Fitness trackers...

[Trying83]

Hi, interested to see what people use, is fitbit charge 3 any good? Can you sync it with mapmyrun / Nike running? Was looking at Samsung galaxy watch but its a bit more pricey.

[notquiteretired Graduate]

I bought charge 3 but returned it to fitbit as found it quite inaccurate, it recorded steps whilst i travelled in car and whilst sat on couch. It was easy to sync with iphone etc but personally didnt trust the accuracy, my sons all have garmin

[Mummycav Administrator Graduate]

Hi Trying83 i have got a fitbit charge 2 amd i love mine..the only thing is it kept having a wobble and causing me tech problems when linked to strava..not all the time but enough for me to think about throwing it in the canal!!! But i didnt! I bought a garmin 235 instead...thats got a really good gps signal amd so far i havent had any tech problems, well, None that are down to the watch! But that doesnt count my steps so i have my fitbit on one wrist and my garmin on the other!! I look like a bit of a fitness freak but i get the results i want at the end of my run!! I bought my fitbit when i started running and realised that this was going to be my new way of life!! So i was reluctant to not wear it...when i think its dated i will buy one that does everything...I think the charge 3 is supposed to be good but have a look at some garmins before you commit

[MarkyD Graduate in reply to Mummycav]

Why does it not count your steps?

[Mummycav Administrator Graduate in reply to MarkyD]

Because it a bloomin 230 not 235, got my numbers mixed up! Haha...235 will be my next one..

[MarkyD Graduate]

Another vote for Garmin ForeRunner 235. Very good GPS, great battery life (about 7 days), notifications from my iPhone and of course step, sleep and heart-rate tracking. It has been a joy to live with for 3 years.

[Shelley2310 Graduate]

I’ve got Garmin vivoactive 3. I find it’s brilliant for my use. It’s waterproof, tracks indoor swimming and about every other sport you can imagine (other than open water swimming, so if you’re planning on triathlon tracking then no).

[Trying83 Graduate in reply to Shelley2310]

After going back and forth between 235 or vivo active 3, I think this is the one I'm going to go for. Does it vibrate for notifications? One of the comparison sites I looked on said this had no vibration, but I find that hard to believe.

[Shelley2310 Graduate in reply to Trying83]

Yes it does, and vibrates for alarms. You can set it to tell you when you’ve done so many miles or km. you can also set it for intervals (I haven’t tried that yet so don’t know about vibrate on that. Although I’d assume yes. Would you like me to try tomorrow and report back?).

[Trying83 Graduate in reply to Shelley2310]

That's great, I think you've given enough information, thankyou!

[Trying83 Graduate in reply to Shelley2310]

Oh 1 more thing, is it all touchscreen or is there buttons?

[Shelley2310 Graduate in reply to Trying83]

Both, there’s 1 button on the side. Also on the other side it’s got a thing on the side that you swipe to scroll too. Not very technical but not sure what to call it 😂😂

[Shelley2310 Graduate in reply to Trying83]

One last thing, I usually get about 4 days of battery. That’s including having all notifications from my phone coming through and 2 45 min runs using gps. If I turn notifications from phone off I can get a week!

[Trying83 Graduate in reply to Shelley2310]

Hi, me again, so I went and bought it, and so far love it, haven't tried it on a run yet, but im just messing with ir to get used to it and it keeps saying waiting for GPS when I press run, and also when I press the GPS button on the widget thing? Is there something I need to do that you know of? I've checked settings and GPS is definitely switched on. 🤷‍♀️

[Shelley2310 Graduate in reply to Trying83]

Oh mine usually comes on within 30sec to a min. I’ve only used it outside though

[Shelley2310 Graduate in reply to Trying83]

Let me know if it works when you’re outside x

[Shelley2310 Graduate in reply to Trying83]

Have you tried it out running yet?

[Trying83 Graduate in reply to Shelley2310]

I have just logged on here to reply to you actually, yes just done my w7r3 run, nearly killed me, I dont actually know if the GPS came on tho as I didnt realise the button at the side was start / stop so I started it thinking it was on. But I've just read somewhere that it will say ready when GPS is on? Hasn't saved my run in the connect app on my phone tho? Maybe a delay or something? Not too worried about that. Love my new gadget tho haha. Can you view your route on the watch?

[Shelley2310 Graduate in reply to Trying83]

Unfortunately if you don’t press start it won’t record! I’ve experienced it sever times 😱. I should have mentioned that

[Trying83 Graduate in reply to Shelley2310]

Oh I did press start, sorry what I meant was I pressed it straight away, so dont know if i pressed it before it had chance to connect to GPS ?

[Shelley2310 Graduate in reply to Trying83]

You have to wait till it says ready

[Trying83 Graduate in reply to Shelley2310]

Well I'll do it proper next time 😂

[Shelley2310 Graduate in reply to Trying83]

I tested it on a walk first. So if you’re going out tomorrow to the shop set it up lol

[Trying83 Graduate in reply to Shelley2310]

Ha yes, good idea. Thanks

[Shelley2310 Graduate]

Oh and I did have a Fitbit charge 3, which was ok but no gps...my granddaughter now has it 🤣

[K8nno Graduate]

Forerunner 235. Excellent bit of kit. You should be able to pick up a second hand one for less than £100. I’ve bought two of them, both second hand and they’re both excellent.

[RunRunRun13 Graduate]

Forerunner 35 for me !

Wear it daily and my best running purchase yet....got mine secondhand on Ebay and it does everything you need. Take a look at the reviews on You Tube as it shows in depth what it can do.

[GoGo_JoJo Graduate]

I looked into the Galaxy watch but it's not reliable enough for a true fitness device. I opted to splash out on a Garmin Forerunner 645M instead which I sync to Strava. I'm sure it does other fitness sites too.

[Trying83 Graduate]

Thanks guys for all feedback, so with the Garmin, do I put it in run mode at the start of a run? And will it show me distance, time etc for that run as I'm running?

[Ang33333 Graduate]

Forerunner 35. Not pretty but does what I need it to do. It seems a lot more accurate than phone apps and it syncs to Strava.