Fitness trackers .

[Mike1942]

Your experiences please. I started off with a Fit bit charge ,2. Fantastic piece of kit but hopeless for running. The figures were too small to read once the tears ran into my eyes. So I brought a Charmin. ,( Chinese Garmin) arrived early beautifully packaged ,/ instructions a a bit vague but fantastic machine did everything the genuine Garmin did plus extras ( for less than £25) but again I could not read the display when running. Rita ( the wife,,) has a Garmin I have a Tom Tom. You gets what you pay for. But the Fitbit still control s my life.

[damienair Administrator]

I bought a Garmin Forerunner 15 on eBay, second had but in excellent condition. It is really good. Does everything I need. All I want to see as I am running is my distance and average pace. It puts those 2 figures up on my screen in perfect readable format, I just need a quick glance. It connects to Garmin Connect easily on my PC and automatically uploads runs onto Strava on my phone as well once connected to the PC.

You can set the screen up as you want so as it displays the information you wish to view as you are running. Nice and simple, not complicated and nor was it expensive. £70 brand new on eBay or around £40 to £50 second hand. I didn't bother with a Heart Rate Monitor. My lungs tell me when I'm in the fat melting zone😆.

[Decker]

My Fitbit Charge was inherited from my wife and also controls my life. I'm also going blind trying to see the tiny numbers. But I feel I owe it something since it got me off the couch last year. But I promised myself a Garmin once I get 10k done 😀

[SC1472 Graduate10]

I've just 'invested' in the new Fitbit ionic to replace my surge that I bought dirt cheap in John Lewis as it had no charging wire!

The numbers are far clearer on the ionic I normally have to wear glasses for anything close up and can see the read out. It has built in GPS and you can also download music and podcasts to it - you need Bluetooth headphones to listen though.

So far it holds its charge better than the surge, the GPS seems more accurate showing the gradient I go up, it's got a better HRM as well but I don't tend to monitor that too closely. It is supposed to have Fitbit pay coming soon which is similar to Apple Pay.

It's not cheap, but, like you, I have had Fitbit for years and have a self-imposed challenge of maintaining at least 100,000 steps per week, I am reliant on Fitbit.

[mfamilias Graduate10]

Kermit is a Forerunner 10, does the necessary and is readable through sweat and tears. Laps, virtual pacer, uploads onto Garmin Connect, basic, functional and well built (I've had it for a year and a half now and run nearly a thousand km with it, and it still looks brand new). I'm about to start making heavy hints to the offspring for my birthday present, I'd like to upgrade to the 235.

[Theziggy]

I have an Aldi watch - HUGE numbers on it - £6 on an auction website

[Mike1942 Graduate10 in reply to Theziggy]

I collected these when on sale in Aldi shop. Even have one taped to the handlebar of my mountain bike.. Great piece of kit. Several spare ones if any body needs one. Message me.

[AlbertRoss Graduate10]

I have a Fitbit Charge HR, it's decent at picking up steps etc. but I don't rely on it for distance - for that I tend to use a tracker on my phone (Endomondo, though have used Mapmyrun before now) that is usually more accurate on the distance and can do the audio coaching as well.... the idea of having a GPS watch sort of appeals, but I don't think I can really justify the cost.... the Ionic looks interesting in some ways, particularly if the leading app makers are prepared to offer tracking and coaching through it - then again, I've never been a fan of big watches which is partly my objection to any smartwatch!

[benwill Graduate10]

This all depends on what you're trying to do, I have charge 2 which I use to keep not of my sleep and HR through the day, not so bothered about steps and general day to day health. But because the charge 2 uses connected GPS via your phone it kinda sucks because it sometimes the connection gets lost and that's half your run gone, plus phone GPS's aren't super accurate.

I also have two running watches that I use purely for running, cycling and swimming they are accurate easy to read and have all the running metrics i need.

[misswobble Graduate10]

I can't read my Garmin on the run but I park my specs atop my head and just pull em down when I need to check if I've finished Cos i can't read it I don't bother looking at it 😃 Annoying but ...🙂🤓