Fitness Tracker Showdown

Happy holidays, everyone! I’m here today to report on what one might even call the ultimate battle: Fitbit versus Apple Watch. As I think most of you know, I am a loyal [potentially bordering on obsessive at times] Fitbit user, and have been for the past few years. However, my parents gifted me an Apple Watch this Christmas, and I’ve been trying it out over the last couple days. So which one will win out?

I’ll be honest: a felt a wave of nostalgia seeing my abandoned Fitbit on my kitchen table that was probably way too intense for a piece of technology. But I really, truly love my Fitbit! I currently wear the Charge 2 with heart rate tracking, which is not actually the latest version, and she has served me well since I wrecked my original Fitbit, the Charge HR, by jumping into a lake wearing it. Hey, we all make mistakes sometimes. But anyway, let’s get to it. I’m going to talk about the two watches in general a little bit, and then I’ll break the post down into some more specific categories so we can really look at how these two match up.

Earlier today, I went for a four-and-a-half mile run wearing my Apple Watch on one wrist and my Fitbit on the other. I can only hope that nobody I went to high school with spotted me traversing the streets of my hometown obsessively checking both wrists at once to see how the mileage, calorie, and pace tracking of each device compared. But it was all in the name of good blog content! And now [drum roll please] that promised content: Fitbit versus Apple Watch, The Ultimate Showdown.

I get that fitness tracking is not necessarily the main purpose of the Apple Watch, or a purpose at all for every user, but since that’s my primary goal, I’m going to be evaluating it mainly on that basis. That said, I will note that I do appreciate its multitude of other functions. I can not only check, but also respond to texts – my Fitbit will flash a notification if I get a message or call, but I can’t use the Fitbit to respond to these alerts. And here’s a big one: my Apple Watch can play music, so I don’t necessarily have to bring my phone with me. I don’t have the watch with cellular, so I can’t get texts or calls if I’m away from my phone, but I can download some playlists onto the watch so I can still listen to music without my phone right next to me. I believe the Apple Watch can connect to any Bluetooth headphones, but I used mine with AirPods for the ~Real Apple Experience~ and because I can’t resist using my new Christmas gift gadgets.

So, involvement with my phone is a major point here. I love that the Apple Watch—and so you guys know, I’m working with the Series 3 here—is pretty much just as competent without my phone around as it is with it. In my early stages of running, I quickly discovered that my Fitbit is actually not a great distance tracker when it’s not connected to my phone, because it does not have built-in GPS tracking. The Apple Watch does, which is a definite plus, and I checked its mileage tracking sans-phone today against an online map-my-run tool, and found that it was pretty accurate, down to a couple tenths of a mile. Run tracking ability is really the most important thing for me, and since the Apple Watch is able to accurately track distance and play music to my AirPods without me even needing to bring my phone, it wins out there. Now let’s break it down and look a little closer.

Interface: one thing that I’ve been kind of struggling with is the Apple Watch interface and app. I really like the Fitbit app—it’s very intuitive and since the device’s only purpose is fitness tracking, it’s much more centered around that. The Apple Watch does have the “Activity” app, but I find it more difficult to navigate and more difficult to see overall stats outside of individual workouts. The Apple Watch takes a full 180 days to start showing you trends, which seems a little long to me—that’s about six months! One disclaimer here is that I’ve only had the Apple Watch for a few days, so I’m definitely still getting used to it and its accompanying apps. The Fitbit app is going to be pretty hard to top though.

Tracking: so I’ve already gone over the run tracking, and that tends toward an Apple Watch victory just for ability to track without the phone—in other words, having built-in GPS tracking. Both devices also track a bunch of other stuff. I like the Apple Watch activity breakdown of Stand/Move/Exercise [those three concentric rings you’ve probably seen in your friend’s fitness Instagram posts – and which you’ll probably soon see in mine!]. That said, Fitbit makes it easier to see some daily stats because they’re right on the watch’s main screen and you can flip through them—the one I’m mainly missing on my Apple Watch right now is daily total calories. Also, Fitbit tracks sleep. The Series 3 Apple Watch technically could track sleep, but that brings me to another concern...

Battery Life: this is definitely my biggest gripe with the Apple Watch. It has basically no battery life—I would say if you’re going to use it to work out and count on it staying alive, you need to charge it every night, every other night at the absolute least. My Fitbit holds battery for about a week, which is so awesome! But already today my Apple Watch started at 88 percent battery and has dropped to 46. So yeah, maybe it can track sleep, but not if it has to spend every night on the charger.

Waterproof: here’s an easy one. The Apple Watch is water resistant—you can swim with it on at shallow depths—while the Fitbit Charge 2 is not. Personally, I’m not a huge swimmer so this isn’t a major concern for me, but it is good to know that I could use it for this purpose. Or that it won’t die if I accidentally wear it in the shower. Points to Apple Watch!

Looks: sue me, I know this is a superficial category. But it’s important! As much as I loved my Fitbit, I wouldn’t exactly call it cute. But I feel like I could wear the Apple Watch as a legitimate accessory and in workout situations or more dressed up ones. I mean, I wore my Fitbit to fancy events, but that doesn’t mean it complemented my outfit. The Apple Watch is super sleek, where the Fitbit was much chunkier, and it obviously has a much more interactive touch screen. So yeah, seems like a clear winner here. I will say though that the Fitbit is definitely much smaller width-wise, and there are Fitbits even slimmer than mine, and the Apple Watch screen is a bit big.

Price: I’ll be honest, since I got my Apple Watch as a gift, I sort of side-stepped this concern. That said, if you’re buying your own fitness tracker, definitely keep price in mind because it’s a huge difference. My Apple Watch Series 3, which again is not the newest, will set you back around $200. My Fitbit Charge 2 HR, also not the newest, cost me $70 on Amazon. If you’re going for the newest models, the Apple Watch Series 5 goes for around $400 and the Fitbit Charge 3 (which is also swimproof now! wow!) is $150. So while this wasn’t a huge problem for me, I honestly think the price of the Apple Watch might be a deal breaker, especially if you’re just looking for a fitness tracker - in terms of versatility, though, maybe it’s worth it for some of us.

Those were my main criteria for evaluating the two devices, and here are my conclusions. The Fitbit is, of course, made exclusively with fitness tracking in mind. So, its interface and app are much more targeted and, to me, intuitive for those purposes. I love that about the Fitbit. However, the Apple Watch is much more versatile while still generally performing those same functions well, so it makes the most sense to me to continue wearing that piece. I will definitely miss week-long battery life and the Fitbit app though! I’ll probably keep it around just in case [and because I may or may not be a developing hoarder—hey, you never know if a Fitbit will come in handy re: zombie apocalypse scenarios].

If any of you all have had telling experiences with either watch, definitely chime in below in the comments! I would love to hear any and all opinions. Also feel free to pay your respects to my beloved Fitbit. She will now be living in my “extra things drawer” [known to some as a “junk drawer” but let’s not be harsh with our labels] and awaiting her return to greatness alongside some unfinished journals and drafts of papers from sophomore year.

But in all seriousness, I had a great run with my Fitbit and I will be keeping her around just in case. The app is a huge selling point! Anyway, I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas or Hanukah or anything else you celebrate, and I’m sending happy thoughts your way for the new year! Unless I get shockingly motivated blog-wise, I’ll talk to you all in 2020!

*insert see-you-next-decade joke*