Hacker News Reader

Comment by fragmede | Hacker News Reader

> with nicer battery life

Don't discount this feature on a fitness tracker. The most recent Apple Watches are better in this respect compared to the first one, but the battery life is still measured in hours, rather than days.

The UX for a Fitbit as a smartwatch is honestly horrible. The Pebble acquihire prioritized watch apps, in (what I see as) a belief that watch apps are necessary to compete with Apple. Resources would be far better spend improving the first-party UX and apps first, before opening up the ecosystem to outside developers. The iPhone dev kit trailed far behind the initial iPhone launch.

View on HN

Oh I totally agree, but Apple's advertised battery life is to ensure CSAT and does not reflect reality.

Fact of the matter is that my Series 4 watch has about 2 and a half to three days of battery life, rather than the marketed 16 hours, especially when used like a fitbit (Apple's estimate bundles in music streaming, navigation, and hardcore workouts, and is tested on the smaller model, which has a smaller battery.)

I was a huge pebble fan, I still use my Pebble 2 and Time Round sometimes, the Apple watch is in another league as per what it can do, but I honestly think the Pebbles were still a better product than Fitbit's watch at doing what fitbit is trying to do. Sure the Fitbit has a nicer screen, but what do they do with it?

Resources would be far better spend improving the first-party UX and apps first, before opening up the ecosystem to outside developers.

The same could have been (rightfully) said about the Apple Watch....

The iPhone dev kit trailed far behind the initial iPhone launch.

The iPhone launched July 2007. The dev kit was released in April 2008. The App store launched around July 2008

Exactly this. I’ve grown tired of Fitbit’s lack of cohesive bug-free products — simple things like adjusting the volume of Bluetooth headphones were known bugs for years without progress — and I had to make a choice between jumping off the bandwagon or sticking with Fitbit.

Battery life kept me. Being able to go 4-7 days without thinking about the watch is paramount. I also don’t want to charge every night because I want to track my sleep! So Fitbit won out.

I wish they could succeed independently. They have so much love and stickiness in my friend group and we all love the simplicity of simply an advanced fitness tracker without all the weight of a full-fledged phone on your wrist. Sadly, it seems like they don’t know how to run a company effectively. Which is a shame because I really really don’t want to move to Apple or Google products or anything else in this category until they solve battery life.

Just a heads up: you can get literally weeks out of garmin watches, depending on model and usage patterns. Your concern is exactly why I sold my moto360 and never looked back.

A watch that needs to be charged once in a few days is actually worse than one that could use a charge every night.

Charge at night is a habit that can easily be adjusted to our daily schedule. btw Apple watch does last a full day (I meant 16+ hrs) with decent use, unless you are playing music out of it all the time or obsessively checking time/calendar.

Only advantage of fitbit is that some models are easier to wear to sleep, particularly if you don't need to charge at night. However, even here, apple one is way ahead - the theater mode will make sure the super bright led at the bottom won't wake you up.

I want a watch that only needs to be charged once in a few days, because I want to wear it at night for it to track my sleep and wake me up and I could charge it while I shower (every 2 days, in case you're wondering).

My wife does this with her Apple Watch and she only charges it while she’s in the shower and 15 mins or so before bed. It always lasts the full day. I was surprised when I learned this. So it might not be there for you yet. But it’s close.

I charge it for half an hour after my morning workout(while taking a shower and getting ready) and for 15 minutes once in the evening I sleep. I track both my sleep and workouts, and keep it wearing throughout the day otherwise.

While it might not be as 'smart' as some other ones out there. The Nokia/Withings Charge HR has sleep tracking, heart rate tracking, vibrates and does notifications too. The battery easily lasts a month sometimes longer.

It also looks like an actual adults watch too.

No, charge every night would be way worse. My wife uses her Fitbit to track her sleep, and it does this very well (much better than her previous smartwatch). She also tracks how much she walks during the day. A smartwatch that has to be charged every day would be useless to her.

I have no idea about the UI that some people complain about, but my wife seems to have managed to get access quite a bit of functionality in her Fitbit, so I'd say it's good enough for its purpose.

I recommend using a separate sleep tracker. I was using the Fitbit constantly and got some skin irritation when I forgot to swap wrists before bed. Though, I was using a narrow version which probably made things worse.

I solved the skin irritation issue by buying a third party metal strap (YMMV)

My wife has no skin irritation issue at all. (I probably would; I hate watches on my wrist.)

FWIW my Apple Watch S4 can go a whole weekend on a single charge. I don't use mine extensively, though I do use Apple Pay for every transaction that I can. You can def go 2-2.5 days on a single charge.

You obviously don't use it for tracking fitness then.

Yeah man, pretty much - I don't track my activities because they are too irregular, I go on hikes and walks and that's it.

For comparison, a casio watch goes 3 years on a single charge.

I guess apple pay on a watch is marginally more convenient than taking out your phone, but $400 and having to charge it seems not really worth it?

> "For comparison, a casio watch goes 3 years on a single charge."

A fact that blew my son's mind when I explained why he didn't have to charge his watch.

That's right, a watch that does literally nothing but tell the time lasts a long time on a single battery charge. If having to charge your watch is not worth the benefits/luxuries provided by an expensive smartwatch, a smartwatch might not be for you.

> I don't use mine extensively, though I do use Apple Pay for every transaction that I can.

That is why I was asking. The only "benefit/luxury" you mention is apple pay and you say that you are not using it much.

To give a quick summary: I look at the upcoming weather, see the times of upcoming meetings, see messages people have sent me, pause/resume/skip tracks on currently-playing music, track hikes or walks, record audio, check my heart rate, check the current time/date, and pay for stuff.

Wearing a watch during sleep is annoying and can actually lead to health issues. Get a proper sleep tracker (e.g. Withings) for this. Charging nightly is perfect for a watch, really is a pro for the Apple Watch.

This is just completely wrong. Garmin watches only need to be charged every few days of normal use and it's not a problem at all. Habits are irrelevant, just throw it on the charger for a few minutes when you see the battery gauge getting low.

My Garmin only needs to be charged about once a week. If I'm using it a lot for fitness then twice a week. Once I traveled and forgot the charger, I managed to eek nearly two weeks out of the thing. I find this much better than daily charging and have steered away from watches that need to be charged daily.

Which Garmin model? I'm in the market for a running watch and/or a fitness tracker and want to buy a decent Garmin. Most online reviews seem all over the place.

Read reviews on DC Rainmaker. I've purchased several devices based on reviews there. They're very detailed and accurate in my experience.

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/product-reviews/garmin

I have a Garmin Instinct. When I don't have many workouts, it gives me 2-3 weeks of battery (including instant phone notifications over Bluetooth, constant heart rate, barometer, and step tracking)

I went on a 2 week trip to Europe and didnt even bring my charger -- lasted the whole time. I've had it for a year now and it's rock solid. It's been in the ocean with me, and been smashed into rocks on backpacking trips. Still in great shape.

I don't endorse many things very heavily but this thing is amazing. It's not sexy with it's black and white screen and small selection of watch faces... But it's so nice never needing to charge it, it's basically indestructible, and does everything you'd want a smart watch to do

I haven't charged my Garmin for a good 2 weeks, it's the forerunner 735XT. I honestly think it's the best fitness watch I've had.

What I've ended up doing is charging my fitbit for 15min every morning while I get dressed.

It's enough to go from ~60% to ~80% and fits in as a daily habit, so my watch is almost always between 65% and 80%, It can track my sleep (I exclusively use my watch for tracking sleep, tracking exercise, tracking heartrate and telling the time. I don't have notifications enabled)

Then perhaps the best feature of charging the watch in this way, is that if you forget to charge (or unexpectedly away from home), the watch will always last for 3 extra days.

And if you are going away on short weekend trips, you don't need to pack your charger, just make sure it's at 100% before you leave for a reliable 4 days of usage.

This is what I do too. However if you look at some of Fitbit's competitors the battery life is an order of magnitude better. Wondering what Fitbit is doing to make it drop so much in comparison. Lots of more features?

Oh come on, I get a little email about the battery life of of my versa when the battery life gets low reminding me to charge it.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com