Comment by tokyoSurfer | Hacker News Reader

Comment by tokyoSurfer | Hacker News Reader

The problem with fitness trackers and smartwatches is that each and every brand keeps adding unnecessary features to the stack. They won't listen to users and keep building devices that have no market. Most of those companies created a product that was good and needed a good amount of work to make it better. But it seems that developers and management felt that simple = bad, and worked their asses off to add useless features.

Probably the closest to what people wanted was Mi Band - a bit too simplistic, but close enough. And this opinion is shared by many of people I know.

In order to create a successful fitness tracker, create a device with:

-distance tracker

-steps tracker

-waterproof (good enough to swim in swimming pool)

-mobile phone notifications, alarms

-no screen needed or extremely simplistic screen is OK

-battery live of at least 7days

-heart rate monitor (do not need to be constant)

-good software, small size

-make it look simple - let users decide on adding bits to it

-sleep tracker that works and learns

-use phone and app for making most of the calculation to save battery

-the price of $49

This tool would kill the market. As of now, Mi Band is closest, but their software/app is bad and there are some issues with hardware and customisation.

"They won't listen to users and keep building devices that have no market"

You just listed an idea according to yourself with literally no market data or budgetary notions. Of course you would do better than any of the companies that actually know what it means working this stuff

>And this opinion is shared by many of people I know

Unfortunately "people this guy knows" isn't a real market and has no bearing on whether a product would be successful or not

https://signalvnoise.com/posts/3124-give-it-five-minutes

it is always easier to criticize than to create

Its funny, but I have the opposite reaction. I want a fitness band / smartwatch that can do everything:

o Ability to run w/o phone:

   - BT transmitter & music storage

   - GPS independant of phone

o Accurate HRM

   - background hear rate monitoring

o Smartwatch features

   - notifications

   - Android smart unlock device

   - useful for 2FA (eg, Google Authenticator, or Duo)

o 2+ days of battery life

o sleep tracking

I think only 4 of them have been made:

First was Moto 360 sport. The battery life was horrific, the HRM and GPS were inaccurate, and the BT transmitter was weak. Mine finally died.

I now have a Polar M600, which is nice, but lacks background HRM. Its also very bulky for the size of the screen, and the battery life, while better than the Moto 360, is only about 2 days.

The others are a TomTom Spark Cardio+Music, which I've never tried. And the Apple Watch 2, of course; which being an Android person, I have never tried.

I wish that Fitbit would make a device like this. Or that Garmin would add a BT transmitter and music storage to the Fenix.

Why do you need to run without a phone? Phones aren't that heavy and devices can be significantly cheaper and smaller if they don't need a GPS chip and music storage (smaller battery).

I stopped using my Garmin watch since I have a fitbit charge and find that measurements via phone are surprisingly accurate. In cities, pure GPS watches often lose signal (buildings, tunnels), phones can track much more accurately there.

I use my Garmin because I track heartrate when running and the Charge HR - whilst surprisingly accurate for step counting and distance and resting HR - is woeful when trying to track HR during exercise.

(Also for cycling with a variety of ANT+ sensors.)

> Why do you need to run without a phone

Where do you keep your phone when you run? The only solution is strap it onto the arm, but I don't like that. It feels like a hindrance.

The pricing of $49 is the kicker. No one can make the device you're describing for that. Garmin devices (like the Forerunner 935) tick off your feature requirements but are relatively expensive.

The Mi Band is close to what I listed for $19. The money should be made on add-ons and upgrades, not the product itself.

I'd be willing to bet that I could.

Do it. I'd wager on this.

I'm trying out a withings steel HR and it pretty much fits this bill. Unfortunately it's much more expensive than your price point.

- The HR monitor is very good; it has a passive mode and active mode you can activate if you want more detailed readings during exercise

- It looks like a nice watch without being bulky

- Battery life is almost a month

- It does have minimalist notifications (name of person texting you), but I actually don't want to get buzzed every time that happens so I turn it off

- Waterproof

- Step tracker element (analog 0-100% counter) is actually brilliant because it's super obvious how far I am in the day

Cost is north of $200. It was free for me because I'm experimenting on wearables for work (API integration)

There you go, FitBit Charge HR (old model) for $60 on ebay: https://www.ebay.com/i/112385732954 (not affiliated)

I keep a small, cheap pedometer in my pocket. I have no use for any other features.

I bet your phone can do that too, no need for a separate device.

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