Apple Watch vs Fitbit: battery life
Your Apple Watch’s battery life mainly depends on how often you will use the fitness features throughout the day, but as soon as you put it in at 8am and then come back to watch Netflix at 7pm, you will usually be left with 40% charge remaining.
Both the Fitbit Sense and the Versa 3 offer a six-day battery life (though the exact duration will vary depending on the features you use), with a minimum of a 12 minute charge to keep you going for the rest of that day.
Apple Watch vs Fitbit: fitness tracking
If you choose an Apple Watch, you’ll get a ton of features that you can cater to your needs, including a raft of activity-tracking options, plus on-board GPS so you can leave your phone at home and still record your runs, swims and rides.
Alongside this, if you know of others who also have an Apple Watch, you can see their fitness goals throughout the day, and even compete with them over a seven day period.
Better yet, exclusive fitness goals appear during the month, to further challenge you on the tasks you usually take part in. From walking, to pilates, and strength goals, they’re all here.
Another great feature, which you’ll find on every device except the Apple Watch 3, is fitness detection. If you’re 10 minutes into a walk, for example, the Watch will display a prompt asking whether you want to track it. Those first 10 minutes will already be logged if you choose ‘Yes’, meaning your entire journey will be tracked. It’s a very handy feature, and means that even if you’re just running errands and wouldn’t normally think to activate tracking, it will still count towards completing your daily Rings. Since the launch of WatchOS 8, your watch can also track cycling automatically, so your daily commute to work will could towards your goal as well.
If you’re interested in getting more active at home, it’s also worth noting that you’ll get a free three-month subscription to Apple Fitness Plus when you buy a new Apple Watch, giving you access to hundreds of instructor-led workouts on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV.
As you might expect, fitness tracking is where Fitbit shines; is downloaded onto your phone, simply sync your device and a wealth of health and fitness data will be available at your fingertips – all presented in a format that’s clear and easy to interpret. In addition to heart rate, sleep and activity metrics logged by your Fitbit device, you can also use the app to log your hydration, set weight goals, log food, and track your menstrual cycle.
Things get even better with a Fitbit Premium subscription, which gives you more in-depth analysis of your sleep data (with new Sleep Animals coming soon), plus a Daily Readiness score. There’s access to a huge catalog of instructor-led workouts, meditation classes, and mindfulness sessions as well, plus nutrition advice. You’ll get a free trial of the full service when you buy a new Fitbit so you can decide whether you want to sign up longer term.
If you’re mostly interested in fitness and not so concerned about other smartwatch features, it’s worth checking out the full range of other Fitbits as well. The Fitbit Charge 5 is particularly impressive, with on-board GPS to track outdoor workouts, the same stress monitoring tech as the Fitbit Sense, workout tracking, an ECG sensor, heart rate monitoring, and sleep tracking – all packed into a compact case much smaller than the Sense or Versa 3.
Apple Watch vs Fitbit: conclusion
If you’re still not sure, the decision comes down to a few factors. If you use an iPhone, it makes perfect sense to complement it with an Apple Watch. You gain features that are exclusive to the Watch, such as Siri and deep integration with iOS.
Currently, Apple is leading the way in the smartwatch market, and the current lineup of Apple watches are great all-rounders that benefit from a mature operating system, long-term support from Apple, and a wide range of apps. Although they don’t focus on health as much as Fitbit’s devices, their workout tracking features and Apple’s upcoming Fitness Plus subscription service encourages you to go that extra mile and consider the effects of your lifestyle on your wellbeing.
If you’re using an Android phone, a Fitbit device is the one to go for, especially now that the company has been purchased by Google, and a premium Fitbit smartwatch powered by Google Wear OS is coming soon.
Fitbit’s heritage in workout tracking and health makes its devices a good choice if you’re particularly interested in monitoring your workouts and cardiovascular health. The Fitbit Versa 3 offers you a similar feature set to the Apple Watch SE, alongside the SpO2 feature that the SE model lacks. Its lower price might also be enough to tempt iPhone users.
If you’re interesting in practicing mindfulness, the Sense’s stress tracking, mood logging and breathing exercises could make it the best device for you, helping you manage the pressure of life in 2022.
Overall, the decision is yours; it just depends on the phone you have and how much tracking your fitness means to you.
Web Source: Tech Radar | Author: Daryl Baxter and Cat Ellis
