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-   -   The Fitness Band / Smartwatch Thread (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadgets-computers-software/163799-fitness-band-smartwatch-thread-14.html)

More update.

Firstly my criticism of the band's sync was unwarranted. Turns out that it's an Android bug. You need to switch on Bluetooth and location for these devices to sync. Now it works perfectly.

The software is still unintuitive and I can't figure it how to use it beyond the daily sleep tracking.

But it works.

Swimming: I'll let you know once my apartment pool opens up. It has a swimming function but apparently fancy trackers have a SWOLF algorithm for more accurate tracking, etc. Most trackers don't talk much about it. Whatever your kids research and suggest, I'll pick up for my wife as well , so keep us posted :)

Many thanks. I'll keep this extra info in mind

Just got my hands on Amazfit Bip. For ₹ 4,000 this one looks like a good deal. Will post a detailed review after a week. I want to test the battery life and stuff.

Where did you get this from?

Hi vid6639,
I bought this from Ali Express. The store is Amazfit Official Store. Delivery was also fast, 3 weeks. I didn’t encounter any customs charges also.

Regards,
The Rationalist

How is the vibration strength of the watch? I have a severe hearing loss and have been using a Sony smartwatch that vibrates to notify of an incoming call. Recently, I changed to iPhone SE, and the Sony watch does not work with iPhone. I use a FitBit Charge 2 as a regular activity tracker, but the vibration strength of this watch is very poor and it vibrates just once on call, that I miss calls most of the times. The Bluetooth connectivity is very flaky as well.

Now looking for a watch that works with iPhone. Following are the only things that I care about:

1. Reliable bluetooth connectivity
2. Strong vibration strength
3. Decent battery life
4. Works with iOS
5. Does not cost a bomb

Looking forward to your feedback on this.

Hello V.Narayan,

Could you check out Garmin Forerunner 935?

I am using one for the past couple of months and its capable of tracking running, cycling, swimming, yoga and even golf.

I have used it only for running thoughstupid:.
Regards,
Pinin

Dear graaja,

1. You can’t answer calls through Amazfit Bip, you can decline or ignore the call. I don’t get the Bluetooth reliability part of your question properly.

2. Vibration is too much for my liking, its kind of getting a mild shock. I’m a thinly built person and is sensitive to static currents, don’t know if the vibration of Amazfit Bip is annoying for me only!

3. Have been using for only 20 hours, the battery status is still 100%. As per another user if not using continuous heart rate monitoring the watch works for 3-4 weeks on a single charge. Poor battery life and the insane cost were the reasons I never tried a Smart watch till now. I couldn’t stand another gadget that needs frequent charging , the mayhem of phones and tablets vying for charging ports is more than enough!

4. Works with iOS.

The good part is that the display is not always on, but its clear enough to read even in display off mode! Please see attached picture and the previous picture posted earlier with display on mode.

Regards,
The Rationalist

I have been using the Amazfit for about 2 weeks now. Aliexpress took little over 4 weeks to deliver, and costed about 70$.

Btw, I have a iPhone SE as well.

1. Bluetooth connectivity is good. Out of all these days, I *once* faced an issue with the synch. It was not connecting to the watch. I had just given bath to my son with the watch on and I am not sure if the splashes of water were the culprit. I tried again after 10 mins and it worked fine. But otherwise, I have never missed a notification from the phone on the watch.

2. The vibration is quite strong. For a call, they have a feature to delay the vibrations on the watch. I generally pick up the call even before the watch vibrates. But I can check and get back if you are interested in knowing if there are multiple vibrations when there is a call.

3. Battery life is pretty good. That seems to be the USP of this device.

4. Works with iOS. Haven't come across any issues.

5. Costs about 70$.

Overall I liked the watch.

Thanks a lot for the detailed responses The Rationalist and shifu. I got a pretty good idea of the watch, and I think it perfectly fits my requirement. Also, as I have my fitbit to track heart rate, I will keep heart rate tracking off in this watch. That should give a very good battery life.

Got it. I am fine with just being able to decline the call on the watch (my Sony watch also works the same way). What I meant by bluetooth reliability is that the watch does not miss any notifications on incoming calls. Thanks for confirming that the vibration strength is good enough. Usually when I travel and have to set alarms, I rely on the vibration of the watch to wake me up as I don't hear the audio of the alarms.


Thanks a lot for the feedback. I need a few more inputs.

1. Can we disable this delay so that the watch starts vibrating immediately as a call arrives? And does the watch keep vibrating intermittently till the call is picked or declined?
2. How does the watch behave when the connection to the phone is lost? For example, if you leave the phone and go to another room the connection would be lost. When you get back closer to the phone does the watch automatically connect to the phone?
3. Is it possible to set the alarm time locally on the watch itself or does it require to be set on the phone App and synced?

Once again thank you for all the inputs :)

Hi graaja,

1. We can disable this delay and watch starts vibrating immediately. I keep phone in silent mode, so patients don’t get irritated ! I just glance at the watch and if not an important one, I just ignore.
2. Yep, it connects automatically
3. No. You need to set it on app.

Regards,
The Rationalist.

Thanks a lot. That answers all my questions. I will go ahead and buy this watch. Will update my experience once I get it.

Thanks Pinin. Info passed onto my kids whose job it is to present one to their Papa.

Here have look at the Garmin line under the wearables section: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/

- If you want a runner's watch only : Forerunner series is the one.
- Fenix 5 series is the premium multisport runner's watches and are also a good stylish watches
- Vivo series is the basic fitness tracker like bands. But of late Vivoactive 3 has some substance of both the fenix 5 and also the multisport capabilities of forerunner at somewhat in between price point. Though its higher than the rest of the vivo product line.

Hope that helps.

Many thanks Ampere for taking the trouble:)