I know there is thread on watches but that's more on high-end watches.

I've been looking to get a smart-watch to keep a bit better track of how active I am and to get some more information about my body but can't really find one that seems great.

I came across this one:
https://healbe.com/us/

But it kindof seems to good to be true, and can't really find many reliable reviews on it. Perhaps someone here has it?


More generally, what smart watch do you own and are you happy with it?

Apple Watch 2. Very happy with it. Health-wise, I use it to track runs and to monitor heart rate while running, and to track sleep.

I'm guessing the Apple watch doesn't work without an iphone?

I think that's correct, yes.

prolly more advanced than you are looking for, but I have a garmin fenix 5 and love it. Its the only "health" / smart watch I have experience with tho.

edit: just looked at that watch you linked....cant fathom that being accurate. I feel like if it were legit I would have heard about it before now, like everyone would be talking about it. (heh, link to how it works is down)

My only problem with my Apple Watch is that several times I have driven 10+ hours in a day and it recorded it as if I was actively moving the whole time. Also the ****er won’t monitor me when I forget to wear it but I guess that is to be expected.

I have an older model of the Garmin vivoactive that I really like. It is the only one I have had. It syncs up with apps like MyFitnessPal in case you are already using it. And, it's waterproof. That was important to me, so it severely limited my choices.

I have a Garmin Forerunner 935 that I really like. I primarily just use it for running and golf, but it keeps track of a lot of activities and health stats. It does have notifications from your phone, but I don't use that much.

Some of the newer Garmin's have onboard memory for music, which I may look into when I need an upgrade.

I have the Apple 3 Watch and wear it almost every day now. Did a weight loss bet with some friends and I found that tracking al activity helped a lot.

I bought the version that supports data sharing on my phone, but my provider does not offer that service as of yet.

I use the Garmin Vivoactive HR right now after really linking the original Vivoactive. Kinda wish I would have waited for the Vivoactive 3 because I think it looks way nicer.

Got it with the Tri bundle and was a little disappointed to find out the heart rate monitor is for open water swimming only.

Someday I will pull the trigger and get the Forerunner 935.

Anyone looking to "try out" a Smartwatch or looking for an inexpensive graduation gift, you should take a look at the Pebble Time watch. Last year, Pebble was bought by Fitbit but you can still find them on Amazon and Ebay.

The watch is super cheap and pretty unique in features. Features that I wish could be found on other watches.

Pro's:
7 day battery life
Always on color screen
Works on Android and iOS
receive and send texts, notifications
Health and fitness app
You can buy one for under $40!!!!

Minuses:
No touch screen
No heart rate monitor
No voice commands
not a "dress" watch

Here's an Ebay listing selling the Pebble Time for $36 shipped.



Over the last 4 years I've bought 6 pebble watches for various family members. My whole family loves them.

Things I routinely do with it:
Handle texts and emails (nice and quick esp when driving, school or church etc...)
Activity monitor (I think it does sleep too)
MLB and NFL apps to keep updated with the current game situation anywhere-anytime.
Tons of watch faces. I use an integrated weather and time face.
Alarm and timer

Recently got a Fenix 5 and love it.

Had sony smartwatch and an old garmin running watches before, but just used them for sports (and they had nothing on this one). I wear the Fenix the whole time, and it's great for hiking, golf, running, sightseeing, general activity tracking, text updates. It has a great battery life and looks good too, with plenty of watch faces to choose from.

That forerunner 935 looks very solid! A bit more on the expensive side but definitely looks good. Will end up getting that, thank for the recommendations

LOL, that Healbe site quotes an Engadget review, but the linked review doesn't seem to include the quote that Healbe is claiming.

Smart watches I've had:
Microsoft Band
Garmin Vivoactive HR
Garmin Vivoactive 3

The MS Band was pretty great, except for a few fatal flaws. Biggest 2 were that the touch screen was often non-responsive to sweaty fingers, which is bad for a running watch. And the actual band didn't hold up well over time. I had high hopes that later models would fix these problems, but MS seems to have discontinued it.

Vivoactive HR was pretty good, but it was very clearly a running/workout device, rather than a watch. I wore it every day to work, but it's very clunky and not remotely fashionable.

Vivoactive 3 is my current one, and I'm really happy with it. It actually does look like a watch (thinner than Vivoactive HR and a round face), and I wear it everywhere. The big thing the Garmins have going for them is the battery life - typically in the 5-7 day range. The downside is that they're more activity trackers than they are smart watches.

So it really depends on exactly what you're looking for in a watch.

It’s rock solid, probably the #1 watch you see during most Tri races. I don’t know a single person who doesn’t like theirs.

The only thing is that it might be kinda overkill if you aren’t really using the multisports features. Then you could save a couple hundred bucks and get the Vivoactive 3 or Fenix.

FWIW, Apple previewed the WatchOS 5 today. I think there’s a decent chance that the Apple Watch 4 might be a pretty good watch for most casual athletes.

Not sure why anyone would buy a 935, its basically a less durable fenix 5, You can even find the 5 for sale at places for only slightly more than the 935, so the price isnt even a reason to go with 935. If money is the issue, then get a fenix 3, which is still more watch than you are going to use (Its just the previous model, there isnt much difference between it and the 5 (there was no fenix 4)) and is as rugged as the 5, and a couple hundred less.

good thread, these have been a consideration of mine. thanks to everyone who gave a review.

i don't know. I am not sure it would be worth it and I am afraid it would fizzle out for me. What I would most want from a SW is accuracy, I want reliability. Accurately recording my steps, heart rate, and sleep. Why would I want one? To get some real feedback from my body. I would like to familiarize and see intricacies of my heart rate in instances like: resting, different times of the day, after sprinting, while playing basketball, while lifting, after taking a hit of weed or a few drinks. I also would like some feedback on my sleeping.

But you know, the other part of me is the opposite. I know when my heart rate is going to be high or moreso, I know how to challenge my heart to perform better(or worse(weed and brew?)). I know that 8 hours of dark, uninterrupted sleep is best. I know when I am getting adequate sleep I guess. But, if feedback is accurate, I think there could be something to be learned and then improving accordingly.

Also, I have been told and it would make sense that, one of those chest monitors would work best as it's across your heart but I do not want to go around wearing one of those, ever really. I used one for a short while when exercising and I would rather forgo it. Would you guys agree though that those are probably more accurate?

I would also really like to get some feedback from how foods are affecting me scientifically and internally. Is anyone using SW in this regard? Seems listening to your body may be best in that regard. But, it would be really cool to see brain/heart/whatever else scans after eating different foods

I own a Mobvoi Ticwatch 2. It's around $250 so towards the cheaper end of the market. I'm happy with it - looks good (round like a traditional watch); links well with my phone so I can take messages/calls on it; tracks my activity more than I need. The voice recognition is remarkably good, although I don't really use it much. I think the manufacturer (Chinese) was originally a voice recognition company and google use their voice recognition tech. I bought it to try out smart watches to see if I got much use out of it, and I prolly use it more than I expected to. My only complaint is battery life, only lasts 1-1.5 days.

Here's a review
https://www.digitaltrends.com/watch-...-2-review/#/17

Size/weight is an issue for me. If it wasn't, I agree that the fenix 5 would be the better choice.

I know this topic is mostly about smartwatches, but for tracking body vitals there are also other options:
https://willem.com/blog/2017-11-15_c...with-biostrap/


The main problem I have with this that it's not meant to be used during exercise, which is a pretty large drawback.

Chest straps are more accurate, but high quality smart watches are pretty decent if the watch is tightly attached to your arm.

I have no idea about the accuracy of sleep tracking since I don't use that. As far as the steps counter goes, it's very hard for the watch to distinguish between movement caused by walking/running or similar movement caused by tasks like brushing your teeth. 3 minutes of doing the latter usually gets me an additional 500 steps. Same thing with stuff like lifting dumbbells, that's basically the same movement you use while running so the watch has a hard time not counting that movement.

FWIW, I was just reading this years edition of 'Triathlete's Buyers Guide' magazine and found the following about the Forerunner 935 which is listed as 'best in class':