Comment by jdeibele | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jdeibele | Hacker News Reader

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My wife bought a Garmin Vivofit because it was water-proof and runs for months on a battery. I ended up buying the Vivofit 2 which has a better clasp, a backlight, and is supposed to sync automatically with my phone.

When I wore a watch, I would take it off as soon as I could because it got in the way. I'm really happy with the Vivofit 2 - I haven't taken it off in (literally) months because it doesn't need to be charged and does just fine in the shower or swimming.

I've been disappointed with the automatic syncing not working. Other than that, it's a great product.

PS: my parents-in-law were given Fitbit devices with HR monitors which they had me set up for them. I'd like the HR monitoring but not at the cost of having a thicker device and having to deal with a proprietary charge connection (one end is standard USB).

Heart rate and GPS take significant amounts of power, unlike MEMS accelerometers, Bluetooth low-energy, and watch displays. A thin, non-rechargeable battery is a possibility for watches without these features.

For watches with these features, it needs a rechargeable battery and a very thin water-proof connection to that battery.

The Vivofit looks really good in the sense that you don't really need to sync it with a smartphone to get the relevant information, it's just there on your wrist. You want something that will tell you at a glance how many steps you've done, and whether you really should be moving around now. I don't think the long-term stuff is so effective. It's a shame it's a bit obtrusive though, I'd prefer if it had the same indicators, but looked like a watch.

Not sure if it's of any interest (or if you've already seen it), but Garmin does have something comparable in an analog watch form with their recent Vivomove tracker.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/into-sports/health-fitness/v...

I hadn't seen that, thanks!

> I haven't taken it off in (literally) months

Your wrist must smell great.

Probably, if he showers regularly and doesn't wear the device to tight. :P. Waterproof is great.

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