Fitbit or reliable cheaper alternatives?

[Ruthy180]

Hi. I want to be able to measure my running distance accurately. Fitbits seem rather expensive so just wondered if anyone has any recommendations for good alternatives?

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

I don't know what the other alternatives are and have no personal experience and will acknowledge that the technology is improving all the time, but Fitbits have never been considered to be very accurate and most in the running world will plump for a dedicated GPS running watch.

A smart phone is probably as good if not more accurate than a Fitbit.

[Ruthy180 Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Thanks IannodaTruffle. When you say a GPS watch would something like the TomTom watches be what you are talking about?

[IannodaTruffe Mentor in reply to Ruthy180]

Garmin is the big name, but there are many alternatives.

[Whatsapp Graduate]

Plenty of apps for your phone. mapmyrun / strava / myasics, etc. All only as good as your phones GPS.

[Ruthy180 Graduate in reply to Whatsapp]

I wasn't sure how accurate phones are on distance??

[IannodaTruffe Mentor in reply to Ruthy180]

Probably as good as a Fitbit, if not better. As Whatsapp says, it depends on the quality of the GPS unit in your phone. Most are perfectly good for C25k and can provide a wealth of free data to get mired in.

[SaskAlliecat Graduate]

I use Runkeeper on my phone but also have a garmin forerunner 10 gps watch. The distance doesn't often match on the 2, especially if I'm running neighbourhood streets with lots of buildings and trees. It is better when I run the city park pathways that are more open. That being said, for a 5k run, it may only be out 0.1k or a little more. On the long runs, it is more noticeable. My phone always records a shorter distance than my watch. I ran 16k on the city pathways last week, my watch read 16.22k while Runkeeper logged 16.03k, so really a minor difference.