to average speed or essentially a bazillion other types of data (HR, power etc) in a highly customisable way.
I said average speed. Learn to read.
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Pretty sure my Garmin does pace for cycling. You bed to get a multisport watch from them first. The Forerunner watches are going to be focused on running obviously. Fenix line should do average speed
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I'm currently using a Mi Band 6 (with a nylon strap that's real comfy), but I wish the Pebble still existed. The e-paper display, the nice UI and tactile buttons, with good battery life and the ability to make apps was great.
Once my Mi Band breaks, I'm torn between Garmin (since they check almost all of the Pebble boxes, even if I don't do fitness and they're more fitness oriented) and a Galaxy Watch with the rotating bezel, since that was really cool to play with, plus the Android integration might be nicer.
It's no Pebble, but I chose the BangleJS 2 for its openness and the ability to load and even make apps myself.
Garmin ftw
This author has done a few of these tests and Garmin seems to be most accurate. I'm mostly not a fan of the intense styling though
Well there’s lots of different sizes and a few styles. But all good. Different strokes …
Check out the Vivoactive and Venu lines. Those are nice and don't look like the $40 Timex Ironmans.
I still love my Pebble smartwatches, and of them I prefer the Pebble Time Steel. It still lasts like at least a week on a single charge.
Bangle.js 2
My preferred one is Withings one's. They're hybrid watches which means they largely have a regular watch face with a little screen and a heart rate sensor/gyroscope. Best of both worlds in my opinion.
They seemed to have stopped selling them, at least where I am.
Apple Watch. But I recognize there are better options now, just not for iPhone.
Yup. Apple Watch for me. It works mostly seamlessly with the rest of my Apple stuff. I don’t think any others do.
Garmin Forerunner 55.
It's the most basic one in the running series, but it works well enough for what I need it to do.
It's the first real "closed ecosystem" device I own, as usually I go the open source route for everything, but Garmin has a good track record and the device has helped me train for a half marathon really well. I put a "casio"-style watch face on it, and I enjoy it a lot.
@cinaed666 @twotone I also have the Forerunner 55.
Something to note is that Garmin watches are Linux-friendly and can be used without signing up to their cloud services. You can access the watch as a USB storage device and manually grab the .FIT files on it, which you can then import into tools of your choice (or convert to .GPX for wider compatibility).
I'm very aware of this thanks, however for training to run I went for convenience.
I like comparing with my friends in the app and using the training plans etc.
The fit to gpx converter is a good way to extract hiking data though!
Very good to know, thanks!
a Mi Band storing everything offline with Gadgetbridge, because I don't need Xiaomi to know how many steps I've made and what's my heartbeat at a given moment.
For me it's the Apple Watch because I can write apps for it
Galaxy Watch 4. I don't like Samsung but I wanted WearOS 3 so yeah...
I have a Garmin Vivosmart 4; does all the things I need it to do, and isn't big or distracting. All I wanted was a step tracker and the ability to set multiple alarms.
I have a Garmin Instinct 2S. Works really well for me, it has all the smart watch functions I need and great battery life. It's also quite rugged. The stats are a good motivation to get me out cycling more often.
I got the same watch last month, the non-s version though. I have always struggled to keep a watch on my wrist. With a phone I no longer needed to keep the time on my wrist. I did get a smart watch a few years ago but just couldn't get on with it. It ended up in the draw to never be used again.
Last month I started looking again and settled on the Instinct 2. Initially I wanted a colour screen but in reality I am actually very happy with the monochrome display. It's always on and has a long battery life. I'm actually really impressed with how good it is at tracking your health etc. I tracks all activities I do. It's quite granular too in that I can choose from road, mountain bike, gravel bike etc. It also records kayaking and standup paddle boarding.
At £200 it was one of the more reasonably priced smart watches. Certainly compared to the Fenix which is another £400 extra.
My previous one was a Withings Steel HR, Fantastic smart watch, did the basics but it's main draw for me was it's analog watch face. Approx 1 month battery life. The smart stuff was shown in a small screen behind it. Ultimately I stopped using it due to age, always losing Bluetooth connection so notifications were unreliable.
My current watch is an Amazfit GTR Mini, Fully touchscreen, Again does basics and few more extras. Battery life is about 10-14days. Nothing to complain about so far.
I've always wanted one of those. They're gorgeous and remind me of my Skagen watch's styling. Also appreciate the long battery life
I have Withings Scanwatch Horizon. I love the look and the battery life. I average 22 days between recharging. Steps are reasonably accurate, it measures a bit on the low side but this means I do another few hundred steps occasionally to meet my goal. The app is pretty good. I use it to track walks and gym sessions mainly.
Love mine too. Looks like a normal watch. Has all the features I need, and doesn't require constant charging.
For something with fitness tracking, I've been using the Garmin Forerunner series for years. Recently though, I've been using the Pine64 PineTime as my main smartwatch. It doesn't have much for fitness tracking, but if you're looking for a basic smartwatch it's pretty nice!
I like my Garmin Vívoactive 3. It has all the basic features (for casual walking/running) and looks okay.
I really like the look of the "hybrid" watches like the Garmin Vívomove or Withings watches. They look great but as far as I know none of them have in-built GPS.
Would be very interested in checking out the BangleJS 2 as well.
Garmin Epix Pro gen 2, by far the best, as like the 7x but with an OLED screen. A real fitness watch, rather than a apple smart watch
I went from using a garmin fenix to an oldschool mechanical watch and my stress levels have gone down like you wouldn't believe. The only thing I miss is garmin pay.
What about a smartwatch stressed you out?
I used the Mi band 1S for several years, on the opposite wrist from a mechanical watch. That was a good solution.
Apple Watch for me, because of how well it integrates with my phone - the point where i end up using my phone a lot less.
I don't really bother with fitness tracking to be honest. I know in my head that I went for a 50 minute bike ride on the weekend. That's enough for me. I do appreciate when my watch tells me if I've been too sedentary/etc today or reminds me that it's late and I should probably get some sleep, but that's about the extent of my "fitness tracking" needs.
Still use my Pebble 2 SE and my Pebble Time. Still bummed they never came out with the Time 2.
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