Fitness Watches?

[Ms. Pia]

Hey! I don't know if this is the right section or not, but I didn't know where else to post it - so here it is! I've been thinking of getting myself a fitness watch, the kind that can count your steps and tell how active you are throughout the day, reminds you if you're 'slow', etc. I was just wondering if anyone has purchased/uses one, and if so, what brands would you recommend? The only one I can think of that comes to mind is the Fitbit, but if anyone has some personal experience with any brand or type, your input would be greatly appreciated. I'm not looking for a super-pro one; just one decently priced, and one that gets the job done. I do have my phone set with alarms for activity, but there are certain times (i.e. school and work) when its not appropriate to bring out and check, which is why I think one of these watches would be better.

Anyway, if you can help out with your opinions, I'd love to hear it!

 

[BlueBean]

I was lucky enough to be given a vivofit for Christmas. The watch is a nice, sleek design, waterproof and very comfortable to wear. I haven't taken it off yet, and I'm quite rough with it (handling horses, hay, etc).
It has a year long battery life which is great, most of the others seem to be a week before requiring recharging. It counts my steps, and is working out a step goal for me. I have a heart rate monitor I can put on to connect to my vivo, which seems to work (I will give it a good work out on Wednesday and let you know), it also tracks my sleep. If I don't move for more than an hour, it tells me to get up and move lol! I like this feature, as you need to move a fair bit before the little symbol goes away, which is one of my biggest downfalls when studying.
I like that you can buy other wrist band colours, so it's easy to change over. And the program on the Android works okay - not as fast as I'd like, and the signal drops out every so often, but I am hoping with the next update it'll be faster. It also has the date and time.

The things I don't like about it:
- No back light. Which is fine in daytime, but poorly lit areas it's hard to read. Not the end of the world though, I don't check my watch when I'm asleep.
- The footsteps seem to be out a little. Again, not end of life stuff, I would say it's hard to be 100% accurate no matter what device you use.
- To get my heart rate I need to wear the monitor. Granted, it's not uncomfortable, once it's on you forget it's there.

I am quite enjoying my vivo