Smartwatch Labs

Garmin Vivoactive 6 Unboxing and First Impressions: 11-Day Battery for €250

Sun, 25 Oct 2026 20:00:00 GMT

I just unboxed the Garmin Vivoactive 6 in the Bone / Lunar Gold colour. I paid €250 on Amazon Germany for the European version. In this post I go through what’s in the box, the build and design, the features that matter, how it compares with Garmin’s bigger watches like the Fenix 8 and Enduro 3, and what the first power-on looks like.

Check the current price of the Garmin Vivoactive 6 on Amazon. (Affiliate link. It supports the site at no extra cost to you.)

If you’d rather watch than read, here’s the full unboxing video:

Watch “Garmin Vivoactive 6 Unboxing: 11-Day Battery for €250 – Worth It?” on YouTube

Garmin Vivoactive 6 at a glance

These are the specs I went through in the video:

Display: 1.2” AMOLED touchscreen, brighter than the Vivoactive 5
Battery: up to 11 days in smartwatch mode, about 5 days with the always-on display
Case: 42 mm
Water rating: 5 ATM / 50 m
Bands: 20 mm with quick release
Buttons: two, both on the right side
Charging: USB-C cable with the standard Garmin connector on the watch end
Smart features: Garmin Pay, music storage, GPS, a wide range of activity profiles and the morning report
The big thing missing: maps (which you get on higher-end Forerunners and the Fenix line)

Price: is €250 a good deal?

The Vivoactive 6 came out in April 2025, so it isn’t brand new anymore, and the price has already come down a bit. I paid €250 on Amazon Germany. Here in Finland I found it locally for roughly €250–270. In the US the price seems to be about the same number, just in dollars.

A practical tip if you buy from another EU country: check the product code on the box. Mine is from Amazon Germany, so it has the European product code. Apart from that, the box doesn’t tell you much.

The older Vivoactive 5 is now often discounted, and you might be tempted to save a bit more. I’d still pick the Vivoactive 6. The improvements, especially the brighter screen, are worth the difference to me. Prices will most likely keep slipping as the device gets older, so if you’re not in a hurry, keep an eye on sales.

What’s in the box

The box is pretty minimal:

The Vivoactive 6 itself, with the band already attached
A charging cable
A quick start guide
A leaflet with important safety and product information

The charging cable is worth mentioning. The computer end is now USB-C, but the watch end is still the traditional Garmin connector. So if you’ve had a Garmin watch before, your old cable will work too. That’s handy to keep one cable at work and one at home, or a spare in your travel bag.

I usually read the manuals online rather than from the paper leaflets, and I’d recommend you do the same.

Design and build quality

My unit has a bone white silicone strap and a lunar gold bezel. The white band really matches the light-coloured case, and the gold bezel gives it a slightly dressier look than a typical sports watch.

Case, sensors and water rating

The back of the watch says it’s a 42 mm case with a 50 m (5 ATM) water rating. You’ll also find the optical heart rate sensor and the charging port there. At 42 mm it’s a lot smaller than a Fenix or Enduro, which matters if you have smaller wrists or want to wear it to sleep.

If you plan to swim with it, see my guide to waterproof fitness trackers for swimming for what water ratings mean in practice.

Buttons and touchscreen

There are two buttons on the right side and none on the left. The top button is round and the lower one is more square, and both have a good, tactile feel.

Since there are only two buttons, you’ll do most of the navigation on the touchscreen. The screenshot above shows the Text Size setting, where you can make the text larger or smaller. Small detail, but useful if you find the default size hard to read during a workout.

20 mm quick-release bands

The bands are 20 mm wide and use a quick-release pin, so they’re easy to swap, and you can buy other bands for the watch if you want a different look. I have more tips in my article on whether you can change your smartwatch strap.

Key features: the AMOLED screen and battery life

The two highlights for me are the screen and the battery.

The 1.2-inch AMOLED screen is brighter than the Vivoactive 5’s. That’s the improvement I notice most, and it’s the main reason I’d pick the 6 over a discounted 5.

Battery life is up to 11 days in normal smartwatch mode. With the always-on display, you still get around 5 days. GPS and other activities will cut that, but compared with competitors like the Apple Watch, which has very short battery life, it’s excellent. I don’t think anything else in this price range beats it.

Features that used to be “premium”

It’s been a while since I last reviewed a Vivoactive (see my Vivoactive 3 Music long-term test), and the line has improved a lot since then. The Vivoactive 6 has:

Garmin Pay for contactless payments from your wrist
Music storage, so you can leave your phone at home (more in smartwatches with Spotify or Deezer)
Built-in GPS for running and other outdoor activities
A wide range of activity profiles
The morning report with your overnight and readiness information

Vivoactive 6 vs Fenix 8 and Enduro 3

I wear Garmin’s bigger outdoor watches too, so the obvious question is how much you give up by choosing the Vivoactive 6. Less than you’d expect. On everyday features it has really caught up with something like a Fenix 8 or my Enduro 3.

There are two main differences:

Maps. The Vivoactive 6 has no maps. Higher-end Forerunners and the Fenix line do. If you navigate trails or need on-watch maps, this is the deal breaker. (If you have a Fenix, here’s how to download maps on the Fenix 7 and Epix.)
Battery life. 11 days is excellent, but a Fenix 8 or Enduro 3 lasts a lot longer.

If you mostly run, go to the gym, track sleep and want payments and music, the Vivoactive 6 covers almost everything for a fraction of the price. If you need maps or battery for multi-day adventures, the Fenix and Enduro are still worth the extra money. My Garmin smartwatch comparison table can help if you’re comparing several models.

First power-on

You switch the watch on by holding the top button. The Garmin splash screen was a bit hard to see in bright sunlight, but once the watch had booted, the display was very readable outdoors.

The first setup screen asks you to choose your language, using the touchscreen. After that you continue the setup and pair the watch with your phone.

Verdict: is the Vivoactive 6 worth it?

My first impression is that it’s an impressive device for the money. In short:

Buy it if you want:

A light 42 mm watch with a bright AMOLED screen
Around 11 days of battery (about 5 with always-on display)
Garmin Pay, music and GPS without paying Fenix prices

Look elsewhere if you need:

On-watch maps for navigation (Forerunner high-end models or the Fenix line)
Weeks of battery life (Fenix 8 or Enduro 3)

At around €250–270 in Europe, the Vivoactive 6 is a very easy watch to recommend to most people who want a Garmin. I’m doing a full review after more time with it, and I’ll link it here once it’s published.

Check the current price of the Garmin Vivoactive 6 on Amazon.

Garmin Smartwatch comparision table 2024–2026

Tue, 30 Jan 2024 23:16:41 GMT

Hey guys, here is the smartwatch comparison table. With some interesting finds.

My pick currently would be the Fenix 7X – you can find Amazon US and European pricing here.

New for 2024: the Garmin fēnix 8 adds an AMOLED option, a built-in speaker and microphone and dive support – check fēnix 8 prices on Amazon.

For the other Smartwatches on the list check prices on Amazon here.

Item	list price eur	EU sale price	Battery life days	Garmin Pay	Display	Led	Titan	Release date	Press release link	Notes
Forerunner® 255	€369.00	€267.00	14	Yes	MIP			2022-06	https://www.garmin.com/en-US/newsroom/press-release/sports-fitness/garmin-celebrates-global-running-day-with-the-introduction-of-the-forerunner-255-series/	Not touch screen
Instinct® Crossover – Standard Edition	€419.00		28	Yes	MIP	No		2022-11	https://www.garmin.com/en-US/newsroom/press-release/outdoor/new-rugged-instinct-crossover-by-garmin-is-fully-analog-fully-smart-and-full-of-adventure/
Instinct® 2 Solar	€469.00		28	Yes	MIP			2022-02	https://www.garmin.com/en-US/newsroom/press-release/sports-fitness/stand-out-in-a-crowd-with-garmin-instinct-2-series/
Instinct® 2X Solar	€469.00	€359.00	40	Yes	MIP	Yes		2023-04	https://www.garmin.com/en-US/newsroom/press-release/outdoor/be-bold-with-the-rugged-new-instinct-2x-solar-from-garmin/
Forerunner® 265	€519.00		13 (5)	Yes	AMOLED			2023-03	https://www.garmin.com/en-US/newsroom/press-release/sports-fitness/garmin-adds-amoled-displays-to-its-next-gen-forerunner-265-and-forerunner-965-gps-running-watches/
Venu® 3	€519.00		14 (5)	Yes	AMOLED	No	No	2023-08	https://www.garmin.com/en-US/newsroom/press-release/sports-fitness/reach-your-health-and-fitness-goals-with-new-venu-3-gps-smartwatches-from-garmin/
Forerunner® 955	€569.00		15	Yes	MIP			2022-06	https://www.garmin.com/en-US/newsroom/press-release/wearables-health/harness-the-power-of-the-sun-with-the-forerunner-955-solar-from-garmin/
Forerunner® 965	€679.00	€546.00	23 (7)	Yes	AMOLED		Yes	2023-03	https://www.garmin.com/en-US/newsroom/press-release/sports-fitness/garmin-adds-amoled-displays-to-its-next-gen-forerunner-265-and-forerunner-965-gps-running-watches/	Maps
fēnix® 7 – Standard Edition	€679.00		18	Yes	MIP	No
fēnix® 7X – Solar Edition	€879.00	€529.00	28	Yes	MIP	Yes		2022-01	https://www.garmin.com/en-US/newsroom/press-release/featured/garmin-unveils-sweeping-updates-to-its-flagship-fenix-lineup-of-rugged-multisport-smartwatches/
fēnix® 7 Pro – Solar Edition	€879.00	€618.00	18	Yes	MIP	Yes	No	2023-05	https://www.garmin.com/en-US/newsroom/press-release/outdoor/garmin-unveils-next-gen-fenix-7-pro-series/
epix™ Pro (Gen 2) – Standard Edition \| 47 mm	€979.00		16 (6)	Yes	AMOLED	Yes		2023-05	https://www.garmin.com/en-US/newsroom/press-release/outdoor/conquer-every-day-and-every-adventure-with-epix-pro-series-from-garmin/
fēnix® 7X Pro – Solar Edition	€989.00		28	Yes	MIP	Yes	No	2023-05
fēnix® 7X Pro – Sapphire Solar Edition	€1,089.00		28	Yes	MIP	Yes	Yes	2023-05
fēnix® 8 – AMOLED \| 47 mm			16 (7)	Yes	AMOLED	Yes	Optional	2024-08	https://www.garmin.com/en-US/newsroom/press-release/outdoor/garmin-adds-amoled-displays-to-fenix-8-series-its-most-capable-lineup-of-premium-multisport-gps-smartwatches-with-something-for-everyone/	Speaker + mic, 40 m dive rating, also 43 mm and 51 mm (up to 29 days).
fēnix® 8 – Solar \| 47 mm			21 (28 with solar)	Yes	MIP	Yes	Optional	2024-08	https://www.garmin.com/en-US/newsroom/press-release/outdoor/garmin-adds-amoled-displays-to-fenix-8-series-its-most-capable-lineup-of-premium-multisport-gps-smartwatches-with-something-for-everyone/	Also 51 mm (up to 48 days with solar).

Garmin Fenix 7: 6 Reasons to Buy Over the EPIX Gen 2

Sun, 03 Apr 2022 11:05:44 GMT

Overall the Epix is for the most part a Fenix 7 with an AMOLED screen. The Fenix 7 stands out with its amazing battery life and the usual options of case sizes compared to the Epix which comes only in one case size. The Fenix 7 is better in pretty much every way excluding the display.

I won’t be wasting your time with all the things that are the same just focus on the differences and highlight the ones that have an impact in daily use.

Reason #1 Price

Fenix 7 is priced at 699 up to 999 USD

Epix is priced at 899 up to 999 USD

So the standard model of the Fenix 7 is available for 200 USD less than the Epix.

Reason #2 Amazing Battery Life

The battery life on all of the Fenix 7 models has improved from the previous generation and for example, the Fenix 7X has now up to 28 days in smartwatch mode.

On the Epix, you get only up to 6 days of smartwatch mode in always-on mode. In gesture mode, the Epix can do up to 16 days in smartwatch mode which gets close to the 18 days of the medium-sized Fenix 7. So the Fenix 7 can go three times as long on one charge and this can be even further extended if you get a solar edition of the Fenix 7.

In my opinion, the gesture mode is quite annoying and my guess is most people will prefer using the Epix in always-on mode.

Reason 3# Case size options

The Fenix 7 comes in three case sizes:

Fenix 7S has a 42mm case
Fenix 7 has a 47mm case
Fenix 7X has a 51mm case

Epix comes only in the medium-sized 47mm case. So if you have a smaller or larger wrist you might prefer the smaller or larger case size which isn’t available on the Epix.

Reason 4# Solar Charging

With the Fenix 7, you have the option of choosing a solar edition which costs an extra 100 USD, and adds solar charging which increases your battery life. On the Epix, there is no solar charging option.

With the medium-sized Fenix 7, you get an extra 4 days of battery in smartwatch mode if you use the watch 3 hours per day in 50.000 lux conditions.

You also increase your GPS time for the Fenix 7; it’s 73 hours when used in 50.000 lux conditions instead of 57 hours.

Just to make a point let’s compare the Fenix 7X’s up to 28 days in smartwatch mode or 37* days with solar charging to the Epix which has only 6 days of battery in always-on mode.

(*Solar charging, assuming all-day wear with 3 hours per day outside in 50,000 lux conditions)

Solar charging is mostly a convenience since you don’t need to charge your watch as often or for a multi-day hike you might manage without a power bank for longer.

Reason 5# No Risk of display burn-in

The Fenix 7 has an always-on transflective memory-in-pixel display which has a long track record and there is no display burn-in risk. With the EPIX you have an AMOLED display which might have an AMOLED burn-in risk.

On the Garmin Venu AMOLED display, there were some issues but based on my understanding the risk of burn-in has now been mitigated by Garmin with methods like pixel-shifting. So I wouldn’t be too worried about it.

Reason 6# LED Flashlight

The Fenix 7X has a LED Flashlight on it (the Fenix 7 and 7S do not). On the Epix, you also have the screen flashlight which is also helpful but it’s not on the same level as a LED flashlight.

In absolute darkness, I have found that the Garmin screen flashlight is sufficient for moving around my home without stumbling into things. However, the LED flashlight on the Fenix 7X is comparable to a smartphone LED flashlight and it is very useful when you are trying to work on something at night or outdoors for illuminating a trail.

Garmin also implemented a running mode for the flashlight which shines the white light forwards and the red backward lighting the trail and also helping you be seen from the front and rear.

Compromises you will need to make if you choose the Fenix 7

If you are coming from a Fenix 6 and considering the Fenix 7 there are no compromises since the Fenix 7 is better in every way. However, compared to the Epix you do compromise on display colors and resolution.

Display

The only compromise is the display. On the Fenix 7, you have an always-on transflective memory-in-pixel display with 64-colors and a 260 x 260 pixels resolution.

The Epix has an AMOLED display with 65 000 colors and a resolution of 416 x 416 pixels.

The AMOLED display has super vibrant colors and it does make it easier to read for example maps and the increased resolution allows you to see more detail.

Final thoughts and who the Fenix 7 is meant for

The Fenix 7 is still the go-to option for people looking for a rugged multi-sport smartwatch for outdoor sports and adventures. This is something you want to have with you when you go out for a long hike or any other long-lasting outdoor activity.

I think it’s a good thing the Fenix with an AMOLED display didn’t become just another SKU in the Fenix line-up but instead was called the EPIX. This is because the far lower battery life and lack of solar charging give the Epix a totally different feel.

Wearing the Epix and Fenix 7X side by side for a few weeks I have personally come to favor the Fenix 7X. I just prefer the way the Fenix 7X makes me feel knowing all the things it can do.

Garmin Fenix 7 & Epix How to Download Maps

Sat, 05 Mar 2022 11:29:30 GMT

The Garmin Fenix 7 and Epix both support Maps and you can download them either via the Map Manager on the device or via Garmin Express.

The Sapphire editions have 32GB of storage and they come with preloaded maps. If you bought a non-Sapphire edition you will have 16GB of storage and only ski and golf maps are pre-loaded.

The faster way to download the Maps is via Garmin Express so I recommend using that. The below video shows you both ways of downloading the Maps.

Watch “How to Download Maps on Garmin Fenix 7 & Epix | Map Manager & Garmin Express” on YouTube

Downloading Maps on the Garmin device

When you connect your watch to a Wi‑Fi® network, you can download maps for additional regions. You can also remove maps to increase the available device storage.

Hold MENU.
Select Map > Map Manager.
Select a map category.
Select an option:
- To download a map, select Add Map, select a map, press START, and select Download. NOTE: To prevent battery drain, the watch queues the map download for later, and the download starts when you connect the watch to an external power source.
- To remove a map, select a map, press START, and select Remove.

The above is extracted from the Garmin manual

Garmin Instinct 2 Review

Wed, 09 Feb 2022 18:52:54 GMT

The Garmin Instinct 2 is the new upgraded version of the first generation Instinct and it now promises unlimited battery life with solar charging.

If you prefer watching you can check out my review video here:

Watch “Garmin Instinct 2 Solar Review | Unlimited Battery, kind of” on YouTube

Price and Comparison

On the launch date, the Instinct 2 standard edition was priced at 349.99 USD and the solar edition at 449.99USD. For current prices on Amazon check the below links.

Garmin Instinct 2 Standard Edition.

Garmin Instinct 2 Solar.

Compared to a Fenix 6 at 350€ or a Fenix 6 Pro at 430€ the price is quite close now that the Fenix 7 has been released so you might consider that as an alternative if you are looking for a rugged outdoor smartwatch. If you want one for even less you can have a look on eBay and find the Fenix 6 for even less. Also, the Forerunner series has some choices you might be interested in.

Key Features

The Instinct 2 is a rugged smartwatch with MIL-820 military standard shock and dust resistance and a water rating of 10 ATM. It kind of has the Casio G-SHOCK vibe to it.

The highlight of the watch is a long battery life: up to 28 days in smartwatch mode or 51 days with solar (Solar charging, assuming all-day wear with 3 hours per day outside in 50,000 lux conditions). It’s a bit less with the smaller S model. The unlimited battery life with solar is only in Battery saver watch mode.

The Instinct 2 comes now in two sizes with a 45mm case and the Instinct 2S with a 40mm case. At 52g it is very light on the wrist.

The display is still a 0.9″ monochrome transflective memory-in-pixel screen but the resolution is now 176×176 pixels instead of 128×128 pixels so this will allow seeing more things on the screen at once. It’s very low power and always on but if you are used to colors it’s quite dull to look at.

Instinct 2 has the newest wrist-based heart rate sensor which also includes the Blood Oxygen Saturation measurement.

On the software side what’s new is Connect IQ which allows you to download some apps and widgets and the Solar version includes Garmin Pay. A lot of new training profiles have been added and training analysis features like VO2 Max and multisport profiles. So this might make the watch a viable option for people who earlier have looked towards the Garmin Forerunner series.

The memory on the device has now been increased to 32MB instead of 16MB. The device includes all the sensors you are used to for example GPS, Accelerometer, Barometric altimeter, Compass, and Thermometer.

You also get smartwatch features like notifications to the watch.

The device comes in multiple different color options to choose from and the wristbands are also changeable.

Pros of the Product

The highlight of the watch definitely is the super-long battery life.

Rugged and very versatile one could call it a mini Fenix.

You get the Casio G-SHOCK feel but now with all the smartwatch capability.

Cons of the Product

Note that Instinct 2 does not have Maps even though you can upload pre-prepared routes to the device so you can then follow breadcrumb waypoints.

There is no storage for Music on the device and it doesn’t have a touch screen.

Not yet unlimited battery in smartwatch mode which I was hoping for.

Conclusion

The Instinct 2 is designed for the same people who love the Casio G-SHOCK look and feel. It’s for the all-adventure people who want a trusty tool with a super long battery life.

The release date for the Garmin Instinct 2 was 09.2.2022. The Garmin press release for the Instinct 2 can be found here.

Garmin Epix: 3 Reasons to Buy Over the Fenix 7

Sun, 06 Feb 2022 11:00:15 GMT

Price

Fenix 7 is priced at 699 up to 999 USD. Epix is priced at 899 up to 999 USD.

To be clear, the price is not in favor of the Epix since the Epix is more expensive. Only the Fenix 7X has the same price as the Epix. Check the current price of the Epix Gen 2 on Amazon.

Overall

The Epix is for the most part a Fenix 7 with an AMOLED screen.

You really need to love the AMOLED screen since all the reasons to choose the Epix are based on that. The Fenix 7 beats the Epix in every other difference these smartwatches have.

Reason #1 The Amoled Screen is Super Vibrant

The AMOLED screen colors are super vibrant and the screen overall looks awesome compared to the Fenix 7 which in comparison has far fewer colors and they look somewhat washed out if compared side by side.

For example, when looking at the HR Zones of an activity with the AMOLED screen it’s a lot easier to see the different color codes of the HR Zones. Also when using maps it’s easier to read the map with the brighter more colorful display.

Reason 2# Increased display resolution enables you to do more

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The Epix has a 1,3” display with a resolution of 416 x 416 pixels and the Fenix 7X has a 1,4” display with a resolution of 280 x 280 pixels.

When using Garmin Maps, the larger display resolution on the Epix enables one to see more details at a wider zoom level. So with the Fenix 7, you need to zoom more in before you can see the same details.

Also if you are reading messages or emails the higher resolution allows you to see additional rows of text. This is helpful when glancing at a message without scrolling. You will have a better chance of knowing what it’s about and whether you want to react to it or not. Also, you will be able to read an email faster if you decide to scroll through it on the watch.

Reason 3# The EPIX AMOLED display will allow you to look at the watch to see the time

When using the Epix you can always glance at the watch to see the time by just turning your wrist to see the watch even in dark conditions. With the Fenix 7 if it’s too dark you will not see the display even though it’s always on without pressing the backlight button. So that’s one-click more you need to do with the Fenix 7.

Update: Actually the Fenix 7 does have settings to control the backlight and you can set the backlight to gesture mode so that it does turn the backlight on when you turn your wrist.

Compromises you will need to make if you choose the EPIX

As I mentioned earlier the Fenix 7 is better in pretty much every other way excluding the display.

Battery life

The largest compromise is the battery life since the Fenix 7 has up to 18 days in smartwatch mode and the Epix has up to 6 days in always-on mode (or up to 16 days in gesture mode). In my opinion, the gesture mode is quite annoying and my guess is most people will prefer using it in always-on mode.

We can also compare the GPS time of 89 hours (or 122 with solar) on the Fenix 7X to the 30 hours of GPS time on the Epix in always-on mode. This might be a big difference for people who go for multi-day hikes.

Solar charging

Another major difference is the lack of solar charging on the Epix. This of course also affects the battery life and makes the difference even larger. Just to make a point let’s compare the Fenix 7X’s up to 28 days is smartwatch mode or 37* days with solar charging to the Epix which has only 6 days of battery in always-on mode. (*Solar charging, assuming all-day wear with 3 hours per day outside in 50,000 lux conditions)

Watch Sizes

Another thing to note is that the Epix was launched only in one size which matches the Fenix 7 size. So if you prefer the larger 7X or the smaller 7S size then it’s somewhat of a compromise to go with the medium size.

Flashlight

Garmin included a led flashlight on the Fenix 7X and I find that’s super useful. So if you are choosing the Epix you won’t have that option. Also, note that the led flashlight doesn’t exist on the smaller-sized Fenix 7 and 7S either.

The Epix still has the screen acting as a flashlight and that’s also helpful but not to the same extent as an actual led flashlight.

Final thoughts and who the Epix is meant for

The Epix is a perfect choice for those who have always wanted the flagship Garmin Fenix smartwatch with a bright and vibrant AMOLED screen.

This might be the time to get an Epix if you have favored smartwatches like the Apple Watch or the Samsung Galaxy Watch because they have AMOLED screens but have felt that’s a bit of a compromise due to the lack of multisport functionality.

Garmin Epix Gen 2 Review

Tue, 18 Jan 2022 17:26:29 GMT

The device comes only in three SKU’s currently and the price is 899 USD for the Slate Steel SKU and 999 USD for the Sapphire Titanium SKU’s.

Check the current price of the Epix Gen 2 on Amazon.

The EPIX Gen 2 box has the smartwatch, a USB charging/data cable, and some documentation (Manual and Safety/Product information). The charging cable is of the same type as Garmin has been using on pretty much all its smartwatches in recent years.

If you prefer watching a video instead of reading you can check out my unboxing video here which covers the main hardware aspects of the Epix.

Watch “Garmin EPIX Gen 2 Unboxing and Demo | Fenix 7 with AMOLED” on YouTube

Hardware overview

Garmin no longer prints the specifications on the box, but the most relevant ones are:

Battery life: 16 days in smartwatch mode (6 days always-on)
Case size: 47mm which is the same as the medium size Fenix 6 or 7
Display: AMOLED 416 x 416 pixels touchscreen
Display size: 1.3″ diamater (Same as on Fenix 7 and 6)
Weight: 76 g (case only: 53 g) (slightly less than Fenix 7 and 6)
Features: Music and Maps included by default
Storage: 16 GB (Sapphire Editions: 32 GB)

The bezel and the back of the case are stainless steel (Sapphire edition has titanium) and the rest of the case uses fiber-reinforced polymer.

Epix has a 22mm QuickFit band and the water rating is 10 ATM.

Even though the Epix now includes a touchscreen Garmin still kept the five buttons as before and you can still use all the functionality via the buttons which is great for swimming and while wearing gloves.

The wrist-based heart rate and Blood Oxygen Saturation sensor on the Epix is Garmin’s Elevate V4 sensor that was introduced on the Venu 2 last spring.

The Epix has also all the other sensors you could hope for:

GPS, GLONASS, Galileo
Barometric altimeter
Compass
Gyroscope
Accelerometer
Thermometer
Ambient light sensor (this is new)

Getting Started

Press the LIGHT button to turn on the watch.

Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the initial setup.

You can use the touchscreen or the buttons. If you are new to the buttons it helps that the buttons are labeled on the bezel.

During the initial setup, you can pair your smartphone with your watch to receive notifications, set up your Garmin Pay, etc.

You should also start by charging the device completely.

Demo

Compared to a Seiko 5.

Demo of features.

Battery Life

Documentation

The Epix Gen 2 pdf manual can be found on the Garmin web page and they also have a web version of the manual here.

Garmin Fenix 7 Review

Tue, 18 Jan 2022 17:16:55 GMT

The Garmin Fenix 7 is the new and upgraded version in Garmin’s Fenix lineup of rugged multisport smartwatches. The upgrade brings with it an even longer battery life, a touchscreen in addition to the buttons, a led flashlight, and some new software features.

I think we all hoped that the Garmin Fenix 7 would have a SKU with an AMOLED screen. It kind of did, but it’s called the Garmin Epix Gen 2 which was released on the same day. What Garmin didn’t include is LTE functionality and voice functionality which Garmin previously added on the Venu 2 Plus. It remains to be seen will Garmin later release a new SKU of Fenix 7 with these features included.

Check the current price of Fenix 7 on Amazon.

Check the current price of the Epix Gen 2 on Amazon.

The release date for the Garmin Fenix 7 was on 18.1.2022. The Garmin press release for its flagship Fenix 7 can be found here.

Garmin Fenix 7 – Should you upgrade?

If you already have a Fenix 6 Pro the Fenix 7 basic version provides a touchscreen, more battery life, and some new software features. The upgrade might not make sense if you are already used to the buttons and don’t really miss a touchscreen. Personally, I don’t yet see the full value of the new software features in my limited use case.

However, I see a lot of value in the led flashlight and combined with the incremental other upgrades it helped me make up my mind and decide to order the Fenix 7X.

Based on comments on my youtube channel I know many have been quite bummed out by the screen in the Fenix 6 Pro and they have been really waiting for an AMOLED screen. So for that group of people, I highly recommend the Epix Gen 2 which basically is a Fenix 7 with an AMOLED screen. You do sacrifice some battery life with the AMOLED screen but it still beats pretty much any other smartwatch with an AMOLED screen.

In the below video I cover six reasons to buy the Fenix 7 over the Epix. You can also read about it from the Fenix 7X point of view in my other blog post or from the Epix point of view in this blog post.

Watch “Garmin Fenix 7: Six Reasons to Buy Over the EPIX” on YouTube

Garmin Fenix 7 Pro

What you need to know about the Garmin Fenix 7 Pro is that there is no Pro edition in the Fenix 7 lineup and most likely that’s because Music and Maps are considered standard features on the Fenix lineup. Since many people have enjoyed the Garmin Fenix 6 Pro they are looking for the Fenix 7 Pro. There still is a more premium option in the Fenix 7 lineup and that’s called Sapphire.

The Fenix 7 Sapphire editions give you 32GB of storage instead of 16GB and in addition, you get a Sapphire lens and the case has titanium instead of stainless steel. Also, the multi-frequency positioning is currently only available on the Sapphire editions. On the Sapphire edition, maps are preloaded. Since 16GB is not sufficient to have all the maps preloaded you need to download the maps manually (they are free though).

Check the current price of Fenix 7 Sapphire solar on Amazon.

In my opinion, just the Sapphire glass or the added storage aren’t really crucial factors but combined all of the factors might make it worth the extra price. The titanium on the case is kind of nice though and knowing that you have the best is a kind of nice feeling if the high price isn’t an issue.

New Hardware features on the Fenix 7

The most expected update on the hardware was the addition of the touchscreen. This is really intuitive to use and very helpful when using for example the maps. Garmin still kept the five buttons as before and you can still use all the functionality via the buttons which is great for swimming and while wearing gloves.

A feature that we didn’t expect is the led flashlight which is included on the Fenix 7X. I personally find this the most exciting feature on the Fenix 7 and this alone is the reason I chose to get a Fenix 7X. Unfortunately, it’s only on the 7X and can’t be found on the Fenix 7 or Fenix 7S.

There is also a red LED for some use cases.

Garmin also implemented a running mode for the flashlight which shines the white light forwards and the red backward lighting the trail and also helping you be seen from the front and rear.

The Fenix memory in pixel conserves power and no matter how bright it’s outside the screen is visible.

Fenix 7 Battery life

The battery life on the Fenix 7 has been significantly improved compared to the Fenix 6. I’m not sure if this is only due to saving power with a more efficient chipset or did Garmin manage to squeeze in some additional milliamperes into the battery.

In addition, the solar feature has now a wider solar panel and is more efficient in extending the battery even further in sunny conditions.

My real-life test results for the Fenix 7X Solar

The battery life result was 24 days with my usage in the below test which I consider a great result. Garmin states Fenix 7X has up to 28 days of Battery life in smartwatch mode. Naturally, I didn’t use it only in smartwatch mode, but instead, used the GPS for activities and also used the LED flashlight (mainly indoors in the evening for short periods) I also enabled Pulse OX for the night (by default this is off) and automatic backlight after sunset when turning my wrist.

During the test period from 29.3 to 21.4 (22 days) I recorded 19 activities so almost daily something. The activities were typically from 1 to 2 hours long. Out of those activities, 7 used GPS and the total GPS time was 412 minutes so close to 7 hours.

Since it’s the solar model the solar charging aspect does also have an impact but for this test, the solar part had a minimal effect since most days I had only 0-5k lux hours of sun and one day 80k lux hours. Considering that you need 150k lux hours every day to get an extra 4 days of smartwatch mode I consider the effect of solar small in this test.

I used the Battery Graph widget to help me to measure the battery life and to plot the result.

Watch “Garmin Fenix 7X Battery Life | Real Life Test Results” on YouTube

Charging the Fenix 7X took 2h 25min for a full charge from 6%. Looking at the graph it was around 30minutes from 6% to 25%. So we could say one gets 10% in a 15 minutes charge which should give you more than 2 days of usage so plenty to go out for a run.

Fenix 7 case size

The Fenix 7 still comes in three case sizes to suit different sizes of wrists. The Fenix 7S has a 42mm case, the Fenix 7 a 47mm case and the Fenix 7X has a 51mm case.

Other new functionality

Multi-Band positioning.

Up Ahead feature.

Realtime stamina is a new feature powered by Firstbeat Analytics which Garmin previously acuired.

Realtime settings sync allows the user to change settings on the smartphone instead of the watch.

Smartwatches with offline Spotify or Deezer

Sat, 08 Jan 2022 16:03:31 GMT

Which Smartwatch supports Spotify? If you are a Spotify user and want to do phone-free sports then a great option is to get a smartwatch that supports offline Spotify. Currently, the two brands of watches you should be looking at are Garmin and Samsung for devices that support offline Spotify. Not all devices from these manufacturers are supported so check below the Garmin and Samsung headings to see which devices are supported.

Which Smartwatch supports Deezer? If you are a Deezer user and want to do phone-free sports then a great option is to get a smartwatch that supports offline Deezer. In addition to the Garmin devices, you can also look into the Fitbit devices.

So the bottom line is if you want Spotify go with Garmin or Samsung smartwatches and if you want Deezer you have the choice of Garmin or Fitbit.

Why would you want Spotify or Deezer on your smartwatch

You might not want to carry your smartphone while in the gym or doing other sports. The smartphone gets in the way and might not bear the sweat. It’s also a lot more convenient to change tracks from your wrist rather than getting your phone from the pocket.

Some devices support transferring your own music to the devices with a drag and drop approach from your PC or Mac. First of all, this would require you to own your own music and second of all for a Spotify or Deezer user you are used to having your playlists on that platform so why would you do it any other way for your smartwatch and spend the extra time choosing the music. It’s really convenient to have the same playlists sync across your devices.

What is Spotify

Spotify is a music streaming platform launched in 2008, developed and operated by Swedish company Spotify AB which is also listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Spotify is currently available in 78 countries and regions throughout the world: it is available in most of Europe, most of the Americas, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Africa and Asia.

Spotify is a freemium service offering some basic features for free with advertisements. Additional features like improved streaming quality are offered via paid subscriptions.

Spotify Premium costs 10 USD per month and you get offline and ad-free access to the music.

What is Deezer

Deezer is an Internet-based music streaming service launched in 2007 by a French company. Compared to Spotify it has nowadays a similarly wide music library as Spotify and similar audio quality. Deezer has also a free subscription with ads. Offline playback is available with the paid subscription which is 10 USD per month.

Spotify used to have the advantage with the music library size and they still have a much larger amount of subscribers estimated at 83 million compared to 16 million on Deezer.

Currently, Deezer is a good option compared to Spotify but the price is the same.

Smartwatches which support Spotify

Spotify has partnered so far with a few smartwatch manufacturers to provide Spotify music via your smartwatch to your Bluetooth headphones. You need to be a Spotify Premium subscriber to get access to Spotify on your smartwatch.

Spotify is supported on Garmin and Samsung smartwatches. Apple and Wear OS also have a Spotify app but it’s more like a Spotify remote and doesn’t support offline playback. Please note that not all smartwatches from these manufacturers support Spotify so look further below under the headings to see which devices are supported.

Offline Spotify on Garmin Smartwatches

For the Garmin smartwatches, you need to install the Spotify app from the Garmin Connect IQ store. The Spotify app seems to have great reviews on the Garmin app store.

This Spotify app is currently supported already on 39 Garmin Smartwatches (Updated 11.01.2021) which are all of the Garmin Fenix 5 Plus series devices, Fenix 6 series, The Garmin D2 Delta series devices, the Garmin MARQ series devices, Quatix, Rey, Venu, Garmin Vivoactive 4 & 3 Music, and the Forerunner 245 Music & 645 Music as well as Forerunner 945. So even the Vivoactive 3 Music which I reviewed recently has now Spotify support.

You can find my comparison chart with all the relevant Garmin watches supporting Spotify below.

You can also check the up to date list from the Garmin IQ store directly under ‘Compatible devices’.

You can only play music and podcasts you’ve downloaded. So basically this is offline Spotify. The Garmin Smartwatches have WiFi for syncing the music, but still, it’s not possible to stream Spotify. I think this makes sense since the WiFi would drain your battery way too quickly.

I have used the Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music and synced music via the Deezer app which is very similar to the Spotify app. So if you want to read more about what that is like you can have a look at my Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music review & test.

Garmin has really high-quality smartwatches and from this lineup, I would go for the Garmin Fenix 6 Pro series if money is not an issue and with the current sale prices you might find one for 450 to 500 USD.

Currently, in 01/2022 I think one of the best choices is the Garmin Venu 2 if you want the music features and want a bright vibrant screen. The Vivoactive 4 can also be found on sale for 200USD so that’s a great option if you are on a budget. You can check my top three picks for Spotify watches here.

You can use the below table I created to easily compare all of the relevant Spotify supporting smartwatches.

Buy on Amazon	Price	Rating	Battery life	Water rating	Heart rate sensor	Pulse Ox	GPS	Stores Music	Music services	Sleep tracking	Smart notifications	Contactless Payments	Swim tracking	Swim metrics	Dimensions	Display size	Released	Brand	Order
Garmin Venu 2	under $350	4.5	Up to 11 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF			2021	Garmin	1
Garmin Fenix 6 Pro	under $550	4.5	Up to 14 days	Swim, 10 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	-	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	47 x 47 x 14.7 mm	1.3”		Garmin	1
Garmin Fenix 6S Pro	under $550	4.5	Up to 9 days	Swim, 10 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	-	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	42 x 42 x 13.8 mm	1.2”		Garmin	1
Garmin Vívoactive 4	under $200	4.3	Up to 8 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	45.1 x 45.1 x 12.8 mm	1.3"		Garmin	1
Garmin vívoactive 4S	under $200	4.3	Up to 7 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	40.0 x 40.0 x 12.7 mm	1.1"		Garmin	1
Garmin Forerunner 945	under $550	4.4	Up to 14 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	-	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	47 x 47 x 13.7 mm	1.2”	2019	Garmin	2
Garmin D2 Delta PX	under $1300	3.7	Up to 20 days	Swim, 10 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	51 x 51 x 17.5 mm	1.2"		Garmin	3
Garmin Forerunner 245 Music	under $300	4.4	Up to 7 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	-	Pool	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	42.3 x 42.3 x 12.2 (mm)	1.2”		Garmin	3
Garmin MARQ Collection	under $2500		Up to 12 days	Swim, 10 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	-	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	46 x 14.1 mm	1.2”		Garmin	3
Garmin D2 Delta	under $1000	3.7	Up to 12 days	Swim, 10 ATM	Yes	-	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	47 x 47 x 15.8 mm	1.2"		Garmin	3
Garmin D2 Delta S	under $650	3.7	Up to 7 days	Swim, 10 ATM	Yes	-	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	42 x 42 x 15.4 mm	1.2"		Garmin	3
Garmin Captain Marvel	under $400	4.3	Up to 7 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	-	Pool	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	40.0 x 40.0 x 12.7 mm	1.1"		Garmin	4
Garmin Darth Vader	under $400	3.8	Up to 8 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	-	Pool	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	45.1 x 45.1 x 12.8 mm	1.3”		Garmin	4
Garmin Rey	under $400	4.8	Up to 7 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	-	Pool	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	40.0 x 40.0 x 12.7 mm	1.1"		Garmin	4
Garmin Venu	under $350	4.4	Up to 5 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	43.2 x 43.2 x 12.4 mm	1.2"		Garmin	4
Garmin Forerunner 645 Music	under $450	3.9	up to 7 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes		GPS, GLONASS	Yes	Spotify, Deezer, iHeartRadio	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	42.5 x 42.5 x 13.5 mm	1.2"	2018, March	Garmin	4
Garmin fēnix 5X Plus	under $500	4.2	up to 20 days	Swim, 10 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer, iHeartRadio	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF		51 x 51 x 17.5 mm	2018, Q2	Garmin	5
Garmin Fenix 5 Plus	under $650	4.2	up to 12 days	Swim, 10 ATM	Yes	-	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer, iHeartRadio	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	47 x 47 x 15.8 mm	1.2"	2018	Garmin	5
Garmin Fenix 5S Plus	under $650	4.2	up to 7 days	Swim, 10 ATM	Yes	-	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer, iHeartRadio	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	42 x 42 x 15.4 mm	1.2"	2018	Garmin	5
Garmin vívoactive 3 Music	under $250	3.9	up to 7 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes		GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer, iHeartRadio	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	43.1 x 43.1 x 13.6 mm	1.2"	2018	Garmin	5
Garmin fēnix 5S Plus	under $500	4.4		Swim, 10 ATM	Yes		GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	-	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF				Garmin	5

Access the full comparison chart with filters here.

Offline Spotify on Samsung Smartwatches

The Spotify app is currently supported on 6 Samsung smartwatches. Supported devices are Gear S2 and S3, Gear Sport, and Gear Fit 2 and Fit 2 Pro and the Galaxy Watch.

You will need a Spotify Premium account to use the offline Spotify features on your smartwatch.

First, you will need to install the Spotify app on the watch. To get the offline Spotify option in the watch app you will need to disconnect the Bluetooth connection to the phone. Connect your watch to a wireless network with Internet connectivity.

If you are unable to login into to Spotify at this point due to ‘username/password is incorrect’ please make sure that you have no more than 3 devices connected to your account via the Spotify website and also set a device password which you can then use on your phone.

After this, your Spotify playlists you see on the watch should have a download option.

The Galaxy Watch is the newest one released in 2018 and has a starting price of around 330USD. Gear S3 has a starting price of around 200USD.

Spotify “remote” on Apple Smartwatches

To get Spotify on Apple Watch, you’ll need to have an iPhone 5 or above, running iOS 10.0 or above and the Apple Watch needs to have watchOS 4.0 or above.

There is an Apple Watch Spotify app, but it’s not really what you would expect or hope for. Since currently, the Apple Watch app doesn’t allow you to sync songs for offline playback. The app is basically a way to control songs that are being played on your iPhone or other Spotify Connect devices.

Hopefully, the app will, later on, provide offline playback options like on the Garmin devices.

Spotify “remote” on WearOS Smartwatches

It’s easy to get started by downloading the Spotify app from the Google Play Store on your watch.

The WearOS smartwatch Spotify app will let you play, pause, skip and browse recently played music and podcasts. There’s also Spotify Connect support which allows you to play music from your smartwatch on compatible speakers in your home.

The thing users would have liked to have the most would have been offline playback support from the watch. This, however, isn’t possible at least yet.

Smartwatches which support Deezer

Deezer has partnered so far with a few smartwatch manufacturers to provide Deezer music via your smartwatch to your Bluetooth headphones. You need to be a Deezer Premium subscriber to get access to the music on your smartwatch.

Offline Deezer is supported on Garmin and Fitbit smartwatches.

Offline Deezer on Garmin Smartwatches

Garmin has exactly the same list of devices as with Spotify so you can refer to the list under the ‘Offline Spotify for Garmin’ heading. The one exception is the Garmin Vivoactive 3 which has Deezer support but no Spotify support yet. I have used the Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music and synced music via the Deezer app which is very similar to the Spotify app. So if you want to read more about what that is like you can have a look at my Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music review & test.

If Garmin has some new devices out you can check the up to date list of Deezer supported devices from the Garmin IQ store directly under ‘Compatible devices’.

Offline Deezer on Fitbit Smartwatches

Fitbit currently has the Deezer app available for the Fitbit Versa and Ionic. The most important thing is that you can leave your phone at home or in the locker room while you do sports and these devices fully support offline usage of Deezer.

With the Deezer app, you can download your Deezer playlists and Flow directly to your watch. First, you download music, then you connect Bluetooth headphones or speakers to listen to your music.

Note that you need a paid subscription to Deezer and a Wi-Fi connection to download music.

Deezer”remote” on Apple Smartwatches

Can you download music to Apple Watch with the Deezer app? No. This is really all you need to know since this is what you are really looking for. The Deezer app on Apple Watch allows you to control the music playing from your iPhone. You cannot download music to, or stream music from, your Apple Watch using Deezer.

Deezer”remote” on WearOS Smartwatches

You can’t use offline Deezer on Wear OS smartwatches. It’s only for controlling the music on your phone. As long as you have downloaded content on the app in your phone, you will be able to control it offline from Wear OS.

Garmin Venu 2 vs Venu 2 Plus

Tue, 04 Jan 2022 17:01:23 GMT

The Garmin Venu 2 Plus is the new and upgraded version of the Venu 2 with the main hardware difference being the addition of a microphone and speaker. The Venu 2 only had a beeper. This new hardware enables the user to use new voice functionality from the smartwatch.

The release date for the Garmin Venu 2 Plus was on 4.1.2022. The Garmin press release for the Venu 2 Plus can be found here.

Garmin Venu 2 Plus Differences compared to Venu 2

The Venu 2 Plus release date price is 449 USD compared to 349 USD for the Venu 2 on sale currently. For current prices check the links below
- Venu 2 Plus on Amazon.com
- Venu 2 on Amazon.com
The Venu 2 Plus has a speaker and microphone instead of a beeper
The Venu 2 Plus has three buttons instead of two
The Venu2 Plus has a battery life of 9 days in smartwatchmode instead of 11 days on the Venu 2
The Venu 2 Plus bezel diameter is 43.6mm instead of 45.4mm on the Venu 2 or 40.4mm on the Venu 2S
The Venu 2 Plus quick release bands are 20mm instead of 22mm on the Venu 2 or 18mm on the Venu 2S
The Venu 2 Plus has BLUETOOTH phone calling and voice assistant support for Android and iPhone

Phone calls from the wrist: Enables making and taking phone calls with the press of a button. The Venu 2 Plus is not an LTE watch so you do need to be in the range of your smartphone.

Voice assistant control: Compatible with Siri, Google Assistant or Bixby, users can use their smartphone’s voice assistant to send texts, ask questions, control compatible smart home devices, and more.

You can check the comparison on Garmin.com via this link.

The Garmin Venu 2 was released in April 2021.

The Garmin Vivoative 4 was released in September 2019.

The Venu 2 Plus manual can be found here in pdf format.

The Venu 2 Plus online manual can be found here.

Best Garmin Watch for Spotify in 2022

Sun, 02 Jan 2022 18:50:12 GMT

If you want to listen to Spotify Music offline without your phone then the Garmin smartwatches with Spotify support are a great option. It might be difficult to choose which one to get. I’ll give three brief recommendations to make the choice easy for you.

Garmin has dozens of watches supporting Spotify. For a longer read on the topic check out this other article of mine.

If you prefer viewing to reading check out my video on the topic:

Watch “Best Garmin Watch for Spotify in 2022 | Top 3 Picks: Fenix 6 Pro, Venu 2, Vivoactive 4” on YouTube

Budget option – Best Garmin Smartwatch with Spotify

The Garmin Vivoactive 4 and 4s are not budget watches but they have been discounted to 199 USD and for that price, I think it’s the best budget-friendly option with Spotify. Check the current price on Amazon for the Vivoactive 4.

The Garmin Vivoactive 4 has up to 8 days of battery life in smartwatch mode and has storage for up to 500 songs. There are multiple designs to choose from and the 4s models will also fit smaller wrists and I think was designed with women in mind.

Mid range option – Best Garmin Smartwatch with Spotify

The Garmin Venu 2 and 2s are new models with Amoled screens and with a very appealing design. The price at the time of writing is 349USD which is not exactly cheap anymore but the Amoled screen and longer battery life do give it an advantage over the Vivoactive 4. Check the current price on Amazon for Venu 2.

The Garmin Venu 2 has up to 11 days of battery life in smartwatch mode and has storage for up to 650 songs. There are multiple designs to choose from and the 2s models will also fit smaller wrists and I think was designed with women in mind.

High range option – Best Garmin Smartwatch with Spotify

The Garmin Fenix 6 Pro, 6s Pro, and 6X pro are considered the flagship model from Garmin. It’s no longer new and you might think should you wait for the Fenix 7 but I wouldn’t. Considering the lowered price point at which this model can be purchased, I think this watch does provide more value for your dollars compared to the Venu 2. At the end of year 2021 sales, the Garmin Fenix 6 Pro was priced around 450-500USD. Check the current price on Amazon for the Fenix 6 Pro.

The Garmin Fenix 6 Pro has up to 14 days of battery life in smartwatch mode and has storage for up to 2000 songs. There are multiple designs to choose from and the 6s models will also fit smaller wrists and I think was designed with women in mind.

Garmin Fenix 6 Pro for Crossfit – Long Term Review

Sun, 10 Jan 2021 23:52:01 GMT

I have been using multiple smartwatches for my crossfit workouts and currently I have the Garmin Fenix 6 Pro in a long term test an it’s really starting to be my favorite smartwatch for working out.

The Garmin Fenix 6 Pro is a great fitness tracker and it’s very well suited for CrossFit with all the built-in tracking features and a sturdy not too bulky case. You can also use apps like Cross-Training from the Garmin Connect IQ store which make it easy to do workouts without your phone.

The Garmin Fenix 6 Pro has a hefty price tag and if CrossFit is the only thing you are planning to use the device for then there are also cheaper options in the Garmin line-up which may provide you with most of the value you will get from the device. Read on to discover how I’m using the Fenix 6 pro during my CrossFit workouts and how it compares to some less expensive options I have also used.

Price of the Fenix 6 Pro

The Fenix 6 Pro is currently listed at 649 USD on Garmin.com. Recently on sale, the watch has been seen for prices as low as 449USD on Amazon.com and 425 € on Amazon.de.

You can check the current price for the Garmin Fenix 6 Pro on Amazon via this link.

Comparing it to other Garmin devices nothing else in this price range comes close in functionality or battery life. Fenix 6 has up 21 days of battery life, Venu 2 has 11 days and Vivoactive 4 has 8 days.

Venu 2 is only marginally less expensive at 349 USD. If you don’t need all the functionality the Vivoactive 4 is actually a great choice at only 199USD on sale. For the current Vivoactive 4 price on Amazon.com check this link.

Garmin Fenix 6 Pro Crossfit workout considerations

Size of the Fenix 6 Pro

The Garmin Fenix 6 Pro is a rather large device measuring 47 x 47 x 14.7 mm compared to for example the Polar Ignite measuring only 43 x 43 x 8.5 mm. For most CrossFit activities the size of the watch hasn’t been a problem for me. The only activity I have had some issues with wearing the watch are some kettlebell moves like the kettlebell snatch. However other watches will not either be comfortable when doing snatches.

The Fenix 6s is smaller and the 6X is larger but all of them are still significantly thicker than the Polar Ignite.

Watch “Garmin Fenix 6 Pro Unboxing and Demo | Explanation why there is no touch screen” on YouTube

Why there is no touch screen on the Fenix 6 Pro

The Fenix 6 was intentionally designed with buttons instead of a touchscreen. You can also check the above unboxing video where I explain that touchscreens don’t work well while they are wet from sweat, moisture, or just from the fact that you might be swimming.

From a CrossFit point of view I rather press a button than try to fiddle with a touchscreen if I’m in the middle of a HERO WOD.

Wrist-Based Heart Rate Monitoring on the Fenix 6

Wrist-Based Heart Rate Monitoring on the Garmin Fenix 6 Pro works very similarly as on other Garmin models like the Vivoactive 4. It’s quite good in some activities like running but for Crossfit it’s not really very accurate so I do prefer using a chest strap for accurate heart rate readings during my Crossfit workouts.

Watch Activities for tracking Crossfit on your Fenix 6

In the Garmin Connect IQ store, you can find some specific activities like Cross-Training which will work well for Crossfit. I did download the Cross-Training app from the Conenct IQ store and tried the 30 day free trial. The app has over 50 000 downloads and it has good reviews and it is compatible with many Garmin devices like the Fenix 6 models.

The Cross-Training activity does provide the possibility to program OTM and AMRAP style workouts and in an AMRAP style, it’s nice that one can press the lap button to track how many rounds one completes. I have also tried using the Strength activity during AMRAP style workouts and it too can kind of be used for tracking the laps but Cross-Training does work better for this purpose.

Fenix 6 Music Features

If you are looking for offline Spotify features then Garmin is the best option in my opinion. Check out my full article on offline Spotify.

I naturally tried using the offline Spotify features on the Fenix 6 and they work great with my Bluetooth headset. I highly recommend getting the Pro model so that you get the benefit of the Music features because not needing to take your phone with you and the ability to change the music from your watch is just super.

Garmin Pay on the Fenix 6

Garmin Pay is great and it works perfectly well on the Garmin Fenix 6 Pro. In the below video I tested it at a local store.

If you are doing crossfit I’m guessing you will be doing some running exercises as well so having the peace of mind of having a credit card with you even though you don’t have your wallet or your phone with you is awesome. If you feel like it you can pop to the store to get a drink during or after your run.

Watch “Garmin Pay Hands On Demo | Garmin Fenix 6 Pro” on YouTube

Conclusion

The Garmin Fenix 6 Pro is a great smartwatch and very suitable for Crossfit but I don’t see why you would need to get such a high end device just for Crossfit since you would get most of the value with a cheaper device like the Garmin Vivoactive 4.

If you however are interested in the Cross-Training app do bear in mind that it doesn’t work on the Vivoactive 4. Also note that if you want a device with buttons then the Fenix 6 is also a great option.

Since Crossfit is a sport with so many disciplines I’m guessing you occasionally do run, swim, bike, and also do other sports. If that’s you then I bet you will be happy with the Fenix 6 Pro and will not regret investing a bit more to get a great device. It’s the best I have used thus far.

Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music Review and Extended Test

Sat, 19 Sep 2020 13:07:00 GMT

I bought the Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music in December 2018 and it was a great smartwatch. I especially enjoyed the music and swimming features. My only complaint so far is that the device doesn’t look as premium as I would have hoped for (the non-music version with the stainless steel bezel is nicer).

Keep reading if you are interested in an honest review walking through all the features I have used and my opinion of them.

This is a phone-free sports watch and it might be Garmin’s best smartwatch right now considering what you get for your money. Serious runners will want to look at the Forerunner or Fenix 5 series, but the Vivoactive 3 is a great balance of sports and smarts.

You can check my video review on youtube below or read the full review which does have more details in it on this page.

Watch “YouTube video” on YouTube

Price and Comparision to Alternatives

Currently (updated 03/2020), Amazon.com is selling the Vivoactive 3 Music for $180 and the Vivoactive 3 for $130.

The Vivoactive 3 Music Verizon smartwatch with LTE connection was also released and can be bought via Verizon. Currently the LTE device is not available from other operators.

The Vivoactive 4 has also been released and it has the Puls Ox as a new feature and it is more stylish in my opinion.

Garmin Vivoactive 4 – Click to check current price on Amazon

My feeling was when I bought the device back in 2018 that $250 is too much but perhaps that’s just because I don’t use the music feature that much. So for me, the $200 non-music version would have been a better fit. Currently at $130 the Vivoactive 3 provides great value.

I did look at other high-quality devices for alternatives for the Vivoactive 3 in a lower price range to find something more affordable. In the Garmin line up, there is the Forerunner 35 listed at 170USD and the Vivosport listed at 140USD. Both of them have GPS and wrist-based heart rate monitoring. With the cheaper options, you do lose some of the sensors and tracking feature, for example, there is no swim mode in either of them. The Vivoactive 3 also looks better in my opinion.

Fitbit does have the Ionic and Versa smartwatches which are interesting. Ionic is listed at around 240 USD and the Versa at 180 USD. Versa doesn’t have GPS so that’s not really a good alternative for me since I find GPS to be essential. Ionic is a great device kind of having all the features I’m looking for which are GPS, Wrist based heart rate monitoring, Offline music playback, and a swimming mode. The swimming mode isn’t as good as on Garmin and the biggest issue with Ionic is that the battery life is just 1+ days compared to the around 4 days on Garmin Vivoactive 3.

If you don’t really think the Vivoactive 3 is for you, check my buyers guide on the best smartwatches and fitness tracker for every budget.

Features

The Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music’s sports features are pretty much what you would expect from a Garmin multi-sport device. What’s new is that it provides music features for offline music playing directly from your smartwatch to your Bluetooth headphones.

Offline music support

On the device, you have storage for up to 500 songs. There are a few different ways you can get the music onto the device. You can use the Garmin Express software on your PC or Mac to transfer the music you own to the device. That’s a really easy drag and drop approach but would require you to own some music. Another option is to use Spotify, iHeartRadio or Deezer and sync your playlist to the device over WiFi.

Transferring your Music

I tested the Deezer app and got a 2 months free trial period with the device from Garmin. First I created a playlist on Deezer and installed the app on the smartwatch. Then on the smartwatch, I chose to sync the playlist which it did over WiFi. Please note that WiFi on the smartwatch drains the battery quite quickly so it makes sense to charge it after syncing or just charge it while it’s syncing. I found this option to be very easy and convenient.

I didn’t try out iHeartRadio since it says it’s not supported in my country. Update 28.4.2019: Garmin and Spotify have a few months ago made Spotify available on the Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music. This is fantastic news for all the Spotify users out there.

Connecting Headphones and Playing music

Watch “Sync Music and Connect Headphones on the Garmin vivoactive 3” on YouTube

It’s really easy to pair headphones with the Garmin smartwatch and then you are ready to play music. I was actually amazed how great it is to play music from the watch since it was really easy to use and the connection with my headphones worked perfectly without any hiccups. For sports, Bluetooth headphones were the first game changer but I really think that smartwatches with music playback might be the second. You don’t have to carry your smartphone with you and that’s really amazing.

I watched a review on youtube and someone was saying the Bluetooth connection is weak and didn’t work for him, but I had no issues with the cheap no-brand headphones I was using.

If you think you would carry your smartphone to the gym or for a run in any case just to be reachable for your kids or for some other reason then the smartwatch music playback feature might not be that useful for you.

If you want to switch it up and listen to something else than music while you are working out you could try audiobooks. I have really enjoyed listening to audiobooks while running. Check out how you can access free audiobooks via audible and some of my recomendations here.

Sports features

The Garmin Vivoactive 3 has more than 15 sports apps so there are plenty of activities you can track with the device. You could hit the golf course, go for a bike ride, take a yoga class, or even try stand-up paddle boarding.

When you head outside, built-in GPS lets vívoactive 3 Music track the details of your chosen activity — with no phone connection required. From snowboarding to swimming and at least a dozen other options in between, this watch is the perfect playmate.

Swimming

Vivoactive 3 comes only with a pool swimming profile. If you are interested in open water swimming you should get a different Garmin device like one of the Forerunners or Fenix 5. I rarely swim in open water in the sense of exercise so the pool swimming profile is perfectly sufficient for me.

The Garmin pool swimming profile is really good though. I have been doing multiple pool swimming sessions and it was spot on each time as long as I don’t mix up by stroke type mid-swim. I have done multiple breaststroke swims over 1000 meters and each time the watch has been accurate. I haven’t tried freestyle since I usually end up having a too fast pace and I end up switching to breaststroke mid-swim.

The device supports all the main stroke types: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly. The pool swim metrics are time, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, and calories and it also calculates swim efficiency (SWOLF).

I like it that I can track my swims accurately and I can see if I’m improving. My goal is to do 1500 meters in 30minutes which means a pace of 2min/100m. Currently, I’m averaging 2:20min/100m so I’m not quite there yet.

Treadmill Running

I don’t run often on a treadmill but I was really surprised to see that one can track treadmill runs nowadays also and the stats are really close to what the treadmill is showing. It shows the distance, speed, time, pace, heart rate, cadence, average stride length, and calories.

This makes treadmill running more interesting and I think people who run a lot will find this really helpful.

Strength training

Garmin has added a new strength training profile where the smartwatch counts the reps. It does this fairly accurately in many exercises like bench press etc. After each set, you are supposed to double tap the screen and at this point, you can also record the weight you used and it will move to rest. Then you double tap again to start the next set. This gets dull really quickly so I find this feature to be a bit of a gimmick. In theory, you could use it but it’s quite impractical and in my experience double tapping didn’t really work that well. It’s more of a tap to wake the screen then double tap.

I’m not that interested in how many reps and sets I have done so I usually end up just starting the activity and I’m happy with having the duration and the heart rate recorded.

Smart features

Vivoactive 3 like other Garmin smartwatches is compatible with iPhone and Android.

Smart notifications and responses

Vivoactive 3 has smart notifications and you can choose which apps are allowed to send the notifications so that’s handy since at least I don’t want to get notifications from some apps that would have my wrist vibrating way too often distracting me. Also, you can set your usual sleep times so it will set your smartwatch into do not disturb mode.

You can also text responses and reject phone calls with SMS from some pre-written choices you can modify via the Garmin app (This doesn’t work with iPhone at least yet).

Connect IQ™ (downloadable watch faces, data fields, widgets, and apps)

Find my Phone, Watch, and Car

I really like the ‘Find my Phone’ feature since if I don’t know where my phone is in the house I can easily on the Vivoactive 3 press on the find my phone button to have my phone make a sound and locate it easily.

The ‘Find my Watch’ feature might come in handy but I haven’t really ever misplaced my watch. Usually, it’s on my hand or then it’s on the charger. If you would take it off for the night for example then it might help you find it, but the device doesn’t have a speaker so basically, it just vibrates so it has to be really quiet for you to find it.

The device has a ‘Save my Location’ feature which you could use to save the location of your car. Then when it’s time to find your car you select navigate on the device and the location you saved and it will show you the distance and an arrow pointing you to the correct direction. This might come in handy if you go to a concert or some other big event with a huge parking space. Garmin also has a ‘Find my Car’ app you can download onto the device, but I haven’t tried that.

Weather and Calendar widgets

The weather widget I find really nice to have. It provides me with an easy and fast way to check what is the weather like today before taking my daughter to school and selecting today’s outdoor clothes for her.

What I found really annoying though is that it wasn’t intuitive to select the units which default to Fahrenheit. It would make sense for Garmin to just ask the locality and set the default units based on that. Currently, the Garmin app only asks ‘Unit of Measure’ where you can select Metric but that actually only affects the distance. So you still need to go on the device under Settings-System-Units to set all the other units like Temperature.

I find the Calendar widget to be almost a gimmick. Yes, you can read your calendar on the smartwatch screen but it’s very small for that purpose so I would never do it if I have my watch on me.

Camera Remote

The Vivoactive 3 has a feature mentioned as VIRB Camera Remote. Sounds cool but actually, it’s just a remote button for the Garmin VIRB camera so it’s useless unless you own a VIRB camera which I don’t so I haven’t tried it.

There is also a ‘Camera Remote’ app in the Connect IQ Store. It has quite poor reviews and I didn’t try it.

Garmin Pay

Vivoactive 3 is Garmin’s first wearable to feature Garmin Pay, which lets you pay for purchases with your watch. It’s a similar contactless payment option as Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay, and Fitbit Pay. These mobile payment systems work with contactless payment readers so that you can pay without your card or phone. Basically, it should work at any store offering contactless payment.

I haven’t tried this feature yet but I do imagine it would be really handy in some cases. Going for a run with just your smartwatch and wanting to buy a drink during or after your run. Or if you are at a waterpark then paying for stuff during your stay with your watch would be great.

You need to keep in mind that contactless payment options are usually limited. In the US some banks limit payments at 50 USD and in Europe, the limit is often set at 25 EUR and in the UK at 30 £.

Garmin Connect app

Garmin Connect is the app you install on your Android or iPhone. In my opinion, it’s the best smartwatch app for your phone. Some argue that the Fitbit app is better with more challenges for example. Both have 4 out of 5 stars on the Google Play app store. I have used both for over a year and at least from a sports perspective I prefer the Garmin app.

Health and Fitness features

The Vivoactive 3 has plenty of health and fitness features. It has the common features like step counter, calories burned, floors climbed, distance traveled and intensity minutes.

The device also has a ‘Move bar’ features which encourages you to move after a period of inactivity. This is helpful for office workers like me who can end up sitting in front of the computer for hours during work days.

Sleep monitoring must be one of my favorite features. It measures the duration of my sleep and how much of REM sleep, deep sleep and light sleep I have received. It also marks my awake times.

There is also a Fitness Age and VO2 max feature in the Garmin Connect app. I haven’t really looked into these yet so will give you an update once I have more information to share on them.

All-day Stress Tracking is also a new feature which gives you a score of overall stress for each day. This is a feature that is powered by technology from a Finnish company called Firstbeat.

Vivoactive 3 has also Move IQ which is a feature that identifies periods of movement that match familiar exercising patterns such as biking, running, swimming, walking, or using an elliptical machine. These are then tagged as Events on Garmin Connect. This, however, isn’t the same as an activity so if you want more precise metrics you should start the activity in the regular way. It’s nice though that for example walks get also tagged since I wouldn’t usually start the activity tracking for that.

Design and Hardware

Generally, the device looks good and is definitely a step up from the bulky square shaped predecessor Vivoactive HR. To me, the build quality seems good and I’m happy with the device. To be honest, the device doesn’t look fancy and I would prefer something a bit larger which would look and feel more like my Seiko 5 watch. My wife’s first impression of the Vivoactive 3 was that’s it looks plasticky and cheap.

This watch Isn’t intended to be a luxury watch though and I bought it for the activity tracking and smartwatch features. It isn’t like Seiko would be making smartwatches for sports yet.

The Vivoactive 3 comes in two versions regular and Music. I must say that the cheaper regular version does look nicer with the stainless steel bezel. So if you don’t need the music features (and WiFi) do get the regular version. The other differences between the devices are minimal.

Sensors

This device has a surprising amount of sensors on it. In addition to GPS, it also supports GLONASS and Galileo which are the Russian and European versions of GPS so you are triple covered. This is nice so you can have accurate speed and positional information for your runs, cycling, and other outdoor activities.

Some other important sensors are the Garmin Elevate wrist-based heart rate monitor, Gyroscope and Accelerometer. The Gyroscope and Accelerometer are used to sense your movement and track swimming etc. activities.

The device also has a Barometric altimeter, Compass, and Thermometer. The barometric altimeter combined with the compass and thermometer is used for tracking your elevation so it’s a nice feature for runners and hikers.

Strap

Vivoactive 3 with the original rubber band

The Garmin VivoActive 3 Music has a round watch face and a 20mm wide silicone strap with a quick-release system.

The strap feels really nice for sports purposes but doesn’t look like something I would wear for a dress shirt occasion. So the first thing I did was look for a stainless steel strap and ordered one on AliExpress (check my article on smartwatch straps, for more details).

I must say the watch does look better with the stainless steel strap and I’m quite happy with the look. Still, it’s missing something and I think a stainless steel bezel would be a good look on the watch.

Vivoactive 3 with a stainless steel bracelet

Screen and buttons

The watch face is quite large at 43.1mm diameter compared to regular watches but still small compared to the more bulky Fenix 5X at 51mm. The device weighs only 39 grams and feels really light and small on the wrist.

The device has only one physical button in place of the crown. Controlling the device is done via the 1,2″ touchscreen and the button. The display resolution is 240 x 240 pixels which is lower than for example the Apple Watch but it’s sufficient to give a good user experience.

The screen glass is Corning Gorilla Glass 3 so it is similarly chemically strengthened than the screen glasses on smartphones.

Battery life

According to Garmin, you should get up to seven days of battery life in ‘smartwatch mode’ (not powering GPS or music). Music and GPS will drain your battery faster and with both on Garmin says it lasts only 5 hours so this is not a device for ultrarunners. WiFi will drain your battery in one go so you need to charge it during or after syncing your playlists.

In my experience the battery lasts around 4 to 5 days in practice when I have the heart rate monitor on all the time and use the exercise features almost daily. It’s really hard to quote battery life since it varies depending on how much you use it.

One example was 4 days and 10 hours of use drain the battery from 100% to 9%. I used it during this time in smartwatch mode having the HR sensor all the time on and did 4 exercises during this time indoors (so no GPS usage) and I used very little of playing music over Bluetooth.

Conclusion

The Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music is a great device, but it’s not exactly cheap at 249 USD. My other complaint is that the design is not as premium as I would like and I do prefer the metal bezel on the non Music version. At 150 USD I would feel the Vivoative 3 to be a real bargain. There are alternatives like the Fitbit Versa at a lower price point but all of them are lacking some features I feel I want to have.

Battery life is good, the offline music playback works well, All the activity and training tracking features are highly accurate in my experience as you would expect from Garmin.

I ended up not using the Music feature as much as I thought. So for me, the non Music version at 200USD would make more sense.

I really like the device so I do feel comfortable recommending it. However, do check the cheaper alternatives if you don’t need all the features.

Wearing a Smartwatch in a Sauna

Sat, 07 Mar 2020 13:27:19 GMT

Are there smartwatches that one can wear in a sauna or steam room? The short answer is definitely Yes there are smartwatch models that can bear the steamy sauna. It depends on the waterproof rating mostly but it makes sense also checking the manufacturer’s recommendations. Also, consider the temperature change in the Sauna.

Based on my research it would seem that Polar would be the brand to go with regarding sauna usage. Check the brand-specific sections at the end of the article.

What determines is the device safe for sauna

In the below video I talk about my experience wearing smartwatches in the Sauna. If you would rather read about it all the relevant details are below =)

Watch “Garmin Fenix in the Sauna | Can you wear a Smartwatch in the Sauna” on YouTube

A sauna is a room or building designed for experiencing heat sessions. Usually, the temperatures in a sauna can be around 80-90 °C and the steam is generated by pouring water on hot stones.

Since you have steam which is essentially water and heat the two things you should be looking at are the waterproof rating and the operating temperature rating.

Waterproof rating

Finnish Sauna

Devices are usually rated with an ATM rating or a depth rating in meters. ATM is the Atmospheric pressure which tells you how effective a device is in withstanding the pressure until a specific depth. At sea level, the average Atmospheric pressure is about 1 bar. Going underwater the pressure increases roughly by 1 bar per 10 meters. So a 3 atm rating would imply 30 meters water-resistant.

I wouldn’t wear a device in a sauna which is stating in the manual that it’s splash-proof and you can wash your hands with it. The manual needs to state it’s fine for swimming for me to feel comfortable taking it into a sauna.

Operating temperature rating

Devices are usually rated with an operating temperature range in the manual of the device. For example the Garmin Vivoactive 3 manual states the operating temperature: from -20º to 50ºC (from -4º to 122ºF). The Polar Ignite states the operating temperature as almost the same: from -10º to 50ºC.

Even though a sauna is hotter than the highest stated operating temperature I wouldn’t be too worried about that. I have worn my smartwatches out during the winter in temperatures way below -20 ºC without any problems. Your wrist keeps the device warmer than the outside air. Similarly, your wrist will keep the device cooler in the hot Sauna.

I heated my home sauna and took my Polar Ignite into the sauna along with a temperature gun. After throwing some water on the stones I measured my skin temperature witch was around 38 ºC and the surface of the Polar Ignite was around 40 ºC so way below the max operating temperature of 50 ºC. After 10 minutes in the sauna, the results didn’t really change.

Which smartwatches can you wear in a sauna

I haven’t seen any smartwatches stating in their manuals that you can wear the smartwatch in the sauna so instead look at the waterproof rating and the operating temperature rating. The more important factor here being the waterproof rating since the operating temperature ratings don’t differ that much.

Look for devices that state in the manual that you can wear them while swimming. Personally I always try to select only smartwatches which are fine for swimming and I always wear them in the shower and in the sauna. I wear my smartwatch around the day and go in the sauna after the gym around 4 times a week and haven’t had a single device failure.

I can’t give you any promises on will some manufacturers say you are voiding your guarantee. On the other hand, I have never had to ask a manufacturer to replace my device due to water or heat damage.

Garmin smartwatches in the sauna

I would wear any Garmin smartwatch or fitness tracker in the sauna which is rated to be swim proof. Some examples of Garmin smartwatches I have worn in the Sauna without any issues include Garmin Fenix 6 Pro, Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music, Vivoactive HR, and Garmin Fenix 5.

The Garmin Fenix 6 Pro also has a temperature sensor on it and I haven’t ever got it passed the max operating temperature while wearing it in the sauna.

I checked the manual for the Garmin Vivoactive 3 and Vivoactive 4 and there isn’t anything about wearing it in the sauna. On the Garmin forum, a Garmin employee has responded to the question with a brief answer. “We would recommend using caution when using your device in an environment such as a sauna.” They also referenced the specs which state it’s 5 ATM waterproof and the operating temperate is up to 50ºC.

Since Garmin doesn’t state anything about how the warranty will be affected by using one of their smartwatches in the sauna I contacted Garmin support to get an answer. I asked specifically about the Garmin Vivoactive 3 and the response was that the product is not meant to be used in the sauna and if it is damaged during sauna use their guarantee will not cover it. I challenged them on this response since they don’t state that on their web page and the waterproof and temperature ratings would allow for different assumptions. Looking forward to updating this article once I hear back from them.

Apple smartwatches in the sauna

Apple Watch Series 2 and newer may be used for swimming in shallow water and you can take it into the shower. I wouldn’t wear an Apple watch in the sauna. I haven’t tried it but based on the Apple support page it doesn’t sound like a good idea. The Apple Watch Series 5 states it’s water-resistant up to 50 meters but not suitable for example for scuba diving.

The official Apple support page states: “The following may affect the water resistance of your Apple Watch and should be avoided: Wearing Apple Watch in the sauna or steam room.”

The Apple watch support pages also state that the watch shouldn’t be stored in temperatures higher than 45°C and it could shorten its battery life.

Polar smartwatches in the sauna

Polar Ignite in sauna

I would wear any Polar smartwatch or fitness tracker in the sauna which is rated to be swim proof. Personally I have really enjoyed the Polar Ignite which is rated at 30M water resistant and I have thus far used it in the sauna more than 50 times and I haven’t had any issues. I never have seen any moisture, steam or condensation inside the watch. The only issue I have had is that the watch is mainly operated by the touch screen and that’s really hard to use when it’s wet but that applies pretty much to all touch screens when they are wet.

I did check the Polar Ignite user manual and web site for anything about using the device in the sauna but they don’t mention that at all. So I contacted Polar support and they saidthey don’t recommend using the device in the sauna due to the high temperatures. This is a milder response than from Garmin since Polar didn’t state that the warranty wouldn’t cover the damage. I still challenged Polar on their response since they don’t say anything about sauna use on their web page and the waterproof and temperature ratings would allow for different assumptions. The temperature on the wrist is a lot lower than the overall sauna temperature. Looking forward to updating this article once I hear back from them.

Fitbit smartwatches in the sauna

The newer Fitbit models like Versa 2, Ionic and Charge 3 are all water-resistant to 50 meters and according to Fitbit, you can use them in the pool and the shower.

I wouldn’t recommend using a Fitbit device in the sauna based on what Fitbit instructs in their safety instructions: “Do not use your Fitbit product in a sauna or steam room.”

Quite some time ago I had a Fitbit Charge HR which wasn’t water-resistant and they even recommended drying it after sweating. It was quite bothersome to remember to take it off when going in the shower. Fitbit has naturally improved since then and the devices are now water-resistant but I still have the feeling that they aren’t quite as far with waterproofing as the likes of Garmin and Polar.

Top things to buy on AliExpress and still get top Quality

Thu, 05 Mar 2020 16:21:25 GMT

I have used AliExpress and eBay for multiple years and Yes, it’s absolutely safe to buy from these sites but there are some considerations to make. During the years I have had my fair share of disappointments with junky products that I ended up not using. I will share my findings that will allow you to avoid some of the mistakes I have made and give the best alternatives.

If you want to skip the background information on the platforms you can jump straight to the products from this link.

Online retail sites to choose from

Amazon has speedy delivery times and great customer service and returns options for the products. I think those are some of the main advantages compared to the other platforms to buy from. The reason to buy from the other platforms is to save money. Buying from China directly via AliExpress makes a lot of sense in some cases.

AliExpress

AliExpressis an online retail service based in China that is owned by Alibaba. Alibaba provides the platform and sellers on AliExpress are all independent either businesses or individuals. So it’s not really like Amazon but rather more like eBay.

AliExpress launched in 2010. I personally prefer AliExpress over eBay because it’s easier to find better quality products and usually at a better price.

Can AliExpress Be Trusted

Yes, AliExpress can be trusted. Do note the below considerations though. Many have doubts about AliExpress since it isn’t a household name everywhere in the world yet. AliExpress works a bit like eBay since Alibaba provides the AliExpress platform and the sellers are usually independent businesses. The seller’s ratings are a great indication if the seller can be trusted. I usually only buy from sellers which have 95+ percent positive feedback and only products that are 4 or 5 stars rated.

AliExpress does provide similar safety compared to eBay for buyers in the form of buyer protection. For example, if you don’t receive the product or it is significantly different from the description you will get a refund. I have in some cases used the dispute process and it works fine.

Can you use PayPal on AliExpress

Some sellers do accept PayPal. Due to the higher commissions PayPal charges previously PayPal wasn’t a choice at all but currently, some sellers do accept PayPal. Personally, I have just inserted my credit card information on AliExpress and haven’t had any issues so far.

EBay

eBay Inc. is an American multinational e-commerce corporation that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. It was founded in 1995 so it has been around for a lot longer than AliExpress.

eBay has a money back guarantee basically they say you get the item you ordered or your money back. Also, you can pay using pay pal which gives an additional layer of buyer protection. I have in some cases used the eBay dispute process and it works fine.

Wish

Wish, is an online e-commerce company. It was founded in 2010. It is similar to eBay, small businesses and manufacturers on Wish sell goods directly to consumers.

I have browsed wish but each time I have noticed it’s harder to find quality stuff compared to AliExpress and also the prices on wish tend to be higher so I see no reason to use wish.

Amazon

When buying stuff we just need to include Amazon as one option to buy from.

Amazon.com is an American e-commerce and cloud computing company that was founded in 1994. Amazon is the largest Internet retailer in the world as measured by revenue and market capitalization, and second largest after Alibaba Group in terms of total sales.

How to avoid low quality when buying from China-based sellers

Generally, my rule of thumb is that in a certain product category it’s risky to buy the cheapest product out there. Buying an unbranded product for the cheapest price you can find it will often result in getting a junky low-quality product. You can still save a lot of money by finding a product with a Chinese brand and an equally high quality than some of the well-known brands. My all-time favorite still are the Bendu Bamboo socks.

My approach for searching on AliExpress is to write the search term for example “Moto X4 Case” and then sort by orders from highest to lowest. Among the first products whit the highest amount of orders I can usually find high-quality products with 4 or 5-star ratings.

Electronics

USB cables for charging

USB cables are an accessory that you need many of since we tend to have so many devices that need charging like a smartphone, smartwatch, headphones, computer mice etc.

Buying a Samsung or Apple-branded cable can cost roughly 20 USD so if you want to have multiple cables and chargers in your home for a family it’s not unreasonable to have let’s say 10 cables amounting to 200 USD.

So saving some money and buying the cables online from AliExpress sounds like a good idea. I bought multiple micro-USB cables that are unbranded and the cheapest ones you can find on AliExpress (around 0,8USD per cable) and the end result is that they brake very quickly and it takes longer to charge since they used cheap wiring on the cables. Specifically, with the micro USB cables, the pins get loose and the cable starts falling out.

What I recommend doing instead is buying a high-quality Chinese brand of USB cables like UGREEN. You end up paying roughly 2 USD per cable so it’s around twice the price compared to the cheapest option but still 10 times cheaper than a well-known brand bought locally. Please note that the lightning cables for Apple products are around twice the price compared to micro-USB or USB-c cables.

I currently use the USB-C type cables since I have a phone with that connector and thus far none of the Ugreen cables have broken.

Check current pricing on AliExpress:

Smartphone cases

Each time you upgrade your phone it makes sense getting a phone case right away since having a case decreases the chances of breaking the phone. Getting all the accessories for your smartphone can amount quickly to a hefty sum of money. For example, a Spigen Moto X4 Rugged Armor Case can be 19.99USD.

I have experimented with quite a few cases. Initially, I bought some cheap silicone cases and hard plastic cases but felt the quality was not up to par compared to for example the Spigen cases which are great.

My current recommendation is to look for cases made out of TPU. I have always found good-looking TPU cases for my phones for around 2 to 3 USD.

Check current pricing on AliExpress:

TaryTan Moto X4 TPU Case

Smartphone Screen Protector

Buying a screen protector right away when I buy a new phone is something I always do because changing the screen can be half the price of a new device. With a screen protector, I have never had a broken screen.

Screen protectors from well-known brands like Spigen can cost around 20 to 25 USD. Buying one from China will be around 1 to 2 USD so a great way to save some money.

Don’t buy the cheapest ones which are just a plastic film or some thicker plastic. It makes sense to look for a tempered glass screen protector which will not change the feeling of the device’s screen in any way maintaining the colors.

I just bought a Nokia 7.1 Android One phone. In the store, the tempered glass would have been 26€ so the first thing I did was order one on Aliexpress.

Check current pricing on AliExpress:

Smartphones

Sure you can also find smartphones on AliExpress any buy them from China, but I wouldn’t buy even quality brands like Xiaomi from AliExpress since you are very likely to end up with customs fees and the prices aren’t that much cheaper compared to Amazon. With Amazon, you get great customer service and if there is a warranty issue with the phone you can trust Amazon to take care of it professionally.

My favorite option is to buy smartphones from Amazon as warehouse deals. You can check my smartphone recommendations on my recommenced gear page.

Smartwatches and Fitness trackers

I bought the Xiaomi Mi Band from AliExpress and based on my experience it’s the best fitness tracker out there in the sub $50 category. Check my full review of the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 here.

I have been also considering the Huami Amazfit Bip which has received great reviews. It has GPS and a wrist-based heart rate sensor. Battery life is advertised at 45 days which is impressive. For around $70 it must be one of the cheapest smartwatches with these features. You can also check my smartwatch buyers guide to read more about the Amazfit Bip.

Smartwatch straps

AliExpress is a great place to buy straps for your smartwatch if you want to give your device a new look. I have a whole other article on the topic you can check it out here.

USB Chargers

The chargers which come with the phone are fine but I like to have chargers in multiple rooms. Like one in the living room and one in the kitchen and so on. Our family has kids as well so there are multiple phones, headphones, tablets etc. to be charged. So it makes sense to have multi-port chargers.

I have bought chargers on AliExpress but some of them don’t seem to have the output power that they state to have. So far I haven’t found cheaper deals on AliExpress on quality chargers so my advice is to get them on Amazon. You can check my recommendations on my recommenced gear page.

Flashlights

Led flashlights are extremely good but I don’t want to pay 50 USD for a flashlight. Instead, you can get great quality flashlights for around 5 USD or even under. I have multiple units of the XML T6 in usage and none of them have broken so far.

You can use the XML T6 with either one 18650 Li-ion battery or 3x AAA batteries. I recommend getting a chargeable 18650 since that does give more power and you can use it for a long time.

Check current pricing on AliExpress for the XML T6.

Led light Armband

If you go out for a run or walk in the dark it’s good to make sure others can see you. In Finland, it gets dark quite early during the winter time so I also want to make sure my daughter can be seen when playing outside in the afternoon. I bought multiple armbands and noted that the cheaper ones for around 1 € don’t have exchangeable batteries and are quite poor in build quality. Then I found these led armbands which have a good build quality and exchangeable batteries (check prices on Aliexpres).

Game controllers

I have a PS4 and noted that controllers can cost around 48 to 70 €. In my opinion, that’s really a lot. So I decided to look for options on Aliexpress. It seems there are generic options for around 20 € so I decided to order one generic PS4 controller that looks good (check prices on Aliexpress).

The PS4 controller feels sturdy, looks and works just like the original PS4 controller. I’m really happy with it and can recommend it.

Please note that there are wired options that look exactly the same for around 16€ so please make sure you get the wireless option. Comments on the product are good. Will let you know my experience with it once I have received it.

Please leave a comment if you have used one and let us know what you think.

HDD Enclosures

If you happen to have an extra hard disk or SDD lying around from upgrading a laptop you might want to get a hard disk enclosure for the old one if you want to use it as a portable drive. I had one 256GB extra M.2 (SATA) SDD lying around so I found this M.2 enclosure on AliExpress for under 9USD.

I think the aluminium case covers were too tight and I had a hard time opening it without bending the aluminium. Might be just a bad unit, but if you have the same experience please leave a comment here and be sure to dispute the order on AliExpress if the quality is poor to get a full or partial refund. I disputed my order due to quality issues and was happy with how AliExpress stepped in to resolve it.

Tools

Lighter

I was looking for a lighter for my fireplace at home and came across this butane lighter/welding torch on Aliexpress. I ordered one for around 5 USD and it works really nicely as a lighter and in the jet mode you get a really hot flame out of it and it’s handy if you are outdoors and try to light a fire and I find it also handy when lighting a fireplace indoors and I want to get a bigger piece of wood on fire without any kindling.

Welding torch / Butane lighter

Combination locks

Combination locks can be handy for cases when you don’t want to carry the key around or you think you might lose the key. For example, when I go to my gym they have closets without locks so one needs to bring a lock but my gym shorts might not have pockets for the key so a combination lock is a good choice.

I got this 4-digit lock for under 3 USD and have been happy with it and it has worked without any issues.

4-digit combination lock

Clothes and Accessories

Are AliExpress Clothes Good

You might be asking yourself are AliExpress Clothes and accessories of good quality since they are so cheap. My experience is that you can find good quality clothes and accessories if you look at the order volumes and ratings and choose wisely. There are lower quality items out there as well and one challenge is to get the correct size.

I have had a good experience buying the products like socks, belts, and shorts (you can find some more information below and links as well). I have also bought a dress shirt which I didn’t really ever wear since the fit wasn’t just right (fabric quality was ok though) and also some boxer shorts which were too small.

Are AliExpress Sizes Smaller

Yes, AliExpress sizes are smaller than what residents of the US or Europe would expect. Sizes in Asia are different but you should be fine if you follow the sellers sizing tables. I wouldn’t buy if no sizing information is provided. For example, in my case, I had to choose the 5XL size to get the same size as XL would have been locally.

Neoprene Beach Socks / Scuba socks

If you are snorkeling, scuba diving or playing underwater rugby you might have noticed that it’s a good idea to wear neoprene socks in your fins to avoid blisters. I used to wear regular socks while playing underwater rugby but after an hour in the pool I still got blisters. After I discovered these neoprene socks (link to Aliexpress) I haven’t gotten blisters a single time anymore.

I have also used these neoprene socks as beach footwear. You don’t burn your feet on hot sand and when going swimming you avoid cutting your feet on sharp rocks etc. If you are using them over sharp objects though they will wear out. I ruined one pair of them in Thailand, but they are so inexpensive so it doesn’t really matter. I was happy to avoid any scratches on my feet.

Belts from San Vitale

I did not imagine I would ever by clothes or accessories from Ali express. Ended up looking for belts online and ordered a San Vitale leather belt since it looked nice and the price was good. I have been wearing San Vitale belts ever since and have ordered a total of three belts with different buckles.

I would recommend buying the belts from the San Vitale official store to get reliable and prompt shipping. Check prices for the belt I have from Ali Express San Vitale Store.

Bamboo Socks from Bendu

I started looking for bamboo socks after I tried a pair I received as a gift. For some reason, bamboo socks are more comfortable to wear than cotton socks. It’s easy to put them on since they stretch. Bamboo socks tend to be a bit expensive but I found these bamboo socks from Bendu (check price on Aliexpress) to have a good price and excellent quality. I have ordered 20 pairs for myself and given as many as gifts. None of the socks have broken so far although I have used them daily for a year.

If you end up ordering these socks would really like to hear what you think. Would appreciate a comment on this post below.

Update February 2019: I still think these are the best everyday socks I have. What a good find.

Cufflinks

I have bought some cufflinks from Aliexpress but the first ones had plastic parts and broke within the first year. I ordered a second pair of cufflinks but found some which are entirely metal and they have been great (check prices on Aliexpress). It’s nice to leave them in the shirt until it needs to be washed so I ordered already some more.

I’m not sure are all the choices behind the link metal but at least the ones in the image which I use are entirely metal and have been very durable.

Shorts

I was looking for shorts for my upcoming holiday and in Finland, I wasn’t able to find anything in the local stores since it was already winter time. I took a chance and ordered a pair of inexpensive shorts from Aliexpress which looked good to me. To my surprise, the shorts were a lot better than I expected and they fit really well. I measured my waist and used their sizing table and ordered the 5XL size which would equal a regular US XL size.

Knitting and crocheting

Creating Amigurumi creatures has become surprisingly popular. Amigurumi is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small, stuffed yarn creatures. My daughter came across an Amigurumi book in a public library and since she loves stuffed animals she was instantly eager to create her own stuffed animals

The first thing one needs is a crochet hook or actually many hooks since one needs different sizes. I checked a local store and one can get one for around $3 but you could also get a full set of 12 crochet hooks of different sizes for around $3 on AliExpress.

Set of 12 Bamboo crochet hooks for around $2 – these are the ones I bought
Set of 12 Aluminium crochet hooks for around $3 – If you prefer aluminium these are very well rated as well

You might need other accessories, yarn and knitting tools to create your amigurumi stuffed creatures and you can pretty much find it all on Aliexpress.

Knitting Yarn, tools and accessories on AliExpress

Disclaimer about the AliExpress links

This site is a participant in the AliExpress Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to AliExpress.com.

Polar Nightly Recharge review

Sat, 29 Feb 2020 15:12:54 GMT

The Polar Nighly Recharge is Polar’s version of sleep tracking which shows you how well you slept and recovered during the night. It consists of two parts: Sleep Charge shows you how you slept and ANS Charge shows you how well your autonomic nervous system calmed down during the night.

I have used many smartwatches and fitness trackers for example from Garmin and Fitbit, but those don’t give you a similar score and insights into your sleep recovery as Polar’s Nighly Recharge. I think the Nighly Recharge is a fantastic feature and I use it daily on my Polar Ignite smartwatch.

If you are interested in the Polar Ignite you can check my comments on it and the end of this article.

Nighly Recharge benefits

How well you recover during your sleep has a huge impact on how you are able to function during the day. Stress from work and strain from training can have an impact on your sleep and the nightly recharge feature can tell you how well you have recovered.

The measurement insights can help you by knowing that you need to take it easy and for example get some more sleep if you haven’t recovered enough. For training purposes, it’s good to know how well you recovered during the night so that you know how hard you should train. Polar even gives you recommendations about training based on your measurements.

I have been using the Polar Ignite smartwatch for three months now and comparing it to the Vivoactive 3 which I used before I think the best feature is the nightly recharge. I really enjoy checking my stats each morning to see my sleep charge score and the ANS charge score.

I think the nightly recharge results do motivate me to go to bed earlier to be better charged for the next day. If I’m feeling tired in the morning it’s pretty much always visible in the nightly recharge results and I think the measurements are really accurate based on 90 days of using it.

How does Nighly Recharge Work

For your body and mind to function properly for work and training purposes it’s essential that you recover during your sleep.

Studies show that good indicators of recovery are sleep and the autonomic nervous system activity. The Polar Nighly Recharge feature combines these two aspects giving you insights on how your body is doing and it’s comparing your nighly results to averages from 28 days.

Nighly Recharge is comprised of two measurements: Sleep Charge shows you how you slept and ANS Charge shows you how well your autonomic nervous system calmed down during the first 4 hours of your sleep. Both of these measurements are done automatically by your smartwatch during the night. The only thing you need to do is wear the watch.

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Nightly Recharge shows the results as: very poor – poor – compromised – OK – good – very good by combining the Sleep Charge and ANS charge scores.

ANS charge is calculated based on three parameters heart rate, heart rate variability and breathing rate. The Polar smartwatch uses the wrist-based optical heart rate measurement sensor to get the data for these measurements. According to Polar ” To get a higher ANS charge your heart rate would need to be lower, heart rate variability higher and breathing rate lower than usual.” Heart rate has the biggest influence and breathing rate the lowest.

The ANS charge score is from -10 to +10 with zero being your usual level. Stress, exercising late and illness can elevate your heart rate giving you worse ANS results. My personal observations have shown all of these. For example, when having the flu I did see worse than normal results.

Sleep chargecompares your last night’s sleep to your past scores from 28 days. Sleep charge is shown as a score between 1- 100 and shows how much and how well you slept.

Sleep charge is determined as the average of six components under three themes: amount, solidity and regeneration. The six components are sleep time, interruptions, continuity, actual sleep, rem sleep, and deep sleep.

Devices that have the Nighly Recharge feature

The Nightly Recharge feature is unique to Polar and I haven’t seen anything like it on other smartwatches or fitness trackers yet.

Currently Polar has the Nightly Recharge feature on four devices: Ignite, Vantage M, Vantage V, and Vantage V Titan.

The cheapest one of these devices is the Polar Ignite which Amazon.com is selling for $180 in February 2020. I bought it three months ago and have thoroughly enjoyed it. I think it’s the best smartwatch I have had so far and it really provides a lot of value for such a small price.

Polar Ignite – Click to check the current price on Amazon.

Comparing Polar to Garmin I think Polar has recently moved leaps forwards and I think the Polar ecosystem matches Garmins and in some parts goes even beyond it for example with the Nightly Recharge feature combining it to the training recommendations. I must say that I enjoy my Polar Ignite more than the Garmin Vivoactive 3 which I reviewed some time ago. One thing I notice in particular is how easy and fast it’s to start the training with my Polar Ignite when I’m at the Gym. For some reason, I kind of struggled to do this quickly on the Garmin device.

The Polar Ignite has a surprising amount of features for such an affordable device:

full-color touch screen display
A ton of nighly metrics including breathing rate
Nightly recharge functionality showing
Fit Spark giving you training guidance based on your nightly recharge
Serene – Guided breathing exercise
Optical HR measurement and GPS
Running Index & VO2Max
Structured Workout
Indoor and Openwater swimming features
Unfortunately no offline music features

You can also check the Polar Ignite review by DC Rainmaker.

Watch “Polar Ignite GPS: 12 Things to Know” on YouTube

Polar Vantage M is also very reasonably priced if you want some more features than on the Ignite. Currently, the Vantage M is sold by Amazon for $220 and you do get pretty much all of what the Ignite has to offer but some additional features like support for more sensors for running and cycling and more battery life for training.

Polar Vantage M- Click to check the current price on Amazon.

I personally haven’t used the Vantage M but some of my friends do and say it’s good. It’s a bit larger than the Ignite so if you have a bigger wrist might make sense to go for the Vantage M just for looks since the Ignite can look small if you have a thick wrist.

What are the Benefits of a Smartwatch?

Thu, 13 Feb 2020 09:05:56 GMT

Smartwatches can do many things that your smartphone can’t. Benefits include tracking your heart rate, sleep, activity and overall fitness level. You can also play music and do phone free activities and even pay at the store.

What benefits do Smartwatches provide?

I have used smartwatches and fitness trackers for multiple years and I decided to do some research to complement my own view of what actually are the benefits of using these devices. So what are the benefits of smartwatches? **Smartwatches provide easy access to some of the smartphone applications and also provide sensor data like heart rate monitoring and sleep tracking which isn’t available on smartphones.**Check further along in this article the extensive list and descriptions of smartwatch functionality.

Did you come to this article because you are thinking about buying a smartwatch or fitness tracker but are not entirely sure yet does the investment pay off? I certainly think it does. You can check my smartwatch and fitness trackers buyers guide with recommendations for every budget starting from under $50. Not convinced yet, check my video below on the top 5 features smartwatches provide.

Watch “Smartwatch Benefits - TOP 5 Features and Bonus Surprise” on YouTube

What is a Smartwatch

Smartwatches are wearable computers in the form of wristwatches providing more features besides timekeeping. They often include integration to your smartphone showing your incoming calls and messages and some apps with additional functionality like weather information and maps for directions.

Smartwatches provide an extension to your smartphone showing some of the content you could see on your phone but without reaching for your phone. Another thing smartwatches provide is different sensors for fitness and health tracking. Step counting, Heart Rate Monitoring, and GPS are some of the features that may come with a smartwatch.

Smartwatch vs Smartphone

Smartphones can do many of the things you can do on a smartwatch but smartwatches are better suited for some things depending on the circumstances. While driving a car or bike it’s much more convenient to check notifications on your smartwatch than try to get your phone from the pocket. It’s nice to see for example the name of the incoming caller before answering the phone via your Bluetooth headset. Smartphones come with built-in GPS but it might be more convenient to just not bring your phone along when going out for a run and use your smartwatches built-in GPS to track the length and speed of your run.

Smartwatches also add things that your smartphone just doesn’t have for example heart rate monitoring. I really enjoy the Heart Rate measuring functionality when doing sports and I don’t even need to wear a chest strap like some years ago. Hear Rate measurements from the wrist have gotten really accurate. It’s also good that it tracks my activity during the day and I can challenge myself to walk more and use the stairs instead of the lift. The movement and heart rate tracking also makes it possible to get information about sleep time and quality automatically which can be beneficial and allow you to make sure your getting enough sleep and go to bed on time.

Waterproof smartwatches

Smartwatches are very versatile devices that are often waterproof. I like to leave my smartwatch on when going swimming or doing water sports and even when going into the sauna. Some smartphones are waterproof too nowadays but it would be really awkward to carry a smartphone while swimming. In addition to telling the time I like to measure my swim duration and some devices also measure distance and heart rate while swimming. If you want to know more about smartwatches that are suitable for swimming check my article on the topic.

Smartwatches for diving are also becoming a thing and multiple manufacturers like Garmin are providing devices for this purpose.

If you are looking for my recommendation on a smartwatch please check out my recommended gear page.

What are the functions of a smartwatch?

Smartwatches have a multitude of functions. Let’s go over some of them. Some smartwatches have more functions and apps and others less so it is in no way that all smartwatches are expected to have certain features.

Telling time, this one’s kind of obvious, it’s a watch after all. I would say it’s a lot more convenient to check the time, date and weekday on a watch compared to a smartphone.

Many smartwatches have a Stopwatch. This is similar compared to most smartphone clocks stopwatches but just to be used without the smartphone. I guess it kind of depends on the situation would I prefer using the stopwatch on my phone or smartwatch. If I’m on the move I do prefer the stopwatch on my wrist.

Alarm Clock, some smartwatches like the Apple watch come with alarms separate from the phone so you can choose to set the alarm on the watch instead of the phone and the built-in speakers and vibration on the watch will wake you up. Many smartwatches don’t have built-in speakers so you are relying only on the vibration. Usually, the vibration isn’t strong enough to wake me up but it’s handy if I want to set an alarm during the day to remind me I need to leave somewhere.

2. Smart features

Showing incoming calls, most smartwatches can show incoming calls when connected to your smartphone.

Notificationslike Calendar Reminders, Emails Twitter etc. notifications can often be glanced upon and in some cases fully read on the smartwatches screen. Usually, you get notifications from all the apps on your smartphone by default but you can also block apps. I like to just leave the ones I really want to get notified about like my calendar and Whatsapp.

Reminders, setting reminders can be done by using the virtual assistant Siri on the Apple Watch. Reminders will sync across devices.

Navigation, turn by turn navigation and directions on a smartwatch. Why not since it’s possible. Instead of a map and just arrows pointing you the way the Apple Watch also provides you a more discreet way of directing you with vibrating in different ways to tell you should you turn left or right. As a tourist, I think this would be handy since I wouldn’t look like a tourist staring at a map and it would also allow me to just look around and enjoy the atmosphere.

Find my Phone is a great feature allowing you to press a button on your smartwatch which will make your smartphone to give an alarm even if it is on silent allowing you to find it more easily.

Contactless Payment via Apple Pay, Android Pay, Garmin Pay, Samsung Pay or Fitbit Pay lets you pay for purchases with your watch. These mobile payment systems work with contactless payment readers so that you can pay without your card or phone. Basically, it should work at any store offering contactless payment.

Smartwatches often have integrated all the functionality we used to have on our fitness trackers. Health-related benefits include tracking your heart rate, sleep quality and time, activity and overall fitness level.

**Hours Slept and Sleep Quality –**Sleep measurement is possible with the Accelerometer, Gyro, and Heart Rate monitors on the smartwatch. Different manufacturers use different algorithms for tracking sleep time and quality with different levels of success. The better ones are in my experience able to very well know when I have fallen asleep and woken up. My favorite sleep measurement feature is the new Polar Nighly Recharge feature which I reviewed recently. It is able to give you a score of your recharge during the night and give you training recommendations based on it.

Heart Rate measurement – Smartwatches nowadays quite often come with heart rate monitors that can measure your heart rate from the wrist. Measuring your heart rate has many benefits. It allows you to track your heart rate during exercises allowing you to keep in a zone that’s increasing your fitness level. Another benefit is that heart rate measurement connected to Artificial Intelligence might be able to accurately detect specific types of abnormal heart rhythms (Read more about how heart rate measurements can be used).

Your resting heart rate measurement is also an indication of your general fitness level and some devices even so your fitness age based on your measurements.

ECG or electrocardiogram is a feature which is starting to be available on some smartwatches like the Apple Watch Series 4. It gives you more accurate heart rate measurements and gives more data for detecting possible heart-related problems.

Blood Pressure measurement is an entirely new feature for smartwatches. It first came available on the Omron HeartGuide Smartwatch in January 2019. Omron’s oscillometric blood pressure measurement smartwatch also received FDA clearance.

Fall Detection is possible with the accelerometer and gyroscope on smartwatches. Some devices like the Apple Watch is capable of detecting a fall and even placing an emergency call and notifying your emergency contacts if you are unresponsive.

Emergency SOS is an additional feature available at least of the Apple Watch which allows you to call for assistance from your smartwatch.

Step counter, pretty much standard stuff for smartwatches and fitness trackers to measure your step count and notify you when you reach your daily step goal.

Calories, burnt calories estimation is quite common on smartwatches and it’s calculated based on your activity like steps and logged activity like running and the measurements during those activities.

Sports features, many smartwatches allow you to initiate activity tracking for your walks, runs, cycling, swimming, Strength training etc. Garmin is very well known for its multisport smartwatches and they have highly accurate measurements on sports activities.

Sensors used in the health monitoring features

GPS positioning is not quite standard yet but it surely will become it. Smartphones a few years back didn’t all have GPS on them but now they do and so will smartwatches. Glonas and Galileo positioning systems are also supported on many devices. GPS is essential for tracking your outdoor activities like running, hiking and cycling to give you accurate readings of your speed and also to show your activities on a map.

Accelerometer, this is to track movement and used to implement for example the step counter. It also places a role in detecting movement related to sleep tracking etc.

Gyroscope, this is used to track rotation and comes into play in detecting what type of movement you are doing and is helpful with for example tracking your swimming.

Wrist-based heart rate monitor, this is obviously used to track your heart rate.

Barometric altimeter, Compass, and Thermometer. The barometric altimeter combined with the compass and thermometer is used for tracking your elevation so it’s a nice feature for runners and hikers.

4. Music Playing Features

Offline music playback capabilities are not yet very common on smartwatches but it is a huge benefit for people who want a phone free experience when going for a run or to the gym. You can read more about Offline Spotify and Deezer supporting devices on my other article.

You can either control your smartphones music player and essentially use the smartwatch as a remote or pair the smartwatch with your Bluetooth headset and stream music from your watch to your headphone. This is a handy feature when doing sports and not wanting to carry a smartphone. You can store your music on the device or with cellular smartwatches you can even stream over the network.

5. Calling Features

Receive Call, Make Call – There are two levels of doing this. You can use the smartwatch as a remote to answer a call on your smartphone or make a call by asking Siri to make a call on your smartphone. The second level of doing this is on a cellular smartwatch that actually comes with a network connection and microphone and speaker to make a call without your smartphone.

LTE smartwatches are becoming more common. Apple, Samsung, Huawei, LG and Garmin all have LTE smartwatches but it’s quite common to see poor battery life on these devices since being connected to the cellular network drains quite a lot of battery.

What are the Disadvantages of Smartwatches?

Usually, everything has some disadvantages, as well as advantages and smartwatches, are no exception.

One clear disadvantage, in my opinion, is the distraction of having your wrist buzzing all the time with incoming messages. Hard to get any work done without silencing it. That’s easily solved by silencing it for the workday or just by blocking apps which you don’t want to get notified by. Below is a list of some things to consider before buying a smartwatch.

Short battery life

Many people complain about the limited battery life of smartwatches. I personally like to wear my watch at night as well and don’t like to take it off for charging. This is a major issue with some smartwatches that have a battery life of only 1-2 days. So be sure to check the actual battery life of the device and go for something that has a battery life of 6 days and up.

I like to use the sleep tracking feature so it’s really annoying to wake up with a dead battery or to have to take it off for charging for the night. Battery life of 6 days or more allows me to charge it during the weekend at a time I’m not doing any activity I want to track.

Screen size is small

For some smartwatch applications, the small screen size can be an issue. Smartwatches have tiny screens compared to smartphones. I think it’s a good idea to pay attention to the screen size and think about what you are trying to do with the device.

Electronics getoutdated

Many tend to want to upgrade the smartphone after two or three years. Smartwatches are similarly electronics that get outdated and most likely you will want to upgrade after a few years. So keep this in mind when choosing a smartwatch and what kind of budget you want to spend on a device that will quite quickly get outdated. It’s not like buying an automatic watch that you might end up using for 20 or even 40 years.

The newer end of smartwatches can cost almost as much as a high-end smartphone so they tend to be expensive. My approach to this is to buy something that is released more than a year ago and still has most of the features as the newest releases

Devices get damaged

Smartwatches are electronics and you wear it on your wrist so it should at least be splash proof so you can wear it while washing your hands and when doing some exercise and getting sweat on it. I don’t like to take my watch off for taking a shower or for a swim so I will always check to make sure it’s waterproof.

Some of the earlier fit bit models had issues with the bands starting to show wear and tear and eventually breaking off. Fitbits customer service was very responsive and helpful in replacing those devices, but still, I think it’s something to watch out for. I haven’t seen this issue that much anymore but it’s a good idea to check the reviews before committing to a device.

Seiko Smartwatches?

Thu, 16 Jan 2020 18:14:59 GMT

Does Seiko make Smartwatches?

I would really love to answer yes, but that’s not quite accurate. If Seiko would have an Android smartwatch that looks as good as the Seiko automatic watches I would enjoy wearing one. Unfortunately, Seiko doesn’t have any real smartwatches currently. The Seiko Epson Corporation which is part of the Seiko Group does, however, have smartwatches. So an Epson smartwatch is as close to a Seiko smartwatch one can currently get. However, the Epson smartwatches have been discontinued. The Seiko x Wena smartwatch has been released in Japan and could be of interest. One could also argue that the Seiko Astron GPS Solar watches are kind of smartwatches but perhaps that’s not really what you are looking for.

If you want a smartwatch but haven’t yet decided what to get you will surely find my smartwatch buyers guide helpful.

Seiko watches are of great quality at an affordable price and I have worn my Seiko 5 almost daily although I am a huge smartwatch fan.

If you really must have a smartwatch that looks really good like some of the Seiko Automatic watches check my recommendation of the Garmin Fenix Chronos at the end of this article.

Seiko x Wena smartwatch

Seiko has released the Seiko Wena wrist pro smartwatch which is a collaboration with the Sony Wena company. The watch consists of a traditional mechanical Seiko but it’s combined with a smart bracelet from Sony Wena. It’s currently only available in Japan. The Wena bracelets are available also elsewhere so I think you could buy a Wena band and a Seiko watch and just change the bracelet to get a similar result.

Epson Smartwatches

Epson has a few good looking smartwatches, for example, the ProSense 347 GPS Multisport Watch. They launched 5 smartwatches in 2017 ranging from 99 USD to 399USD. Looking at the Epson website for GPS watches it seems there is nothing there anymore. All the Epson smartwatches I checked are marked discontinued on the Epson website. It is stated in multiple sources that the Epson has discontinued the entire RunSense and ProSense ranges. They never did that well and it must be assumed that Epson didn’t want to compete in this very competitive market of smartwatches and fitness trackers.

Seiko Watches

Seiko produces watches with quartz, kinetic, solar, and mechanical movements of varying prices. Some Seiko watches could be called smartwatches although it’s perhaps pushing the definition.

So what makes Seiko watches special? Seiko is one of the very few fully integrated watchmakers in the world, with complete in-house capabilities in every area of watchmaking, from the development of component materials through design and manufacture to assembly and adjustment. They also have relatively inexpensive watch options in addition to the high-end luxury watches.

Seiko has several lines of watches:

Astron
Seiko 5
Prospex
Presage
Premier
Credor
Grand Seiko

Seiko Astron GPS Solar watches

The Seiko Astron could be called a smartwatch since it does have a wearable computer. The Seiko Astron was released in 2012 and it tells time by receiving GPS signals anywhere on Earth. The original Seiko Astron was launched on Christmas Day in 1969 and it was the world’s first commercially available quartz wristwatch.

The new Seiko Astron is something special since it can adjust to any time zone and set its time with the use of GPS. The watch is also solar powered so you never need to charge it.

The Seiko Astron lacks lots of features that can be found in many smartwatches. The GPS on the Astron can’t be used to track your exercises or to provide navigation it’s there solely to tell time.

When you take an Astron out of the box, it may have to be charged. It is powered by light – any type of light will charge its battery, but sunlight is the most efficient in doing so. When the Astron is fully charged the battery will last for two months. This is much more than you need since you usually see some light daily.

While the Astron’s GPS sync functions allow it to keep time with great accuracy, the movement itself, without syncing, offers typical +/-15 seconds per month quartz performance.

Seiko Astron GPS Solar watch – check current price on Amazon

Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date, day, perpetual calendar, second time zone, GPS-controlled world time with 39 time zones Movement: Quartz, solar charging Pricepoint: 1000 EUR Plus

Seiko Kinetic watches

Like mechanical and quartz, Kinetic is a platform. Seiko Kinetic movements convert kinetic movement into electrical energy. Seiko created in 1986 the first automatic quartz watch that combined the self-energizing attributes of an automatic watch with quartz accuracy. The watch is entirely powered by its movement in everyday wear.

Automatic quartz is the term describing watch movements that combine a self-winding rotor mechanism (as used in automatic mechanical watches) to generate electricity with a piezoelectric quartz crystal as its timing element. These movements aim to provide the advantages of quartz without the inconvenience and environmental impact of batteries.

Kinetic Perpetual combines the beauty of a classic mechanical perpetual calendar, correct until February 28, 2100, with the advantages of Kinetic – powered by the movement of your body – perpetual quartz accuracy, and up to 4 years autonomy when not worn.

Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date, day, month, perpetual calendar Movement: Quartz, charged via movement Pricepoint: 150 EUR Plus

Seiko Automatic watches

Seiko has plenty of mechanical automatic watches to choose from. Almost all of the lines or brands of Seiko watches have automatic models to choose from. Seiko 5, Prospex, Presage, Premier, Credor, and Grand Seiko all have automatic models.

An automatic or self-winding watch is a mechanical watch in which the natural motion of the wearer provides energy to run the watch, making manual winding unnecessary.

There is something special about automatic watches that make them so popular with watch enthusiasts. I think it’s that there is something constantly in motion in the watch and that makes it alive. Another aspect is that it needs tending to since it’s not as accurate as a quartz watch.

Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date, day, month, perpetual calendar Movement: Mechanical, charged via movement Pricepoint: 70 EUR Plus for some Seiko 5 models, ranging to 40 000 EUR Plus for some Grand Seiko models

Seiko 5 SNZF17K1 Sea Urchin

My personal choice for an automatic watch is the Seiko 5 Sports model SNZF17K1 also known as the “Sea Urchin“. This looks a lot like a Rolex Submariner from a Bond movie but the price point is currently under $150 on Amazon.

Seiko 5 SNZF17K1 – check current price on Amazon

It’s not a smartwatch, but it looks really smart and I love it that I never have to worry about the battery running out since it doesn’t have one.

The quality to price ratio of Seiko watches is unbeatable. Seiko watches offer solid construction and looks, but with a price that doesn’t warn against using them in high impact activities. Therefore there are a ton of Seiko watches that have been put through it all; yard work, construction, moving, auto repair, sports, and anything else where your watch will take a beating.

I have worn my Seiko 5 almost daily and I don’t take it off for sports, car maintenance or any other activities. I have also worn it while swimming, diving and even in the Sauna. As you can see in the photo it does have some minor scratches but it’s still working great.

With this watch, you get a completely automatic Seiko mechanical movement with the time, day, and date. The glass is made of Seiko’s own formidable Hardlex material that is stronger than mineral glass. The case construction is all steel, and even the links are solid steel. The bracelet is secured with a triple locking clasp, that Seiko is known to construct well.

Smartwatches which look like regular steel watches

Garmin Fenix Chronos

If you like the look of some of the Seiko automatic watches but you really want to have a smartwatch then the Garmin Fenix Chronos is a great option. The Chronos is a premium multisport watch with durable metal housing and bracelet and a high-strength, scratch-resistant sapphire lens.

Crafted of premium jeweler’s grade materials, fēnix Chronos is the first Garmin watch to combine a durable metal housing (containing an EXO™ omnidirectional GPS and GLONASS antenna in the bezel) with the latest outdoor navigation and fitness training features. These features include Elevate wrist heart rate technology, daily activity tracking, smart notifications, and activity profiles. The sophisticated design of this highly evolved timepiece fits your style anywhere, anytime.

I would say the only downsides are that the battery is rated to last 8 days and it does come at a suggested price of $1500 and it will eventually get outdated. Comparing this to a Seiko 5 Automatic watch which you can get for almost 1/10 of the price and it will most likely last you a lifetime.

Garmin Fenix Chronos – Check current price on Amazon

Are Smartwatches Worth Buying – You might be surprised by #11

Wed, 15 Jan 2020 22:50:57 GMT

The five must-have features that make smartwatches worth buying are currently 1. wrist-based heart rate measurement, 2. sleep tracking, 3. sports tracking, 4. GPS for distance and speed measurement and 5. smart notifications.

I have been asked many times: are smartwatches worth buying? Yes, I think so. You might be surprised by all the things you can do with smartwatches. Smartphones were initially high-end devices that few felt the need to buy and nowadays I couldn’t really imagine not having a smartphone since the benefits are so obvious. I think eventually the same thing will happen to smartwatches but we are currently still at the stage where you might be thinking do the benefits really outweigh the cost.

A decent smartphone can cost from anywhere from $100 to $1000. Smartwatches used to cost $250 and above but there are some good lower-cost options out there as well, even for under $100.

Features that make a Smartwatch worth buying

I’m listing the features based on what are the things I use the most and what I think is essential in a smartwatch. For you, the list might be in a totally different order based on your preferences. I like to do sports and also health-related features are high on the list for me.

1. Heart Rate monitoring

For me, wrist-based heart monitoring has become essential. I find it so valuable to be able to track my resting heart rate since that’s an indication of my physical condition and how my training has effected. A lower resting heart rate is an indication of better physical health. Also seeing the heart rate when going for a run or cycling or any other activity is great and something I expect to have in my fitness tracker or smartwatch.

It was back in 2015 when the Fitbit Charge HR came out and I got used to having this feature I haven’t ever wanted a device without it.

Also if you consider the possibly life-saving health benefits that heart rate monitoring might have in the future I think this is just a must-have. I was researching how smartwatches can be used to detect heart attacks and discovered that there is some really interesting research going on where heart rate monitoring data is being used to detect abnormal heart rhythms and other conditions. You can read about it in my article about smartwatches and heart attacks here.

2. Sleep Tracking

I was amazed by the accuracy of the sleep tracking features on the Fitbit Charge HR back in 2015 and found this data to be really useful. Studies have shown how important sleep is and if you are having trouble getting enough sleep due to staying up too late perhaps it might be a good idea to start tracking your sleep amount and getting motivated to correct your sleeping rhythms.

Almost all smartwatches have sleep tracking nowadays and for me, it’s also important to have a good smartphone app where I can easily see how much sleep I’m getting. I feel that this is such an important feature that I have put it high up into my top 5 must-have features.

My favorite sleep tracking feature is the Polar Nightly Recharge which I reviewed recently.

3. Sports Tracking

Sports tracking features have existed in fitness trackers before smartwatches and I still feel that this is something really important. I think it’s really motivating to see am I meeting my goal of doing sports 3 times per week and how many active minutes I have per week.

During the summertime, I like to run, roller skate and go cycling. I like to compete with myself and why not with my peers as well and what better way to do this than track my distance and speed each time and try to beat my previous exercises.

I prefer not having multiple devices for different purposes so why not combine it all in one device, a smartwatch, I wear all the time every day.

Smartwatches have recently also gotten better at tracking sports. My Fitbit Charge HR wasn’t really water resistant so swimming was out of the question. My next device was the Polar A360 that allowed me to swim but not really track my swims. Next, I got the Garmin Vivoactive Hr and then the Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music (my review here) which both allows me to track my swims distance and time and get really accurate results for my pool swims. This helps since I don’t have to keep count of laps and I can also compare my swims from one week to another and see progress.

4. GPS for Tracking Distance and Speed

I’m listing GPS as a must-have feature for myself since it’s so important for me to get the speed and distance for my outdoor sports. I was doing a lot of biking during high-school and college from 1999 to 2005 and I was using one of those bicycle odometers that showed the distance and speed and was always fascinated with tracking my results. Next game smartphones with GPS and Nokia Sports tracker app around 2005 and now GPS chips are so small and inexpensive that it makes perfect sense putting them on smartwatches.

On the Fitbit Charge HR there was no GPS and using the smartphone GPS was possible but inconvenient and sometimes not as accurate. When buying a smartwatch if sports is at all important to you I would recommend getting a smartwatch which has GPS.

5. Smart Notifications

Getting my smartphone notifications on my smartwatch has become surprisingly useful for me. Before actually using this feature I used to think it’s kind of a gimmick. But now after having used this feature for multiple years, I have started to rely on this feature more and more.

I do understand why some say on Reddit that this is a must-have feature for them.

On most devices, you can choose which notifications you want to get on your smartwatch. I find it really useful to get my incoming call, WhatsApp, SMS and calendar notifications. I don’t want to have my wrist vibrating and interrupting me all the time so I disable all the social media notifications immediately.

6. Offline Music support

Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music

It’s still quite rare to have offline music support on smartwatches, but it’s becoming a feature to look for when considering a smartwatch purchase if you like to workout without your smartphone.

If you are using Spotify or Deezer it’s most convenient to get a smartwatch that supports syncing your playlist on to your device. In this case, you don’t need to own your music and you don’t need to deal with music in a different way when you want to listen to it via your smartwatch. Smartwatches that support offline Spotify and Deezer can be found mainly from Garmin, Samsung, and Fitbit. I have used the Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music smartwatch and syncing the music and playback is pretty straight forward. If music playback is important for you, my review of the Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music will surely be of interest.

There are also devices that don’t support music services like Spotify and Deezer but still allow you to transfer your own music to the device. For example, the Amazfit Stratos has storage for music and you can transfer the music from your PC on to the smartwatch.

7. Telling time

A pretty obvious feature on a smartwatch is the capability of telling the time. People often say they don’t need a watch since they can tell the time by checking their smartphone. That’s true but it’s much more convenient to check it on your wrist rather than pulling out your phone from your pocket. In addition to the time, I often check the date on my watch.

8. Contactless Payment

Contactless payment first became available on debit cards and then on smartphones with Apple Pay and Android Pay. Later smartwatch manufacturers came out with Samsung Pay, Fitbit Pay, and Garmin Pay. These mobile payment systems work with contactless payment readers so that you can pay without your card or phone. Basically, it should work at any store offering contactless payment.

I think contactless payment on the smartwatch is not really a must have and I haven’t tried it yet. Contactless payment with the debit card is really handy though and I use it each time if the purchase is under the limit it works with. I can see though how it would be helpful to enable it on my watch so that I don’t need to pull out my wallet or I could go for a run and pop by the store to get something to drink without bringing a debit card or smartphone with me.

9. Calling directly from the Smartwatch

Cellular smartwatches with LTE are available and I would really enjoy this feature if it weren’t for the downside of having a shorter battery life. I like to be reachable by my family even if I go to the gym or for a run so if I had a cellular smartwatch then I could leave my smartphone at home. Surely I wouldn’t like to talk on my watch for extended periods of time but on the other hand, if I’m going out for a run I would have a set of Bluetooth headphones and talking via those would be convenient.

Many smartwatches have some sort of navigation features providing you with arrows and distance but some even offer a map and turn by turn navigation like you are used to on the smartphone. The Apple Watch even provides a more discreet way of directing you with vibrating in different ways to tell you should you turn left or right. This might come in handy if you are visiting a new city and want to get walking directions and look at the views at the same time.

11. Blood pressure measurement

Some smartwatches provide blood pressure estimates with sensors. Estimates might not be very useful but there are also FDA approved medical device grade blood pressure measurement options like the Omron Heart Guide smartwatch which was recently released at CES 2019. I imagine this would be really handy for someone who needs to track their blood pressure multiple times per day.

The Omron device is quite expensive and doesn’t combine all the other features into the device so it isn’t my favorite choice though.

Conclusion and devices to consider

As you have read there is a multitude of features that come with smartwatches that make them worthwhile. There are many things like heart rate monitoring and sports tracking which your smartphone just can’t do and other features which just are more convenient on the smartwatch or perhaps you want to leave your bulky smartphone in the locker room while doing a workout just with your smartwatch.

I think Garmin and Fitbit provide some of the most advanced features for health savvy users and Apple Watch has perhaps the best smart features. These devices can range from anywhere from 150USD to 500USD. If you are looking for something less expensive you could have a look at what Xiaomi and Amazfit provide. You can find my recommendations on my recommended gear page.

Best Deals at Amazon

Mon, 15 Jul 2019 12:20:29 GMT

How to get the best deals at Amazon?

My favorite ways of finding bargains at Amazon are the warehouse deals that are 20% off twice a year:

Prime day 15th and 16th of July
Black Friday / Cyber Monday period 19th to 26th of November

How it works: On July 15th, 2019 from 00:01 till July 16th, 2019 at 23:59 only, Amazon Prime members get a 20% discount off of all products from Amazon Warehouse.

Amazon.de

Black Friday in 2018 is on 24.11 and Cyber Monday is on 26.11. Many retailers start offering deals on 19.11 and some have deals running until 2.12. This is a good time of the year to do some electronics shopping like renewing your smartphone, smartwatch or laptop.

Also Christmas shopping at this time of the year is a good idea to take advantage of the deals that are being offered.

My favorite Amazon tip is to take advantage of the Warehouse Deals. In addition to the already reduced prices there usually is an additional 20% off during the Black Friday-Cyber Monday deals period. On Amazon.de the 20% reduction in 2018 lasted from 19.11 to 26.11.

Warehouse Deals are customer returns and open box products that might have damaged packaging etc. If you choose the very good condition or like new items you won’t be disappointed.

How to access the Amazon Warehouse Deals

The warehouse deals are somewhat hidden on the Amazon site. Usually the link is somewhere at the bottom of the page.

Amazon.com Warehouse Deals page link

Amazon.de Warehouse Deals page link

Amazon.co.uk Warehouse Deals page link

This site is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to AliExpress.com. You still get the best price on Amazon so I think it’s a win win.

Great deals still available at Amazon.de Warehouse deals

Motorola Moto X4 4GB ram
- I just ordered one of these for myself in very good condition for 236 EUR -20% off so 196EUR
Motorola Moto Z Play 3GB ram
- This is still a great phone and has great battery life. I’m currently using one. At around 160EUR it’s a good price but I would recommend rather the X4
Motorola Moto G5S 3GB ram
- My daughter currently uses this phone. I think it’s a great option if you want something cheaper and it’s definitely powerful enough for most use cases. It can now be bough for 130EUR -20% so 104EUR which is a great price.

Free shipping at Amazon

Also note that you can make use of free shipping on orders over 29 or 39 EUR at Amazon.de and Amazon.com has even some products without a minimum purchase amount.

Amazon.de free shipping information Amazon customers from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Sweden and Finland can now enjoy Free Standard Delivery on tens of millions of items on qualifying orders over 39 EUR when shopping on www.amazon.de. For eligible orders shipped to Germany, Free Delivery is available over 29 EUR.
Amazon.com free shipping information For a limited time enjoy Free Shipping with no minimum purchase amount. Any items with “FREE Shipping” messaging on the product detail page that is fulfilled and shipped by Amazon is eligible
Amazon.co.uk free shipping information Orders including £10 or more of eligible books, dispatched by Amazon, qualify for FREE Delivery. All orders of £20 or more of eligible items, dispatched by Amazon, across any product category also qualify for FREE Delivery.

Best travel camera on a budget

Sun, 14 Jul 2019 16:48:52 GMT

Are you looking for a great budget travel camera that you can also use for vlogging? Something not too heavy and big but still with great low light performance. It shouldn’t break the bank and it should do photos and video and be expandable with an external microphone and the price should be around $500. That’s exactly what I was looking for so I decided to write an article on what points I compared and how I chose a camera for myself.

I have used an Olympus E-520 DSLR for years when traveling but I some point started feeling it’s too big for some trips so decided not to take it on some trips just carrying my smartphone. Smartphone cameras produce quite nice results but immediately if you try doing something more with the photo the quality just isn’t sufficient.

Things to consider when selecting a camera for travel

Size of the camera body and lenses

Since we are looking at travel cameras that would be lightweight and smaller taking less space in the backpack we are limiting the search into mirrorless camera designs since the DSLR are quite a bit bigger and heavier.

Having a mirrorless design helps keep the camera size smaller and the lenses tend to be smaller as well.

We want something clearly better than a smartphone camera so we are not really looking at small sensor compact cameras at all. Some compacts and bridge cameras with 1-inch sensor sizes are interesting but considering the low light requirement, it’s hard to find anything at a budget that would do as well as a camera with an interchangeable lens using a fast prime lens.

Articulated LCD

Do you also want to capture video of yourself in a vlogging style? If you do then you want to know if you are in frame and in focus when you are talking to the camera. A fully articulated LCD screen makes this possible. This means that the screen can be flipped towards yourself when you are pointing the camera at your own face. This narrows down the options quite a lot since many cameras only have a tilting lens. You could mount an external LCD on the camera but that will be more expensive and easily quite bulky.

Microphone port for audio

If you are recording videos most likely you have noticed that the audio quality in many smartphones and other cameras with internal microphones is not that great. If it’s winding it can be especially bad. So the possibility of adding an external microphone to the camera is really valuable.

Sensor size and crop factor effect on field of view and depth of field

You need to realize the effect of sensor size on the field of view and the depth of field. This is very important when comparing lenses. The below chapters give you a brief overview but for more details, you could refer to this article on crop factor.

The comparison is always to a full-frame sensor size which refers to the standard of 35mm film.

Typical sensor sizes and crop factors:

Full frame, Crop factor 1x
APS-C, Crop factor 1.6x
Four Thirds, Crop factor 2x
1″, Crop factor 2.7x

Field of view

If you are used to for example a 50mm focal length giving you a certain field of view you will need to use the crop factor as a multiplier to get the same field of view. The sensor size doesn’t affect the focal length since that’s a physical property, but it does affect the field of view.

For example, my Olympus E-520 is a Four Thirds camera so the crop factor is 2x. My Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 18-180mm 1:3.5-6.3 lens would in terms of field of view match a full-frame zoom lens with a focal length of 36-360mm.

Depth of field

The aperture is not directly affected by the crop factor but based on what I read I would need to multiply the aperture by the crop factor to get the same amount of background blur as in a full-frame lens assuming I want the same composition.

For example, my Olympus E-520 is a Four Thirds camera so the crop factor is 2x. My Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 18-180mm 1:3.5-6.3 lens would in terms of depth of field and background blur match a full-frame zoom lens with an aperture of 7-12.6.

Tony Northrup explains in his blog post and videos that you need to multiply the aperture by the crop factor to compare lenses regarding the background blur.

Lens ecosystem and price

First of all, you need to decide do you want interchangeable lenses. The ability to change lenses is handy if you want to change between a lens for low light conditions and something for shooting with during the day when you want to zoom in etc.

If you have concluded that you do want interchangeable lenses then the availability and prices of lenses are worth checking since lenses can be really expensive.

Canon lens ecosystem

The Canon M series (Mirrorless) cameras use the EF-M mount which has some lenses but the selection is not that great. However, the Canon EF mount has plenty of lenses and many are very reasonably priced and one can get inexpensive adapters to fit the EF lenses onto the M series cameras and based on the camera experts I listened to on youtube they are saying these work great.

Sony lens ecosystem

Based on my limited research many are saying that the Sony lenses for the mirrorless cameras I’m interested in are rather expensive. Will need to look into this in more depth.

Micro four-thirds lens ecosystem

There are multiple camera brands behind the four thirds and micro four-thirds lens standard so there are quite many lenses available. Based on my understanding these are more expensive than the EF-mount lenses.

Possible camera candidates

Based on the above considerations I have looked for cameras that have a microphone port and a fully articulated screen.

This table shows possible candidates for comparison.

Name	Buy on Amazon	Price	Sensos size	Crop factor	Lens mount	Image stabilization	Articulated LCD	Viewfinder type	Touch screen	Dimensions	Microphone port	Hot Shoe	Released	Brand
Canon EOS M50	Canon EOS M50	€520	APS-C	1.6x	Canon EF-M	No	Fully articulated	Electronic	Yes	116 x 88 x 59 mm (4.57 x 3.46 x 2.32″)	Yes	Yes	Feb 26, 2018	Canon
Canon PowerShot SX70 HS	Canon Powershot SX70	€460	1/2.3"	5.6x	-					127 x 91 x 117 mm (5 x 3.58 x 4.61″)			Sep 20, 2018	Canon
PANASONIC LUMIX G7	PANASONIC LUMIX G7	€480	Four Thirds	2x	Micro Four Thirds	No	Fully articulated	Electronic	Yes	125 x 86 x 77 mm (4.92 x 3.39 x 3.03″)	Yes	Yes	2015, May	Panasonic
Olympus OM-D E-M5 II	Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II	€560	Four Thirds	2x	Micro Four Thirds	Yes	Fully articulated	Electronic	Yes	124 x 85 x 45 mm (4.88 x 3.35 x 1.77″)	Yes	Yes	2015, February	Olympus
Canon EOS M100		€300	APS-C	1.6x	Canon EF-M	No	Tilting	None	Yes	108 x 67 x 35 mm (4.25 x 2.64 x 1.38″)	No	No	Aug 29, 2017	Canon
Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II		€500	1"	2.7x	-	Yes	Tilting	None	Yes	106 x 61 x 42 mm (4.17 x 2.4 x 1.65″)	No	No	Feb 18, 2016	Canon
Canon EOS M3		€360	APS-C	1.6x	Canon EF-M	No	Tilting	None	Yes	111 x 68 x 44 mm (4.37 x 2.68 x 1.73″)	No	No	2015, February	Canon
Canon EOS M6			APS-C	1.6x	Canon EF-M	No	Tilting	Optional	Yes	112 x 68 x 45 mm (4.41 x 2.68 x 1.77″)	Yes	Yes	2017, February	Canon

The camera I ended up buying based on my comparison is the Canon EOS M50 listed above. The features that were most important for me where the low light performance, the articulating screen, and the microphone port. Also, the camera had to be clearly smaller than my old DSLR. The Canon EOS M50 meets all of these criteria at a reasonable price.

Camera tripods

If you want to make videos you might want to have a small tripod for placing on a table or for some shots outdoors you want to place the camera somewhere to get a steady shot.

For vlogging and traveling the tripods that I came across for travel purposes are listed below. I watched a bunch of videos on these for research on what would fit my camera. The EOS M50 is 390 grams which is a similar weight than other mirrorless cameras with an APS-C sensor. However one needs to take into account the lens weight as well. So depending on the lenses you plan to use you need to check that the tripod can carry both the camera and the lens.

SIRUI 3T-35K / SIRUI 3T-35R
- This tripod can be used as a handheld video tripod or a regular table tripod. This is the one I currently want but didn’t order one yet since I thought it would be a good idea to first get some experience with the camera and see what lenses I’m going to purchase.
Joby Gorillapod 3 K Kit
- Many are using the Joby Gorillapod tripods as handheld video tripods and they are versatile. However many report that the joints wear out and you have the risk of the camera falling over when the joints are not bearing the weight anymore.
Manfrotto Pixi Evo
- This one is sturdy plastic and many report they like it more than the Gorillapod even though it’s not as versatile. Also, it’s too low for a tabletop tripod and you might end up filming yourself from an angle which doesn’t look that good in my opinion. So that’s why I prefer the Sirui 3T-35 tripod even though it’s more expensive
Joby Telepod 325
- This one will not be able to hold my Canon EOS M50 camera but would work with a compact camera or your smartphone.

Best Smartphone Guide

Wed, 03 Jul 2019 21:39:57 GMT

In this buyers guide you will find our top Android smartphone choice for a consumer looking for good hardware at a good price. This guide is not about the best phones but rather the best phone for a moderate budget in the range of around $100-$400.

In some cases, you can get similar hardware for $200 compared to some other popular brands newest phone costing 600$ and more.

I get often asked for smartphone recommendations from people who want to save some cash sine I’m usually buying high quality phones for moderate prices. Instead of answering the same question multiple times I can point to this article which I will try to update from time to time.

How to compare phone specifications

There are multiple sites for comparing phone specifications but the go-to site which I have used for multiple years now and it seems the local stores use it too is gsmarena.com.

Usually I just search for the phone I have and add a comparison to the couple of best phone candidates I have and start comparing the specs. But first you need to find the phone candidates and the price plays a huge role here so you need to read the next chapter on how to find good candidates.

How to find good smartphone candidates within your budget

I live in Europe so I like to use the geizhals.eu site since it’s in my opinion the best comparison site in Europe for this purpose.

First go to mobile phones without contract and then start selecting criteria that are important to you.

I’m not willing to buy just any brand of phone so I usually choose specific brands which I know have good phones. Currently, my favorites are the Moto (Motorola) phones and other Android One phones. Samsung, LG, Nokia, Google, Xiaomi, Sony should all be fine too. Below you can see the ones I selected for this search.

I’m not too picky about screen size so I don’t select that at all. Usually, I like something in between 5″ and 5,5″ but most smartphones are anyhow that size.

I’m not too focused on CPU power but I do look at the RAM. Currently I wouldn’t go under 3GB of RAM even for a low budget of around $100 but personally, for myself, I would choose 4GB+ RAM. For the purpose of this exercise lets’ select from 3GB (It’s called Memory in the Geizhals website).

Then just sort based on the price and start looking at candidates. For example, I found the Moto G6 with 3GB of RAM a possible low-cost option.

However, for me, it does make a difference where the phone is available at. So see below my preferred phone shopping sites.

Where to purchase a smartphone from

I have purchased smartphones from local stores and online in my home country and from Europe mainly from multiple sites in Germany and the UK. By far the best customer service experience has been offered to me by Amazon.de.

One great benefit is also that Amazon.de has free shipping which in my experience has been quite quick.

It’s especially tempting to purchase a warehouse deal from Amazon.de before Christmas time since you get -20% off during a special period. Please see my article on the warehouse deals before Christmas here.

I have been buying smartphones for the whole extended family and have had a few devices malfunction. The best part about Amazon is that they have been so easy to deal with if a return has been needed. An additional benefit, if the device was a warehouse deal, is that they give you the money back since it was a unique one of a kind item. So in some cases, I have had an almost two-year-old phone malfunction and then got the original purchase price back which allowed me to buy a newer better phone with the same money. That’s a sure way of keeping the customer happy.

So the bottom line is that currently I always order from Amazon and always purchase my smartphones as warehouse deals. The only exception was when someone dropped a weight on my phone at the gym and I needed a replacement right away during the same day so I just bought a Nokia 7.1 (Android One phone) at the local store.

How to find good smartphone options from Amazon.de warehouse deals

The Amazon.de warehouse deals section might be tricky to find if you are looking for it the first time. You can easily access Amazon.de warehouse deals section with smartphones with this link.

A good way to approach the searching is then just to tick the boxes for the brands of phones you are interested in (same approach as with Geizhals above). Usually, there aren’t that many phones so you should easily find some that are interesting for you. You can also use some of the phones you found in the Geizhals step to see for what price you could get them for.

Let’s use the Moto G6 we found in the Geizhals step as an example. So let’s just filter for Motorola phones in Amazon. Sorting based on the price it’s quite easy to find the Moto G6.

If you want a direct link to Amazon.de Moto G6 here it is. Just click on the used ones and you will find if it’s in stock as a warehouse deal. I found it for 127€ in Good condition as a warehouse deal. For a phone released in 2018 just about a year ago with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage and expandable with an SD card and upgradable to the new Android 9.0 I think this is a great find. Just look at the specs on GsmArena and compare to your current phone or some 200-400€ phone at the local store and you might be wondering why would you spend that much more.

If you want 4GB of RAM instead of 3GB then look at the G6 with 4GB of RAM or Moto X4 or some Android One phone.

Best if you are really tight on cash – around $100

Would recommend the Moto G6 linked above.

Best if you can spend – around $200

Will update with more information when I have the time but phones I would look into currently are:

Moto X4 with 4GB RAM on Amazon.de warehouse deal for around 233€
Motorola One 4GB RAM on Amazon.de warehouse deal for 148€
Nokia 7.1
Other Android One phones

Smartwatches that can measure Blood Pressure

Thu, 16 May 2019 22:04:33 GMT

Can any Smartwatch measure Blood Pressure? Yes, the Omron HeartGuide BP8000-M Smartwatch has a built-in oscillometric blood pressure measurement and it is also FDA cleared. Omron just launched the device at CES in January 2019 at a price of 499 USD. For someone who is recommended to measure blood pressure on a daily basis, this sounds like a really convenient option.

Update 16.5.2019: I wasn’t able to find the Omron HeartGuide BP8000-M on the Omron site in Europe and in the US if one tries to order one it says “Due to overwhelming consumer demand for HeartGuide, estimated shipping begins on September 15”. So it seems we need to wait for a while still before we can get our hands on this new innovation.

Why is blood pressure measurement important?

Blood pressure measurement is important because high blood pressure is an indication of an increased risk of health problems in the future. By monitoring your blood pressure you will know when to see a doctor and discuss preventive measures.

Healthy arteries are flexible, strong and elastic. Their inner lining is smooth so that blood flows freely, supplying vital organs and tissues with nutrients and oxygen. High blood pressure (Hypertension) is putting extra strain on your arteries and on your heart. Hypertension gradually increases the pressure of blood flowing through your arteries. This can lead to damaged and narrowed arteries since the higher pressure can damage your arteries and allow fats from your diet to collect in the arteries. Eventually, your artery walls become less elastic and thicker, limiting blood flow throughout your body.

Thicker artery walls make the arteries more narrow and more likely to become clogged up. This increases the risk of clots that can lead to a heart attack or stroke.

Note that the medical information presented here is gathered from the American Heart Associations web page.

The silent killer

You might have heard to high blood pressure being referred to as the “silent killer”. This is because most of the time, high blood pressure has no obvious symptoms to indicate that something is wrong. The best way to protect yourself if making yourself aware of the risks, making lifestyle changes which keep you healthy and monitoring your blood pressure from time to time.

Understanding your Blood Pressure Measurements

The below table shows what is considered normal, as recommended by the American Heart Association.

NORMAL	LESS THAN 120	and	LESS THAN 80
BLOOD PRESSURE CATEGORY	SYSTOLIC mm Hg (upper number)		DIASTOLIC mm Hg (lower number)
ELEVATED	120 – 129	and	LESS THAN 80
HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE (HYPERTENSION) STAGE 1	130 – 139	or	80 – 89
HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE (HYPERTENSION) STAGE 2	140 OR HIGHER	or	90 OR HIGHER
HYPERTENSIVE CRISIS (consult your doctor immediately)	HIGHER THAN 180	and/or	HIGHER THAN 120

Your blood pressure is recorded as two numbers

Systolic blood pressure (upper number) – indicates how much pressure your blood is exerting against your artery walls when the heart beats.
Diastolic blood pressure (lower number) – indicates how much pressure your blood is exerting against your artery walls while the heart is resting between beats.

Often more attention is given to the upper-pressure number as a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Many people experience an increase in systolic blood pressure with age. This is due to the increased stiffness of large arteries and the long-term buildup of plaque.

Devices for measuring your Blood Pressure

Cheap option for doing it at home

I think Omron is the most well-known brand of blood pressure monitors and they are also recommended by doctors for providing accurate results. So if you want a cheap high-quality upper arm blood pressure measurement unit you should be able to find something for around 40 USD.

Even the higher end Omron 10-series devices with memory for 200 measurements can be seen on offer for only 60USD. For 80USD you can get the same devices with Bluetooth connectivity allowing you to sync your measurements to a smartphone app.

Portable device for taking with you

Omron has also inexpensive portable devices for measuring your heart rate from the wrist.

The Omron 10-series Wireless Wrist Blood Pressure Monitor costs 80 USD looks like something you could take with you and easily measure your blood pressure in the office or while traveling. You couldn’t really wear it on your wrist all day since it would be like having a smartphone strapped to your wrist.

Omron HeartGuide BP8000-M Smartwatch and Wearable Blood Pressure Monitor

This is the first wearable blood pressure monitor and this makes me really excited.

Omron just launched this device at CES in January 2019. It’s available for preorder at a price of 500 USD and the estimated shipping time is at the end of March.

By placing the HeartGuide over your heart to record your blood pressure you can get clinically accurate readings in as little as 30 seconds. The device was also FDA approved since it’s based on the same oscillometric technology as the larger devices. It can also be programmed to take a reading during the night.

The design of HeartGuide involved more than 80 new patents that miniaturize the components for traditional oscillometric measurement, using an inflatable cuff within the watch band to take a blood pressure reading. This is a key differentiator that sets HeartGuide apart from other wearables that rely on sensor technology, which only provide blood pressure estimates.

Activity tracking, sleep quality and smart notifications

In addition to the blood pressure measurement feature, the HeartGuide tracks other metrics of health including daily steps and sleep quality.

The device also provides Bluetooth connectivity and a companion app so that you can see your data on the smartphone. You do get smart notifications on the device as well.

The device lacks continuous heart rate monitoring and GPS. I guess that’s understandable since this essentially is a medical device and not a multisport device. Maybe we will see in the future devices with more features.

Battery life

According to Omron, the watch will get anywhere between 30 and 50 inflations with a single charge. It is expected that the device will need charging once to three times a week depending on usage.

Design

The device is rather bulky at 115grams vs 39grams of the Garmin Vivoactive 3 and the thickness 14mm versus 11,7mm of the Garmin Vivoactive 3. It also looks large on the wrist in the videos Omron has provided.

Weight: Approximately 4.1 oz (115 g) Dimensions: Diameter approximately 1.89” (48 mm), Case thickness approximately 0.55” (14 mm), Strap width approximately 1.18” (30 mm).

Conclusion

Omron has created a great device for monitoring your blood pressure. Even though it’s not yet as versatile as many other smartwatches and it’s fairly pricey it’s a huge step into the correct direction providing yet again new functionality to smartwatches.

I bet Omron is also thinking about what it can do with the massive amounts of blood pressure data it collects. Feeding this to data scientists creating artificial intelligence might bring us closer to preventing acute heart conditions weeks in advance.

Stuff you can get for Free

Fri, 08 Mar 2019 22:40:26 GMT

If you are like me you like free stuff. At least if it’s really something useful and you would be willing to pay for it but now you get it for free.

I’d like to share with you some services that you can try for free and get really good content with.

Free Audiobook of your choosing

If you are on the move cycling, running or just commuting you might enjoy listening to audiobooks. I’m a big fan of non-fiction books but I don’t have enough time to read so listening to audiobooks is a great alternative.

The Amazon Audible service has a great selection of books and a handy app for your smartphone that you can use to listen to books. I have really enjoyed using Audible and can highly recommend them.

Now you can Try Audible and Get Two Free Audiobooks by clicking on this link.

I’ll link below a few books I really enjoyed listening to. All of these books are on audible and you can get them for free with the Audible trial (links are to Amazon, where you can access the free trial).

Best Smartwatches and Fitness Trackers Guide – Top picks for every Budget

Sun, 17 Feb 2019 20:15:00 GMT

In this buyers guide you will find our top picks in a every price range.

Comparision Table

The below table gives a quick overview of the smartwatch and fitness tracker selection.

Access the full comparison chart with filters here.

Buy on Amazon	Price	Rating	Battery life	Water rating	Heart rate sensor	Pulse Ox	GPS	Stores Music	Music services	Sleep tracking	Smart notifications	Contactless Payments	Swim tracking	Swim metrics	Dimensions	Display size	Released	Brand	Order
Garmin Venu 2	under $350	4.5	Up to 11 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF			2021	Garmin	1
Garmin Fenix 6 Pro	under $550	4.5	Up to 14 days	Swim, 10 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	-	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	47 x 47 x 14.7 mm	1.3”		Garmin	1
Garmin Fenix 6S Pro	under $550	4.5	Up to 9 days	Swim, 10 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	-	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	42 x 42 x 13.8 mm	1.2”		Garmin	1
Garmin Vívoactive 4	under $200	4.3	Up to 8 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	45.1 x 45.1 x 12.8 mm	1.3"		Garmin	1
Garmin vívoactive 4S	under $200	4.3	Up to 7 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	40.0 x 40.0 x 12.7 mm	1.1"		Garmin	1
Garmin Forerunner 945	under $550	4.4	Up to 14 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	-	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	47 x 47 x 13.7 mm	1.2”	2019	Garmin	2
Garmin Instinct	under $300	4.4	up to 14 days	Swim, 10 ATM	Yes		GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	No	-	Yes	Yes	No	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	45 x 45 x 15.3 mm	0.9” x 0.9”	2018	Garmin	2
Garmin D2 Delta PX	under $1300	3.7	Up to 20 days	Swim, 10 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	51 x 51 x 17.5 mm	1.2"		Garmin	3
Garmin Forerunner 245 Music	under $300	4.4	Up to 7 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	-	Pool	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	42.3 x 42.3 x 12.2 (mm)	1.2”		Garmin	3
Garmin MARQ Collection	under $2500		Up to 12 days	Swim, 10 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	-	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	46 x 14.1 mm	1.2”		Garmin	3
Garmin vívomove HR	under $150	3.9	up to 5 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes	-	No	No	-	Yes	Yes	No	No	-	43 x 43 x 11.6 mm	0.38" x 0.76"	2017, Q3	Garmin	3
Garmin vívosport	under $200	3.4	up to 7 days	Swim	Yes	-	GPS	No	-	Yes	Yes	No	No	-	Width: 21.0 mm Thickness: 10.9 mm	0.38" x 0.76"	2017, Q3	Garmin	3
Garmin D2 Delta	under $1000	3.7	Up to 12 days	Swim, 10 ATM	Yes	-	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	47 x 47 x 15.8 mm	1.2"		Garmin	3
Garmin D2 Delta S	under $650	3.7	Up to 7 days	Swim, 10 ATM	Yes	-	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	42 x 42 x 15.4 mm	1.2"		Garmin	3
Garmin Captain Marvel	under $400	4.3	Up to 7 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	-	Pool	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	40.0 x 40.0 x 12.7 mm	1.1"		Garmin	4
Garmin Darth Vader	under $400	3.8	Up to 8 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	-	Pool	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	45.1 x 45.1 x 12.8 mm	1.3”		Garmin	4
Garmin Rey	under $400	4.8	Up to 7 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	-	Pool	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	40.0 x 40.0 x 12.7 mm	1.1"		Garmin	4
Garmin Venu	under $350	4.4	Up to 5 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	43.2 x 43.2 x 12.4 mm	1.2"		Garmin	4
Garmin Forerunner 735XT	under $350	3.9	up to 11 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes		GPS, GLONASS	No	-	Yes	Yes	No	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	44.5 x 44.5 x 11.9 mm	1.23"	2016	Garmin	4
Garmin Forerunner 645	under $400	3.9	up to 7 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes		GPS, GLONASS	No	-	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	42.5 x 42.5 x 13.5 mm	1.2"	2018, March	Garmin	4
Garmin Forerunner 645 Music	under $450	3.9	up to 7 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes		GPS, GLONASS	Yes	Spotify, Deezer, iHeartRadio	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	42.5 x 42.5 x 13.5 mm	1.2"	2018, March	Garmin	4
Garmin Forerunner 935	under $450	4.1	up to 14 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes		GPS, GLONASS	No	-	Yes	Yes	No	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	47 x 47 x 13.9 mm	1.2"	2017	Garmin	4
Garmin vívosmart 4	under $100	3.6	up to 7 days	Swim	Yes	Yes	No	No	-	Yes	Yes	No	Pool	Basic	15 x 10.5 x 197 mm	0.26" x 0.70"	2018, Q4	Garmin	5
Garmin fēnix 5X Plus	under $500	4.2	up to 20 days	Swim, 10 ATM	Yes	Yes	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer, iHeartRadio	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF		51 x 51 x 17.5 mm	2018, Q2	Garmin	5
Garmin Fenix 5 Plus	under $650	4.2	up to 12 days	Swim, 10 ATM	Yes	-	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer, iHeartRadio	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	47 x 47 x 15.8 mm	1.2"	2018	Garmin	5
Garmin Fenix 5S Sapphire	under $500	4.2	up to 9 days	Swim, 10 ATM	Yes	-	GPS, GLONASS	No	-	Yes	Yes	No	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	42 x 42 x 15 mm	1.1"	2017	Garmin	5
Garmin Quatix 5	under $550	3.7	up to 14 days	Swim, 10 ATM	Yes	-	GPS, GLONASS	No	-	Yes	Yes	No	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	47 x 47 x 15.5 mm	1.2"	2017	Garmin	5
Garmin Fenix 5X Sapphire	under $600	4.2	up to 12 days	Swim, 10 ATM	Yes	-	GPS, GLONASS	No	-	Yes	Yes	No	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	51 x 51 x 17.5 mm	1.2"	2017	Garmin	5
Garmin Fenix 5S Plus	under $650	4.2	up to 7 days	Swim, 10 ATM	Yes	-	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer, iHeartRadio	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	42 x 42 x 15.4 mm	1.2"	2018	Garmin	5
Garmin vívoactive 3	under $200	3.9	up to 7 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes		GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	No	-	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	43.4 x 43.4 x 11.7 mm	1.2"	2017	Garmin	5
Fitbit Ionic	under $250	3.5	4+ days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes		GPS, GLONASS	Yes	Deezer, Pandora	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool	swim lengths, duration, distance, and pace		1.42"	2017, October	Fitbit	5
Garmin vívoactive 3 Music	under $250	3.9	up to 7 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes		GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer, iHeartRadio	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	43.1 x 43.1 x 13.6 mm	1.2"	2018	Garmin	5
Garmin Fenix 5 Sapphire	under $500	4.2	up to 14 days	Swim, 10 ATM	Yes		GPS, GLONASS	No	-	Yes	Yes	No	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF	47 x 47 x 15.5 mm	1.2"	2017	Garmin	5
Garmin fēnix 5S Plus	under $500	4.4		Swim, 10 ATM	Yes		GPS, GLONASS, Galileo	Yes	Spotify, Deezer	Yes	Yes	-	Pool, Open Water	lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories, SWOLF				Garmin	5
Xiaomi Mi Band 3	under $050	4.2	up to 9 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes		No	No	-	Yes	Yes	No	No	-	17.9 × 46.9 × 12mm		2018, May	Xiaomi	6
Amazfit Cor	under $050	3.4	up to 12 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes		No	No	-	Yes	Yes	No	No	-		1.23"	2017, September	Huami	6
Amazfit Bip	under $100	3.8	up to 30 days	Submersion proof, IP68	Yes		GPS, GLONASS	No	-	Yes	Yes	No	No	-		1.28"	2017	Huami	6
Fitbit Alta	under $100	3.7	up to 5 days	Splashproof	No		No	No	-	Yes	Yes	No	No	-			2016	Fitbit	6
Fitbit Ace	under $100	3.7	up to 5 days	Splashproof	No		No	No	-	Yes	No	No	No	-			2018	Fitbit	6
Fitbit Charge 3	under $150	3.2	up to 7 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes		No	No	-	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool	swim lengths, duration, distance, and pace		1.57"	2018, October	Fitbit	6
Amazfit Pace	under $150	3.4	up to 5 days	Splashproof, IP67	Yes		GPS, GLONASS	Yes	-	Yes	Yes	No	No	-		1.34''	2016, August	Huami	6
Fitbit Alta HR	under $150	3.9	up to 7 days	Splashproof	Yes		No	No	-	Yes	Yes	No	No	-			2017	Fitbit	6
Fitbit Versa	under $200	3.8	4+ days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes		No	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Pool	swim lengths, duration, distance, and pace			2018, April	Fitbit	6
Amazfit Stratos	under $200	3.6	up to 5 days	Swim, 5 ATM	Yes		GPS, GLONASS	Yes	-	Yes	Yes	No	Pool, Open Water			1.34"	2017, November	Huami	6
Amazfit Verge	under $200	3.6	up to 5 days	Splashproof	Yes		GPS, GLONASS	Yes	-	Yes	Yes	No	No	-		1.3"	2018, December	Huami	6

Best if you are really tight on cash – under $50

There aren’t many well-known manufacturers offering devices for under $50. Xiaomi is the only one having something to offer in this category. Garmin comes quite close but the other well-known brands have nothing in sight.

The Xiaomi Mi Band 3 is the clear winner in this category. It could actually be put in a less than $30 category since on AliExpress it’s often available for only $25. On Amazon, it’s a bit more. I think it’s a great device and it can actually compete with some other devices out there costing 4 times more. I have worn this device extensively – check my Xiaomi Mi Band 3 review here.

Best on a budget – under $100

If you have $100 to spend there are quite a few options out there that fit this budget. In addition to the Xiaomi Mi Band you can look at Garmin, Fitbit and Amazfit devices.

Huami Amazfit Bip

The Amazfit Bip is my top pick for a smartwatch under $100. The other devices in the category are fitness trackers and have far fewer features.

The Huami Amazfit Bip is currently priced at just under $70 on Amazon and offers so much more than any of the competing devices in this price range do. The best things about the Bip are that it has wrist-based heart rate measurement, GPS and an astonishing 30 days of battery life. The device has an IP68 waterproof rating so it can be submerged in 5 feet for 30 minutes. Unfortunately you can’t go swimming with it.

I haven’t ever seen before a smartwatch with these features at such an inexpensive price. The Amazon reviews average is 4 out of 5 stars and the device has almost 2k reviews. All the reviews on other sites also give a very good overall impression of this device. I just ordered one myself as well and will later write a review article on it.

You might not be familiar with the Huami. It’s a subsidiary of the Xiaomi corporation which has become a well-known consumer electronics company that is best known for its smartphones. Huami is the sole partner of Xiaomi for Xiaomi wearable products, including the Mi band series. In addition, Huami sells smartwatches under the Amazfit brand name and they have become the largest wearable device company worldwide measured by units sold.

Garmin Vivosmart 3 and 4

The runner up in this category is the Garmin Vivosmart 3. The Garmin Vivosmart 4 was released in Q4 of 2018 and costs just above $100 but the Vivosmart 3 which was released in 2017 is still sold as new and it’s around $70.

So if you want a Garmin device the Vivosmart 3 has wrist-based heart rate measurement and it’s also waterproof and okay to swim in. It also has a barometric altimeter so it does offer a bit more features than the Mi Band 3. Other features are quite similar than the Mi Band 3 but the Garmin Connect app is better than the Mi Fit app.

Garmin Forerunner 25 and Forerunner 35

If you must have a GPS device and it must be a Garmin device then the Forerunner 25 just barely makes it into this category with a price tag of $99. The downside is that it’s not really a smartwatch and it doesn’t have wrist-based heart rate monitoring.

If I wanted a Garmin GPS enabled device I would rather push my budget slightly and get the Garmin Forerunner 35 which can be bought currently for around $130. It covers all the basic smartwatch features and it has wrist-based heart rate monitoring and GPS. It actually covers all the top 5 features I want to have in a smartwatch and it looks like a really attractive option.

Garmin Vivofit 4

If you want a Garmin device the Vivofit 4 is currently available for around $75. Please note that this doesn’t have wrist-based heart rate monitoring and therefore it’s a step down from the Mi Band 3. The best things about this device are that it has a 1+ year battery life and it comes with the Garmin Connect app which is awesome. The battery life is really impressive but the batteries are not chargable but user replacble instead. The device is waterproof and you can swim in it.

Buy on Amazon – Click to check current price of the Garmin Vivofit 4

The features on the Vivofit 4 are pretty basic: tracks steps, distance and calories burned, monitors sleep and provides a personalized daily step goal. So no wrist-based heart rate monitoring and no smart notifications.

Fitbit Alta

If you must have a Fitbit device the Alta is currently available for just under $100 so it is a possible option. Please note that this is not the HR version with wrist-based heart rate monitoring. If you want the HR it costs a bit more and doesn’t fit this budget.

Buy on Amazon – Click to check current price of the Fitbit Alta

The best part about the Fitbit Alta is that it comes with the Fitbit app which is really good. It also has over 10k reviews on Amazon showing the device is extremely popular. I must say though that the Mi Band 3 has pretty much all the features the Alta has plus it has wrist-based heart rate monitoring. The Alta has a 5-day battery life which is okay. Don’t go swimming with the Fitbit Alta since it’s not waterproof, instead, it’s only water resistant.

Best on a budget – under $150

In this price range there is already a large number of options and you can look at Garmin, Fitbit, Polar and Amazfit devices.

Fitbit Charge 3 and Fitbit Versa

The Fitbit Charge 3 is certainly within this budget, priced currently at around $130. Compared to the Fitbit Alta it does provide some additional functionality like wrist-based heart rate measurement, better sleep tracking and what I personally find great is that it provides swim tracking.

The Fitbit Charge and Versa can capture swim length, duration, distance, and pace with any of the 4 most common strokes (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly).

The Fitbit Versa priced at just under $170 doesn’t quite fit the budget but it’s a true smartwatch and it does add more value to the table so I would push the budget and rather get the Versa instead of the Charge 3 especially if the music feature is something you would like to use. Compared to the Charge 3 the Versa provides storage for your own music allowing you to enjoy music directly from your smartwatch to your headphones without bringing your smartphone with you.

The downside of the Charge 3 and Versa is that neither have GPS.

Huami Amazfit Pace and Verge

The Huami Amazfit devies are not as strong in this price category since I don’t feel they provide such a big price advantage and personally, I feel the lack of proper waterproofing in this price point to be quite limiting.

The Amazfit Pace is currently available for just under $130 and for that price provides excellent features. It covers all the top 5 features I want from a smartwatch which are: wrist-based heart rate measurement, sleep tracking, sports tracking, GPS and smart notifications. It even has onboard music storage so you can go for a run without bringing your smartphone with you. Unfortunately, the device is only water resistant and therefore you can’t swim with it and the battery life is 5 days.

The Amazfit Verge is a newer device with all the features the Amazfit Pace offers but with the addition of being able to receive phone calls via the Bluetooth connection to your smartphone. This means the Verge has a speaker and microphone built into it so you can talk via your smartwatch. The current price for the Verge is $159 so just slightly over budget but personally, I would choose the Verge over the Pace because it looks more appealing to me. Unfortunately again this device is only water resistant and can’t be worn while swimming. Battery life is 5 days.

Mobvoi TicWatch E and E2

The Mobvoi TicWatch E has been a very popular smartwatch running the Google Wear OS operating system and is currently priced around $130. The TicWatch E2 has already come out in January 2019 but it doesn’t quite fit the budget and the current price is $160.

The TicWatch E is a fully fledged smartwatch with Google Wear OS 2.0 and it does have a GPS sensor and heart rate monitoring sensor. It even has storage for offline music playback directly from your smartwatch to your Bluetooth headphones. The TicWatch E is only splash-proof and you can’t go swimming in it. Battery life is said to be 2 days so this is quite limiting compared to the other options out there.

You might not be familiar with Mobvoi which is a Chinese company founded in 2012. The core team member are however engineers from well-known companies such as Google and Nokia.

Best on a budget – under $200

In this price range, there are some additional devices you can look at from Garmin and Huami.

Garmin Vivoactive 3

The Garmin Vivoactive 3 is one of my favorite devices on the whole list. It has all the top 5 features I want from a smartwatch: wrist-based heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking, sports tracking, GPS and smart notifications. The Vivoactive 3 is also waterproof up to 50 meters and it has a dedicated swimming mode so you can track your swim distance, pace, and duration.

I have used the Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music but I didn’t use the music feature as much as I thought I would since I still carry my smartphone while doing sports. So for me, the Vivoactive 3 would be the better choice and it does fit this category since it’s priced just around $200 or a few dollars more depending on what kind of campaign Garmin is running.

You can check my full review of the Vivoactive 3 to get a deeper feeling for the device. The Vivoactive 3 Music is usually around $250 so it doesn’t fit this budget but it’s worth mentioning if you want a device that can do it all.

Xiaomi Mi Band – Cheapest Fitness Tracker which is Worth It

Sun, 10 Feb 2019 17:48:22 GMT

The Xiaomi Mi Band 3 is a waterproof fitness tracker which can do much more than you would expect considering its low price. It has wrist-based heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking, sports tracking, and smart notifications. For me, these are 4 out of 5 most important features so it’s only lacking GPS.

I was looking for the most budget-friendly wearable device out there which would cover my top 5 features as mentioned in my article. I came across the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 and was impressed with all that it can offer at such a low price. It also has great battery life. Xiaomi is a reputable company which I already trusted from their quality smartphones so I decided to give it a go even though the Mi Band is missing GPS.

Where to buy the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 and Price

One of the best parts about the Mi Band 3 is the extremely low price and it does provide enormous value compared to the competition. I think there are two good options for buying the Mi Band 3:

Personally, I was okay to wait a couple of weeks to get the Mi Band since I was wearing the Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music smartwatch at the time of purchase so I decided to use the cheapest option for buying which is AliExpress and it was around $25. I’m also very comfortable ordering from AliExpress so that was a good option for me. If you are interested in buying from AliExpress but feel unsure you can check my AliExpress buyer’s guide.

Buying from Amazon.com is always a good option and they do have excellent customer support and return policies. However, the current price on Amazon.com for the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 is $38 which is around 50% more than on AliExpress.

You can check my video review on youtube below or read the full review which does have more details in it on this page.

Watch “YouTube video” on YouTube

Comparision to the competition

The Xioami Mi Band 3 is a fitness tracker and feels a lot like it’s inspired by some of the Fitbit trackers that came before it so it seems fair to compare it to the Fitbit devices

Fitbit has currently only two new fitness trackers with wrist-based heart rate monitoring and they are Charge 3 and Alta HR. The Fitbit Charge 3 is currently around $130 and the Alta HR around $100. So the prices for these are around 4 to 5 times more than the Mi Band 3.

Garmin has also fitness trackers with wrist-based heart rate monitoring. The Garmin Vivosmart 3 costs $120 and the Vivosmart 4 $130. Garmin also has GPS enabled fitness tracker called Vivosport which costs $170.

The Fitbit and Garmin devices have similar features than the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 and don’t really have anything in the feature list which would justify the 4 or 5 times higher price. Sure the Fitbit and Garmin devices might have more exercise mode options and the Fitbit and Garmin mobile apps are definately better than the Mi Fit app which is used with the Xiaomi Band.

So, in the end, I think it’s up to you to decide is the Mi Band 3 good enough for you or are you willing to pay more for a premium product like Fitbit or Garmin offer. Or perhaps you are starting to consider dipping your toes into the world of fitness trackers and smartwatches and want something inexpensive. If you haven’t ever used a fitness tracker and want to try one out I’m pretty sure you will be impressed with the Mi Band 3. It reminds me a lot of the Fitbit Charge when it first came out in 2015. I was so impressed with it at the time but unfortunately, it wasn’t waterproof like the Mi Band 3 is. The Mi Band 3 is a great device and it would be still great if the price were 3 times higher.

Features of the Xiaomi Mi Band 3

Wrist Based Heart Rate Monitoring

For me, the most important feature in a smartwatch or fitness tracker is wrist-based heart rate monitoring. So I’m so excited to own the Mi Band 3 fitness tracker which comes with this feature and is 4 to 5 times cheaper than anything I have used before.

The Mi Fit app allows controlling your Mi Band’s heart rate measurement settings. You can choose to enable automatic heart rate detection and & sleep assistant or just one of the two. The sleep assistant helps to get more precise sleep data. You can also adjust the heart rate detection frequency to 1, 5, 10 or 30 minutes. The higher the frequency of measurements the shorter the battery life. I personally have used the 1-minute frequency and the battery life has been more than enough for a week of usage.

In the Mi Fit****app I can see the heart rate measurement data for the full day and the heart rate zones for the day. It also shows my resting heart rate and how it has developed over time. It also shows my Vo2max readings, but I’m not quite sure how that compared to the value shown by the Garmin Connect app.

I think the Garmin Connect app does provide more information regarding the heart rate data, but I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything that I would regularly check.

Sleep tracking

Sleep tracking is for me a really important feature and it’s number two on my list. There aren’t really any specific settings on the device to control the sleep tracking except for the sleep assistant under the heart rate monitoring settings mentioned earlier.

Related to sleeping the device has a Night mode setting which you can control via the Mi Fit app. With it you can schedule the band brightness to be lowered during the certain hours so that it’s not too bright if you check the time etc. during night time. I have mine set to start at 9 pm and to end at 7 am.

The Mi Fit app allows you to track your hours of sleep, deep sleep and light sleep. It also shows you when you fell asleep and woke up and how long you were awake during the sleep time. So far I have found that the fell asleep and woke up at times seem to be as accurate as with other devices I have used. The app also shows you history of your previous days of sleep and visualizes the information in a very clear way.

Compared to the Garmin Connect app the Mi Fit app is not showing the REM sleep cycles at all and my feeling is that Garmin is better at recognizing if I wake up during my sleep. Garmin also shows a graph of movement in a scale from low to high during the sleep time which is missing from the Mi Fit app.

Sports Tracking

The Mi Band 3 has sports tracking and activity tracking features. Activity tracking is based on the 3-axis accelerometer and PPG heart rate sensors. Sports activities can be recorded as well and you can start the recording directly on the device. However the activities to choose from on the device are limited to two options: Treadmill and a generic Excersiseoption.

On the Mi Fit app there are 4 workout types to choose from: Outdoor running, Treadmill, Outdoor cycling and Walking. So you can use the phone’s GPS to track your outdoor activities but the choices of labels for the activities are quite lacking.

The device is waterproof to 50 meters so you are fine to go swimming with it and I have done so in the pool and in the sea without any issues. There however is not dedicated swim tracking.

The Band does the usual step counting to measure how active you are and this has become so standard that it’s almost not worth mentioning. What I find super awesome is that they brought heart rate monitoring to such an inexpensive device.

Considering that sports tracking is the third most important feature on my list I feel that the Mi Band 3 doesn’t meet my expectations in this category and compared to some of the Garmin devices they have much more to offer. If one considers the price though, these sports tracking features are more than one would expect and they do get you started.

Smart Notifications

The Mi Band 3 supports smart notifications and the Band does vibrate and show the incoming messages. So it’s handy to see who is calling, you can read your SMS and WhatsApp etc. messages. One does need to note though that the device screen is small so you need to scroll a lot if you are going to read a longer message. Still seeing quickly who is calling or sending me a message is pretty much all I need and based on that I know if I want to pull my phone out to reply or not.

On the Mi Fit app you can access the Mi Band 3 device settings and choose which app alerts to push to the device. I have mine set to a minimum since I don’t want my wrist vibrating each time some social media notification comes in.

The Mi Band 3 provides a menu item where you can access your notifications and you can clear them but there is no response functionality. Compared to the Garmin Vivoactive 3 the notifications features isn’t as advanced but it’s more than enough for such an inexpensive device.

Weather Forecast

Under the Mi Fit app you can access the device settings and choose the weather settings. You can choose the temperature units and the city (either automatically or manually) for which the weather information is shown on the device.

On the Mi Band 3 there is a menu item where you can check the weather for the next 3 days. It’s very basic just showing you the temperature and is it like sunny or rainy or cloudy. Compared to the Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music the Mi Band is lacking the ability to click on the day and look at an hourly forecast which I do like on the Garmin device.

Find my phone and Find Band

The Mi Band 3 has a menu item where you can start the find my phone functionality or Find device as it’s called on the Mi Band. It makes a loud beeping sound on the phone so it’s easier to find. This is a nice feature to have and has proven to be quite useful.

The Mi Fit app has a Find band feature that makes the Mi Band vibrate once. The Band doesn’t have any speakers and the vibration sound isn’t very strong so I don’t see this being very useful. On the other hand, you usually have the band on your wrist so I don’t see myself misplacing it in the first place.

Design and Hardware

The Mi Band 3 has a very simple and sleek design with a 0.78″ OLED touchscreen and a rubber band. The device itself is very small and is popped into the rubber band without any screws. The design feels very sturdy and they also made the device waterproof up to 50 meters.

The measurements of the device can be seen below

Mi Band 3 capsule 17.9 x 46.9 x 12mm
Strap Length 247mm
Adjustable strap length155 – 216mm
Weight aprox. 20g

Strap

Xiaomi says the strap is made of thermoplastic elastomer. In my opinion it is very comfortable to wear and it does have a large range of wrist sizes it fits on. My daughter is 7 and has very slim wrists and for her, the device is a bit loose on the tightest setting. There are three strap colors: black, blue and red but naturally there are third party vendors that have other options available as well.

According to Xiaomi’s tests even after more than 2,000 insertion & removal tests, the band remains firm and solid. In my experience taking the device out of the strap and back in again is very easy and the band hasn’t gotten any looser so I don’t expect any isseus with the device dropping out.

Battery life

Xiaomi states that the 110mAh battery in the device should last for 15 to 20 days with heart rate monitoring turned off and from 3 to 9 days with heart rate monitoring turned on. I have had heart rate monitoring on all the time and I’m getting around a week of battery life which is very good and it’s more than the devices from Garmin, Fitbit and Polar I have recently used.

Sensors and connectivity

The Mi Band 3 doesn’t have a whole lot on the sensors side. The 3-axis accelerometer and PPG heart rate sensor are the only ones, but this does provide the basis for activity tracking and sleep tracking

The Mi Band 3 has Bluetooth 4.2 BLE for connecting to your smartphone or other devices running either Android or the Apple iOS operating system.

Conclusion

The Xiaomi Mi Band 3 is a waterproof fitness tracker which can do much more than you would expect considering its low price. For me, the core functionalities the device provides are wrist-based heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking, sports tracking, and smart notifications. For me, these are 4 out of 5 most important features so it’s only lacking GPS.

At this price point I don’t see any competition from well known high quality brands. I would say this is the cheapest activity tracker that’s worth buying. But it’s so much more than that and it actually provides features that you might pay over 100 USD on other devices so if you are just now considering your first activity tracker and don’t wont to spend that much this is a great choice. If you are serious about sports and can afford it I would go with a Garmin multi-sport device like the Vivoactive 3 (check my review on it below).

Are Smartwatches Safe to Wear – Health and Privacy concerns

Wed, 30 Jan 2019 22:32:24 GMT

Many have concerns and are asking if smartwatches are safe to wear? The short answer is Yes.

Some have concerns about health issues and others about privacy and other safety aspects. I will address each of these in turn.

Health issues are usually around the signals the device is emitting like Bluetooth, WiFi, 4G. Smartphones have been using these for a long time and the topic has been researched yet no alarming evidence has been found.

The concern around privacy is usually around the devices containing sensitive data and not having proper security features. This is a valid concern, but the data on the devices is limited but it is something that makes sense to pay attention to.

Another concern is around safety issues like driving and being distracted by the smartwatch. This is a concern that comes up always when there is new technology but as with all gadgets you need to be sensible while driving.

Health concerns regarding smartwatches and fitness trackers

Wearables like smartwatches and fitness trackers use transmitters to send radio frequency signals to communicate with different devices or networks. Like smartphones, wearables which use WiFi, Bluetooth or 4G emit radiation and have to pass FCC standards to ensure their safety.

The type of radiation emitted by wireless devices like smartwatches is part of the electromagnetic spectrum. This includes visible light, infrared radiation, UV and x-rays. Electromagnetic radiation can be thought of as photons of different energy levels. The shorter the wavelength is the more energy the signal carries per photon.

DNA mutations can only be caused if enough energy is carried by the signal and only gamma-ray, X-ray and UV photons have this kind of energy. That is the known mechanism by which radiation increases cancer risk. Smartwatches and Smartphones and other wireless devices emit radiation but that radiation lacks the energy to alter DNA.

The FDA reassures us that there is nothing to be concerned about:

The weight of scientific evidence has not linked cell phones with any health problems.

Over the past 15 years, scientists have conducted hundreds of studies looking at the biological effects of the radiofrequency energy emitted by cell phones. While some researchers have reported biological changes associated with RF energy, these studies have failed to be replicated. The majority of studies published have failed to show an association between exposure to radiofrequency from a cell phone and health problems.

There have been health scares in the news reporting of studies stating WiFi signals or Cellphone signals being a risk but as the above statement from the FDA suggests the information behind those studies has not been confirmed and the opposite is the consensus in the confirmed studies. In fact, health scares that are not backed with proper studies can be harmful since it distracts the public from more important cancer risks such as smoking or viruses like HPV. There are parents who refuse to get their daughters vaccinated against HPV which is causing cases of cervical cancer.

If this put your mind at ease perhaps you want to read more about the health benefits smartwatches provide and have a look at my smartwatch buyers guide:

Privacy concerns regarding smartwatches and fitness trackers

Some have privacy and security-related concerns around smartwatches and for good reasons. For example the Norwegian Consumer Council (NCC) has analyzed consumer rights in four smartwatches for children and concluded that three out of the four watches that were analyzed fell short in security and privacy aspects.

The tested devices are called Gator 2, Tinitell, Viksfjord, and Xplora. These cellular smartwatches for children allow parents to use an app on their smartphones to keep in touch with and track the location of their children. The main purpose of these devices is to give parents peace of mind while their children play freely outside.

Some critical security flaws were found in this study.

Two of the devices have flaws which could allow a potential attacker to take control of the apps, thus gaining access to children’s real-time and historical location and personal details, as well as even enabling them to contact the children directly, all without the parents’ knowledge.

Several of the devices transmit personal data to servers located in North America and East Asia, in some cases without any encryption in place.

One of the watches also functions as a listening device, allowing the parent or a stranger with some technical knowledge to audio monitor the surroundings of the child.

Kaspersky did an analysis on how easy it is to spy on smartwatch users and concluded that you don’t need to be overly worried about it:

Should you worry about being spied on by someone? Only if that someone has a strong motivation to spy on you, specifically. The average cybercrook is after easy pickings and won’t have much to gain.

Since smartwatches contain more and more data some manufacturers like Samsung are working towards securing these devices similarly as smartphones with security features like passcodes and remote wiping possibilities.

There have been recent reports like this one by TechBeacon about tests to many smartwatch brands reporting that all have some vulnerabilities but they don’t amount to a significant privacy breach currently but this is something that should be paid more attention to. If consumers don’t demand security features then manufacturers might not pay enough attention to the topic.

Safety concerns regarding smartwatches and fitness trackers

I recently read something about smartwatches being a safety hazard while driving the car. Sure that could be the case if the driver pays too much attention to notifications popping up on the smartwatch instead of paying attention to driving and the surroundings. The story went something around the lines of the driver getting a message from his boss that he is fired and the driver getting upset and causing an accident.

Texting with your phone while driving is a bad idea and reading texts on your smartwatch is likewise a bad idea.

So please be responsible while using your smart devices in traffic or while doing other activities that require your attention.

I don’t think smartwatches are a safety hazard any more than smartphones if used properly.

There are use cases for smartwatches that can, in fact, be life-saving. Some smartwatches come with SOS features (check my article on smartwatch benefits). Another aspect is the heart rate monitoring and blood pressure measurement features that can be used in very positive ways to bring early attention to possible heart-related diseases.

Self-charging Smartwatches Powered by You

Sun, 06 Jan 2019 20:21:08 GMT

Do self-charging Smartwatches exist? Yes, absolutely they do, but there are limitations. I think the number one reason people get frustrated with smartwatches and stop using them is that the battery needs to be charged all the time.

So why not make a smartwatch that doesn’t need to be charged at all similarly as automatic or self-winding watches in which the natural motion of the wearer provides energy to run the watch. Other options for energy are solar and thermal power. Sequent is working on a kinetic watch and Matrix has created a thermally powered watch and is working on creating a second generation device adding solar power.

Self-charging Smartwatches

There are not that many options for self-charging smartwatches to get the power from. The best-known choices are solar power and kinetic movement. A third option is to use a thermoelectric generator (TEG) to get power for the device.

The problem with all of these power generating options is that the power they can produce is quite limited and smartwatches have power hungry components like the display, cellular chip, GPS, heart rate monitor.

Because of the limitations in the power generating ability versus the demand for power, many manufacturers haven’t yet started to produce smartwatches which would be entirely self-powered. Out of the few manufacturers who have approached the challenge most have dropped out some features to save power. The easiest option is to create a hybrid smartwatch without a display as Sequent and Lunar have done. Matrix is the only company which is including a display and all the other features you would hope for in its second generation device.

Technology

There is a Swiss smartwatch module development company called MMT which has announced new technology that it promises will lead the way toward smartwatches that the wearer never needs to worry about charging. As I understand it they are working towards creating a smartwatch caliber which is self-charging for other companies to create smartwatches.

MMT is looking into different options of producing energy in a smartwatch. In addition to the obvious kinetic and solar energy, they are looking into energy harvested as radio frequency (RF) and thermoelectric generators (TEGs) which converts heat into energy.

Matrix Powerwatch

Matrix Powerwatch – First Generation Thermal Powered

The MATRIX PowerWatch is powered by a thermoelectric generator that captures your body heat.

The thermoelectric generator (TEG) senses body heat and converts it into energy. TEGs need to have a hot side and a cold side to operate. The hot side is the circular black aluminum plate on the back of the watch. The cold side is the entire metal bezel and body of the watch. The hot and cold sides are separated from each other by a layer of insulating thermoplastic. The TEGs harvest the heat flowing from the hot side to the cold side and turn it into electricity and stores it into a small battery. This battery maintains the time and fitness data when you are not wearing the PowerWatch, for up to one year.

This all sounds really cool to have your battery charged by thermal energy and removes the hassle of plugging in your smartwatch. It does bring some limitations though. The smartwatch doesn’t have GPS or heart rate sensors and based on my understanding the features are quite limited. They have also limited the Bluetooth power consumption which reduces the Bluetooth range.

Even with the limitations I still find it great that such technology is being developed and it may very well be that sometimes in the near future we will have a smartwatch with all the features we would expect without needing to charge it.

Matrix Powerwatch – Second-Generation Solar and Thermal Powered

There is an ongoing Indiegogo campaign for the Matrix Powerwatch 2 which uses solar power in addition to the thermoelectric power. This second generation Powerwatch adds GPS and wrist-based heart rate monitoring. In my mind, these are the features that really make it possibly a device that I would enjoy wearing instead of my current Garmin device.

The Indiegogo page gives an estimated schedule saying the Powerwatch 2 would be available in June 2019.

Matrix claims the PowerWatch 2’s continuous heart rate and GPS tracking could even last through a marathon.

Matrix has also said that Matrix-powered technology might in the future be seen in other brand name devices. I think it would be a game changer if Garmin were to launch a device similar to a Fenix 5 but with no need of charging.

Sequent SuperCharger Kinetic smartwatch

There was an Indiegogo campaign about the SEQUENT Smartwatch in 2017 advertised as the world’s first self-charging smartwatch. It’s not shipping yet, but the specifications are impressive with Heart Rate sensor, 3-axis gyroscope, accelerometer, and GPS.

It says it has a self-charging electro-mechanical embedded system (SEMES) which transforms kinetic energy into electrical energy by simply wearing it on your wrist. It’s a hybrid smartwatch, so there is no screen. Having no display saves a ton of power, but still, there is a heart rate monitor and GPS which drains a lot of power so I wonder will the power really be sufficient.

There are some prototypes shown in youtube videos, but they don’t really enlighten you about how the watch actually performs. I think we just need to wait and see once they start shipping them.

LunaR solar-powered smartwatch

LunaR solar-powered smartwatch

LunaR had an Indiegogo campaign in 2017 like the other smartwatch manufacturers to create a solar-powered smartwatch.

They say that with daily exposure of as little as 1 hour (>10k LUX), LunaR’s solar panel can harvest enough power to deliver infinite battery life. The current price on this device is around 300 USD depending on the model.

The LunaR smartwatch is a hybrid without a screen to save battery life. The watch does provide activity tracking and notifications, but there is no GPS or heart rate monitor. So I would say functionality wise it is quite limited. I think it’s a good effort towards providing smartwatches which don’t require charging but it’s not quite at the level at which I would start using it. There are hybrids which are powered for 6 months with a coin cell battery and they provide more features so I think most people will look at those instead of this solar-powered device.

Casio solar-powered smartwatch

Casio launched at CES 2018 the GPR-B1000 G-SHOCK Rangeman with the World’s First Solar-Assisted GPS Navigation.

The Casio G-Shock watches have a large fan base and they have been very popular. It is interesting to see this new model with Solar charging capability. The smartwatch is extremely rugged as are all the G-shock models and it has a water resistant rating up to 200 meters.

The GPR-B1000 is equipped with dual wireless and solar charging systems to support activities in the outdoors. GPS navigation is usable for approximately 33 hours on a wireless charge of about five hours. If the battery becomes depleted, GPS functions can be resumed by charging the watch in bright light. (GPS functions are usable for one hour on a solar charge of approximately four hours in 50,000 lux conditions.) Regardless of the status of GPS functions, solar charging keeps the time display powered at all times.

It has a battery life that is far superior to any other GPS smartwatch. The Garmin Fenix 5X has a really good battery life, but this one, with its no-frills monochrome screen, holds the battery life almost indefinitely.

The watch doesn’t have a heart rate sensor and the smart features and activity tracking features are very limited. It’s not something I would consider especially at the 800 USD price point. I bet though that the Casio G-Shock has its fans and also there surely are some use cases I’m not that familiar with were the Casio features come more into play.

Can a Smartwatch detect a Heart Attack or Cardiac Arrest

Fri, 04 Jan 2019 22:16:26 GMT

Can a Smartwatch detect a Heart Attack? No. I am no doctor or professional in this topic, but based on my research on the topic there is no smartwatch out there that could detect a heart attack. A heart attack is blood “circulation” problem and can’t be diagnosed based on heart rate alone. Diagnosis is usually based on symptoms, ECG results, and blood tests.

What about a Cardiac Arrest, can Smartwatches detect those? Not really, but let’s say it can be helpful. Again I’m no expert and my answer is based on my research on the topic. Cardiac Arrest is when the heart stops beating suddenly. So yes the smartwatch could detect no pulse but how would it know if the sensor is just not having a good contact versus the heart-stopping? The smartwatch could also detect a fall after the person loses consciousness. In any case, it’s most likely too late if no one is nearby witnessing the event and being able to provide immediate assistance.

However, smartwatches do collect heart rate data which can be used to detect abnormal heart rhythms via Artificial Intelligence. Even if this doesn’t pinpoint a specific heart-related disease this proactive approach of notifying users might be able to prevent future issues if the user sees a doctor and problems are detected early.

Heart Attack versus Cardiac Arrest

People often use these terms interchangeably, but they are not the same. A heart attack is when blood flow to the heart is blocked, and sudden cardiac arrest is when the heart malfunctions and suddenly stops beating unexpectedly. A heart attack is a “circulation” problem and sudden cardiac arrest is an “electrical” problem.

These two heart conditions are linked though. Sudden cardiac arrest can occur after a heart attack, or during recovery. Heart attacks increase the risk for sudden cardiac arrest. Most heart attacks do not lead to sudden cardiac arrest. But when sudden cardiac arrest occurs, a heart attack is a common cause.

What is a Heart Attack

A heart attack (myocardial infarction or MI) is a serious medical emergency in which the supply of blood to the heart is suddenly blocked, usually by a blood clot. A lack of blood to the heart may seriously damage the heart muscle and can be life-threatening.

This is a summary of the information provided by NHS – National Health Service in the UK.

Symptoms of a heart attack can include:

chest pain – the chest can feel like it’s being pressed or squeezed by a heavy object, and pain can radiate from the chest to the jaw, neck, arms and back
shortness of breath
feeling weak and/or lightheaded
overwhelming feeling of anxiety

It’s important to stress that not everyone experiences severe chest pain; the pain can often be mild and mistaken for indigestion.

It’s the combination of symptoms that’s important in determining whether a person is having a heart attack, and not the severity of chest pain.

What is a Cardiac Arrest

Sudden cardiac arrest occurs suddenly and it is triggered by an electrical malfunction in the heart that causes an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia). With its pumping action disrupted, the heart cannot pump blood to the brain, lungs and other organs. Seconds later, a person loses consciousness and has no pulse. Death occurs within minutes if the victim does not receive treatment.

Each year in the United States, more than 350,000 cardiac arrests occur outside of a hospital setting.

What is a Stroke

A stroke occurs when blood, which carries oxygen to the brain, is blocked. It is a medical emergency because brain cells begin to die within a few minutes without oxygen. Ischemic strokes account for 87 percent of all strokes. They happen when there’s a blood clot that blocks blood flow to a part of the brain.

How Smartwatches could predict Heart Problems

A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) suggests that life-saving heart monitoring can be performed with just about any heart-rate-enabled smartwatch and the Cardiogram Android app. It might not be able to pinpoint a specific disease but instead, it might be able t accurately detect specific types of abnormal heart rhythms.

Surprisingly, the 97-percent accuracy measured by the study is a higher rating than that attainable with the Apple Watch’s FDA-cleared ECG accessory.

Apple Watch’s ECG feature is FDA-cleared to detect atrial fibrillation (an irregular heart rate that increases your risk for stroke and heart failure) and to give users notifications that their heartbeat is irregular. The watch also notes when a person’s heart rate is too low.

iBeat Heart Watch

There are multiple articles about the iBeat Heart Watch being able to detect Cardiac Arrests and summoning help. None of the articles or the iBeat website explain how does it actually detect a Cardiac Arrest. The iBeat website says that optical sensors track your heart’s every beat. If your heart slows or stops, they will immediately alert you and their response team. Based on the heart rate disappearing there really isn’t any way of knowing is the sensor having a poor connection or did the heart actually stop. The watch will ask you “Are you okay?” if it detects an issue. Well, I guess you would be unable to respond if you lost consciousness, but if there isn’t anybody around witnessing the event would anyone make it in time?

The device is advertised as being a sleek, stylish smartwatch that monitors your heart for unsafe parameters. In an emergency, they say they will alert you, your loved ones, and their dispatch team to get you immediate care and potentially save your life.

The device has strong claims but no clinical studies to back them up. I think Smartwatches can provide great benefits and possibly save lives in preventive care and that’s where we will see the first advances. Cardiogram has some really interesting progress with the preventive care part. However, for acute events like a Cardiac Arrest, I don’t think I would put my life in the hands of a smartwatch. There are however Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICDs) that can actually autonomously monitor your heart rate and give an electric shock to restore a normal heartbeat.

Cardiogram

In the Cardiogram for Employers program Cardiogram is a free app available to employees on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, enabling them to track their heart rate fluctuations using consumer wearables like Apple Watch, wearOS, and Garmin.

Cardiogram analyzes the data on its servers with DeepHeart, a clinically-proven artificial intelligence algorithm that uses heart rate and step count data to screen the employees for multiple major health conditions.

If the DeepHeart algorithm flags an employee with a condition, the employees will be requested to take an FDA-cleared diagnostic test.

What makes Cardiogram interesting is that they have undergone clinical testing in a series of N=14,011 studies with UC San Francisco’s cardiology department. Cardiogram also states that they provide a return on investment in the form of savings of $2,120-$7,301 per employee annually by reducing medical spend from future health complications, and reducing productivity losses from sick days.

Cardiogram outside the employer program

You can install and use the Cardiogram app without being included in an employer program. I installed the app from the Google Play Store on my android smartphone and connected it to Garmin Connect. With Garmin at least it actually doesn’t need a connection to the Smartwatch but instead, it connects to Garmin Connect on the server side. This makes a lot of sense since your smartwatch can just send the data to one place and Garmin can then via its API allow using the information to third parties if you give consent to it.

On the Google Play Store, the app description says that it allows you to share your health data with medical researchers, to contribute to studies on abnormal heart rhythms like atrial fibrillation, heart failure, and more. It also says that Cardiogram is not a medical device and is currently for research purposes only.

It’s unclear to me will my data be analyzed by DeepHeart and would I get any notifications of potential conditions outside the employer program.

Cardiogram in clinical studies

Consumer wearables like Garmin, Fitbit, and Apple Watch will generate far too many health measurements for any human doctor to review. To help create the future of preventive medicine, Cardiogram is building DeepHeart, a deep neural network tested in multiple clinical studies.

Cardiogram is working towards closing the diagnostic gap by using artificial intelligence to transform existing wearables into screening tools for diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, and atrial fibrillation.

Atrial Fibrillation is the most common abnormal heart rhythm. It causes 1 in 4 strokes and frequently goes undiagnosed. In the mRhythm Study, DeepHeart detected atrial fibrillation with 97% accuracy (c-statistic) using optical heart rate sensors, setting the stage for cost-effective, broadly-deployed AF screening.

A study (Passive Detection of Atrial Fibrillation Using a Commercially Available Smartwatch) published in May 2018 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) suggests that commercially available smartwatches coupled with a deep neural network classifier can passively detect atrial fibrillation.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) affects 34 million people worldwide and is a leading cause of stroke. So a means to continuously monitor for AF could prevent large numbers of strokes and death.

Advancements like this which are backed up by studies make me very optimistic that smartwatches and wearables, in general, will be an essential part of our everyday lives in the future. It might be that your health insurance policy gives you a discount if you wear a device and participate in preventive care programs.

What are Hybrid Smartwatches?

Wed, 26 Dec 2018 22:59:56 GMT

Hybrid smartwatches look like regular analog watches but are in fact smartwatches. The idea is to aim smartwatches to people who like wearing watches instead of tech or sports devices. I’m not sure who coined the term Hybrid Smartwatch, but it might have been Fossil since they have had Hybrid models since 2015.

What are Hybrid Smartwatches

According to Fossil, hybrid smartwatches look like watches but act like smartwatches. That means that they have most of the technical functionality that touchscreen smartwatches have—only in a sleeker, simpler package.

Most Hybrid Smartwatches don’t have a screen. This saves a lot of battery life and one of the biggest advantages is having a battery life that is measured in months rather than days. Typically hybrid smartwatches have a coin cell battery that lasts 6 to 12 months.

What can Hybrid Smartwatches do

Who says you have to sacrifice your sense of style to get cutting-edge features? With hybrid watches, you can get plenty of technical features in a stylish package.

It really depends on the manufacturer but the most typical features are activity tracking, sleep tracking, and notifications.

Track Steps and Sleep

While you wear your hybrid watch it’s keeping track of your steps, distance traveled and, should you choose to wear it while you sleep, your sleep duration and quality. All of your stats will be displayed in the smartphone app. You can use the app to chart progress day over day, week over week and month over month.

Notifications and smartphone control

Many hybrids use Bluetooth connectivity to make you aware of notification with a gentle buzz. Smart notifications can be available for incoming calls, text messages, and calendar reminders. You can also set alarms to wake you but the vibration on many models is quite weak so it may not be suitable for waking you up in the morning. Often you can use a watch button take snapshots from your phone and control your music or even use a find my phone feature.

Heart Rate Monitoring

Some hybrid smartwatches even provide 24/7 wrist-based heart rate monitoring like the Garmin Vivomove HR. This, however, does compromise the battery life and drops it to only 5 days.

Hidden display

The Garmin Vivomove HR has even a hidden display.

The smart display only appears when you quickly turn your wrist to glance at your watch. The watch hands dynamically move out of the way when you interact with the touchscreen then move back to the correct time when you are done. This is a cool feature and the display is really not noticeable and the device still looks like a regular analog watch.

Water resistant

Wash your hands without fear. Your smartwatch will be safe and sound. Most hybrids are fine up to 5 ATM so 50 meters.

Interchangeable Watch Straps

Most hybrid smartwatches are made with standard size lugs meaning you can pick and choose your own straps. Check my article on changing watch straps for your smartwatch.

Who makes Hybrid Smartwatches

Fossil Group

Fossil Group founded in 1984 and based in Texas is one of the better known hybrid watchmakers. Their brands include Fossil, Relic, Abacus, Michele Watch, Skagen Denmark, Misfit, WSI, and Zodiac Watches. Fossil also makes licensed accessories for brands such as Skechers, Emporio Armani, Karl Lagerfeld, Michael Kors, Marc Jacobs, formerly Marc by Marc Jacobs, DKNY, Diesel, Kate Spade New York, Tory Burch, Chaps, Burberry and Armani Exchange.

The benefit of choosing a Fossil-produced hybrid watch is that the Fossil smartphone app has simple and reliable connectivity and a fairly polished app, and you’re getting a design from a proper watchmaker.

The Fossil hybrid watches are reasonably priced and they do have an extensive catalog of watches to choose from.

Misfit

Misfit is one of the companies in the Fossil Group but deserves a closer look into it since the Misfit Command hybrid watch may be of interest for swimmers.

The Command will track your steps and sleep using Misfit’s activity tech, while the hands will move to signal notifications. You can also unlock swim tracking to count your laps in the pool through an additional in-app purchase. It’s swim proof and has a 5 ATM rating.

The Misfit doesn’t have as many smartwatch features as some of the contenders but having the option to track your swimming is something that makes it extremely interesting for me since I do go in the pool at least twice a week. The device has a non-charging, replaceable battery that lasts up to one year.

Garmin

Garmin is most known for its smartwatches for sports and they provide some of the best multisport devices. They have also stepped into the hybrid watch space with the award-winning Garmin Vivomove HR. It offers a watch designed for both men and women, adding a discreet display that only appears when you tap on the watch face. It’s also waterproof up to 50 meters, so you can take it for a dip too.

On that hidden display, you’ll be able to see activity tracking data, check in on heart rate readings, view notifications and even check in on your stress levels. Basically, it has all the features mentioned in this article and it currently is my favorite hybrid watch. It would be awesome to have GPS as well, but perhaps that will be in the next iteration. The only downside is that the battery life is poor with only 5 days using the HR monitor compared to the Fossil watches which typically give 6 months or more of battery life.

The Garmin Connect app is great and that’s something I would strongly consider when purchasing a smartwatch.

Withings

Nokia Health is now again Withings. They have multiple hybrid watches to choose from. The Steel, Steel HR and Steel HR Sport some of them.

Steel HR Sport is a hybrid smartwatch designed for sports, featuring heart rate monitoring, multi-sport tracking, connected GPS and a Fitness Level assessment via VO2 Max estimation. All these features are housed in a classic timepiece with water resistance up to 50m, a long-life battery of up to 25 days, and a durable stainless steel case.

Can You Change Your Smartwatch Strap?

Tue, 25 Dec 2018 20:53:33 GMT

Most smartwatches absolutely allow you to change the strap or band on the smartwatch. This is a neat feature since you can customize the look of your smartwatch for the occasion or if you get bored with how it looks like.

Which smartwatches allow changing the strap?

If you are still looking for a smartwatch and it’s important for you to know if it has interchangeable straps then keep reading to find out which manufacturers have taken this customization aspect into account. Most watches have a standard lug that is designed to accommodate any watch band of the proper width. The good thing about the standard lug fitting is that straps will fit traditional and smartwatches. Lug widths vary between 16mm and 24mm. Many smartwatches will need a strap that’s 22mm wide. This measurement refers to the distance between the holes on the watch where the spring bar fits in. Other smartwatches have wider straps or might also have proprietary fittings like the Apple Watch.

Common smartwatch lug widths

Bartonwatchbands.com has this great table which makes it easy to check strap widths of some of the more common smartwatches. You could also find the correct strap width by:

Checking for markings on the underside of your current strap
Measure the width using a metric ruler
Searching online for the specs of your watch model

Garmin Smartwatch straps

Generally, Garmin’s smartwatches have changeable bands and unlike Apple, you can fit standard straps on them which is great since there is a larger selection. You can check the strap size on the Garmin web page. For example, the popular Garmin Vivoactive 3 and Forerunner 645 have 20 mm, Industry standard quick release bands. The Garmin Fenix 5 lineup uses quick fit bands in different sizes 20mm, 22mm or 26mm depending on the model. Garmin sells straps or bands but you will save a lot by looking for some on Amazon or AliExpress. For example, the Garmin Fenix 5 stainless steel quick fit bracelet in the Yooside Aliexpress store looks awesome.

Garmin Vivoactive 3 bands

I just bought a Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music smartwatch. It comes with a silicone band so that’s great for sports but I would prefer something else for other occasions. I looked on AliExpress and found a black (matching my black Vivoactive 3) stainless steel strap which is 20mm wide and has quick release pins like the original Garmin band. The manufacturer of the band is unknown to me. The one I found is sold under the Zenheo brand name, but I have seen other brand names with the same pictures. It’s available in different colors so you can choose one that fits your smartwatch. The picture is of the band, but the watch in the picture isn’t exactly a Vivoactive 3. Looks good and the price was under 9 USD so I decided to order one. If you want a closer look at this strap, have a look at the video in the chapter about resizing the band. Check current pricing on AliExpress for the Zenheo 20mm stainless steel bracelet.

Apple Watch bands

Apple luckily made the straps changeable. Unfortunately, you can’t use regular straps but they need to be designed for Apple. This sounds exactly like what Apple would do. Make sure that you use a band that corresponds to your Apple Watch case size. Note that you can only use bands that are designed for Apple Watch Series 1, 2, 3 or 4. They fit all the series at least as long as the sizes are compatible. Bands for 38mm and 40mm cases are compatible with each other, and bands for 42mm and 44mm cases are compatible with each other. The straps made by Apple cost around 50$ to 150$ but luckily there are many other manufacturers that you can buy straps from for around 5$ to 15$. For example, this stainless steel Milanese Loop Band has been very popular (Check prices on Aliexpress).

Fitbit straps

Fitbit Ionic, Versa and Charge 3 are the main models to consider currently. Ionic has two detachable bands (top and bottom) that you can replace with accessory bands. To remove and replace a band you need to turn the device over and press on the metal latch. For Fitbit Charge 2 and 3, the bands are also detachable with a latch. Versa has similarly detachable bands but instead of a metal latch, there is a quick release lever. Usually, smartwatches come with a sporty looking strap and the first customization I like to make is to get a bracelet I could wear to make the watch look more like a luxury watch I could wear for business occasions. So, therefore, the stainless steel bracelets like this one for the Versa (Check pricing on Aliexpress) are especially appealing to me.

Wear OS

There are many smartwatches running Google’s Wear OS software, and many of them can be worn with third-party watch straps. Google says most Wear OS watches use the industry-standard 22mm bands, so pretty much any watch strap should work. For example, the Huawei Watch 2 Classic has a 22mm strap and the Huawei Watch 2 has a 20mm strap. The LG Watch Sport is clearly an exception to this since it has antennas in the strap and they are not changeable.

Samsung Smartwatches

The Samsung Galaxy Watch is available in two sizes: 46mm and 42mm. The larger one has a 22mm strap and the smaller one a 20mm strap. They can be easily changed if you use quick release bands. Samsung Gear S3 models have a standard 22mm strap.

Motorola Smartwatches

Motorola has the Moto 360 line of smartwatches. The 2nd Generation model was released in 2015 and the 3rd Generation was expected in 2018 but hadn’t launched yet. The strap sizes are 16mm for the women’s model and 20/22mm for the men’s model depending on which model you have.

Where to buy straps for Smartwatches?

Most manufacturers of smartwatches also sell their own straps but they do come at a premium price. You can get good quality straps from Amazon or Aliexrpres that fit your device. Usually, the silicone, leather, and Nato style straps are sold as straps or bands and the stainless steel ones might be called bracelets. Anyhow the best approach is to type in your device name in Amazon or AliExpress and you should find straps for your device. My preference is to check on Aliexpress since there is more selection and the prices are lower. Shipping time from AliExpress stores tends to be higher though. If it’s a less popular model you might need to check the manufacturer’s specs to see the width and find a replacement strap based on that.

How to change the strap on a Smartwatch

If your smartwatch has non-standard strap fittings like Apple Watch you will need to look online or from your manual. With the standard lug fitting, you might have quick release spring bars on the regular one which comes loose with a screwdriver. If you like to switch it up often by changing bands each time for sports and work I would highly recommend buying only quick release straps. The quick release straps are designed to be swapped in and out in a few seconds and without tools.

Quick Release

Simply insert one end of the spring bar into the lug and then slide the quick release lever with your finger. Barton has a good selection of quick release straps but you can find plenty of options on Amazon and AliExpress as well.

NATO Style

NATO style straps have become increasingly popular and I can see why. There are a ton of colorful options and the breathable fabric is light on your hand and comfortable compared to the stainless steel bracelets or leather straps. Insert spring bars into watch head, then thread band as shown. Using quick release spring bars with your NATO Style strap will make it easy to swap between this type of strap as well.

How to Adjust or Resize a Band

In the below video I demonstrate the process of adjusting the strap removing links. The video also shows how the quick release mechanism works.

Watch “How to Resize / Adjust Band on the Garmin Vivoactive 3” on YouTube

Can Smartwatches Play Music

Tue, 18 Dec 2018 23:46:47 GMT

Can Smartwatches Play Music? Yes, there is a range of Smartwatches which can Play Music. There are a few different kinds of smartwatches that fall into this category. First, devices that can connect to the internet and stream music and play it over a Bluetooth connection to your headphones. Second, devices that have storage on the device for music and you can use it as an mp3 player and play music over Bluetooth to your headphones. Third, devices which allow controlling your smartphone which actually works as the music player.

Smartwatches for streaming music

You want music but you don’t want to carry your smartphone? Do it with a smartwatch and a pair of Bluetooth headphones. You might not want to carry your smartphone while in the gym or doing other sports. The smartphone gets in the way and might not bear the sweat. It’s also a lot more convenient to change tracks from your wrist rather than getting your phone from the pocket. It’s not for sports? Well perhaps you commute and you want to untether yourself from the phone. Having access to all your favorite music apps on your wrist is really convenient to have. In order to be able to stream music, you will need a smartwatch with cellular connectivity (usually marked LTE or 4G) to connect to the internet. In theory, you could use a wifi connected smartwatch if you plan using it in the gym and they have wifi but for outdoor sports, wifi is pretty much useless. Having cellular connectivity can also come in handy for making emergency calls while running or doing water sports. Also if you happen to like waterparks you usually don’t want to or are not allowed to bring your smartphone when going to the slides. If you are there as a group or family and split up for going to different slides it’s really nice that you can call each other afterward. I did my research and looked at the better-known brands like Samsung, LG, Huawei, and Apple. I really like Garmin, but it seems they don’t have an LTE smartwatch yet. Samsung has LTE watches like the Samsung Galaxy Watch but I had to drop it out of the streaming category since it only supports offline Spotify which means it’s not streaming via the LTE connection.

HUAWEI WATCH 2 4G SPORT SMARTWATCH

The Huawei Watch 2 is one of the best options for a smartwatch for streaming music while working out. It runs the Android Wear 2.0 operating system which means it’s a standalone device with its own version of the Google Play App store. This means that you have access to Google Play Music, YouTube Music, SoundCloud, Spotify, and Deezer. With IP68 water & dust protection, the Watch 2 is designed to resist the elements and won’t get in your way. 4G, GPS, NFC, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth antennas are integrated under the watch bezel. This reduces signal interference from your body and optimizes signal reception. The device has a wrist-based heart rate monitor and GPS so you can track your sports activities with it. Instead of streaming music, you can also use the onboard 4GB flash to store music and play it offline. The Huawei Watch 2 was released back in the first half of 2017. So far Huawei hasn’t released the 4G watch in the US. The price of the device has come down considerably since it was released and it’s comparable to some of the mid-range multisport smartwatches without cellular support. Some complaints the Watch 2 has received is that the design is less premium than the previous Huawei model and the screen size is too small (1,2 inches) for some apps especially if you need to use the touchscreen keyboard.

LG WATCH SPORT

The LG Watch runs Android Wear 2.0 like the Huawei Watch 2 and supports LTE so it has equally excellent features for streaming music. It was released in February 2017 so it’s not exactly new anymore but still one of the top choices. With the IP68 dust/waterproof rating, LG says it’s good for 1,5Meters up to 30minutes. With the 1,38 inch screen, it’s clearly bigger and more readable than the watch 2. However, the device is also quite chunky so it rises quite high above the wrist.

APPLE WATCH SERIES 3 and 4

If you have an iPhone then a great choice is the Apple Watch. For Android phone users, this option doesn’t really make sense. The Apple Watch will sync with your iPhone to deliver a full suite of notifications. If you get the one with cellular connectivity (LTE) you will be able to stream music from your favorite apps. Stream directly from the Apple Watch Music or Radio app, or with Pandora Radio and TuneIn radio. Apple Watch Series 3 and Series 4 have a water resistance rating of 50 meters. Apple states that they may be used for shallow-water activities like swimming in a pool or ocean. However, they should not be used for scuba diving, waterskiing, or other activities involving high-velocity water or submersion below shallow depth. Apple watch series 3 was released in September 2017 and the series 4 was released a year later. The series 4 has some improvements but is considerably more expensive.

Smartwatches for offline music playing

If you want to play music while working out without taking your smartphone with you and you don’t need a cellular connection your best option is a smartwatch with offline music playing capability. This option is in some ways better than the LTE options since you don’t need a sim card and the monthly expense that comes with it and you get better battery life since LTE does use quite a bit of power. In this category, there are more options but I will only bring up the best options based on my research.

GARMIN VIVOACTIVE 3 MUSIC

Garmin makes great multisport smartwatches and now they also have added music features. If you’ll be using your smartwatch for the gym, running or swimming, the Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music is an excellent choice. It has storage for up to 500 songs. You can use Garmin Express to transfer music from your computer by connecting a USB cable to the device. This sounds like an old-fashioned approach but it does work and basically, you can add your offline music or audiobooks or whatever you have available. Another approach is downloading music service apps from the Connect IQ store, and then sync your customized playlists to your watch for offline listening. Supported apps include Deezer and IHeartRadio. I really like the Vivoactive 3 Music because it offers such a lot for a reasonable price. The sports features are really good on the Garmin devices, the Garmin android app is one of the best if not the best and the music features are a great bonus. Vivoactive 3 has GPS, Wrist baed heart rate monitoring and it’s also one of my favorite devices for swimming (check my article on the topic). Battery life is up to 7 days which is a lot more than the LTE devices. The Vivoactive 3 is my current daily smartwatch and I did a review on it (check the full review).

SAMSUNG GALAXY WATCH

The Galaxy Watch is Samsungs latest LTE smartwatch released in August 2018. It’s available in two sizes 46mm and 42mm. The larger one has a 1,3″ screen and a larger battery as well. Both have LTE, GPS and are water resistant up to 50meters. This device doesn’t have the Android Wear OS 2.0 but instead, the Samsung Tizen Based Wearable OS 4.0. Currently, the Tizen OS 4.0 doesn’t have an app for streaming music over the LTE connection. It does have a Spotify app which allows you to download a Spotify playlist on to the device for offline music playing. Battery life is reported to be around 2,5 days and longer if used in battery saving mode.

Waterproof Smartwatches and Fitness Trackers For Swimming – Guide for getting Best Bang for your Buck

Sun, 09 Dec 2018 21:49:51 GMT

Which Smartwatches and Fitness Trackers are designed with Swimming in mind? I looked at all the major brands and over 30 devices to show you in this buyers guide how to get your money’s worth when selecting a device for swimming!

There are a ton of options out there for swimmers and casual swimmers who want to track their pool activity.

However, many waterproof smartwatches and fitness trackers are not designed for swimming and won’t track distance and heart rate in the water. So, if you want to track your swimming, it’s important to select a device that has a swimming setting instead of just being waterproof.

If you are just looking for my recommendation for the best bang for your buck it is here. If you want a versatile multi-sports device suitable for swimming that looks good and has a great app it is the Garmin V ivoactive 3 – check current price on Amazon

What to look for in a Smartwatch or Fitness Tracker for Swimmers?

There are so many waterproof smartwatch and fitness tracker choices so it can be quite confusing. So let’s go over some of the features you should consider when looking for a fitness tracker or smartwatch for swimming.

Functionalities to look for in a Swimming Tracker

The most important features are distance measurement and duration.

Other measurements that some models offer are calories consumption, stroke count and stroke rate sensors. You should also check is the model only for pool swimming or also for open water swimming if that’s something you are in to for example from a triathlon perspective.

Some models offer even heart rate measurement from the wrist during swimming, but this can be inaccurate and therefore some models have disabled the heart rate monitor in swimming mode.

Waterproof rating

So a 3 atm rating would imply 30 meters water resistant. This, however, doesn’t mean you should go diving with the watch since actually a 3 atm rating is tested with static air pressure and when you are in the water you are moving so the pressure on the device is higher when in movement.

I have a smartwatch rated to be watertight up to 50 meters and I have been swimming with it and even diving like to 5 meters and I haven’t had any issues. I would not recommend diving any deeper though and the device states is good for swimming only.

Which Smartwatch or Fitness Tracker to choose for Swimming

There are multiple brands you can look at for devices which are suitable for Swimming. In this buyers guide, I will be looking at the following brands and how you can get the best bang for your buck.

Garmin
Apple
Fitbit
Polar
Suunto
The following brands are also briefly covered: Samsung, Moov, Misfit

Garmin devices for Swimming

Garmin has a great lineup of smartwatches and fitness trackers and their devices have a great build quality and they are overall very good quality.

Below is a list of the devices that Garmin currently has for swimming listed from the cheaper end to the more pricey ones. All the models listed here are compatible with Android and iPhone smartphones. My favorites from a bang for buck perspective are the Garmin vivoactive 3 and Forerunner 735XT.

Garmin vívoactive 3 / 3 Music

This is one of my favorite options. It has GPS, Heart Rate monitoring from the wrist and it has a swim mode. It’s rated at 5 ATM and has a battery life of up to 7 days. There are two versions of this device and the 3 Music version has storage for 500 songs that you can play over Bluetooth without having a smartphone. Please note though that Bluetooth doesn’t work underwater so the music option is mainly for other sports. If you want music while swimming look at some of the waterproof headphones with integrated mp3 players.

Garmin Vivoactive 3 – check current price on Amazon
Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music – check current price on Amazon
Pluses
- Pool swim metrics (lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories)
- Stroke type detection (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly)
- Swim efficiency (SWOLF)
Minuses
- This model is only for pool swimming and not for open water swimming

Garmin Instinct

This is very similar to the Garmin vivoactive 3, but it’s rated at 10 ATM and has a battery life of up to 14 days.

Pluses
- Pool swim metrics (lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories)
- Stroke type detection (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly)
- Swim efficiency (SWOLF)
- Open-water swim metrics (distance, pace, stroke count/rate, stroke distance, calories)
- Long battery life up to 14 days
- 10 ATM rating
Minuses
- No wrist-based Heart rate monitoring
- No touchscreen

Garmin Forerunner 735XT

Rated at 5 ATM, battery up to 11 days and it has wrist-based heart rate measurement.

If you are a triathlonist and want the open water swimming and better cycling options I would say this is the device with the best bang for your buck and you should get this instead of the Vivoactive 3.

Garmin Forerunner 735XT – check current price on Amazon
Pluses
- Same pool swim metrics as the other models
- Open-water swim metrics (distance, pace, stroke count/rate, stroke distance, calories)
- Long battery life up to 11 days
- HR while swimming with HRM-Tri™ and HRM-Swim™
- Better Cycling features compared to the vivoactive 3. This is something to consider for example for triathlon training
Minuses
- No touchscreen

Garmin Forerunner 645

Rated at 5 ATM, battery up to 11 days and it has wrist-based heart rate measurement.

This device is very similar to the Forerunner 735XT from a swimming perspective but it’s missing the open water and HR while swimming features.

Garmin Forerunner 935

Rated at 5 ATM, battery up to 14 days and it has wrist-based heart rate measurement

This device is very similar to the Forerunner 735XT from a swimming perspective. If you are not interested in the other features that this model offers you should definitely go for the cheaper 745XT.

Garmin quatix 5

Rated at 10 ATM, battery up to 14 days and it has wrist-based heart rate measurement.

Very similar to the Forerunner 735XT from a swimming perspective. If you are not interested in the other features that this model offers you should definitely go for the cheaper 745XT.

Garmin fēnix 5 / 5 Plus / 5S Plus

Rated at 10 ATM, battery up to 12/7 days and it has wrist-based heart rate measurement.

The device is very similar to the Forerunner 735XT from a swimming perspective. If you are not interested in the other features that this model offers you should definitely go for the cheaper 745XT.

However, the Garmin Fenix 5 is a very stylish device and if you are looking for something suitable for dress shirt usage as well then this might be a great fit for you. You can style your smartwatch with a stainless steel strap (check my article on the topic.)

Garmin Fenix 5 – check current price on Amazon

Garmin tactix Charlie

Rated at 10 ATM, battery up to 12 days and it has wrist-based heart rate measurement.

Very similar to the Forerunner 735XT from a swimming perspective. If you are not interested in the other features that this model offers you should definitely go for the cheaper 745XT.

Garmin quatix 5 Sapphire

Rated at 10 ATM, battery up to 14 days and it has wrist-based heart rate measurement.

Very similar to the Forerunner 735XT from a swimming perspective. If you are not interested in the other features that this model offers you should definitely go for the cheaper 745XT. The metal band on this model looks really nice though. So again this might be an option to consider if you want a watch you can wear in other occasions as well.

Garmin fēnix 5X Plus

Rated at 10 ATM, battery up to 20 days and it has wrist-based heart rate measurement.

This device is very similar to the Forerunner 735XT from a swimming perspective. If you are not interested in the other features that this model offers you should definitely go for the cheaper 745XT. The 20 days of battery life is a nice feature though, but the price point is a lot higher than the 745XT.

Garmin fēnix Chronos

Rated at 10 ATM, battery up to 8 days and wrist-based heart rate measurement.

Very similar to the Forerunner 735XT from a swimming perspective. If you are not interested in the other features that this model offers you should definitely go for the cheaper 745XT. This device is one of the best looking Garmin smartwatches out there though.

Garmin Descent Mk1

This device is good for diving (Designed to comply with EN13319), battery up to 19 days and it has wrist-based heart rate measurement.

However, it is very similar to the Forerunner 735XT from a swimming perspective. If you are not interested in the other features that this model offers you should definitely go for the cheaper 745XT. The diving feature is something that I would love, but the price point is really steep.

Apple devices for Swimming

In the case of Apple, there are not many devices to choose from. Currently, the Apple watch Series 4 is the newest one. Apple devices are included in the list since Apple Watches are quite popular and they do have swimming functionality since Series 2.

The accelerometer and gyroscope are used to capture all the movements of our wrist in the water, and as a result, it can figure out what style of swimming we are doing (backstroke, freestyle, breaststroke).

The accelerometer is used to track velocity and motion and the gyroscope, in turn, helps figuring out what stroke you are doing. The gyroscope can also recognize when you are doing a turn in the pool.

The Apple Watch will track total time swum, the number of meters completed, how many strokes you are taking per lap, the type of stroke you are doing, lap time, and somewhat (but not really) heart rate data. The heart rate data while swimming is not very accurate as with all other models that leave the heart rate monitor on while in water. The main issue is that the water comes in between the wrist and the device.

For open water swimming, it uses the GPS to track distance.

Below is a list of the devices.

Apple Watch Series 4

Rated at 5 ATM, battery up to 1 day and wrist-based heart rate measurement. I guess no one would buy the Apple watch just for swimming since it’s quite expensive, but if you fancy the other features it’s a viable option. From a sports perspective, I would recommend the Garmin devices though.

Pluses
- Has tons of features in addition to being able to track swimming
Minuses
- Really short battery life
- Doesn’t work with Android

Apple Watch Series 3

Rated at 5 ATM, battery up to 1 day and it has wrist-based heart rate measurement.

Pluses
- Has tons of features in addition to being able to track swimming
- Price wise this older model is actually quite reasonable compared to the Garmin devices.
Minuses
- Really short battery life
- Doesn’t work with Android

Fitbit devices for Swimming

Fitbit has a decent amount of device choices for swimming. Fitbit trackers tend to be of good quality and the Fitbit app is very highly rated.

According to Fitbit, you can choose to swim using any of the 4 most common strokes (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly). They, however, recommend swimming freestyle for the best measurement results.

You can only use automatic tracking to capture swim lengths, duration, distance, and pace. You need to turn on swim tracking and set your pool length in the Fitbit app for the Flex. For other Fitbit devices, you can set the pool length on the device.

Fitbit doesn’t really support open water swimming and if you do open water swimming the device might automatically detect the swim and try to estimate length which will be naturally very inaccurate.

I wouldn’t say that the Fitbit devices are designed for swimming and compared to Garmin the Fitbit devices are not doing such a good job at least yet. So if swimming is the primary thing I would go rather with Garmin.

Below is a list of the devices that Fitbit currently has for swimming listed from the cheaper end to the more pricey ones. All the models listed here are compatible with Android and iPhone smartphones.

Fitbit Flex 2

Rated at 5 ATM, battery up to 5 days.

Pluses
- Inexpensive
Minuses
- Doesn’t have a heart rate monitor
- No GPS
- Not really a proper sports tracker

Fitbit Charge 3

Rated at 5 ATM, battery up to 7 days and wrist-based heart rate measurement.

Pluses
- Inexpensive
Minuses
- No GPS
- No live count of the swimming stats

Fitbit Versa

Rated at 5 ATM, battery up to 4 days and wrist based heart rate measurement.

Pluses
- Looks like a Apple Watch if thats something you like
- Does show a live count of the swimming stats during the swim
Minuses
- No GPS

Fitbit Ionic

Rated at 5 ATM, battery up to 1+ days and wrist based heart rate measurement.

Pluses
- Has GPS
Minuses
- Poor battery life

Polar devices for Swimming

Polar has a decent amount of device choices for swimming. Polar is a company based in Finland and it has a 40+ year history and was the first to start making mobile heart rate monitoring devices for athletes.

Polar has currently 8 waterproof models and 4 of those have swimming metrics. They say that water may prevent the wrist-based heart rate measurement from working optimally, but still, you can use it to get some idea.

Below is a list of the devices that Polar currently has for swimming listed from the cheaper end to the more pricey ones. All the models listed here are compatible with Android and iPhone smartphones.

My favorites from the Polar lineup are the M600 and Vantage M considering their reasonable price point and the swimming metrics they provide and the included GPS and wrist-based heart rate monitoring.

Polar Loop 2

Rated at 2 ATM, battery up to 8 days.

No real swimming tracking.

Polar M200

Rated at “Suitable for Swimming”, GPS, battery up to 6 days and wrist-based heart rate measurement.

No real swimming tracking.

Polar A370

Rated at 3 ATM, battery up to 4 days and wrist-based heart rate measurement.

It doesn’t have a real swimming tracking option but it will collect your activity data from your wrist movements during swimming.

I used the previous model A360 and found it was overall a good device but my experience with the Garmin devices are a lot better. After using a FitBit and a Garmin device I felt the Polar app is lacking in functionality.

Polar M430

Rated at 3 ATM, battery up to 20 days, but with continuous HR it’s a lot less. It has wrist-based heart rate measurement.

No real swimming tracking.

Polar M600

Rated at “Suitable for Swimming”, GPS, battery up to 4 days and wrist-based heart rate measurement.

This device supports swimming metrics. You can use the wrist-based HR monitoring during swimming-

Polar Vantage M

Rated at 3 ATM, GPS, battery up to 7 days and it has wrist-based heart rate measurement.

Supports swimming metrics.

Polar V800

Rated at 3 ATM, GPS, battery up to 30 days in time mode with activity tracking. Note there is no wrist-based HR monitoring.

When using the Swimming or Pool swimming profile, V800 records your swim distance, time and pace, strokes, and also identifies your swimming style. In addition, with the help of the SWOLF score, you can keep track of your development.

The four most common stroke styles are recognized as with other brands.

Polar Vantage V

Rated at 3 ATM, GPS, battery up to 7 days and wrist-based heart rate measurement.

Supports swimming metrics.

Suunto devices for Swimming

Suunto has a decent amount of device choices for swimming. Suunto is another company based in Finland with a 80+ year history starting with compasses and later moving also to fitness trackers.

Suunto has currently 3 waterproof models (plus some variations of these) that have swimming metrics.

All of the models are suitable for pool and open water swimming and give you proper swimming metrics with speed, distance, stroke count, stroke type, pace, and SWOLF. Heart rate monitoring is possible during the swim but you need to wear the chest strap.

Below is a list of the devices that Suunto currently has for swimming listed from the cheaper end to the more pricey ones. All the models listed here are compatible with Android and iPhone smartphones.

Since the features are quite similar I would choose the Suunto Spartan based on looks. It’s quite reasonably priced but the HR model does come at an extra cost.

SUUNTO AMBIT3 PEAK

Rated at “Suitable for Swimming”, GPS, battery up to 30 days.

SUUNTO SPARTAN ULTRA/SPORT

Rated at “Suitable for Swimming”, GPS, battery up to 20 days.

SUUNTO SPARTAN SPORT WRIST HR

Rated at “Suitable for Swimming”, GPS, battery up to 14 days and wrist-based heart rate measurement.

Other devices for Swimming to be considered

Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro

Rated at 5 ATM, GPS, battery up to 5 days, wrist-based heart rate measurement.

Whether you choose the pool or open water, the Speedo On app developed for Gear Fit2 Pro tracks your stats and presents them in easy-to-read summaries.

Samsung Gear Sport

Rated at 5 ATM, GPS, battery up to 4 days, wrist-based heart rate measurement.

Dedicated swim tracking features offering up distance, strokes, lap time and SWOLF

Moov Now

Rated at 3 ATM, battery up to 6 months.

You can see feedback on your stroke type, rate, distance, and efficiency, as well as lap times and an overall indicator of your pool stamina. This device is well rated as a swimming tracker. If you want heart rate monitoring in the pool, you can invest in the Moov HR, a small Moov Now-like device that can sit inside your swim cap.

Misfit Shine 2

Rated at 5 ATM, battery up to 30 days.

You can get swimming-specific algorithms that track laps and lengths as well as distance and calories burned.

Extensive testing with one of the Garmin devices

I have been very happy with the Garmin Vivoactive HR model which was recently discontinued and has been replaced by the Vivoactive 3. Since the Vivoactive 3 is basically the same as the previous model with some improvements I can definitely recommend the new model.

Garmin Vívoactive HR

GPS smartwatch with a sunlight-readable, high-resolution color touchscreen
Built-in sports apps include GPS-enabled running, biking, swimming — no phone connection required
Customize with free watch face designs, widgets, and apps
Receive smart notifications and smart coaching from Garmin Connect when paired with your phone
Up to 8 days’ battery life in watch/activity tracking mode or up to 13 hours using GPS

You can do without the chest strap and measure heart rate from the wrist for all your sports except swimming, where optical heart rate isn’t available. Using heart rate data, vívoactive HR provides calories burned information and quantifies the intensity of your fitness activities, providing better credit for your efforts.

When Swimming you can see detailed stats like total and interval distance, pace, stroke count, stroke type. Let the swimming app calculate your efficiency with SWOLF, which adds the time and the number of strokes it takes to swim a pool length. Interval Count lets you seamlessly pause and then resume your workout. At the end of a workout, view your summary data, which includes interval and session averages, overall time and personal records.

Garmin says that the swim feature is designed to work for 4 recognized competitive swim strokes. The manual doesn’t seem to say what these stroke types are, but this video from Garmin on youtube is really helpfully in explaining that Garmin devices recognize freestyle, breaststroke, butterfly stroke, and backstroke. The video also explains some reasons why measurements can be inaccurate.

My Personal Experience with the Vivoactive HR

This device is the best one I have had so far. I really like it that it’s waterproof and I have had no problems wearing it in the sauna or in the pool and even swimming in the sea. The wrist strap and build quality are really good and after a year of wearing it daily, I can’t see any signs of anything breaking. The battery life is really good. It’s really good for running, cycling and rollerskating. I also like to measure the duration of my swims but for the distance, I haven’t gotten proper results. The above video though explains why measurements can be inaccurate and one reason is changing stroke types mid-swim and that’s exactly what I have been doing. So I will retest and report back with my findings.

Pluses

Long battery life
Heart rate measurement from the wrist
Good build quality
Good waterproof rating
GPS is accurate when running/cycling etc.

Minuses

Heart rate measurement is not available while swimming
Although rated at 50 meters waterproof the manual says that it’s intended for surface swimming and you can’t go scuba diving and it will void the warranty
Swim distance measurement will be inaccurate if you don’t follow the guidelines in the above video from Garmin

Smartwatches for Kids and in School

Sun, 09 Dec 2018 00:11:17 GMT

Are Smartwatches Allowed in School

While most parents allow children to browse the internet at home (at least to some services), it’s a common debate in schools ifdigital devices should be allowed. The most common device is naturally the smartphone but smartwatches are becoming more and more common as well.

Supporters of technology in the classroom say that using devices in the classroom can keep students engaged.

But critics say they are distractions in the classroom. From social media to texting, allowing digital devices could hinder a student’s performance in the classroom.

It seems there is no exact widespread policy or guidelines on this issue. It’s more likely the school you or your child is attending has guidelines on smartphone usage.

My daughter is attending the first grade in primary school and they have a policy that smartphones must be in the school bag at all times. So using the smartphone during class or even recess is not allowed.

I bet a smartwatch would go entirely unnoticed if using it would not be distracting in the teachers opinion. With all the new features smartwatches are providing though like calculators it might be something that schools will need to consider guidelines on.

Are Smartwatches Allowed in Exams

In most cases smartwatches are not allowed during exams. Please check your schools policy.

In the UK using a smartphone or smartwatch during an exam has been banned for some time now. Even regular watches have been banned due to fears of smuggling in smartwatches disguised as regular watches.

In 2015 smartwatches were banned in Australia as well: “Due to advances in watch technologies the UNSW exams rules have been updated: No wrist or handheld watches are to be worn or placed on your desk during exams. Watches of any kind must be placed in a clear resealable bag under your exam chair before the exam begins.”

Several American high schools have also banned students from wearing smartwatches during their SAT exams.

This is understandable since smartwatches come in many forms that can look like a regular watch and you could use a memo to check some notes from your smartwatch or even use some specialized app for cheating which would benefit you in the exam. Some smartwatches even have a button to quickly bring up the watch face so that the invigilator can’t see what you were doing.

There are some that think exams will get more advanced so that you will actually be allowed to use the devices during exams. This kind of makes sense since in regular life you would use the whatever approach which brings you to the answer the quickest. So basically an open book/internet exam with a time limit would be a better test than who has memorized results.

Does a Smartwatch for Kids make sense

Children get often their first smartphone when they go to school at the age of 7. In Finland it seems that now in 2018 children are getting their first smartphone already in preschool at the age of 6. In the case of smartwatches I haven’t seen any being worn by kids of the age of 7 or under.

When I was 7 almost 30 years ago I think I got my first wristwatch when I went to school. Now kids have their smartphone at this age and they can check the time on it (if they know how). So what point would there be to buy a smartwatch to your child?

Childrens smartwatch benefits for Parents

There are smartwatches out there witch are designed for children and have GPS, WIFI and voice calling features.

These features can be great in providing peace of mind since you can locate your child with the GPS or indoors with wifi. It’s also handy that you can call your child.

We allowed our daughter at the age of 6 and up to play outside with the other children in the neighboring houses unsupervised so when it was time to come home for lunch, dinner etc. we called her on her smartphone. Sometimes she forgets her smartphone at home or it’s hard to carry because children clothes don’t really have pockets of that size. So it would be handy to be able to call her on her smartwatch.

Smartwatch benefits for Children

From the child’s perspective GPS or WIFI on a smartwatch without any additional functionality for the child doesn’t really do much. Being able to call your parents on the other hand is a nice feature for any child. And if you are required by your parents to carry a phone with you then having something smaller than a smartphone when you are going to play with your friends might be a welcome thing.

What to do about a Smartphone without a Headphone Jack?

Sun, 26 Aug 2018 18:36:57 GMT

What to do about a Smartphone without a Headphone Jack? You could use an adapter but I would highly recommend going wireless and move to Bluetooth Headphones.

You might also be wondering are there smartwatches with headphone jacks? Yes, smartwatches with 3,5mm headphone jacks do exist. But another question you should be asking is why would you want to connect a cable to the watch on your wrist instead of using Bluetooth headphones? My recommendation would be to go wireless.

What to do about a Smartphone without a Headphone Jack?

Since 2016 there has been a trend of removing the 3.5 mm headphone jack in flagship phones. This happened to iPhone but also many flagship Android phones. There have been many reasons stated to why the 3.5 mm jack was removed like saving space, making a slimmer body design possible and even better audio quality. Perhaps some really did it to boost sales of new headphones. Regardless of the reason why this was done we now need to deal with it.

Adapters or USB-C / Lightning port headphones

iPhones like the iPhone 7 was sold with a Lightning to 3.5mm adapter so that users could keep using their existing headphones. The downside to this is that you can’t charge at the same time. You could also use headphones with a lighting port or for android a USB-C port. In reality, the market doesn’t yet have that many choices of headphones with either lightning or USB-C connectors.

There are multiple reasons why USB-C headphones are not becoming more popular and never might. One is price since one needs to pay more to use a USB-C connector. Another is that the market for USB-C headphones is limited since iPhone doesn’t have a USB-C port and Samsung still has the 3.5 mm jack and doesn’t need a set of USB-C headphones. The biggest limiting factor I think is that Bluetooth as the wireless standard is much more preferable for most users.

I personally haven’t used corded headphones for a long time and you can check below for my recommendation about Bluetooth Headphones.

iPhone ditching the lightning port

Lightning is a proprietary computer bus and power connector created by Apple and introduced in 2012 for iPhones.

On October 30, 2018, Apple announced that their new range of iPads will no longer have Lightning ports but will instead use USB-C ports.

It is highly likely that iPhones will also switch over to using USB-C. EU has been looking at the regulations on the topic to standardize the phone chargers back in 2009 and now again in 2018.

In 2009, manufacturers including Apple, Samsung, and Nokia, signed a memorandum of understanding to say they would voluntarily standardize on the then-current micro-USB connector. Apple ended up only making an adapter while all others had the micro-USB connector on the smartphone itself.

Since regulators were unsatisfied with this voluntary approach the EU commission launched an assessment on the topic.

Do smartwatches with headphone jacks exist?

They are rare, but Yes they absolutely do exist but I think they are more of a rarity than mainstream. One example I could find is the I’m Watch which is a smartwatch developed by Italian company I’m S.p.A.

There are also hacks where existing cheap smartwatches have been modified by adding a 3,5mm headphone jack. If you want a DIY project you can look into this hack.

Instead of trying to find a smartwatch with a headphone jack I think the better approach is to use a smartwatch that can play music over Bluetooth to your headphones (Check my article on the topic).

Alternatives on how to keep using your corded headphones

I do understand that users are looking for headphone jacks since iPhones and some Android phones no longer have 3,5mm headphone jacks.

If you want to listen to music while in the gym or doing sports and you still want to use your wired headphones then a Bluetooth headphone adapter is one option. You can get those cheaply on Ali-express.

Maybe when going for a run that isn’t very convenient since you would need to bring your Bluetooth device in most cases your phone with you. So a lightweight option would be to use an MP3 player which usually has a headphone jack.

If you want something like a smartwatch which is on your wrist there are MP3 players for your wrist with 3.5 jacks on them. Check this wrist-based MP3 player on Aliexpress. It’s around 2 USD including shipping so you might as well try it if you really don’t want go for Bluetooth headphones which I would recommend though. For the MP3 player, you need to insert a micro SD card.

I personally haven’t used the above options so I can’t really say I would recommend them. Instead, check below what I do recommend.

How not to need a headphone jack – Bluetooth Headphones

My favorite option on how to overcome the lack of a headphone jack is to switch to cordless Bluetooth Headphones. I have used Bluetooth headphones for many years now and they have become reliable and have good audio quality as well. There are lot’s of Bluetooth Headphones for less than 30$. One of my favorite inexpensive yet good quality headphones is the Bluedio T2s (click to check current price on Amazon).

If you want something more stylish and smaller one option is the Jabra Move (click to check current price on Amazon). Jabra Move is my wife’s current choice of headset for doing sports.

When using Bluetooth headphones you still need to bring a Bluetooth device for playing the music. For the gym taking your phone along is fine at least for me. For running and some other sports, a more convenient option might be a smartwatch with a build in Bluetooth music player and storage for the music files.

Smartwatch with earphones

Huawei has released a patent for a smartwatch with build in Bluetooth earbuds in a container. The World Intellectual Property Organization granted the patent (which LetsGoDigitalfound). It sounds like a handy idea to store your earbuds somewhere were you can easily find them. In my opinion, though good quality earbuds that are comfortable tend to be bigger and wouldn’t fit inside a smartwatch. So I don’t think this idea will become a big hit in the coming years.

Perhaps we will see something like this in the Huawei Watch 3 which is expected in late 2018 or early 2019.

What types of Wearable Technology are there

Sun, 19 Aug 2018 22:46:59 GMT

Wearable technology or wearables is the term used for smart electronic devices that can be incorporated into clothing or worn on the body as implants or accessories. Some typical wearable devices are smartwatches, fitness trackers, smart jewelry, smart clothing, implantable devices and Head-Mounted displays.

Since I’m interested in all kinds of devices I started wondering what kinds of wearable devices exist. So I decided to do some research to find out and it led to this article being written.

Smartwatches vs Fitness trackers

The most popular category of wearables are smartwatches and activity trackers also known as fitness trackers. So what actually is the difference between a smartwatch and a fitness tracker?

Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music

Fitness trackers are devices for monitoring and tracking fitness-related metrics such as step count, calories burnt, and in many cases heartbeat and quality of sleep.

Smartwatches are wearable computers in the form of a wristwatches providing more features besides time keeping. Smartwatches often include integration to your smartphone showing your incoming calls and messages and some apps with additional functionality like weather information and maps for directions. These devices usually include a touchscreen and often include lots of the same functionality as fitness trackers. One way of thinking of the smartwatch is that fitness tracking is one of the features it includes but it’s much more than a fitness tracker.

If you are interested in getting a smartwatch or fitness tracker for yourself or as a gift check out my buyers guide which will surely be helpful to you.

Really the line between smartwatches and fitness trackers is blurry since products marketed as fitness trackers may include functionality like showing incoming calls and messages as well. The general consensus seems to be that smart watches are the more versatile products and often have a higher price point compared to fitness trackers.

Smartwatches and fitness trackers usually rely on the internet connection from the smartphone and may use the gps from the phone or may include a gps system of it’s own which is useful if going for a run without the phone.

Smart Jewelry

Smart Jewelry consists of small decorative items worn like regular jewelry. This includes brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. The most popular form of smart jewelry seems to be smart rings.

A smart ring is a wearable electronics device that combines features of mobile devices with innovative features such as mobile payments, gesture control and activity tracking. Smart rings can communicate directly with smart phones and they typically do not have a display. Possible features include making payments, unlocking electronic locks or controlling home appliances when making gestures.

Smart Clothing

Smart clothing also known as **Electronic Textiles,**smart garments or smart fabrics, are fabrics that enable electronic components such as a battery and electronics including small computers to be embedded in them.

There are two types of Smart fabrics: aesthetic and performance enhancing. Aesthetic examples include clothes that light up or change color. This can be really useful for example for outdoor sports at night for safety purposes or for children to have the clothes light up when it becomes dark. Some of these textiles can gather energy from the environment by harnessing vibrations or even sound or heat. Performance enhancing smart fabrics are intended for use in for example sports and military use cases. This could include textiles made to regulate body temperature or for example reduce wind resistance.

Smart textile examples

Polar Team Pro men’s base layer smart shirt comes with integrated sensors to monitor heart rate and a pocket for player tracking sensor located on the upper back for optimal GPS reception.

The SUPA Powered Sports Bra has an integrated heart rate sensor made from fabric. Yep, you won’t feel it’s even there. Just attach your SUPA Reactor to the SUPA Powered Sports Bra and connect to the SUPA.AI App.

Owlet Smart Sock 2 comfortably wraps around your baby’s foot to track heart rate and oxygen levels using clinically-proven pulse oximetry. The base station glows green to let you know everything is okay but will notify with lights and sounds if something appears to be wrong.

The Hexoskin Smart Kit for Men includes a Hexoskin Shirt and the new Hexoskin Smart recording device. Hexoskin Smart allows longer activity, cardiac, and respiratory monitoring for continuous personal health, fitness, and sleep assessment. Featuring an improved Bluetooth 4.1 connectivity and a high-performance battery that can record over 30 hours of data. This new device also provides heart rate data for mobile 3rd party applications such as MapMyRun, Runkeeper, and Runtastic.

Siren’s Diabetic Socks and Foot Monitoring System proactively track foot temperature, helping you find potential signs of diabetic foot ulcers. Siren Diabetic Socks use Neurofabric to detect temperature changes between your feet, which are a sign of possible foot ulcers. By monitoring foot temperature, you can look for the early signs of a possible ulcer.

Implantable Smart Devices

Implantable devices are things that become part of a person or animal since they are inserted usually under the skin via a surgery. Some common examples are pacemakers and defibrillators or combinations of these devices. These devices are often recharged via wireless charging to avoid further operations to change batteries.

Head-Mounted Displays

Head-mounted displays or Helmet-mounted displays (HMD) are display display devices, worn on the head or as part of a helmet. There is a small display in front of one or both eyes. HMD devices can be used for example in gaming, aviation and medicine.

On the gaming side there are devices for virtual reality and in for example aviation it’s about bringing useful information visible for the pilot. There are also applications in surgery, where a combination of different imaging sources can be combined with the surgeon’s natural view of the operation to enhance the surgeons ability to perform the operation.

Wearable technology History

The history of wearable devices starts with eyeglasses. It would be easy to overlook glasses, but these indeed can be considered wearable technology as well. The first glasses were made in Italy, most likely around 1290.

Watches are a second stage to wearable technology. As early as in 1500 small watches were created and worn as necklaces. Later people began to carry watches in their pockets with the creation of pocket watches. Wristwatches were created in the late 1600s but were initially used mainly by women as bracelets.

Modern wearable technology is more related to wearable computers. One early piece of wearable technology was a calculator watch, which was introduced in the 1980s. Even before this hearing aids had become electronic and commonly used. Heart rate monitors also had their place and were commonly used as dedicated devices before fitness trackers with a wider range of functionality.

Early Heart rate monitors consisted of a monitoring box with a set of electrode leads which attached to the chest. The first wireless EKG heart rate monitor was invented in 1977 by Polar Electro as a training aid for the Finnish National Cross Country Ski team.

Polar was making fitness wearables long before Garmin shifted to personal body tracking with GPS in 2006 with the introduction of Forerunner. I have also used and owned multiple Polar hear rate monitors with chest straps over the years.

Fitbit released its first wearable around 2009. The Fitbit Classic was a clip on device that wasn’t really much more than a step counter. We have come along way since those days.

In the next years smartwatches began to be released by major electronics companies. One of the first offerings was the Samsung Galaxy Gear which became available in 2013. Apple followed with the Apple Watch in 2015.

Wearable Technology Trends looking forwards

I’m not going to make any predictions here rather merely sum up what I have read and seen.

Healthcare

I think the biggest thing looking forwards multiple years will be the growth in implantable smart devices available. Going forwards it won’t be just pacemakers and defibrillators but all the artificial hips, legs, arms etc. will surely at some point get sensors and start communicating. When some body part or organ is replaced in the body it will be more likely that it will not just do what the original part did but rather have some additional capabilities and augment the human features in some way.

Wearable accessories

In the short term we are bound to see more and more devices with smart capabilities and communication built in. Smart watches will keep improving, but all the other things we wear like glasses, jewelry, clothes, helmets, shoes will start getting new features.

Personally I would enjoy getting better gear for swimming. A reliable way of tracking swimming distance and showing the distance and lap times on my goggles would be amazing. There is a South Korean company called Zwim working on some smart goggles and I really hope they will be good.

Smarter assistants and real time translation will be improving in the near future. I’m looking forwards on having eyeglasses with built in bone-conduction audio doing real time translations from one language to another. One could also talk via the glasses to your virtual assistant and get things done. Speech recognition has gotten really good in recent years and with the help of better virtual assistants it would be easier to for example write an email and send it while walking or doing some other activity like doing the laundry.

Smartwatch Labs

Garmin Vivoactive 6 Unboxing and First Impressions: 11-Day Battery for €250

Garmin Vivoactive 6 at a glance

Price: is €250 a good deal?

What’s in the box

Design and build quality

Case, sensors and water rating

Buttons and touchscreen

20 mm quick-release bands

Key features: the AMOLED screen and battery life

Features that used to be “premium”

Vivoactive 6 vs Fenix 8 and Enduro 3

First power-on

Verdict: is the Vivoactive 6 worth it?

Garmin Smartwatch comparision table 2024–2026

Garmin Fenix 7: 6 Reasons to Buy Over the EPIX Gen 2

Reason #1 Price

Reason #2 Amazing Battery Life

Reason 3# Case size options

Reason 4# Solar Charging

Reason 5# No Risk of display burn-in

Reason 6# LED Flashlight

Compromises you will need to make if you choose the Fenix 7

Display

Final thoughts and who the Fenix 7 is meant for

Garmin Fenix 7 & Epix How to Download Maps

Downloading Maps on the Garmin device

Garmin Instinct 2 Review

Price and Comparison

Key Features

Pros of the Product

Cons of the Product

Conclusion

Garmin Epix: 3 Reasons to Buy Over the Fenix 7

Price

Overall

Reason #1 The Amoled Screen is Super Vibrant

Reason 2# Increased display resolution enables you to do more

Reason 3# The EPIX AMOLED display will allow you to look at the watch to see the time

Compromises you will need to make if you choose the EPIX

Battery life

Solar charging

Watch Sizes

Flashlight

Final thoughts and who the Epix is meant for

Garmin Epix Gen 2 Review

Hardware overview

Getting Started

Demo

Battery Life

Documentation

Garmin Fenix 7 Review

Garmin Fenix 7 – Should you upgrade?

Garmin Fenix 7 Pro

New Hardware features on the Fenix 7

Fenix 7 Battery life

My real-life test results for the Fenix 7X Solar

Fenix 7 case size

Other new functionality

Smartwatches with offline Spotify or Deezer

Why would you want Spotify or Deezer on your smartwatch

What is Spotify

What is Deezer

Smartwatches which support Spotify

Offline Spotify on Garmin Smartwatches

Offline Spotify on Samsung Smartwatches

Spotify “remote” on Apple Smartwatches

Spotify “remote” on WearOS Smartwatches

Smartwatches which support Deezer

Offline Deezer on Garmin Smartwatches

Offline Deezer on Fitbit Smartwatches

Deezer”remote” on Apple Smartwatches

Deezer”remote” on WearOS Smartwatches

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