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Fitbit App vs Samsung Health

HippY

After a tough year I realised that it is time for me to invest into a smartwatch to check my sleep, heartrate and to monitor my health in general, as I have long covid and my body is a bit funky still.

I have watched every review that's out there, including the Quantified scientist, who tests watches against scientific equipment, and I came to the conclusion that either a Fitbit Charge 5 or a Samsung Watch 4 would suit me well enough, the main decider here would be price/availability (I would buy the galaxy watch used from FB Market) and the apps.

 

Which of the apps is better for heart rate tracking plus overall health tracking? If I could export the data out that would be really handy as well, but honestly I do not know what features I would need. My phone is a S21 Ultra.

I would use each the watch with the correlated app. I heard that for the fitbit app to get the full experience I would need to spend a monthly charge (£8/m), not sure about Galaxy Health.

I could not really find up to date info about them, and nor real comparisons. I do not want to wait for Watch 5/new fitbits or the pixel watch, as I want to track my health ASAP, plus both of them would suit me well IMO.

 

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Galaxy watch 4 is a good starting point, the samsung health is completely free and gives more than enough info, especially compered to the bad joke that is google fit.
Gw4 had 24/7 heartrate tracking setting, which i would recommend leaving on.
 

Get the 44/46mm model if you can over the 40/42mm. All the sensors are the same, so they use the same amount of battery, but the battery itself is 50% bigger.

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I would wait ~2-3 months for galaxy watch 5. If the battery isn’t a big disadvantage, then the 4 should be much cheaper then.

check your cables!
samsung s10e | android enthusiast | Tech blogger | XC Athlete | Surface pro 4

 

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On 5/23/2022 at 2:26 PM, Origami Cactus said:

Galaxy watch 4 is a good starting point, the samsung health is completely free and gives more than enough info, especially compered to the bad joke that is google fit.
Gw4 had 24/7 heartrate tracking setting, which i would recommend leaving on.
 

Get the 44/46mm model if you can over the 40/42mm. All the sensors are the same, so they use the same amount of battery, but the battery itself is 50% bigger.

 

Thank you, I went with a 46mm Classic, so far it is great, and the app has all the features I want

 

On 5/23/2022 at 8:00 PM, kamonanban said:

I would wait ~2-3 months for galaxy watch 5. If the battery isn’t a big disadvantage, then the 4 should be much cheaper then.

I agree and understand, but as I said it is for actually tracking my health from now until October, so I wanted to wait the least amount of time, otherwise I would have waited. 

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1 minute ago, HippY said:

I agree and understand, but as I said it is for actually tracking my health from now until October, so I wanted to wait the least amount of time, otherwise I would have waited. 

Yeah, I went through the same thing last year, and you did the right thing.

Because I was waiting for GW4, I had nothing to track my activity the whole summer, you know the time you are the most active? And when i got in in september, back to school etc.

Also in some countries Samsung does insane trade-in deals, so even if you have the GW4 now, you can trade it in for a GW5 next to nothing most likely, especially the 46mm model.

So enjoy your new watch, and don't forget to turn everything (HR/stress etc) to "always on"

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36 minutes ago, HippY said:

 

Thank you, I went with a 46mm Classic, so far it is great, and the app has all the features I want

 

I agree and understand, but as I said it is for actually tracking my health from now until October, so I wanted to wait the least amount of time, otherwise I would have waited. 

I’m in the Same predicament right now, so i got a gear in forerunner 220 to hold me off until the launch, it was abt $10-20, has a good battery, and uploads my runs. That’s all it does, and all i Need, still want more

check your cables!
samsung s10e | android enthusiast | Tech blogger | XC Athlete | Surface pro 4

 

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On 5/27/2022 at 4:50 PM, Origami Cactus said:

Yeah, I went through the same thing last year, and you did the right thing.

Because I was waiting for GW4, I had nothing to track my activity the whole summer, you know the time you are the most active? And when i got in in september, back to school etc.

Also in some countries Samsung does insane trade-in deals, so even if you have the GW4 now, you can trade it in for a GW5 next to nothing most likely, especially the 46mm model.

So enjoy your new watch, and don't forget to turn everything (HR/stress etc) to "always on"

Samsung indeed does, I had a 3.5 years old Note 8, cracked screen, worn battery and charging connector, and I traded in for £200 refund from Samsung on my S21 Ultra. You are absolutely right, if the GW5 is indeed incredible I can change it.

So 3 days in, battery is over 1 day, it tracks my heart rate well, and the Samsung health app is great showing the average heart rate, and it stores the data, so I can look back on my day and see if my heartrate is too high

And the app is subscription free, unlike the fitbit app

On 5/27/2022 at 5:26 PM, kamonanban said:

I’m in the Same predicament right now, so i got a gear in forerunner 220 to hold me off until the launch, it was abt $10-20, has a good battery, and uploads my runs. That’s all it does, and all i Need, still want more

for the $20 price you cant complain then, and you can save up easily for the GW5/Pixel watch

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I have used both Fitbit Inspire 2 and Samsung Fit 2. Inspire 2 for about a year and Fit 2 for a few months. Not sure if you're interested in hearing how the apps behave on the budget range but could be relevant.

 

  • On the surface both offer pretty much the same functionality, slightly different UI layout and navigation but you get used to it in a minute or two.
  • Both have in depth statistics on sleep, sports, heart activity during sports and sleep. Sleep ratings and everything else they pretty much do both.
  • Fitbit is a bit easier and debatably faster to use in watch as well as the phone app. Colours and navigation is one thing but wording is better on the fitbit. Samsung really likes ambiguous terms that confuse the older generation when they tried out the watches and apps. Fitbit app's just nicer to use.
  • Build quality is robust, if Fitbit is 100% then Samsung is close like 99%. Their charger is huge and clunky by comparison.
  • Battery life on my Fitbit is about 3-4 weeks while on the Samsung is like 2 weeks. That said the Samsung's screen is double the size, isn't b&w and is far brighter, can use it outdoors.
  • Accuracy is good on both of the watches but Samsung takes a bit longer to notice that it's now worn by a different user.
  • Fitbit forum support is lightning fast which is a benefit if you have a question. Haven't had any questions about Samsung so I haven't used their forums yet.

 

biggest difference is their payment model. Samsung is expensive where as Fitbit is expensive + has a premium subscription to unlock extras in the app. I might debate paying the subscription as well, expect for the part that it's about $13 a month. In not paying $150~ a year just to see my heartrate during sleep. It can be a pretty big dealbreaker. Maybe $1 max a month for premium fitbit app but no more.

That being said, you don't actually lose that many features when you don't pay a subscription so I'm perfectly contempt. I did get a 12 months free to sweeten the deal but I'm pretty sure Fitbits reduced that promotion to like 3-6 months now.

 

Been a good experience and now a smartwatch is a useful addition to my everyday life. Will keep an eye out for this new Google watch coming out later this year?

Hope this helped a bit

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