This tale begins with a device which is not actually a fitness tracker. In 2016, I purchased a Moto 360 smartwatch made by Motorola. The device runs Android Wear. It was my first foray into the Android Wear smartwatch ecosystem.
I soon discovered that I could sync the watch with the MyFitnessPal calorie tracking application to track my steps.
I learned that the more active I became, the more I could enjoy things that I like and lose weight. My weight-loss accelerated and I became quite active. Every once in awhile I had to disconnect the watch from the app and reconnect because a glitch in the software would cause it to stop syncing.
I grew tired of constantly resetting the app and relinking the watch. I decided to invest in an actual fitness tracker.
June of that year, I purchased a Garmin Vivosmart HR. This device did not have Android Wear, but was fully waterproof up to 50 metres. It was truly designed for exercise and synced reliably with Myfitnesspal. The Garmin Connect web portal and application provides a wealth of fitness data. As a self-professed data junky, and analyst by profession, I instantly fell in love with reviewing data from my physical exploits.
By the end of August, I received another fitness tracker from Samsung. The Samsung Gear Fit2 was a bonus gift for pre-ordering the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7 smartphone. This device is simply gorgeous with a full-colour SAMOLED screen.
The Samsung device also includes a built-in GPS. I was able to sync my tracked workouts between Samsung Health, Endomondo, and MapMyRun. Endomondo and MapMyRun are owned by Under Armour, who also owns MyFitnessPal.
I had a good time comparing results between. t Garmin Vivosmart HR and Samsung Gear Fit2. Unfortunately the Garmin lacks a GPS. I could not find a way to have the Garmin tap into either the phone or Gear Fit2 GPS.
July 2017, I decided to buy another tracker. The Samsung was splash-proof, but not water-polo. I also did not like the fact that we do not have complete control over our data on Samsung Health. There is no website and no method for exporting the data. The only option is the export each individual exercise as a GPX file one-by-one. The heart, diet, activity, and other data is not exportable.
I was looking to buy a Garmin with GPS. I saw the Vivoactive online but figured it was too pricey for an older device. I saw the Vivoactive HR which was even better, but also too pricey considering I already owned two trackers.
One day while browsing the web, I spotted an ad from Best Buy touting the Garmin Vivoactive HR for only $199! I jumped at the opportunity and ordered it right away.
Since receiving my new fitness tracker, I have increased the frequency and intensity of my exercise routine. I find that I am addicted to achieving goals and breaking personal records.
In all, fitness trackers are a great way to motivate people towards living a much healthier life.