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.

LEMFO LES2 Android 5.1 Smart Watch Review

Here is my official Table Top Video Review for the LEMFO LES2 Android 5.1 Smart Watch. In this video review I go over some of the basic specifications and talk about the hardware and software. I show you around the watch and talk mainly about how the hardware ties into the software making sure to cover the fitness applications and fitness tracking.

 

Make sure to watch my Unboxing Video as I do go into the specifications of the LEMFO LES2 Android 5.1 Smart Watch and more details about what exactly an Android 5.1 Smart Watch can and can not do compared to an Android Wear Smart Watch.

I highly recommend you watch my full Video Review for the LEMFO LES2 Android 5.1 Smart Watch as I do go into a fair amount of detail on how this watch integrates hardware and software. in summary I found the LEMFO LES2 Android 5.1 Smart Watch to be built much better than I expected, the hardware inside is for sure very impressive but I found that many of the applications especially fitness applications did not take advantage of hardware features like the built in GPS and Heart Rate Sensor nor was their a way to look at historical fitness data on the watch or even using a cloud based application.

If you install the Google Fit App the LEMFO LES2 Android 5.1 Smart Watch can do a decent job of basic fitness tracking but the onboard built in Fitness App is fairly limited compared to today's fitness trackers and fitness watches.

As a feature packed and hardware heavy Smart Watch, the LEMFO LES2 Android 5.1 Smart Watch does a good job with all the fun pre-installed Apps and Google Play Apps you can install later on. You even get all of those annoying notification alerts from your Smart phone including phone call alerts.

Cookoo Get Connected Smart Watch Review

I'll start off by saying this video is going to get a bit Cookoo, that's because I'm reviewing a smart watch called the Cookoo! In terms of being a fitness watch, I would have to say it does not fall into this category other than you can use it to control your iPhone music while working out and also keep your iPhone in a safe location (still near by) while still being notified of any incoming calls, texts and and email, all without disturbing others around you. And for those absent minded folk, the Cookoo watch notifies you if your Smart Phone walks away on you or you walk away on your Smart Phone! There is also a very cool feature of the Cookoo Smart Watch that allows you to remotely take photos which would come in handy for those gym selfies!

So what exactly is a Smart Watch, in a nutshell it's a watch that can connect to your Smart Phone allowing information to be passed back and forth, generally using bluetooth technology. The Cookoo Smart Watch works with the iPhone 5/5s/4s, iPad mini, iPad 4th & 3rd gen, iPod touch 5th gen and also some Samsung Galaxy phones and Android devices. Check the Cookoowatch.com website for more info on Smart Phone compatibility.

What can the Cookoo Smart Watch actually do in terms of integration with a Smart Phone. Now my Smart Phone happens to be an iPhone 5s so I can only tell you how the Cookoo worked for me on my iPhone 5s. I do know that when the Cookoo watch first came out, the iOS software was based on iOS 6, since then, iOS has been updated to iOS 7 and some things have changed in terms of integration and features.

Here is a list of the advertise integration and features  that work with iOS 7 on the iPhone. (Based on iOS 7 Cookoo Life App version 1.4.1510):

• Incoming calls
• Missed calls
• Facebook messages and posts
• Twitter mention
• Calendar reminders 
• SMS
• Email notification
• Your device is out of range
• Low battery on iPhone or iPad
• Remote Photo : Perfect for taking group shots!
• One-button Music Control : Press the COMMAND button to play or pause the music, or hold the button to skip to the next song
• Find your phone : If you know your phone is around but you just can’t seem to find it, simply press a button to sound an alert and locate it. …and more as the CONNECTED APP develops!

 

Overall I like the look of the Cookoo watch, I went with the black and stainless version but the Cookoo watch comes in a variety of color choices suitable for men and women. The Cookoo watch is not too large or too small and fits comfortably not being overly heavy, the band is nice and stretchy. The discreet message alert can be set to make an audible beep and also send a vibration or any combination of the two or even none at all, I chose to go with the audible beep and vibration set to on and this setup worked fairly well to inform me of any incoming notifications. The Cookoo Smart Watch is water resistant enough for most day to day uses including showering and even swimming. Connection was fairly basic in terms of pairing the Cookoo watch with my iPhone 5s but I did have to play around with my notification setting a bit to dial in the features I wanted to be notified of.

Watch my YouTube video review of the Cookoo watch where I go into more details on using the Cookoo Get Connected Smart Watch: