Which is the Best Fitness Smartwatch?

The big question I often get from Clients and in general from people online is... "Which Fitness Tracker or Fitness Smartwatch should I get?" This is really a loaded question. It's kind of like randomly asking me what vehicle is best for you when next to no information about you has been told to me. Even if I did know what your vehicle needs are, there are so many options out there to choose from. Which company, what type of vehicle, what price range... This is the same when trying to figure out the best Fitness Smart Watches to consider.

Do you want a fitness watch more for fitness or for it's smart features, may be a little bit of both? How much money do you want to spend? How integrated with other software do you want it to be? Do you want a stylish Fitness Watch or perhaps a Sporty one? Are you going to be doing basic activities or complex and diverse activities? Do you want the utmost in accuracy when it comes to heart rate, steps and GPS tracking? Do you see what I mean here?

It gets even more complicated because it seem that every watch figures things out a little bit differently then the other ones. Some count more steps and distance than others, some will give you more calories for an activity then a different fitness Smartwatch or Tracker. Some allow for external heart rate monitors which is more accurate and some will only allow you to use the built in optical heart rate monitor. And at the end of the day which one is telling you the truth? Maybe all of them are but in their own way...

I have jumped from one Fitness Tracking device to another in my quest to find the best solution for me and just when I think I have found it, someone comes out with a device that draws me in and I have to try it out. Sometimes it works out for me and sometimes I find myself taking a step back but I kind of enjoy all of this fitness tech in the end.

So which is the Best Fitness Smartwatch? Hell if I know, you're probably going to have to try a few out until you find the one best suited to you. If you have no idea where to start, take a look at some of the Garmin and Fitbit products, they have a combination of really solid software and hardware offerings for a variety of needs.

Good luck in your quest and enjoy the journey...

Amazfit Fitness Smartwatch Fail

I hate to be negative about a product line, I prefer to talk about the good stuff or at least focus on the good rather than the bad but but in this case of Amazfit I am really let down lately by what has been happening to me with my Amazfit Stratos and Amazfit Verge.

There is a lot I say in the video about the problems I am having but in short my Amazfit Stratos has gone mad and is giving me all kinds of bad data when it comes to my activity tracking. I have been working with Amazfit support to try and fix this problem for around a month but have decided to call it quite because we seem to be going around in circles and not getting any closer to fixing the problem.

I did purchase the new Amazfit Verge and just recently it arrived, I was hoping this new Amazfit product would solve my problems but quickly realized I would have a new set of problems with it, mainly the fact that it does not count calories even remotely close when recording and activity. Very sad when both devices are made by the same company, use the same App and have virtually the same software on them, yet both give completely different calorie counts for a similar activity.

All said and done I am sadly dropping Amazfit and moving on to a new platform for my Fitness Tracking.

Smart Fitness Watch Update Video - Vivoactive 3

In this Smart / Fitness Watch Update video I talk a lot about Fitness / Smart Watches. I go over some of my experiences using them and what features I look for when I'm considering a Smart / Fitness Watch. Everyone's needs are going to be a lot different for sure! Some people are strictly looking for fitness data, some people love the SmartWatch capabilities like notifications, access to Apps and other tech, and even being able to make a till payment with your Smart / Fitness Watch. And then some people want a Smart Watch with a certain style to it that matches their personality. You may want a little bit of all these things?

I did end up buying a Garmin Vivoactive 3 mainly because my Amazfit Stratos is not working properly when it comes to tracking workouts and for me this is a huge deal breaker. I'm pretty sure something is wrong with my Amazfit Stratos since it worked flawlessly for many month and only recently decided to give me problems. I'm working with Amazfit to try and resolve this problem but so far it's not going well?

I am liking the Garmin Vivoactive 3 but I don't think I will be keeping it since I am expecting to get my new Amazfit Verge very soon and hope this will become my new daily diver Smart Fitness watch.

Amazfit Stratos Multisport GPS Smartwatch Review

This Video Review focuses on several key areas I go over as an interested user? I purchased the Amazfit Stratos Multisport GPS Smartwatch because of my personal interest in it and have been using it for the past couple of months making sure it does what I need to do. As a side note I have also been wearing my Samsung Gear Sport Smart Watch along side the Amazfit Stratos Multisport GPS Smartwatch as a measuring stick to make sure the data was in line with what I already know to be true.

Here are the areas I go over in this Video Review of the Amazfit Stratos Multisport GPS Smartwatch:

• What comes in the box.
• Price compared to similar devices.
• Quality & Style.
• Battery life.
• Screen.
• Software (Phone / Device / Compatibility).
• Accuracy.
• Will it be my Daily Driver?

What Comes in the Box:

• The Amazfit Stratos Multisport GPS Smartwatch.
• A USB charger.
• A quick start manual.

Price compared to similar devices:

I would say about half compared to similarly featured name brand devices like a Garmin for instance. I paid around $169 US for mine. A Similar Garmin would be around $299-$399.

Quality & Style:

The overall quality of the Amazfit Stratos Multisport GPS Smartwatch is excellent and has been holding up well for me during my testing. It has a carbon fiber look body, a ceramic bezel and gorilla glass screen. The Amazfit Stratos Multisport GPS Smartwatch also features stainless steel buttons and a soft removable strap that has a universal design to it. I personally really like the classic  round look with modern highlights to compliment the Amazfit Stratos Multisport GPS Smartwatch.

Battery life:

Amazfit claims up to around 4-5 days of battery life but this is a real best case scenario. I really only get around 1 good day but can stretch it out to 2 days sometimes. I am using up a lot of the Amazfit Stratos Multisport GPS Smartwatch resources since I have the heart rate monitor on constantly, go for at least a 1 hour GPS walk each day and track my 2 hour workouts while paired to an external heart rate monitor. I also have my notifications on the watch and tend to be fairly dependant on checking my watch through the day.

Screen:

The screen on the Amazfit Stratos Multisport GPS Smartwatch is actually really a feature of the watch in my opinion. You do need to get use to it by making sure you view the watch at the right angle in certain lighting but the Transflective Screen is easy to see in virtually any lighting condition and day or night with the built in backlight for low light . The screen resolution is also very detailed at 320x300 px.

Software (Phone / Device / Compatibility)

For a Chinese based company I was surprised at how good the software really is, for me it has all I need to see and most importantly it works with little to know bugs and crashing or loss of data. For the most part you can see everything on the Amazfit Stratos Multisport GPS Smartwatch but of course it's not as easy to see as on a phone with a larger display. My biggest complaint is the lack of compatibility with the big boys like MyFitnessPal, Google Fit or even Apple Health. It would be nice if the Amazfit Stratos Multisport GPS Smartwatch was able share its data with other software programs but this was not a deal breaker for me since more importantly the data was accurate and I can easily take my calorie consumed data form the Amazfit Stratos Multisport GPS Smartwatch and add it into my Base Metabolic Rate for a total calorie output for the day.

Accuracy:

At the end of the day I want a device that can honestly track my steps and calories burned form all my activities during a given day. The Amazfit Stratos Multisport GPS Smartwatch does this really well. I did find that the built in optical heart rate monitor was not accurate for my weight training but this is a pretty normal problem with optical heart rate monitors. The good news is that the Amazfit Stratos Multisport GPS Smartwatch allows you to pair an external heart rate monitor to it for super accurate heart rate data recording.

Will it be my Daily Driver?

At this time I am using the Amazfit Stratos Multisport GPS Smartwatch stand alone and so far it is working out great for me. I really like how it looks and I know that I am getting super accurate and reliable activity info from it so what more do I really need?