What's the best option for health tracking; fitbit, garmin, iphone watch, other?

I have been very happy with my Garmin (Forerunner 935 worn daily) coming from an Apple Watch Series 2

Depends greatly on the need? Just fitness, daily hr tracking, or running, swimming, cycling, etc?

Speaking of the forerunner 935, when the heck are they going to update it? Been holding off for the update, really hoping it'll be in March.......

I like to wear a watch daily so time, fitness, steps, etc...I don't think I need the phone on my wrist.

Another vote for Garmin. Happy with my 735xt and sometimes just wear it as a watch since it's not too big.

Fitbit 3 serves my needs. Time and it tracks my heart rate on my bike rides.

I'd think for what you're describing, any activity tracker would work. Fitbit, Garmin, etc. Definitely don't need a Garmin 735/935, though.

Fitbit 3 is what I'm using.

Maybe look into the Withings watches? I don't have one personally, but really like the look of the normal watch face. https://www.withings.com/us/en/watches

I have a Garmin 35.i think it's as low end as you can get. I really like it. Keeps up with steps. Monitors sleep. Tracks my rucks with GPS. Has a nice app.

Big fan of the Fitbit Versa

Fitbit Ionic here. Previously had the Alta and the entry level one before that. It serves me well, and like the dashboard/app.

I've done some research on fitbit and have read tons of reviews. It's seems like they are lacking in some areas of performance and a LOT of the reviews are bad. Software issues, touchscreen lagging, connectivity issues. Fitbit users please give honest feedback if you've had ANY recurring issues.

My versa is terrible. I like all the features it just doesn't work. Wont sync reliably.

Have a Garmin 920xt that I wear daily and like. Will eventually upgrade to a 935 or if a new version comes out that one. Have had several Fitbit's for work and they do not last. When the company switched to a new program that allowed for tracking with a Garmin I was very happy.

I had a surge (given to me) and it was a POS.

That said, I'm not the target market for Fitbit. The surge tries to compete with Garmin, and is way behind.

I bought a Fitbit Ionic earlier this week. It's been very buggy and will probably be going back. The notifications on my phone stopped working altogether and have been sporadic on the watch. I'll be looking for something else.

Return it now. It may seem like its getting better for a while but in the long run it will only get worse.

Definitely have had issues with Fitbit syncing before. The newest Apple Watch seems to do well for me. Actually the heart rate monitor seems to be pretty good I haven't been as annoyed with it not responding as all of my other fit bits and previous Apple Watch.

Love my Fitbit Versa- only gets down to 80% charge most days, Nest app is pretty cool, no sync issues with my Moto phone.

Does the VERSA sync with I phone? I am leaning apple watch right now due to the fitbit reviews and I think Garmin is just more than I really need.

+1 on the Fitbit syncing issues. I have a Charge HR and my mom has an Alta HR -- and both have had issues syncing. I had all sorts of issues getting the Charge HR to sync the first time when I got it, almost to the point of giving up and selling it. Can't get my mom's Alta HR to sync with her Mac consistently at all. Her phone is too old to use to sync.

I actually like the Fitbit app and the data it supplies, but be prepared for syncing frustrations...

foulbeast said:

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+1 on the Fitbit syncing issues. I have a Charge HR and my mom has an Alta HR -- and both have had issues syncing. I had all sorts of issues getting the Charge HR to sync the first time when I got it, almost to the point of giving up and selling it. Can't get my mom's Alta HR to sync with her Mac consistently at all. Her phone is too old to use to sync.

I actually like the Fitbit app and the data it supplies, but be prepared for syncing frustrations...

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What phone do you have? I'm wondering if it is just an iphone issue because I have had zero issues with my Moto & Fitbit versa.

RG20 said:

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I've done some research on fitbit and have read tons of reviews. It's seems like they are lacking in some areas of performance and a LOT of the reviews are bad. Software issues, touchscreen lagging, connectivity issues. Fitbit users please give honest feedback if you've had ANY recurring issues.

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Yeah, I've had some syncing issues and notifications not always coming through. It's more of an annoyance, but nothing critical or that hard to troubleshoot. It hasn't been enough of a problem to where I thought "I'm getting rid of this" and look for something non-Fitbit (though I'm sure some of the other brands are better).

It's also familiar/comfortable, and would lose years of data if switching to a non-Fitbit device.

you can export your data from fitbit into a tcx file and then import into another portal.

My old fitbit 3 has never had a problem syncing. Haven't had a single issue with it.

Good question, as I have an Iphone as well. The Versa looks really cool but if connectivity issues are there with iphone then that's going to be hard to justify going with it. I would love to hear from anyone who has the apple watch as well.

My versa has issues with iphone8 and Galaxy s8. My phone has no issues connecting to other bluetooth devices.

KidDoc said:

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foulbeast said:

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+1 on the Fitbit syncing issues. I have a Charge HR and my mom has an Alta HR -- and both have had issues syncing. I had all sorts of issues getting the Charge HR to sync the first time when I got it, almost to the point of giving up and selling it. Can't get my mom's Alta HR to sync with her Mac consistently at all. Her phone is too old to use to sync.

I actually like the Fitbit app and the data it supplies, but be prepared for syncing frustrations...

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What phone do you have? I'm wondering if it is just an iphone issue because I have had zero issues with my Moto & Fitbit versa.

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iPhone 8 Plus. I tried to sync them with Mac computers (one Mini and one MacBook Pro) as well when the phone sync was failing and had issues with those as well. Google returned a plethora of forum posts with people reporting the same issue.

I should add that once I got the Charge HR to finish syncing the first time, it's been solid. Alta HR has never been happy. Fails more than it succeeds when syncing.

Whoop band is the best I've had

Garmin Vivoactive HR 3 is my current choice. Had the Vivoactive HR and upgraded to the 3 last fall. It'll do all the activity tracking you want, notifications, and has GPS for a variety of activities when you want them. Great customer service as well if you need it.

zachsccr said:

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Garmin Vivoactive HR 3 is my current choice. Had the Vivoactive HR and upgraded to the 3 last fall. It'll do all the activity tracking you want, notifications, and has GPS for a variety of activities when you want them. Great customer service as well if you need it.

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Thanks for posting this, I was going to ask about this model. Really looking hard at one vs an Apple watch, and I think the price being half will be what tilts the favor.

HvilleAggie said:

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zachsccr said:

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Garmin Vivoactive HR 3 is my current choice. Had the Vivoactive HR and upgraded to the 3 last fall. It'll do all the activity tracking you want, notifications, and has GPS for a variety of activities when you want them. Great customer service as well if you need it.

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Thanks for posting this, I was going to ask about this model. Really looking hard at one vs an Apple watch, and I think the price being half will be what tilts the favor.

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I went the same route. Vivoactive to VA 3 and now on to Apple Watch for the last 3 months. I'm still a huge fan of the VA3 and will wear it time to time for runs. Personally, I like the Garmin app and feedback it gives vs Apple's apps. I'm sure there are other third party apps to take the place of it like Strava or something. The price has always been the biggest factor going to the Apple Watch. Glad I did because of everything else it does, but if I was picking just off tracking workouts, runs, golfing, and wanted simple notifications I'd stick with VA3.

Does the Garmin allow you to explicitly start a workout, as opposed to having it detect it via heart rate? That's one thing I like about Apple Watch is that you can explicitly start/stop the activity.

On both Garmins I've used, I've had the options to start, stop, pause, use splits, etc. for any workout/activity