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JaySoul

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jan 30, 2008
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So the Apple Watch has an interface for fitness that is excellent - simple, intuitive, it prompts you and motivates you with goals.

It's brilliant because THEY STOLE IT from the Nike FuelBand! (And I'm sure Nike stole it from someone else, probably).

Anyway are there any non-Apple smartwatches that can replicate/improve upon the Apple Watch fitness?
 

iphonedude2008

macrumors 65816
Nov 7, 2009
1,134
450
Irvine, CA
I haven't had good experience with Android wear fitness. I would look towards a watch more designed for that like Garmin or Fitbit.
 
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JaySoul

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Jan 30, 2008
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I haven't had good experience with Android wear fitness. I would look towards watch more designed for that like Garmin or Fitbit.

Google Fit is very limited, and S Health for Samsung has some nice functions but doesn't get the basic fitness tracking right.

I always knew the Apple Watch would get it right from the start, simply because Tim Cook was on the Nike board and wore a FuelBand.

I still wear my FuelBand but it's slowly giving up the ghost!
 

Klyster

macrumors 68020
Dec 7, 2013
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I hear the heart rate scanner in the apple watch has issues like the rest of them?
 

ozaz

macrumors 68000
Feb 27, 2011
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Why do you say stole? Given that Tim Cook is on the Nike board any similarities between Apple Watch and the Nike interface is probably due to a formal partnership.
 
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Lloydbm41

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Oct 17, 2013
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Central California
Google Fit is very limited, and S Health for Samsung has some nice functions but doesn't get the basic fitness tracking right.

I always knew the Apple Watch would get it right from the start, simply because Tim Cook was on the Nike board and wore a FuelBand.

I still wear my FuelBand but it's slowly giving up the ghost!
Apple Watch get it right? I don't think you and I have the same definition of 'getting things right' at all. I'd go as far as to say that the Apple Watch is probably one of the worst in terms of accuracy and usability. Android Wear is right down there too. Not saying they suck, but compared to Fitness Bands designed for that sort of thing, they do.
 
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JaySoul

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jan 30, 2008
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Apple Watch get it right? I don't think you and I have the same definition of 'getting things right' at all. I'd go as far as to say that the Apple Watch is probably one of the worst in terms of accuracy and usability. Android Wear is right down there too. Not saying they suck, but compared to Fitness Bands designed for that sort of thing, they do.

I wasn't talking about that kind of accuracy, just the software and interface in terms of motivation and how it presents the data.

My FuelBand used to give me 500 Fuel points for driving to work! But they kept refining it and now it's very accurate at tracking movement.

But they got the general idea right from the start, and so did Apple.
 

Lloydbm41

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Oct 17, 2013
4,019
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Central California
I wasn't talking about that kind of accuracy, just the software and interface in terms of motivation and how it presents the data.

My FuelBand used to give me 500 Fuel points for driving to work! But they kept refining it and now it's very accurate at tracking movement.

But they got the general idea right from the start, and so did Apple.
I had a Fuelband as well right from the beginning. (Actually went through 3 of them due to defects ranging from LED lights going out to battery not displaying correctly, once that feature was added.) And I drove a UHaul truck for 5 hours that had a bad alignment, so was constantly correcting the steering wheel and when I arrived, I had 15000 points! Def know what you are talking about there.

As far as presenting the data, it is fine on the Apple watch, just like it is presented fine on Android Wear. The only difference is, I can create my own custom watch faces to present all of my data as I see fit (or download a plethora of them from various sources) when it comes to Android. I don't have to press any buttons, twist my wrist to activate the screen or scroll through menu's either.
That said, both Apple and Android Wear suck and could both be 10x better! I'm sure they will eventually get there though.
 

Technarchy

macrumors 604
May 21, 2012
6,753
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I really really liked my Samsung Gear Fit. Excellent fitness tracker with S-health.
 

VFC

macrumors 6502a
Feb 6, 2012
514
10
SE PA.
Apple is far behind the FitBit Surge in both fitness measuring capability and motivation.

As an example; my Surge had me walking up and down stairs at 11:55PM during a Christmas party so I could meet my "floors" goal before the day ended; my family and friends thought I was crazy. I am working out harder and eating better (food quality and time of day) so I can get my resting and sleeping heart rate ever lower, meet my sleep duration goal, and improve my quality of sleep. The whole area of sleep tracking is fascinating. First thing I do each morning is check my heart rate and sleep pattern during the night. I can tell fairly accurately if I'm going to have a good day (alert & active) at work based on what happened during the night.

My only disappointment with the Surge is it looks out of place in my work office environment.

I have pre-ordered the new Microsoft Band 2 and should be getting it Friday. The look is much more professional and it has all the fitness capability of the Surge and then some. I will be wearing both 7x24 for a couple weeks to see how they compare.

Once you have a FitBit Surge or MS Band 2, you will realize how inept the AW is in the fitness area. They both have phone notification capability; the MS Band 2 is compatible with all three mobile O/S's. The MS Band also has apps that can be purchased/installed.
 
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momofrg

macrumors newbie
Oct 24, 2015
9
1
Providence, RI
So the Apple Watch has an interface for fitness that is excellent - simple, intuitive, it prompts you and motivates you with goals.

It's brilliant because THEY STOLE IT from the Nike FuelBand! (And I'm sure Nike stole it from someone else, probably).

Anyway are there any non-Apple smartwatches that can replicate/improve upon the Apple Watch fitness?

I have both the Apple watch and the FitBit Charge HR, both have extremely close readings
 

I7guy

macrumors Nehalem
Nov 30, 2013
35,158
25,268
Gotta be in it to win it
Apple is far behind the FitBit Surge in both fitness measuring capability and motivation.

As an example; my Surge had me walking up and down stairs at 11:55PM during a Christmas party so I could meet my "floors" goal before the day ended; my family and friends thought I was crazy. I am working out harder and eating better (food quality and time of day) so I can get my resting and sleeping heart rate ever lower, meet my sleep duration goal, and improve my quality of sleep. The whole area of sleep tracking is fascinating. First thing I do each morning is check my heart rate and sleep pattern during the night. I can tell fairly accurately if I'm going to have a good day (alert & active) at work based on what happened during the night.

My only disappointment with the Surge is it looks out of place in my work office environment.

I have pre-ordered the new Microsoft Band 2 and should be getting it Friday. The look is much more professional and it has all the fitness capability of the Surge and then some. I will be wearing both 7x24 for a couple weeks to see how they compare.

Once you have a FitBit Surge or MS Band 2, you will realize how inept the AW is in the fitness area. They both have phone notification capability; the MS Band 2 is compatible with all three mobile O/S's. The MS Band also has apps that can be purchased/installed.
The band looks awesome but I love my surge and i wear it proudly to all meetings. Obviously can't predict the future, but Fitbit is not stupid and expect a surge II with some interesting technology. When is the question.
 
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