This includes both friends who have trackers or smartwatches of the same brand, as well as others around the world. Both work with their respective apps, Garmin Connect and Fitbit, in order to connect with a community of other users. Where these two really differ is in the premium features. This is great for forgetful and absent-minded folks who might forget they left it in a certain jacket pocket, or it fell beneath the couch cushions. There’s also a useful Find My Watch feature in the Garmin Vivosmart 5 if it’s lost or misplaced: Use the app to “ring” the tracker and it will vibrate and audibly beep so you can find it, as long as it’s within Bluetooth range. For the elderly, young, or someone with health issues, this could be a literal lifesaver. The Garmin Vivosmart 5 adds a neat feature called incident detection during selected outdoor activities that can send messages and live location data to emergency contacts. In my own experiences having worn watches from both brands, Fitbit always seems to be more accurate when it comes to sleep: Garmin devices will sometimes incorrectly capture idle time sitting on the couch, for example, as sleep, and often overall track far less awake time than is likely true. Fitbit includes not only advising how much sleep you got per night, but also how many hours (and when) were spent in light, deep, and REM sleep along with a useful sleep score. Neither, however, can track floor climbs, which can be a bummer for those who appreciate being able to track not only steps and distance but also elevation.īoth also include detailed sleep tracking insights, though Fitbit has a reputation for being one of the most accurate when it comes to detailed sleep tracking. Both will also provide a cardio fitness age based on your activity, chronological age, resting heart rate, and body mass index (BMI). These buzz on your wrist as you exercise as well so you know when you need to pick up the pace or conversely, when it's time to slow down.Īdditionally, both include stress tracking, relaxation reminders, breathing activities, mindful breathing, women’s health tracking, and more. You do, however, get Active Zone Minutes for free with the Fitbit Charge 5, which, in a summary of your workout, will advise how many minutes (and when) were spent in fat burn, cardio, and peak zones as well as how much time below zones entirely. Fitbit has a similar feature in the Fitbit Charge 5 called a Daily Readiness Score, but there’s a catch: You need to sign up for the Fitbit Premium subscription service to use it (more on Fitbit Premium later). The Garmin Vivosmart 5 offers Body Battery energy monitoring, which will let you know when is the best time to be active versus giving your body rest. They can also measure blood oxygen saturation. Both have their own respective features for automatically detecting certain exercises if you forget to manually initiate a certain workout, like running or elliptical: Garmin calls its feature MoveIQ, and Fitbit calls its SmartTrack. They can also display notifications from a connected smartphone, including incoming calls, messages, calendar appointments, compatible app updates, and more.īoth come loaded with sports apps for common activities like walking, running, elliptical, swimming, weight/strength training, and more. Both of these trackers cover the basics, including tracking steps, sports, activity, heart rate, energy, and sleep. Of course, the most important aspect of a fitness tracker is how well it can track activity, as well as other aspects of health and wellness. (Image credit: Andrew Myrick / Android Central) We’ll get deeper into what these two trackers have to offer operationally, but first, let’s compare the bare bones specs. The ultra-bright AMOLED screen is also super easy to read both indoors and out.Īlso swim-proof, you’ll get seven days battery life with the Fitbit Charge 5 as well. In his review, Editor-in-Chief Jeramy Johnson loved the rounded, more organic style compared to previous generation Charge editions, along with the fact that it’s slimmer than its predecessors. Having worn this tracker for some time, the screen can be finicky at times: I’ll sometimes inadvertently tap it and turn off automatic tracking of a walk, for example, or tap a workout or function I didn’t want to and have to go back. With an always-on display, the AMOLED screen is slightly larger than the Garmin Vivosmart 5, but there isn’t a button: Everything is controlled via touchscreen alone. The Fitbit Charge 5 is similar, offered in black/graphite, Lunar white/Soft gold, or Steel blue/platinum with small or large interchangeable band sizes. (Image credit: Source: Jeramy Johnson / Android Central)
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |