this post was submitted on 23 Mar 2024
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Not in the market for a smart watch, but noted: don't buy Fitbit.
I see some love in this thread for Garmin... Any other good options?
Fitbit was doomed the second Google bought it. It will slowly get less supported and eventually canceled. It's a shame because I liked Fitbit and I'd hate for smartwatches to end up in the duopoly we have with phones.
As soon as they removed the challenge social feature, we bailed.
A great trick for Garmin watches is that they make some high end models with sapphire glass. Get one of those used and you have top of the line stuff for a reasonable price, yet the glass never scratches so it will look like new...
What I love about my Garmin is it does all it does without a subscription. I've looked at oura, whoop, and withings and they all need a subscription for full functionality. It seems Garmin bakes that cost into the device price, so you pay more up front but also get what you pay for.
My Venu 2 is awesome. Sleep, stress, body battery, vO2max, and almost any activity I do including hike, bike, snowshoe, snowboard, paddle board, disc golf. The battery lasts 5-10 days depending on how much GPS I use.
It has a few smart features but the above is more important to me.
PineTime if you don't need any super fancy features
In my case and opinion the Bangle.js 2 is even better.
My prejudice against .js is making me dislike this.
I have withings watch and it's pretty great. I think it's less well known than a lot of other brands because they primarily make health tech (which is also good btw).
I love that the watch has a traditional dial and looks really classy rather than just looking like a piece of plastic tech. I get compliments on it all the time and nobody guesses that it's a smart watch. It has a small smart screen under the 12 that shows steps, o2 levels, and heart rate. I track sleep and workouts on it, and I think you can get call notifications on it but I don't really use that. All the info is synced to an app and if you have other devices like the scale and blood pressure cuff you can track all of it and create a report to take with you to your doctor. The company has a solid privacy policy which makes me feel better about using it.
I have a Garmin 235: it's primarily a fitness watch and secondarily a smart watch. So if you want to buy a smart watch it's not the best option. I don't know about newer options from Garmin because this that I have does everything I want.
If you want something very cheap, Amazfit is pretty good. No subscription models like Fitbit to access basic data, and 3rd party faces/apps are pretty easy.
Love my old Garmin vivoactive 2? Screen looks like shit but it's readable in any setting. It's pretty basic, use it for cycling as it talks to my chest-strap heart rate monitor.
I've got a pixel watch too, it's a typical 1st gen product. Half baked but gets the job done, battery is an all-day for me (no Sim model). It's got some scratches and blemishes all over the face, see how long it kicks around for.
Esp32 watch