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Simple as that. I had one but it stopped working and I never got a new one. I want to start tracking things better while I am trying to get back into shape and want to be able to match the data up with how I feel, what I ate, drank, etc.. to better understand how things impact me directly.

Anyone here have a watch and use it for stuff like that? Also, I don't have any interest in Apple since I don't own any apple products. I know some people that love their apple watch but I just don't see a reason to get one when I don't have anything else apple.

Simple as that. I had one but it stopped working and I never got a new one. I want to start tracking things better while I am trying to get back into shape and want to be able to match the data up with how I feel, what I ate, drank, etc.. to better understand how things impact me directly. Anyone here have a watch and use it for stuff like that? Also, I don't have any interest in Apple since I don't own any apple products. I know some people that love their apple watch but I just don't see a reason to get one when I don't have anything else apple.
[–] • 2 pts 25d

Absolute insanity. Why would anyone want to wear a 24hr tracking bracelet?

[–] • 2 pts 25d

When you are required to carry a phone with you all of the time for your job you kind of get numb to it. It is stupid, I don't want this data going to anyone but me. You do you but it is what it is.

[–] • 1 pt 25d

I'm suprised there isn't a self-hosted solution for this yet. Maybe there is... I've never looked into it.

[–] • 1 pt 25d

I have looked around a little but the DIY community around those devices is not nearly as mature as one would hope. It is slowly getting there but it will probably be 5-10 years until there is something that can do everything a "commercial" product can do today unless someone gets really pissed off and decides its their life goal to make something like that.

I am pissed off enough but I don't have the needed background in the medical/hardware field and even if I spend the time to learn and build it there are projects out there that are already better than anything I would probably make (maybe?). I don't know. Life is just too damn busy for me at the moment to try to work on something like this.

[–] • 2 pts 25d

Be careful with those things. They tend to turn people into hypochondriacs.

[–] • 1 pt 25d

Basically every American is a hypochondriac already. I am not overly concerned. I read all of the time but I like data so.. Thus the post.

No suggestions yet though. That's a bit annoying.

[–] • 1 pt 25d

I have a pixel 3 watch that I don't really use. I question how well the sleep stuff works. I was wearing it while chilling on the couch watching a movie and the watch logged that I was sleeping during that time.

[–] • 1 pt 25d

I wear the Garmin Fenix 7 Pro Solar. It tracks everything you could think of ever wanting to track. All my sleep and health data. Steps, Pulse Ox, Pulse Rate, elevation gain throughout the day, current altitude. skiing, biking, running. If you golf it will even tell you where you are on the course and how far you are away from the pin. It has so many features you can't possibly ever use them all. I have a Garmin radio collar on my dog that talks to the watch so I can know exactly how far away the dog is and what he is doing at all times. It also tells me how far away I am from my truck and what direction to go to get back to it. It goes 10 days on a charge, more during the summer as it charges a bit in the sunshine. (built in solar panel)

It's really an amazing watch.

It will also control my phone to play music, gets my texts. Honestly, it does more shit that you could ever use.

There is an 8 out now but I don't need a new one, mine is great.

[–] • 1 pt 25d

Interesting. I like the 10 days without a charge and that sounds pretty damn extensive. I don't have a dog but if I do in the future I would not mind having a feature like that. I am planning to move somewhere with a hell of a lot more space and a dog might be in our future.

[–] • 1 pt 25d

I have a Garmin Instinct 2, before that a cheap Garmin that was kind of gay looking. they are tough devices, I wore my old one working, out got covered in mortar, taken out on stand up jet skis, taken out snowboarding. it wouldn't die, the silicone wrist band wore through before before it died.

instinct 2 has a lot of health tracking that works great. it also has a built in barometer, altimeter, and compass today is very accurate, enough for navigation by degrees.

The Garmin watches are the most focused on health and utility and they are built strong. I had a two year replacement policy on my last one and I couldn't break it.

[–] • 1 pt 25d

For the dog thing to work you have to have an appropriate collar and remote. The collar talks to the remote up to 9 miles and the remote talks to the watch. I run the Alpha 300i with a TT15 mini collar. I think it's something like 8 or 9 collars I can track at once. I only have one bird dog though so I haven't messed with that.

[–] • 1 pt 25d

Thanks for the extra info. I do appreciate it. Should I need it in the future that will make my research a lot easier.

[–] • 1 pt 25d

I have a few cheapo ones, but I only used them a little (I hate watches on my arm). Useful for logging data while awake/sleeping, if you want to check for issues. I keep crappy apps like that on a separate Android device mostly sits with everything turned off so it's not doing anything when I'm not using it.

[–] • 1 pt 25d

I have a Garmin solar instinct. I honestly don't use like half the features but a great watch. Keeps me honest on my daily step count which has helped me increase it slowly but surely.

[–] • 1 pt 25d

Thanks for the input. So far it looks like Garmin is probably the brand to go with. The one I had that died was a Garmin but that was a long time ago. I have a few co-workers that suggested Garmin as well.

[–] • 1 pt 25d (edited 25d)

Battery lasts for 26-28 days depending on if you win the battery lottery or not. It has a battery saver mode that turns off most of the sensors which will almost double the life but will supposedly go forever if you give it 3 hours of sun a day. The GPS naturally eats the battery so I never really use it.

This is technically my 2nd one. I banged the first one against a wall really hard doing some stupid shit and the vibrating mechanism broke loose inside. It would rattle but otherwise everything still worked. Garmin swapped it under warranty no questions asked and even paid to have the broken one shipped back.

I have the tactical model so it can turn off all the features that causes lights that would show up under night vision. If you get up to any of that. Also has a stealth mode that turns off any part that gives off a radio wave. Cool, but if I'm being hunted by someone sophisticated enough to track me via localized SIGINT I'm probably long dead already.

I haven't found the compass very accurate and it needs frequent recalibration. Though that just might be my work as I'm often around powerful magnets.

The body sensors work great though and that mainly what I use it for.

If you want spend big $$$ they have a smart watch with a freaking ballistics computer in it. I almost went with that model but the watch face is fucking huge and I'm not into big ass watches like that.

[–] • 1 pt 24d

Back in 2019, I bought a Fitbit Charge2 when I was training for a bike trip. Was interested in tracking activity duration more than anything else (worked well for that), but the elevation tracking and sleep quality functions were interesting. I've always slept well (the Fitbit seemed to confirm that), but a friend of mine who also bought one did not. He obsessed over the sleep data - even after I forwarded an article to him that suggested most people slept worse when they started to track their sleep data.

Bottom line: The ability to measure/track your activity can be a beneficial if you're goal focused. The sleep tracking is of limited utility - most people know when they've slept well and why. I had the interface on my tablet so I wasn't live-synced 24/7, but when Fitbit became assimilated by (Google???) I stopped using mine. Display was about shot on it by then too.

The amount of biometrics that could be gathered so easily/simply then was both impressive and scary to behold. Imagine what it gathers and sends now.

[–] • 0 pt 24d

Yeah, I get all of that but I have never slept well and I'm trying to fix it more actively since it kind of make life suck big time.