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NFT: Best smart watch help...

BronxBombers : 7/3/2018 9:36 am
my wife's bday is coming up and she wants a smart watch that she can track her activities and play music through bluetooth to her headphones...she has an iphone...the apple watch is so expensive; i am willing to get it if its the absolute best, but are there other solid options?

garmin, fitbit, amazfit, etc?

thanks in advance.
Your wife  
mattyblue : 7/3/2018 9:41 am : link
wants a smart watch and has an iPhone. Do you think going with one of the cheaper options will go over well?
RE: Your wife  
BronxBombers : 7/3/2018 9:43 am : link
In comment 14005411 mattyblue said:
Quote:
wants a smart watch and has an iPhone. Do you think going with one of the cheaper options will go over well?


it might, she's never had one before, so a test run may not be a bad idea, plus we dont go crazy on bday gifts.
Really depends on the features you're looking for.  
10 to 13 : 7/3/2018 9:43 am : link
I previously had the Fitbit Surge for 2 years and switched to the Fitbit Blaze. I'm more focused on fitness and activity tracking so the Fitbit makes more sense for features and the cost point. When I evaluated the Blaze vs. Apple Watch it ultimately came down to fitness tracking (Blaze is superior), battery life (Blaze is superior) and cost (Blaze is much cheaper). I couldn't justify the cost differential for many features I didn't care about.
I should add  
10 to 13 : 7/3/2018 9:45 am : link
the Blaze is major step up aesthetically. It looks more like the Apple watch vs. a fitness tracker
I wasn’t  
mattyblue : 7/3/2018 9:46 am : link
trying to be a smart ass, it just seems like she would be he happiest with the Apple Watch no matter what she says.
I had the apple watch series 1. I switched to fitbit versa  
Heisenberg : 7/3/2018 9:53 am : link
I had the series 1 (I think they have released series 3 now so it may be different).

I liked the apple watch. it was great with notifications and texts, etc. I didn't think it was great for activity tracking, especially starting actual exercise to be tracked by an app. Too many taps to get to the app. It was hard to navigate the user interface with tons of little icons to sort thru to find what you're looking for. Another negative, it needed to be charged each night. It was a great device otherwise, beautiful and well made.

I switched to the fitbit versa, which does far fewer things but does them really well. It's great for activity tracking (fitbit, after all). Doesn't have a builtin GPS but I don't really care about that for running. It does the music to bluetooth thing - it is not super easy to transfer music from itunes, fyi. Really easy to navigate. Has phone, text, calendar notifications that are good, if not as good as iphone. I charge it twice a week and because i don't have to charge it every night, I use it for sleep tracking. Doesn't do NFC payments, but I don't care for that. Not as pretty a device but still nice. Much lighter on the wrist.

The new apple watch is waterproof too, as is Versa. They're both really good devices, IMO. I'm happy with the versa mostly for activity tracking, charging and sleep tracking purposes.
RE: I wasn’t  
spike : 7/3/2018 9:55 am : link
In comment 14005420 mattyblue said:
Quote:
trying to be a smart ass, it just seems like she would be he happiest with the Apple Watch no matter what she says.


Just go for it. Why buy a lesser version and then have to rebuy the apple watch again
RE: I had the apple watch series 1. I switched to fitbit versa  
10 to 13 : 7/3/2018 10:08 am : link
In comment 14005431 Heisenberg said:
Quote:
I had the series 1 (I think they have released series 3 now so it may be different).

I liked the apple watch. it was great with notifications and texts, etc. I didn't think it was great for activity tracking, especially starting actual exercise to be tracked by an app. Too many taps to get to the app. It was hard to navigate the user interface with tons of little icons to sort thru to find what you're looking for. Another negative, it needed to be charged each night. It was a great device otherwise, beautiful and well made.

I switched to the fitbit versa, which does far fewer things but does them really well. It's great for activity tracking (fitbit, after all). Doesn't have a builtin GPS but I don't really care about that for running. It does the music to bluetooth thing - it is not super easy to transfer music from itunes, fyi. Really easy to navigate. Has phone, text, calendar notifications that are good, if not as good as iphone. I charge it twice a week and because i don't have to charge it every night, I use it for sleep tracking. Doesn't do NFC payments, but I don't care for that. Not as pretty a device but still nice. Much lighter on the wrist.

The new apple watch is waterproof too, as is Versa. They're both really good devices, IMO. I'm happy with the versa mostly for activity tracking, charging and sleep tracking purposes.


This is a more thorough analysis of my point above. Fitbit - less features but does what it does better. Apple Watch - does more but is not as good in the areas of overlap
...  
26.2 : 7/3/2018 10:09 am : link
I just got the new Garmin vivo active and its great. I don't like getting any kind of notifications, but out of the box and after I synced it to my iphone and it starting sending me all of them. So I turned that off.

Its great for fitness tracking. Great for running. The old model was great for golf and I suspect this one will be too. Built in HR monitor (though most have that now). The Garmin phone app is great too. I had a 20% off coupon on ebay and got it for $240 with an extended warranty.

That being said, I'm going to bet that your wife will appreciate/like the apple watch more.
Do any of the Fitbits play Pandora?  
FranknWeezer : 7/3/2018 10:32 am : link
I've got an Alta, and it's a more basic model.

My iPhone armband is really cumbersome for running, and it would be awesome to be able to have music on my wrist.
Yeah, the versa plays pandora - i think others do, too.  
Heisenberg : 7/3/2018 10:33 am : link
.
She has an Apple phone?  
Giant John : 7/3/2018 11:18 am : link
It’s a no brainer. Happy wife.....
does the garmin...  
BronxBombers : 7/3/2018 11:43 am : link
allow you to manage music, like switch songs from pandora etc?
.  
stompuout : 7/3/2018 12:13 pm : link
Garmin 645 is their newest, top of the line and 1st watch that can store music so no need to carry phone.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/612476
Link - ( New Window )
RE: She has an Apple phone?  
FranknWeezer : 7/3/2018 12:36 pm : link
In comment 14005534 Giant John said:
Quote:
It’s a no brainer. Happy wife.....


Where's the best place to get deals on Apple Watches? Surely not directly from Apple...
Apple doesn’t give deals  
UConn4523 : 7/3/2018 12:39 pm : link
the only deal I saw for an Apple Watch was throug T-Mobile when adding a line. It was buy 1 get 1 half off the LTE version.
Had the Apple Watch, returned it for a Fitbit Versa  
Giants in 07 : 7/3/2018 12:41 pm : link
And have been very happy.

You can also store music on the Versa, that Garmin watch is not the first to have that feature although I have heard good things about them.

Also you can stream music on an Apple watch  
UConn4523 : 7/3/2018 12:41 pm : link
via Pandora even with WiFi only. If you set up a network your watch will remember it even if your phone isn’t on you. So if you go to your gym and it has a WiFi network that doesn’t change, it should work.
I have the Apple Watch 3  
giantsFC : 7/3/2018 1:16 pm : link
Love the fact I can leave my phone at home while biking now or even If I forget to bring my phone.

But it is buggy at times w syncing to cellular after Bluetooth. And it’s not cheap and you have a $10 Monthly fee.

But the fitness tracker is great for biking running and walking. And it runs smoothly w an iPhone for that.

I am curious about non Apple watches too. I say in 5 years there will be better options.
Careful with the Fitbit Versa  
AnnapolisMike : 7/3/2018 2:49 pm : link
My wifes quit working on vacation and fitbit's customer service sucks. She will likely be without her device for a month when we are done jumping thru all the hoops.


I'd go in a different direction that a Fitbit device.
A smart watch you say? What should a smart watch do?  
Marty in Albany : 7/4/2018 6:17 am : link
It should tell your wife that you think that she deserves the best.

The only way it will do that is if you buy her best watch, even if it means that you are over-paying for what you get. Every once in a while you have to be extravagant to get your point across (if you get my drift).

You can exercise economy when you buy a new washer/dryer combination, not an item that she will be wearing and showing her friends.

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