Fitness Trackers vs. Smartphones: Why Wearables Win

Tech writer Brent Rose is on a quest. With a surplus of emerging technologies and scientific discoveries popping up how do we separate facts from hype? Brent takes the goods out of the box—and out of the office—to find out how the new wave of cultural phenomena really holds up.



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Fitness Trackers vs. Smartphones: Why Wearables Win

[YusefBaste]

Fitbit was exact because he took another step to the base

[RajeshKaria]

You just ended my predicament, Fitbit Charge HR it is.

[christianwong]

The fact that you walked 1000 steps for this vid is more than enough to earn a like from me. Love your videos! Keep it up man. Truly inspiring.

[PT]

Your video is so much better than those stupid angry nerd and battle damage.

[rodhernandez]

Even though the watch gives you false positives, it can be an indicator for how active you are throughout the day. Doing housework is a good example of an activity that could give you false positives but it is a physical activity regardless of how many steps you take.

[kristianjensen]

Maybe you should have used the Fenix 3 with a heart rate monitor... Maybe that would give you heart rate data...

[_hmhh_]

Wow Brent. Props to you, sir..  
Not often we have a writer/analyst (i.e. youtube talking head) giving a clear, succinct analysis of both the motivating factor and opposing position, minus the bloated "Look at me, I'm a super, meta-extrovert" fluff. 
Thanks for a great example of "entertaining brevity"

[DR-yjgt]

The Fenix 3 can be paired to a Heart Monitor (more accurate than the fitbit), but even without it this guy didn't do it justice when cycling as he kept step counting instead of starting the cycling mode which would've given you a much better reading than the other, even without the heart rate monitor attached.

[sysx]

Well at the end you still didn't tell us how much calories you actually burned you just showed us that the fitness trackers with the heart rate monitor showed more calories burned but they still could be overcounting or undercounting your actual calories burned so we still don't know if the weareble devices can be trusted on their information or not.

[SR-ocfc]

I love my Fitbit HR. I purchased it to track my steps but more importantly, to check my sleep. I work a desk job to which I am tethered 10+ hours per day, and tracking my steps and heart rate has been invaluable to motivate me to get up and move around. I've been told that the HR is not as function-rich as the next step Fitbit, but it's working great for me. Not only am I parking further away from the office to get in my steps, I am very aware of my sleeping patterns and calorie burns. There are some limitations, like I can't set a varying step goal for other days of the week when I want to get in more or less steps, and the "floors" counter often mistakes an escalator/elevator for walking up stairs (I try to counter by actually doing it), but it's been great at biking and hiking otherwise. Whatever motivates you, right?

[eria]

Great video review! I own the Fenix 3 and when paired with a HRM it easily bests all fitness trackers on the market. I also own a basis peak that is now collecting dust. Not forgetting to mention that the Garmin Fenix 3 and the Basis Peak are seriously waterproof something that is lacking in nearly every other "fitness tracker".

[OffBelay_]

I have a Garmin Fenix 2 and the Edge 500 which is more cycling specific. From what I have noticed you have not used the heart rate monitor on your Garmin tests.

[wenty]

I hope WIRED is paying this guy well, if their not, they should be. Great reviews.

[SurvivalTipsClips]

How accurate is this test. Some of the trackers you were wearing on your wrist in the place where a person usually wears them and others were farther up your arm.  I'm not surprised if the ones worn farther up your arm were having difficulty tracking things since they weren't worn correctly.

[supersoni]

one other thing about the widdling test.. i haveent read the comments so i idk if its been covered... most people should wear their fitness tracker on their non dominant hand. therefor.. not the hand you would be holding the knife with... just an opinion. every fitness track ive used has an option for dominant and non dominant hand

[DayanaLee]

man this video is so helpful to my proposed research paper..i'm studying the fitness band adoption and looking for reasons why i choose fitness band to study and not smartwatch..

[neoroxx]

and you compare garmin with others while having no HRM and Speed/Cadence Sensors?

[rahbor]

with the apple watch i always have half a km done after showering

[vindikad]

Fenix 3 is a beast ! With HR monitor you can pretty much do anything with it. Garmin forerunner 225 that has built in HR monitor is great as well.

[MityayKo]

I bought charge HR a few weeks a go and it works fine. But now I am regretting that I didn't go for Fenix 3 as it does way more things and what I really need for outdoor activities...