I'm interested in learning about fitness and sleep trackers.
How does a device like the Xiaomi Mi Band 6 compare with more expensive devices such as the fitbit sense or fitbit versa 3?
What benefits do they offer? Can they alert you to health problems and potentially save lives?
Is it worth paying the extra $?
Can you tell me more about it and why you like it? Thanks.
Does the job of tracking fitness and sleep, long battery, colourful display. Third party integrations via notify for Android to google fit and Samsung health.
Is it comfortabe enough that you have no problem with wearing it during sleep?
@nfr: Yes I hardly notice it because its a thin shape. Its better than a smartwatch in that respect.
Fitbit is not worth the extra $
They are not reliable (firmware bricks), durable (band breaks, battery dies), and have sync problems. When they do work, you'll find that Fitbit locks you into their eco-system and makes it hard for you to take your data to another provider.
Competition has heated up and Fitbit are fast being left behind.
Add to that the data Fitbit hide behind a paywall. Purchased a fitbit for my partner for christmas last year, quickly returned it once actually trying it.
I have a Mi Band 6, works great. I have sleep apnea so have a proper finger tip SPO2 sensor, it measure roughly the same whenever I've checked both at once so I just rely on the mi band now. Sleep tracking isn't perfect, sometimes it thinks I'm asleep when I'm not, thinks I'm awake when I'm not, but I'm a terrible sleeper. I did have a problem that high heart rates it tends to go a bit bonkers, telling me my heart rate had gone through the roof when other devices said differently. I think I might invest in a chest strap one eventually (assuming I get back into exercising regularly).
In my experience all of them are exciting for a few weeks/months and then you get over it and won't use the majority of the features unless an absolutely hardcore fitness nut/runner.
I'd just recommend buying a cheapie or one that actually looks nice as a watch (Huawei GT2 ticked those boxes for me)
Apple Watch is used religiously by the gym nuts around me. They find it to be very accurate, produces tons of data they seem to like and it has pre-emptively advised on health problems and has saved lives (quick search will bring up many articles). It's worth paying extra for.
Yeah, if you're on iOS I think a second hand old Apple Watch (~$150 for a Series 3) is a good investment without totally breaking the bank, and more useful than more recent off-brand trackers even if they have more features on paper
or refurbished from Apple can also be a good bargain sometimes.
I have a fitbit versa 3 and a mi band 5
It depends what you want them for and how accurate you need it to be.
Loved the mi band for its small size and comfort but wasn’t accurate for its measurements, more of a rough guide.
Versa 3 is a lot more accurate but not perfect and a lot bulkier.
Neither really do a lot to alert you to health problems or will save your life. (At a stretch you could check your data and get a rough guide of your activity and make your own assumptions on your current health)
An apple watch has fall alerts and other health measuring metrics which could save your life if you wanting to spend $700 on a watch with a battery life of a day
Fall alerts could indeed be very useful for elderly people. Well worth the money if it works well in practice.
Agreed, but the issue with it for elderly people is will they want/remember to charge it daily?
Do they want a fancy fandangle smart watch?
Its a great idea in theory, but perhaps not practical.
But, In saying that, i would happily pay the premium for an apple watch for myself or family if they could improve their battery life.
One person user sample is hardly scientific
ugh… that's not how "science" works.
He isn't giving data on it from a sample size of one, he is comparing the performance of the device to known and used medical devices which are calibrated and used in the medical field. Think of this like when people try to judge a phone's camera… you can either use a sample size of 100 people and try to get them to rate the camera for you, or, you can compare each shot directly against a high-end Mirrorless Camera. In the latter test, repeating the exact same photo over and over wouldn't yield you more insights. Now his comparison is not perfect, and I already spot potential issues with it, but it still is one of the best and objective findings out there.
Would you have preferred I linked a video more like this?
I have a fitbit charge 3. Measures heart rate, steps and sleep quality. It also links to AIA Vitality which pays me $5 a week when I meet certin health/fitness goals. I've made a net gain in under 12 months so free fitbit :D
At this stage I don't think there is much to say that it will help diagnose health problems/save your life if you are average Joe.
Might help you keep up motivation to stay active and sleep enough.
I was also interested in sleep tracking. For a while I used the Miband and more recently my Garmin watch. But there is not much advantage over using your phone as a sleep tracker. Some phone apps have noise detection during your sleep which is potentially useful to pick up snoring. If you snore alot you might want to get formal sleep study.
If you have problems with sleeping its best to see a doctor because these fitness trackers can't replace a formal sleep study at this stage.
Highly recommended mi band 6. Best $60 spent last year.