Switching from Fitbit to Apple Watch

[gigatoaster]

Hello there

I have currently a Fitbit Charge 2 which I use everyday to track my steps and my sleep.

I’m considering an Apple Watch and I just watched a YouTube video that explains the main differences.

I personally don’t mind losing data when switching as I understand it is very difficult to migrate between platforms.

I also understand that Apple Watch needs to be charged every day while my Fitbit is every 3/4 days.

I wanted to gather some user feedback in this situation: what did you gain, what are you missing when switching. Are you bothered by charging it everyday?

Also for Apple Watch users, how long does it take to charge it & I’ve heard rumors on the new Watch there would be native sleep tracking. Is it coming or these were just fake rumors?

I’m considering buying the ceramic one: it looks lovely.

 

[ukbootlegs]

I switched and hated the AW4 initially. I’d never revert now

AW tracks more than just sleep and steps. It actively encourages you to train more with prompts and it’s visuals

i can swim, listen to music, podcasts, reply to messages etc

i had to persevere at first, but now love the fitness tracking. My three tag watches are now in the safe as a result. I even upgraded from AW4 non cellular to AW5 cellular

 

[nippyjun]

Regarding sleep tracking. There are 3rd party apps for this that are good in my opinion.
charging depends on use.
I charge my watch in the morning for about 20 minutes to top it off after wearing it to sleep. Then in the evening I put in on the charger for an hour or so to top it off before bed.

 

[matrix07]

I never have problem with charging. I just charge it every night together with my iPhone.

 

[Mercenary]

Fitbit to AW here. I no longer sleep track as I now charge it each night. But let’s be honest, what did any of us do with the sleep data? Nothing but say “oh look. I had a bad sleep”.

if I do sleep track just pop it on the charger while you shower and dress and it’s fully charged.

I do miss the always on heart rate monitor a bit as it have a much more accurate calorie count than the apple watches every 10 minutes. But I wouldn’t go back.

 

[ZahidHafeez]

I moved to AW and got Series 5 recently after living with Fitbit Tracker for more than 5 years.....last two were of extremely bad quality which including Charge 2, Charge 3. All went for warranty claims and the last one the company said we can't fix it and if you want pay more to get their watch (I think it is Versa) or get refund. I opted for the refund and got my first Apple Watch. I am enjoying it throughly and the only missing information is sleep tracker but I am not pushed about it at all. Comparing the quality, AW5 is far superior than Fitbit. I will never go back.

 

[gigatoaster]

Thanks for all your messages. Does it track the stairs, too?

What about sleep tracking, natively done, was it just fake rumors or is it coming later?

 

[staggerlee41]

Thanks for all your messages. Does it track the stairs, too?

What about sleep tracking, natively done, was it just fake rumors or is it coming later?

AW 5 was rumored to include native sleep tracking. As noted by another poster, there are 3rd party apps that do a fantastic job at sleep tracking. I have been using AutoSleep and SleepWatch as there are aspects about both that I appreciate.

 

[gigatoaster]

Thanks, yes that what I thought, just needed to confirm. I have read about AutoSleep & SleepWatch they are often mentioned in threads.

Looks like everyone’s happy with the Apple Watch. I’m going to read more about battery issues and see where it stands after latest release.

 

[Mercenary]

The Apple Watch does track sleep natively. It just needs a phone app to interpret the data. I use AutoSleep and you don’t need the app installed on the watch. Just wear it and then the app takes the watch readings and gives you a sleep report.

 

[Mr.Blacky]

Sorry to ask, but what benefits do you have by tracking your sleep? I just don't understand what you could do with that data.

 

[MisterSavage]

With my series 4 if I turned it off when I went to sleep I could easily get 2+ days out of it so I wouldn't necessarily say you have to charge it every day. The watch also charges ridiculously fast. Just slap it on the charger when you're getting in the shower and leave it there for a short time.

 

[Mercenary]

Sorry to ask, but what benefits do you have by tracking your sleep? I just don't understand what you could do with that data.

Nothing. Like the people who have noise monitoring on. They are presented with data but do nothing with it.

 

[ericg301]

Sorry to ask, but what benefits do you have by tracking your sleep? I just don't understand what you could do with that data.

I use it to evaluate how certain variables effect my sleep. Alcohol, sweets, caffeine, exercise, et al.

 

[44267547]

Sorry to ask, but what benefits do you have by tracking your sleep? I just don't understand what you could do with that data.

It Probably be beneficial for those who actually have sleeping disorders or even irregular sleep patterns. For me, I sleep pretty sound and consistent, so I probably wouldn’t have a need for sleep tracking. But I do think that there is a large following that would really want to see any irregularities or differences of how their sleeping pattern is on a nightly basis. [Now obviously, if somebody has an extreme disorder where they need their sleep monitored professionally, then it has to go well beyond a native sleep tracking for an Apple Watch, but it still a nice advantage to have as a side marker.]

 

[staggerlee41]

Sleep rhythm, level of restlessness, amount of deep sleep, average heart rate, heart rate dip, things that may impact quality of sleep such as stress, exercise, alcohol, late meal, etc are all things you can track. Personally, I've been using sleep tracking to ensure I'm getting into a good sleep rhythm and getting my 8 hours whenever possible. Maybe not an issue for some people but I have struggled with that.

 

[44267547]

Sleep rhythm, level of restlessness, amount of deep sleep, average heart rate, heart rate dip, things that may impact quality of sleep such as stress, exercise, alcohol, late meal, etc are all things you can track. Personally, I've been using sleep tracking to ensure I'm getting into a good sleep rhythm and getting my 8 hours whenever possible. Maybe not an issue for some people but I have struggled with that.

Let me just add, I work out five days a week, like bodybuilding/ primarily weightlifting, and I can tell you on the days I work out, and then when I go to bed, I literally fall asleep much quicker and into a deeper sleep, because my body is physically exhausted, aside from all the other tasks that I have involved in that day. I think exercise is a good thing, because it promotes natural energy, but I also find that I sleep much deeper and more consistent in The days that I work out due to the energy consumption, plus that’s when your body grows as well. (I average approximately 9 hours of consistent sleep.)

 

[staggerlee41]

Let me just add, I work out five days a week, like bodybuilding/ primarily weightlifting, and I can tell you on the days I work out, and then when I go to bed, I literally fall asleep much quicker and into a deeper sleep, because my body is physically exhausted, aside from all the other tasks that I have involved in that day. I think exercise is a good thing, because it promotes natural energy, but I also find that I sleep much deeper and more consistent in The days that I work out due to the energy consumption, plus that’s when your body grows as well. (I average approximately 9 hours of consistent sleep.)

Absolutely, I'm finding the same results with exercise. I am literally falling asleep as I get into bed and am receiving a much higher degree of quality sleep on the says when I am exercising--biking and walking. I certainly felt much of this before I had the watch but the data clearly backs that up and gives me statistics that I didn't otherwise have. By tracking sleep data, I'm finding it to promote mindfulness of working to get a higher quality of sleep.

 

[xraydoc]

Hello there

I have currently a Fitbit Charge 2 which I use everyday to track my steps and my sleep.

I’m considering an Apple Watch and I just watched a YouTube video that explains the main differences.

I personally don’t mind losing data when switching as I understand it is very difficult to migrate between platforms.

I also understand that Apple Watch needs to be charged every day while my Fitbit is every 3/4 days.

I wanted to gather some user feedback in this situation: what did you gain, what are you missing when switching. Are you bothered by charging it everyday?

Also for Apple Watch users, how long does it take to charge it & I’ve heard rumors on the new Watch there would be native sleep tracking. Is it coming or these were just fake rumors?

I’m considering buying the ceramic one: it looks lovely.

One thing to be aware of — if it matters to you... The Apple Watch, while it checks your pulse frequently, doesn’t give a real-time display of your HR. It will update every few minutes... sooner if it senses you’re moving around, and much less frequently if it senses you’re just sitting around. It will give a real-time HR display when in an active workout, however.

My wife, who went from Apple Watch (S0) to FitBit and back to Apple Watch (S3), had to get used to not having her HR displayed continuously.

 

[Mercenary]

Fitbit in workout mode = HR reading every second.
Fitbit in non workout mode = HR reading every 5 seconds.
Apple Watch = every 10 minutes.... if inactive. Otherwise it skips it.

 

[rcarter3636]

I still use a Fitbit Charge 2 but only at night while relaxing.
This is the only time I trust the HR on the fitbit.
I have tested the HR on Apple Watch 2,3 and 4 and is clearly the most accurate HR monitor in the fitness business when working out.

 

[gigatoaster]

Hello there

I got my Watch and used Autosleep for the first time last night. It's great, I love it.

For the steps, I can't see the 250 steps per hour. But sometimes, I receive a notification to stand up. Looks like it is similar.

I will try to focus on closing the rings.
For the heart rate, I use HeartWatch.

I would like to change the total in Activity app: 900 CAL instead of 800, 60min of exercise instead of 30 and 11,000 steps instead of what is written.

Not sure if it is possible, only CAL seems to be changeable.

 

[ukbootlegs]

Hello there

I got my Watch and used Autosleep for the first time last night. It's great, I love it.

For the steps, I can't see the 250 steps per hour. But sometimes, I receive a notification to stand up. Looks like it is similar.

I will try to focus on closing the rings.
For the heart rate, I use HeartWatch.

I would like to change the total in Activity app: 900 CAL instead of 800, 60min of exercise instead of 30 and 11,000 steps instead of what is written.

Not sure if it is possible, only CAL seems to be changeable.

Click on the activity rings to show you all the details. Then press and hold. You can change your targets on move

 

[Ledgem]

I know these are slightly older replies (~2 months old), but wanted to reply anyway:

Nothing. Like the people who have noise monitoring on. They are presented with data but do nothing with it.

I think the noise monitoring is very useful. When I walk into a store with my children that's blasting loud music I check the noise level (added as a complication on my main watch face) and if it's in the dangerously high level I tend to cut the shopping trip short and get us out of there.

I like the sleep data not to tell me whether I slept well or not - I usually know that based on how I feel when I wake up - but as a motivator to get to bed early. If I see a bunch of indicators that I'm behind on my sleep then I'm motivated to get to bed earlier to fix it. I'm chronically sleep-deprived so I don't always feel it (or maybe I should say, feeling crummy from lack of sleep became my norm so I don't notice it anymore), and that can be a useful nudge to do better.

One thing to be aware of — if it matters to you... The Apple Watch, while it checks your pulse frequently, doesn’t give a real-time display of your HR.

My understanding is that if you initiate a workout then it checks the pulse much more frequently, if not continuously.

One final thing to note is that you can import your data from FitBit into Health (where iOS stores all of this data). A developer going by the alias "Jaiyo" has a suite of apps for this purpose. I bought two of them, and they work wonderfully. For sleep, look up "Sleep Sync." If you have a lot of data (as I did) then you can't import it all at once, but need to set date ranges manually and do something like one or two months at a time. It's been a while so I can't remember the exact time limitation I discovered... but the app makes it easier than it sounds. For sleep you'll probably just import data once, but if you still use FitBit devices (for example, I have a FitBit Aria "smart scale") then Jaiyo's apps also make it easy to just "sync data from the last date synced" - basically just one button push.

 

[xraydoc]

I know these are slightly older replies (~2 months old), but wanted to reply anyway:


I think the noise monitoring is very useful. When I walk into a store with my children that's blasting loud music I check the noise level (added as a complication on my main watch face) and if it's in the dangerously high level I tend to cut the shopping trip short and get us out of there.

I like the sleep data not to tell me whether I slept well or not - I usually know that based on how I feel when I wake up - but as a motivator to get to bed early. If I see a bunch of indicators that I'm behind on my sleep then I'm motivated to get to bed earlier to fix it. I'm chronically sleep-deprived so I don't always feel it (or maybe I should say, feeling crummy from lack of sleep became my norm so I don't notice it anymore), and that can be a useful nudge to do better.


My understanding is that if you initiate a workout then it checks the pulse much more frequently, if not continuously.

One final thing to note is that you can import your data from FitBit into Health (where iOS stores all of this data). A developer going by the alias "Jaiyo" has a suite of apps for this purpose. I bought two of them, and they work wonderfully. For sleep, look up "Sleep Sync." If you have a lot of data (as I did) then you can't import it all at once, but need to set date ranges manually and do something like one or two months at a time. It's been a while so I can't remember the exact time limitation I discovered... but the app makes it easier than it sounds. For sleep you'll probably just import data once, but if you still use FitBit devices (for example, I have a FitBit Aria "smart scale") then Jaiyo's apps also make it easy to just "sync data from the last date synced" - basically just one button push.

Yes, if you’re in an active workout, it’ll read your pulse every 5 seconds. But a lot of FitBit users are used to the device showing a real-time pulse 24/7, which the Apple Watch really won’t do. When not in an active workout, the Apple Watch has a more complicated algorithm of when it checks.