20 Best Tracker For Swimming (2022 Updated)

and they’ve done a great job, especially with the open water tracking. I’ve been a longtime Garmin user, and have worked through the ebbs and flows of open water swim tracking from Garmin Fenix 2 (abysmal) through to the 5 series (better, but still some quirks).

Realtime GPS tracking for open-water swimming is an interestingly complex puzzle for product engineers: you need good hardware that can make a quick connection while the watch is out of the water, and some creative software solutions, to make sensible guesses from those snippets of data, about where you are and how fast you’re swimming.

So far, the Swim 2 has given me the best tracking I’ve had in a Garmin watch in open water (that’s entirely along the western shores of Lake Ontario for now). Indeed, I recently sold my Fenix 5s and downsized to the Swim 2, since that’s mostly what I use it for.

Occasionally I miss the incredible range of stuff you can do with the Fenix series (and related) watches, but the price difference is huge, and if mostly you use a tracker for swimming, pool and outdoor, then this is the watch for you (it will also track biking, running/walking, and cardio through the heartrate system on-board the watch, but with nothing like the bells and whistles of the far more expensive multi-sport/activity watches.

It will, however, track your heart rate in the water, as will the most recent Fenix series, I believe). I haven’t yet tried the watch in pool mode, but if you follow DCRainmaker, he put this (and every other!) watch through its paces, so I expect Garmin has done solid work on the pace, stroke and rest detection here.

Another review here at MEC notes a problem with GPS tracking during breast-stroke, and that highlights an important limitation of this or any other watch-based GPS during swimming: it needs to be above surface at some point during your stroke cycle, to connect (however briefly) with the GPS satellite network.

One thing I’ve found is that the tracking is pretty bad if you only have it in standard GPS mode, but improves dramatically if you use GPS+GLONASS mode. This makes intuitive sense: the more signals the watch can access in those brief moments above water, the less fuzzy the location calcuation should be!.

Not as good as my previous Garmin Forerunner watch which stopped charging and was sent in for repair with no news at all. Very short time between connecting to GPS and being able to start open water swimming or it reverts to a screen that takes ages to return.

Miscalculates pool swimming distance even when set properly to 50m. Otherwise suffices for open water and pool times. I do not use all the extra phone and messaging apps as I am not good with the technical aspects.

I miss my Garmin Forerunner.

A poor quality, I had 2 replacement band in 3 months, first one the clasp broke off, second time the strap at the end where screws fell off it looks like the band stretched. So im looking for rubber band strap not silicones ones they dont last and i wasted my money for this watch with poor quality of the bands.

not very happy. My last swim watch i had was TOM TOM and the band lasted 18 months then i got second one to replace it. this is the best watch for swim but unfortunately i unable to upgrade this brand due they no longer available.

Garmin wasted my money.

Bought this for my mom. Never expect $49. 99 would bring me a lot. But it is not, I have to say it surprises me when I first opened the package, nice big screen and it is vivid and bright. My mom has been wearing it for a couple of days now, with impressive battery life and all the nice features like heart rate, stress dection and SPOs.

She loves it!.

I have had this fitness band tracker for a little more than 1 week. The 1st thing I noticed is the screen size. It’s bigger and more beautiful than it’s predecessor, Band 5. It’s easier to read texts and navigate through the menu.

The battery life is great! I wore mine to the gym 4-5 times a week and by the end of the week, it still has 20-30% left with minimum usage.

Great affordable fitness tracker. Does everything I need it to, and it’s readable to my older eyes, unlike some. A big improvement over the Band 5 for not much more money. Good battery life.

I recently lost my Garmin Vivosmart 4 and replaced it with the new Vivosmart 5. Overall, I very much appreciate the added features and capabilities of the Vivosmart 5. The screen is larger and easier to view, and it’s very easy to scroll through the daily data, e.

g. , steps, intensity minutes, calories burned. It also tracks more data, and that’s great. Here’s where I think the Vivosmart 5 could be improved: 1) Battery Life: My Vivosmart 4 went nearly a week on a single charge; the 5 goes about half that time, at best.

I’ve tried taking the watch off at night to preserve power. However, I like the watch’s sleep-tracking features, and still needs frequent charging anyway. 2) “Requesting Assistance” Feature: The “requesting assistance” feature is a nice idea, but it’s too easy to activate it inadvertently.

For example, when I was a passenger in a car, I dropped something between my seat and the center console. When I reached down to retrieve the dropped item, * apparently activated “requesting assistance.

” It scared the daylights out of my emergency contact. 3) Watch size: I am an adult female with skinny wrists. I purchased a Small/Medium watch. The face is so large that it barely fits across my wrist.

Although it is comfortable and lightweight, it is also bulky, so much so that I may have to buy a second watch to use for dress-up occasions.

I recently bought this tracker for my wife’s birthday having almost got her a Vivosmart 4 until I saw this was coming out. I’ve used a plethora of Garmin fitness watches for years, from the Forerunner series, the Fenix series and Venu series.

I honestly thought the age of fitness tracking bands was dead in favour of fitness watches, but my wife doesn’t like wearing them as they’re too big and bulky for her to forget she’s wearing. But after seeing this in the flesh, and given the fact that so many features how now been brought from Garmin’s more expensive watches to this little band, I’m actually tempted to ditch my fitness watch in favour of this tracker as there’s literally nothing other than GPS that this can’t do that mine can – and quite honestly I just don’t mind using Connected-GPS when I’m running and sticking my phone in an arm band.

Fantastic little piece of kit and while some may say the Fitbit Charge 5 is “better” because it has a colour screen and to an extent, “better” really is subjective, Fitbit then demand a subscription fee to get the most out of their trackers after you’ve already shelled out for the hardware.

Garmin do not. You pay for the kit and then get more fitness and health data that you know what to do with.

I am a current Garmin owner of several devices including Descent MK2i and many previous devices. I bought this as a slim device to wear on the opposite wrist, while wearing my favorite wrist watch on the other.

As always with Garmin devices, there are bugs that detract from what could be greatness. First, while setting wrist gesture activation to off, the device will wake up with certain wrist movement. Second, when messages come in close to one another (smart notifications from Android phone) the first will display and vibrate, but the next will only vibrate, causing me to touch the device and scroll to read the message.

Yes, I have the latest software and firmware. Message and call notifications are my biggest gripe with all Garmin devices I have owned, support has not helped, and different phones do not matter, weak vibration, missed notifications and calls are par for the course.

My son gave me Vivosmart 4 as I developed a heart issue. I love the tracking. I don’t like needing to recharge every four days. I don’t like how it continually disconnect from phone and constantly alerts me to the fact.

There is no reason for it. Probably drains the battery early. My son shutdown the pedometer reminder. When that was on battery lasted two days. Those are unnecessary nusiances. I love the sleep tracking and the body battery, what an innovation though I can’t phantom they work.

Heart rate tracker very serious help. The other frustration is Garmin not responding to my sons several inquires as to whether or not to return for repair or replacement. Right now the hiccup is it doesn’t track everything all the time.

Somethings it sync’s while it chooses to level others out with reason “not enough bla blah blah to assess bla blah blah. why not? The other “stuff” was sufficient.

I purchased the item on 1st June 2022 and realised it had issues tracking sleep (some nights recording it, some nights not at all). It would also only ‘spot’ track my heart rate (for say an hour or so during the day, then dropping out) and some days, it wouldn’t track my heart rate at all! The strap of the Vivosmart is also not good for the skin – it ‘burnt’ and blistered my wrist under where the heart rate monitor is situated and caused a rash, then blistering, and bruising – like a chemical type burn – this is even with washing the strap daily with isopropyl.

Contacted Garmin Support on 16th June 2022 and went back and forth, being asked the same questions over and over, being asked to do the same things over and over, with no attempt to resolve the issues at all.

Finally gave up on 30 June 2022 and returned the product and purchased a Fitbit which has been far superior so far! All-in-all, not worth the money, there are much better options within the same price range out there.

As with other Garmin trackers, it is not quite as intuitive as I would like but is a better value than comparable products from other brands, with more useful features for the price. The tracker is good for logging a variety of workouts.

It is also good for monitoring heart rate, but I wish I could keep heart rate on the primary display screen and not have to scroll for it. The tracker seems fairly accurate most of the time although the level of accuracy for me might be negatively affected by the fit—the band juts out too far on the sides of a narrow wrist, and I have gaps between the band and my wrist on each side.

This seems to be a common problem with fitness trackers, and I imagine there are not enough women in the room where design decisions are made. I wish there was more flexibility in setting fitness goals, as I am only supposed to do a very small amount of exercise at the moment and am actually using it as a way to stay below certain thresholds.

Great Product, I have been using it for almost a week now. I did have some problems with connecting it to the Bluetooth, but other than that its great. The accuracy of the sensors seems to be great-The Heart rate sensor works fines with a margin of error of 2-3 beats per min.

-The SpO2 sensor is not a gimmick, it works fine but is not 100% accurate, it was off by nearly 1% every time. ** -Both the sensors do not work if the watch is not on your hand**So both are just not for namesake and are functional.

-The sleep tracker seems to be accurate, it was pretty precise almost every time. But the duration is shown wrong on the watch for some(app it shows fine)-It is capable of controlling songs, media that is playing on your phone as well as the camera-magnetic charger is good and easy to connect-have a lot of exercise modes.

-The Gps works fine but there is no manual control for the GPS, it turns on when ur taking some outdoor sports activity. It searches for a signal and connects to it-There was this problem with the PAI info display (clicked a photo)-The step count feature is not very accurate, it counts my steps even when I’m sleeping, it’s off my hand and being carried.

Even during walks I have found that the step count shows more than I have taken. 40-50 more-I also had some problems logging into Alexa using the app, but the bug has been fixed now-I think the screen is a little small, so gets a bit difficult to see the graphs but otherwise, it’s fine.

-It doesn’t have an always-on display feature which is not really a big problem, it does have lit upon wrist lift(not 100% accurate but good enough). – the strap is super lightweight but the quality is not up to mark.

I sometimes feel some irritation if used for a longer time. – And coming to the battery life part which is important, they claim it can last up to nine days. It’s not true. Batter life depends on the usage and the activities of the user.

To make the battery last for 9 days, one has to be inactive and make sure not to wear the watch during nighttime and other activities, then maybe the battery life will be 9 days.

Purchase this item with no hesitation. Under the Rs 3000 price bracket it’s a very good option. You may get some Amoled offerings from Noise or Boat but they don’t give you a practical product like it.

Let me elaborate on my likes dislikes below:Likes:1. Accurate data reading2. Good finishing3. Lightweight4. Superior battery backup5. It’s a TFT LCD but the quality is good6. Live HR Diagram during the workout7.

Smooth interface8. Well-developed app9. Essential features like World Clock10. Good watch facesDislikes:1. Plastic build2. 2. 5D Glass prone to scratches3. Small build quality – 20mm strapThough, my dislikes are negligible for like points.

One suggestion, don’t go with Amoled Offerings from cheap Indian brands like Noise or Boat or FireBoltt etc. They don’t provide you with such accurate sensors or good battery life. Huami is a promising brand always it’s as good as any other top brand like Samsung or Fossils or even Apple.

If you need a smartwatch which has some practical features you don’t want to purchase it just for ShowOff, then go with this brand always.

Amazefot Bip U Pro is more of a Fitness watch rather than a smart watch. I got it in sale for 3000 INR and I found it is the best in that price range. It do whatever it says in the box, no feature is gimmick, everything works properly.

Accuracy is close to perfect (99%). Step counter, sleep tracking, heart rate monitor, SPO2, and stress calculator feels quite accurate. GPS works very precisely outdoor, but it won’t connect when you try to connect indoor.

If this bothers you then it will be a upset, obviously in case of my needs, I don’t want GPS for indoor workouts, so it doesn’t bother me at all. Lookwise, it looks good though it has a plastic build.

I know I would be expecting too much from a watch worth 3000, but If it got a pre installed SSD and if I would be able to download musics into the watch, this would be the perfect smartwatch for me.

A little tricky charging battery. Have to remove band very carefully! Other than that this watch is very good ! Would buy again

works well for what i needed it for [ walking ] step count is right on and the app works well too. very surprised for such a low cost tracker. just as good as those $100. 00 ones i have purchased before.

Its a small end table. Its a brand that I have purchased. Its final note its a cheap end table. It survived shipping.

I received my watch just this afternoon and am so far, very impressed. Great value at this price. Via the mobile app on my iPhone, I was able to fine tune settings and alerts, including calendar reminders, incoming calls, sedentary reminders, existing height and weight, goal weight, etc.

I’m excited to start making use of this gadget to start tracking my health. Great gift idea.

Great battery life, after 6 days still had 37%. Accurate with steps, heart rate and sleep monitoring. All the fitness programs I need and will actually use. Phone and message alerts, can reject phone calls and waterproof too.

You get a lot for the money.

Had 3 minn kota trolling motors go bad in the past, each during the first year. Got tired of not being able to fish for months while being repaired. This last time my ultrex control board went bad and then water intrusion in the lower.

Only 20 hrs on it! I bought a garmin force and installed it myself in about 2 hours. The ultrex ran 2. 6 mph on full and the force runs 4. 4 mph into a light headwind. There is a bit of lag when using the remote and the foot pedal has a much softer feel than the ultrex.

The I pilot link works really well and follow the contour setting will be missed. The ultrex uses more battery than the force. I can fish 8 hours using the trolling motor heavily using a 36 volt 60 amp hour lithium battery and have 85 % capacity left.

The ultrex left me with 30-35%. Overall, the garmin is much better than minn kota in my opinion. I have only used it 4 times and can’t speak on durability as of yet. Very happy with my purchase!.

I’ve been a Garmin fan for years and purchased other watches from them and have had no issues. The Vivosmart 5 is a mess. I got the watch a month ago and my profile name would not sync. So I reset the device and then the hydration widget broke – the device and app are always 1 oz off.

I reached out to customer support and they were useless. I sent the watch back as defective thinking it was an issue with that device. Second watch has the exact same issues – profile name isn’t syncing, the hydration widget isn’t syncing properly AND now this new watch isn’t consistently tracking my sleep (other watch had no issues whatsoever).

For $150 I really expect the device to work as described and it just doesn’t. Giving two stars because for all of the other functions it works fine and the form factor is nice.

I’m quite impressed with the Vivosmart 4 tracker. I’ve only had it for 2 weeks so far, but I can already see a difference with some of its features and its ability to link in with my other apps. The sleep feature is interesting with good information for what’s going on at night.

The front face is sometimes a little unresponsive but nothing that’s causing a concern. I thought the slimline face might make it hard to read information but so far so good. All in all, compared to other trackers I have had, this one is not too bulky, quite reliable and easy to use, and the charging is quite fast.

Great value if you’re not needing every bell and whistle available.

I bought the Vivofit 4 as a replacement for my Vivofit 2 (after nearly 7 happy years, the button began to act oddly, we’ve put it aside as a spare before it completely fails). I’m trying to increase my daily activity levels in a sustainable way, but I’m in no sense an athlete.

But what I really like about Vivofit 4 is – * I was able to continue with the same Connect app, and kept all my historical data automatically (after re-sync a couple times). * I wear it 24/7 as my watch (like my V2) and the display is clear and easy to read at a glance.

* I don’t have to remember to remove it, or put it back on. Waterproof in sink, bath and shower (and probably swimming pool). * I don’t have to remember to charge it. The V2 battery lasted 2 years rather than the claimed 1yr, so this will probably do the same.

* I like the choice of displays, easily visible, and having chosen will probably stick with the one I like. * New function of tracking “impact activity minutes per week” is fun, though I probably don’t make use of the data much.

It probably helps motivate you to get moving, if you don’t normally move much. * My custom setup of stride length seems to be accurate, it measures over a couple miles with the same result as my Runkeeper GPS tracker (within 0.

04). * Better connectivity with the My Fitness Pal app than my V2 had. * Replacement wrist bands readily available online, if it breaks or I want a change of colour. The only minor drawback, to me, is I would have liked it to be able to pair with the HR strap.

To be fair, I hardly ever actually used that facility, and I can always recommission my Vivofit 2 if I felt I wanted the HR aspect for a particular period or activity.

This item does somethings really well and others not so well. Cool features are that it doesn’t require charging, it’s apparently waterproof (but I haven’t tested that theory) it can call your phone from your watch if you’ve lost it.

Things that it doesn’t do so well is that it doesn’t measure heart rate so the calorie tracker is less accurate and that you have to manually sync it up to the app which can be a bit clunky and difficult to do at times.

The strap is quite comfortable and easily washable as it does seem to gather swear pretty well. I have that issue with all fitness trackers. It’s not bad for step counts but if you need more information I wouldn’t recommend it that highly.

Pros: Watch looks nice and fits well, the app looks good. Cons: We could not add the app onto our sons mobile phone as it was not compatible so have had to add the app to my phone. His phone is only 2 years old.

The watch needs to be manually synced with the phone daily to carry the info across to the app. It takes a couple of goes to get it to sync and generally have to take the watch off to do so. I expected more from Garmin to be honest.

I have another brand of watch and find it more user friendly, I wish I had spent a little more money to get him the other brand of watch.

I was looking for a fitness tracker that is accepted by my company’s wellness incentive program and I had three brands to choose from: Fitbit, Polar or Garmin. Had there not been this compatibility requirement, I would have simply purchased a cheap step tracker, but that wasn’t an option.

Because I’m using this device to earn points that will give me a discount on my cost for health insurance and I also receive gift card rewards for points earned, spending a lot of money on a device to do so would negate the discounts and rewards, so Garmin was my best bet — also because I did NOT want another device I need to charge! I chose the Vivofit 3 over the Vivofit 4 based on reviews.

After receiving this item a few weeks ago, I immediately changed the band. I found the band that comes with awkward to put on. That being said, I really haven’t taken it off since I got it. The key features I was looking for when choosing an activity tracker (other than a device accepted by my company’s wellness program) were: 1) low price, 2) something I do not need to recharge, 3) water-resistant, 4) relatively small size, and 5) easily replaceable band — and this item meets all my needs.

Thus, my rating is based on how well it does what I need it to do, as there are obviously many other similar items at higher prices that perform a lot more functions. The step tracker (which is almost exclusively what I use it for) is accurate — at least compared to the Samsung tracker on my phone.

The sleep tracking as an added feature is somewhat interesting. The app is easy to use, syncing has only had an occasional glitch and I need to do it twice (but not a big deal), and the app works seamlessly with my company’s wellness program.

The calories burned seems off to me, but I’m not using that feature so I can’t really say for sure. I’m also not sure how well it detects various activities since I have no need for that either. While I would have liked to have a heart rate monitor (you can buy one separately for the Vivofit 3) and a tracker for pulse and O2, those all come at a higher price.

I noticed this item is now $5 less than what I paid and Walmart discontinued its Savings Catcher program just two weeks ago. bummer!.

If your wrist is the smallest size listed for this size, buy the smaller size, unless you’re okay with just buying it and then buying a different band online, which is what I ended up doing. According to the Garmin measurements, this should have fit me, but it was too large.

I just bought a cheap smaller sized band for mine online in a different color I preferred anyway, and kept the device. It needs to synch with your phone, and you download a free app for your phone, so you can see your data on the phone.

On the device itself, you can see how many steps you’ve taken on the current day and a few other things – it can work as a stopwatch and a regular watch with date and time. I use the steps function and view my sleep info on the phone which is great.

Can’t seem to get it to give me my heart rate info, but don’t really care about that. To set your step goals you do that in the phone app and the device will beep and tell you when you’ve reached your daily goal.

Bottom line is the device itself is very basic. If that’s all you need and you’re okay with having to synch it to your phone to get more complete data, you should be happy with it. And it’s easy to find other color options and different size cheap bands online, if you want to change the band, which was easy to do.

This is my 2nd vivofit 3 and I absolutely love it, especially the long battery life! I threw my 1st away not realizing I could have replaced the battery!!! I brought another brand but didn’t like the short battery life nor the fact that there was no warning as to when it would die.

I highly recommend this fit tracker!!!.

My second Fitbit Charge 2 died recently and rather than spend yet another ~$150 (half-life 2-2. 5 years) I looked for another fitness device. I ruled out the Apple watch on two counts. The first was its size, its a little bigger than I care to have on my wrist all day, but the deal killer for me was that it needs to be charged every day.

The Garmin Vivosport seemed to have all the features I wanted. I found it at Walmart for about $95 and for $12 was able to purchase a 3-year warranty. I primarily use my fitness device to monitor my runs, heartrate and my sleep.

Vivosport has built in GPS which more accurately measures distance and speed. There is a map of my run with relative speed throughout and it also measures heart rate and cadence. The menus on the Vivosport are all touch screen and not intuitive.

To start a run, you hold your finger on the touch screen. An icon of someone walking appears, then you swipe left to get the run icon, swipe left again, then tap once to sync GPS. The GPS can take 10 sec-3 minutes to connect which can seem like forever when you are ready to go and it is cold outside.

Then you tap twice to start the run timer. I usually have to tap 8-12 times before I get just the right length of time for each tap and the time between taps correct. So far completing the run with a single long tap seems to work.

It will then ask you if you want to save your data. I just ran 5 miles, why wouldnt I? I always fear accidentally erasing the data, but found if I do nothing the default is to save the data after about five minutes.

After tracking my runs correctly ten times in a row, my Vivosport tracked my next 2 runs as walks and the 3rd run was recorded as an IQ activity. No data was saved even though I set the GPS, started the timer and noted that during my run it vibrated at each mile.

For sleep monitoring my Fitbit recorded much more time awake each night and more deep sleep than REM sleep. My Vivosport is just the opposite, more total sleep, very little deep sleep and much more REM sleep.

I had come to the conclusion that the Fitbit was misinterpreting some of my REM sleep as awake time, but my Vivosport is clearly missing deep sleep and some awake time. Bottom line is that neither device has any accuracy for sleep modes, but may have some utility for trends.

Several clock faces are available, many of which have the minutes displayed in red. Unless your vision is excellent this can be near impossible to read. Battery life is pretty good (5-6 days), but there is little to no warning when the battery is running down.

The battery icon on some watch faces is too small to read. My Vivosport died in the middle of a run, so all data after the battery quit was lost. Didn’t update time when switching from daylight saving time to normal time although I synced several times and turned Bluetooth off and on again.

Overall, the Vivosport is average, the user interface is non-intuitive and it is unreliable in tracking and storing my data.

This is my first sports watch and I am very satisfied! I was looking for a basic, reliable and not too expensive watch that could record activities with a GPS signal. It’s been pretty reliable in terms of battery performance and gps accuracy.

Also I enjoy how it works with the Garmin Connect app. Some drawbacks are the inability to pair it with other monitoring devices during activities such as a HRM strap as the heart rate accuracy doesn’t seem as good on wristbands.

Occasionally finding a gps signal takes over 10 min which can be frustrating. Also the default activity types are very limited – e. g. no swimming, skiing etc. These are all nice to haves that are available with more advanced watches.

I just wanted a fitness tracker for a mild physical routine – just try to move as much as I can really. I must say this Vivosport does a good job at tracking all the main metrics that you would need and even more if you are somewhat serious about fitness.

Garmin Connect can be very motivating, so it’s a feature that I like for sure eventhough I was skeptical before. The main thing I liked about it was it was really light and compact. If you are going to wear a tracker on your wrist most of the time, I can’t see a traditional ‘watch’ form factor is going to be comfortable enough for you not really notice it’s there due to just the size of it.

The band form factor is great if you do plan to wear it all the time, especially while you’re sleeping. The other thing I like is that the display is always on, so you can see things on the screen if there’s decent ambient light.

The backlight turns on only if you choose that option. This saves a lot of battery life. I can get away with having the backlight off permanently. I just don’t use it when I am sleeping. And of course, if you are wondering, yes, the heart rate feature is rather accurate as I did a brief comparison with a Timex chest strapped HR watch.

But as you know, this applies mostly to activities that has your HR beating at a consistent rate, that is, walking running, hiking, biking, etc. I’ve read that it doesn’t do well with activities that has intermittent high/low intensity levels, like weighs, interval training, etc.

The two missing stars are due to the following CONS: >>some features are finicky, like the backlight going on when you rotate your wrist towards your face. It works sometimes, and not at other times, I’ll say 40/60%, 40 working, and that’s being generous.

Again, this is not a deal breaker for me. >>Overall, my experience with Garmin products have been hit and miss. I had to exchange it for a second unit because the first one did not count floors climbed accurately.

The second did much better at this. Similarly, with the Vivoactive 3, I also had to exchange for a second unit as the first (Gunmetal version) did a terrible job at counting steps. I had to give up on the Gunmetal version and the Vivoactive 3 all together because I feared the colour version would be the same and the price was quite steep to keep trying.

Bought the blue version of the Instinct Solar. I come from as a long time Fitbit watch owner and a more recent Apple Watch owner. My original Fitbit is the Fitbit Versa (1st generation), which is square shaped and fairly simple tech.

It provided what I needed, which were steps, date and time, water proof for common usage. It allowed me around 3 days’ worth of battery life. It is square shaped. It was free from work, otherwise, it would not have been my first choice for a watch.

I bought my wife an Apple Watch Series 6 to wear, but after several months she stopped wearing it and went back to her own Fitbit watch. She explained she was tired of having to recharge the Apple Watch every day.

She preferred her Fitbit watch that lasted 6 days before a recharge. I took the Apple Watch thinking I would make better use out of it as a techie, but I also ran into the issue of it required a recharge every day or every 1.

5 days at most. It was not recommended by Apple to be worn while showering even though if you go swimming Apple states that is acceptable. I literally was afraid of looking at the Apple Watch Series 6 due to the battery drain.

The inconvenience of having to remember to charge the watch before I sleep to monitor my sleep, remembering to take the watch off before jumping into the shower, and multiple other issues just wore me down too.

The sleep data for Apple Watch Series 6 is nothing close to Fitbit sleep data and anything more advanced, you have to buy from third party app developers. I could not find anything free that was similar to Fitbit and especially not something where you could just pay a one time fee.

I preferred a circle shaped watch anyways. I did some research on what was available out there that would not cost an arm and leg to purchase but had all the bells and whistle. My criteria were: – Long battery life.

– Steps count, heart rate, sleep monitoring. – Some kind of GPS feature. – Not super expensive, but not a cheap throw-away watch either. – Can take a little bit beating but doesn’t have to be military grade ruggedness.

– Circle watch and looks good (obviously). I know that “smartwatches” will not last as long as a non-smartwatch, unless the battery replacement is simple, LCD screen will last for a long time, etc. This Garmin Instinct Solar seems to fit all my wishes at this price range.

The battery life is crazy good, I mean enable everything including the pulse ox and you should get at least a week+ worth of battery life easily. This is with the watch not absorbing any sunlight at all.

It has a simple GPS, nothing fancy, but I bike ride and will be using an external dedicated GPS device for routes. I just want something for casual hiking and biking, nothing serious. I can wear this to sleep, the sleep data mimics close to Fitbit’s details.

Really nice and it’s built-in to the watch, you do not have to make a separate purchase. I do not know how accurate ANY of the watches’ heart rate are, but wearing the Fitbit, Apple Watch, and Garmin working out, the rates show to be within 15 beats of each other.

Take that for what its worth, I don’t need the accuracy for any critical medical monitoring conditions. I read that external heart rate monitor strap would make the readings accurate, so I am considering to get that should I need it later (5K/10K running, etc).

There’s a lot of other features from this watch that I have not yet used, so that is just a bonus goodie for me. I have used Garmin to connect to Strava, the data recorded is great and as expected (same with Apple Watch and Fitbit), no complaints there.

I wear this watch showering, sleeping and everything in between. The recharge of the watch is fast too, if I am standing around working, I plug in the watch and I think within 30 minutes I can get a full charge from 50% (I never really paid attention how long it takes to fully charge).

There’s got to be something not that great about this watch, you ask? Otherwise, why the 4 stars instead of 5 stars? Yes, the PULSE OX feature is a bit flaky. At night, it seems to measure the oxygen level all over the range.

As log as 80, and as high as 100. I wore the Apple Watch Series 6 and my wife’s Fitbit Luxe, they all had above 90 range. Now, one thing I am starting to realize is how you need to wear the Garmin Instinct Solar and online research also confirms.

You have to wear the watch higher on the wrist, it cannot be loose. When you sleep, just slide it up the wrist and make sure it’s tightly pressed against your skin. I need a few more sample nights to test, but I had one night where it was 85 or higher, the next night it was 90 or higher.

I’ll sleep on it a few more nights and then see, but looks hopeful now that I have the watch tightened a bit more against the skin. If you measure the Pulse Ox manually, it is always 95 or higher, this is as expected.

Overall, highly recommended watch. I would buy again!.

Great CONCEPT item, but thousands of these fail SP02 LED sensors and have to be returned to Garmin (If it’s still under warranty) – Just read the complaints online. Also, barometric / altitude sensor is flush with skin surface at wrist, blocking off readings, unlike the Casio ABC watches.

Third big problem – Garmin Express is downloadable online to register watch and update, etc. But it doesn’t open! These watches unfortunately are an abysmal failure due to bad design. I own four new ones (less than a year old – One SP02 failed; the others get blocked from altitude / barometric readings (as stated); Garmin Express can’t be used for any (and all) of these.

Garmin is unresponsive to fix their software online. These watches appear to many to be a five star design, because they are clueless about these problems.

I bought this because my Rip Curl tide watch needed a new battery but I was disappointed to learn that I had to send it away to be replaced. My other watch is an Apple Watch but there are seemingly no good surfing widgets for it.

I discovered this Garmin Instinct Solar Surf and was willing to give it a shot. Im glad I did, because I love it more everyday. The battery life is incredible, and also gets extended the more Im out in the sun.

I love having tide and sunrise/sunset info right at hand since I live next to the beach. Ive also enjoyed leaning about my sleep patterns through the Garmin Connect app. In all, this watch does everything I want it to and more.

The price earned 4 stars rather than 3. Although you can get cheaper off brand knock offs that do 90-110% (Some other brands can track blood pressure) of what this will do, the Garmin Connect app syncs with a work exercise incentive program that ended up saving me some cash.

The heart rate and sleep activity tracking is pretty cool. I should really stop staying up late at night reviewing data on how much sleep I’m not getting! The Vivosmart HR Activity Tracker has a GPS which is why it is a bit bulkier than other models.

It comes with increased accuracy on step counting. Battery life is pretty decent for a GPS model. Basically need to charge it once per week. I kind of regret not getting a more functional smart watch.

I’m hesitant to invest in some of the more expensive Garmin models though as they do not support Android Wear. They basically have proprietary apps. So I settled for this less expensive model that basically is good for what I use it for.

Getting healthy and saving some money while at it. Sometimes it gets a little sweaty, the solution is to just loosen the band. I haven’t noticed a problem with it still tracking heart rate. Good thing that it’s basically waterproof.

I wear it in the shower without a problem. The Garmin Connect app (iOS/Android) is an important part of the watch. You can configure it to show txt, facebook, call, etc notifications. I’m pretty notorious for not having my phone in my pocket when I’m at home.

This watch has surprisingly given me better response time when I’m on call and really should be paying attention to incoming calls. The app also let’s you configure daily step goals and active time goals as well as a “Challenges” with friends from social media.

Folks that exercise with other people are statistically more likely to continue exercising as time goes on. So buy a watch for yourself and your BFF/SO/Fishing Pals/person that never answers their phone, etc.

#sweepstakes.

I bought my Vivosmart 3 on sale for $99 opposed to the regular price $139, which was a good buy for the price. My main reason for this is to track my heart rate during the day, which the Vivosmart 3 does a great job at tracking.

I know this because when I manually take my pulse its exactly the same. Although you should accept the fact that this may not produce accurate results like a 3 or 5 lead EKG, but this is perfect for personal use.

The sleep monitoring is freaky, I’m not sure how this works, but I have to say this seems to be on target. I am not sure about the stress tracking just yet; I’m not sold on the data I get form this; then again, this is not a medical grade EKG.

Another feature I like is that is this automatically tracks my activities for heart monitoring. It can tell when I’m running or biking and will indicate the activity with a little symbol on the heart rate graph.

Furthermore, I like that this is waterproof (good for swimming), although I would not wear this while scuba diving. SOFTWARE I like the ease of the Garmin software. The user interface for the phone is very intuitive.

Additionally, the Garmin Connect website is also well designed. This is where you phone uploads your information to a personal web portal. NOTE: All Garmin devises use the same software and web portal so you will not be disappointed.

Also, it is very simple to configure the Garmin device using the software of web portal; once done simply sync with your device and that’s it. TESTING AGAINST OTHER MONITERS I am an avid biker; I ride trails (black diamond) four to five days a week.

I tested my Vivosmart 3 against my Wahoo TICKR and they are pretty close in regard to results. What I like about the Garmin is that it is worn on the wrist opposed to warning a chest strap. Although I admit since I bought my Vivosmart 3, I still wear my Wahoo TICKR.

CONCLUSION If I had to pay full price I would have spent the extra money for the Vivosport, which has all the same features as the Vivosmart 3, but also has a color screen that is easier to read in daylight and a biking profile added.

However, the extra biking profile is no use to me because I use Strava (a very popular biking and running app) for my because it is very accurate. For heart monitoring the Vivosmart 3 is perfect because it is convenient to wear daily, all day….

I recieved this as a gift three years ago. Since then I’ve had to send back for a warranty band replacement. Hard to read face in many situations. While the steps are recognized, flights up or /down stairs not so much.

Battery life 5-6 days. Software was draining my previous Android smartphone, however the latest update solved issue. Sleep, Pulse and Stress functions seem accurate. News, emails and alerts barely readable on the tiny screen.

Overall I’m content with unit.

I don’t usually wear a watch but I love this watch. I swim first thing in the morning and tracking my swimming has been easy and just the best experience. I did a 6 km swim on Australia day and it tracked everything from time to heartbeat.

Having it Sync with my Iphone has been an experience as it tells me a whole range of App communication. Just the best.

decided i wanted a low-profile tracker and chose this over the charge 5 because 4 still has an altimeter (fitbit ditched it for the 5, which has other bells and whistles, but if i’m going to bother tracking my lazy butt i want that to include stairs and hills).

the band it came with isn’t uncomfortable, but it is extremely bulky, so i found an off-brand replacement band made with velcro that’s proven to be much more comfortable and adjustable and better fitted, making the fitbit easier/less noticeable to wear, including when sleeping.

step tracker has seemed accurate, no idea about the exercise tracking but it seems fine when i’ve used it (including auto-detection), and the sleep tracking seems pretty accurate too. i haven’t yet checked out other non-premium options like mindfulness.

the app interface is a bit clunky and non-intuitive and perhaps a bit focused on encouraging users to upgrade to premium, but it’s tolerable as i don’t need to use it much. i did opt for the in-app squaretrade protection plan just because it covers drops/cracked screens and i was more worried about that than a device failure.

all in all a decent tracker, too bad they removed a basic feature like the altimeter in the newer model.

This watch is hot garbage. My boyfriend got me this watch for my birthday because I’m pretty active and was telling him that I wish I could monitor my HR during my workouts, as it would push me to work harder.

And it did, for the 2 weeks it actually worked. After the first 2 weeks of constant wear, the sensor would just drop in the middle of my workout. Or I would be doing steady cardio and my heart rate would go from 145 to 89 in a matter of 30 secs.

I would move the monitor up and down on my wrist to different spots or take it off, wipe it off, and it would pick back up and my heart rate would shoot back up to 125 or higher. I thought maybe I was wearing it wrong so I googled suggested wear.

I found tons of users who experienced exactly what I had, and even saw they tried the same troubleshooting (moving it, wiping the sensor). Those people called customer service who told them it was a software issue, and to fix it, you have to do a hard reset whenever it acts up.

Save your money. This watch is garbage and not worth it. Purchased a Garmin on Friday, this one is going in the trash. You’re better off buying one of those step counters that you clip on your clothes.

That’s about all of the benefit you’ll see from this watch.

FitBit charge 4 This review is after using the device for a year. I know we get excited when we get a new product and go ahead and rate it GREAT but forget to circle back after actual use of it for longer than 6 months.

So I’m writing this review after wearing the Fitbit for one year and two months with the following observations:PRO:Super sleek cool little trackerEasy on and offDecent tracking ability of steps, sleepingGreat battery lifeCONS:You can expect this product to last about one year with regular non strenuous use.

You will have to replace the band after 6 months +$20Then again after 6 months +$20And then the tracker will break in the part that connect the band to the unit and you will have to replace the whole thing again +$150 You will not receive any support from Fitbit even thou it’s a manufacturing defect that is brought about as an issue in countless reviews posted here.

Bottom line: I wish I read the reviews prior to purchasing this product and not gotten blinded by the 4 out of 5 stars overall review. If you dig deeper you will see this product has a one year life-line and it’s designed to break right after your warranty expires.

With the money initially invested plus the bands you will have to buy, you will be out $200 and no Fitbit. Unless you purchase it again, of course!You ( and I!) could have invested in a low level Garmin with a real warranty.

Would not recommend the product and giving it 2 stars for battery life and sleek design. Hope this helps you in your decision.

I purchased this a while back because I couldn’t afford an Apple Watch, but wanted to count steps with everyone I know. If you are looking to count steps and have a smart phone this is for you. Download the app and start walking.

Then see if you beat your friends at the end of the day. That’s right if you want you can link up with friends who have one and either race to see who gets more steps in or work together to push each other to go the extra mile! This one goes with your everyday work outfit and no one can tell what you’re wearing.

The lights on the front will light up for different goals you achieve and if the battery needs charged. Just set everything up through the Fitbit app which is free to download. Happy Stepping!.

I love the ! It does exactly what I want tracks my steps and does subtle alerts. It’s thin enough that I can pair it with other bracelets or my watch. Remains charged for days and easy to swap the tracker into different bracelets.

Accessorizing is a breeze. I originally paid $100 for this tracker at Target. Love it’s size and works great and consistently. Fitbit products are so great.

This product produces magnetic fields and Radio Frequency waves, which are not described in their advertising, instructions, product descriptions,specifications, nor on their website. I had foolishly assumed that it was PC/Windows compatible and came with a USB cord, that it communicated to my PC through the USB cord.

After an hour of trying to sync, I discovered on-line, that I needed a special USB device, sold only on their website refurbished. The shipping cost was almost as much as the cost of the product. I had continuous 5 day email communications with Fitbit’s Customer Services.

After several messages and searches on-line, I found that the device, which must be worn 24 hours a day seven days a week,operates and communicates with a PC via Magnetic fields and Radio Frequency waves.

This concerned me because I have a Pacemaker/Defib implanted in my chest and this device comes with warnings about exposure to magnetic fields and RF signals. So I asked Customer Service for help. I asked them to please call the Implant manufacturer and they will determine if it is safe for me to use.

They told me I should do that. I told them great answer, except nowhere in anything you publish on paper or on-line, do you provide the product Specifications. They still refused and said the FCC said they didn’t have to and that it was negligible like cell phones.

I told him that you don’t wear a turned on cell phone 24×7 and I have warnings about keeping cell phones as far as possible from the implant. They still refused. So I asked for a product return and refund.

After another two days of messages, I was told that Fitbit does not accept returns unless I bought the product directly from them or from an authorized dealer and that my seller was “unauthorized” I argued that it was not the seller’s fault it was the omission of important safety information by Fibit.

They still refused. They did however agree to the return of the special usb device (less the shipping costs) It is very disappointing because the Fitbit device appears to be everything you would want or need.

Therefore, I would not recommend Fitbit to anyone who has an implanted device and anyone concerned with long term constant exposure at skin contact to magnetic fields and Radio waves. Also take into consideration, Fitbit, unlike most reputable companies, does not stand behind their product enough to accept returns no matter where you purchased it, and their Customer Services are less then helpful.

You can perform an on-line search and find the product complaints yourself.

Pretty good low cost odometer / speedometer. Easy to fit as there are no wires, but came across a couple of issues: 1) the sensor is strapped to the bike forks with tie-wraps but although there is a a rubber pad supplied it can be moved no matter how tight the ties are, 2) the magnet for the spoke has a fairly soft plastic body, so you can’t tighten that much and the part can move on the spoke.

I put some tape around the spoke before fitting the magnet and that helps keep in place, but not 100% secure. I also found that the sensor registers better if the magnet is offset from the sensor centre line – I have found the same issue with a different make on my other bike.

Setup is fairly easy, though the instructions are basic. I found the calibration table for wheel (tyre) circumference to be quite close to actual. Measured values compared to GPS recorded data for a ride showed distance to be slightly low, but max speed to be slightly higher – which is odd as a calibration error would have meant both parameters were either high or low.

In use it is easy to read as the display is a good size. Display can be set to scroll through parameters, though the instructions don’t mention this. I haven’t had it long enough to determine charge life of the battery, but so far it looks good.

I don’t use the backlight (which works well) as I don’t ride at night, but that might change the charge life. A slight niggle is that if you choose to record in miles / mph the temperature reads if F, it will only show temp in C if set to kilometres / kph – it would be nice to be able to choose independently.

Very happy with the delivery which was about 48 hours, good start. Setting up is painless but as usual the translation is not fantastic. Bought this article to replace another bought last year noticing than this was rechargeable on USB, its predecessor going through far too many 2032 batteries for comfort.

Having used this now for a couple of weeks has been satisfying. Tells me the speed I am achieving and the current time and date with a backlight which is essential for 30 minutes use daily. Although not much interested in the other features at this time they may interest others but naturally include total time, distance, averages etc and looking forward to making use of these in the future.

Character size and viewing angle excellent After using for several months my sentiments about this product are much the same. Rarely needs a charge and the sensor mounted on the front forks is largely unnoticed.

Very happy customer indeed.

Good bright display and easy to set up. As it is rechargeable with lithium battery it lasts for ages. Instead of changing batteries and losing all the saved mileage and time etc, just plug into USB and charges very quickly with no information loss.

Unit is moulded in 1 piece so waterproof, it feels nice to handle and although there are reports of it being flimsy, this is not true. Only 1 annoyance – have now found out that if you are using miles, the temperature is set as Fahrenheit.

Spent ages as there is no information on this anywhere online. Tried the unit in kilometres, bingo. up it comes in Centigrade. Have not used F for decades so only understand C. Not serious – but just annoying it cannot.

be changed. if using miles.