I’m trying to move away from a fitbit, once in a while I forget to charge it and I have to install the app and fork over all of my data to fitbit to set the time.
Anyone have any recommendations, I need something with a decent heart monitor, that’s really the only thing I care about.
anything that’s supported by Gadgetbridge https://gadgetbridge.org/
Oh that’s actually super useful, thank you!
I use a Fossil Hybrid watch with gadget bridge. Works really well, though one caveat is that while you can read and dismiss messages on the watch, you can’t reply from it. This isn’t a problem for my use case, but YMMV. The couple weeks of battery life is a great plus, though. (E-ink screen)
Can I ask which one you have and does it work well with gadgetbridge?
I have been eyeing a watch from them for a while now but gadgetbridge.org seems to only list two compatible watches (or I misunderstand the Fossil naming scheme).
Basically any Fossil / Skagen (they’re the same thing) Hybrid (meaning e-ink) watch will work with Gadgetbridge. I personally have the Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid which works great. Ignore the ‘Alexa’ bit, that does nothing via Gadgetbridge (and in fact you can just flat out remove that ‘app’ in the GB app). Heart Rate and Message/Notification/Call control functions all work fine. Step tracking works, but sleep tracking does not (Fossil doesn’t have it done on the watch, it’s done in their app, so until/unless GB replicates that functionality it won’t work).
I use the Fossil Collider HR with Gadgetbridge and it’s pretty great. Three are some downsides though:
- The set-up is a little bit of a hassle. You need to get the Collider’s secret key, and that requires installing a jailbroken version of the Fossil app
- Any changes you want to make to the watch display have to be made in the Fossil app, which means you have to install that app and do a bit of a runaround whenever you want to change something
But aside from that, it’s been a good year with my Collider HR and Gadgetbridge
This is the way.
Only one I recall (smartwatch open source)
https://www.pine64.org/pinetime/
Does this fit the bill for you?
I have one, great use for my notification. Works with gadgetbridge to update as well. I cant upload resource zip files however that say will have new watch styles that is included seperately. Id have to link it to my linux phone to do that. Overall though for the basics its great and the price is nice.
I’ve looked at some reviews and the heart monitor might not be too great which is disappointing
That’s pretty cool but I don’t even wear a dumb watch, let alone a smart one.
I’m pretty sure Garmin has a good privacy policy - mozilla seemed to like them - and I got a fenix6 sapphire on ebay used for about $250 and I love it. Way better than my apple watch, particularly because I care more about fitness tracking and hate having texts show up on my watch.
Honestly, a good privacy policy, and even a good history of standing up to law enforcement as per the review means nothing to me. They could easily be bought out by vulture capitalists that do whatever they want with the data. Or they get a nice NSL in the mail and it doesn’t matter what the executives think they stand for. You should own your health data.
I like how you called it “vulture” instead of “venture”, it’s definitely more accurate!
Garmin Fenix! The new ones are very expensive ($1000), but I picked up a used Fenix 5X a few years ago when it was the most recent model for $350 and I love it! Battery charge lasts about 3 weeks on mine and 6 weeks on the newest ones. It has sports tracking activities for just about anything you’d ever do, a great phone app interface, doesn’t need to be charged for weeks at a time, and has GPS topo maps that you can use while backpacking, cycling , jogging, or even driving. I was able to track how far I paddled in my kayak thanks to the GPS. Anyways, it’s a great watch if you’re looking for a fitness tracker as well as a smart watch to give you phone notifications, music controls, and that sort of thing. The only drawback is that the screen resolution isn’t great on the older ones since they use eInk screens instead of fancy screens. The new one uses OLED, so it’s supposed to look better. Oh, and they’re not touch screens. That was a little clunky for me when I first got it, but it doesn’t bother me now.
Maybe a watch supported by asteroid os is something.
Some models have support for heart monitor. Don’t know if there is a fitness app or something like that.
I like my Garmin gps watch, though they have gotten what i would consider too expensive…
Does the Garmin app require location services to be turned to use like fitbit?
it uses true gps from my understanding, not cell service triangulation
Can you adjust the time on it without using an app?
I think time can get out of sync. Privacy wise, it’s pretty good for proprietary: https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/garmin-forerunner-series/
Not open source of course, so it is something to weigh up.
Location services have to be turned on in Android whenever you’re searching for Bluetooth devices.
This isn’t because they’re necessarily using your location but because scanning Bluetooth/wifi devices could be used to localise you.
As far as I can tell, Garmin does not use location on the phone. Weather updates come through the phone’s internet connection but only work based on the watch location.
My phone has CalyxOS so I don’t need to
I’m on CalyxOS and I have to enable location services to search for my Xiaomi Smart Band 7 through Gadgetbridge.
That’s weird I haven’t had to do that before, maybe it’s just a smart watch thing
You don’t need to what?
I can search for Bluetooth devices without location services
That sounds like a bug.
Software can theoretically recover location by searching.
Like my TV hasn’t moved in the last 3 years, if any app searching for Bluetooth sees it they can know where I am.
I’m not complaining
So, I just checked under the app information in Android. The location permission was turned on. I disabled it, and started the app up and it seems to work fine.
I use a Xiaomi Smart Band 7 and pair it with Gadgetbridge, and it works fine for my purposes, which is HR-monitoring during the day, sleep and workout sessions. I rarely interface with the watch itself (which is by design), so if you want more functionality out of your watch, then this might be a little on the light side feature wise. I tend to keep Bluetooth off, so I connect to it maybe once a day to sync data with Gadgetbridge, which I again export for analysis. A bit clunky to connect - I have to search for it first in the Gadgetbridge app, and only when it has found it can I attempt to reconnect. Maybe this is easily fixable, but I have not bothered to do it because I only sync once a day.
You do need to obtain a key first though, which requires a login to the Xiaomi servers. I used a throwaway e-mail for the registration. Gadgetbridge has no access to the internet.
Techlore did a video on fitness tracking a couple years ago. I don’t know if it’s still up to date, but it’s a place to start your search.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/LgYReUhHy9k
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
Thanks
I’ve been considering the Bangle.js 2, and while I don’t think the heart rate monitor is really good yet, there is active development and discussion about how to make it better. If you’re interested in helping out, this could be a fun project!
I’m not a developer by any stretch of the imagination but definitely something to keep an eye on
Was going to ask if anyone owned a bangle.js 2, it’s on the top of my list so far but still unsure whether to pull the trigger
@e-ratic @mossy_capivara @thejevans I am using a bangle 2. For privacy is one of the best. There were others that I can not remember the name…
I am happy with it, but using it with graphene os I can not put it to work completely. No notifications on it… Using with android is OK :)
I like my Garmin but keep in mind their phone app is a webview, this means all of your data is on their servers. Whether they have an official usage policy you like or not, things can change, servers get hacked, etc. It’s possible to use it without the mobile app, but it’s a pain.
I had a look into this recently and the verdict was there’s nothing really that good out there sadly.
That’s disappointing
I’m very happy with my Garmin Epix (gen 2). It’s got a nice AMOLED screen, which works better for me cause I’m honestly mostly using it indoors, and I don’t really need 50 days battery life or anything like that. 13 days on pretty high settings is plenty for me…
The watch has its own built in GPS antennas, and works fine without a phone during activities, since I saw you should about GPS stuff elsewhere in the comments. I’m pretty sure it needs to sync data to a phone eventually though, for full functionally.
This is probably overkill for you, and you can get one of many much cheaper options from Garmin since all you care about is heart monitoring.
Apple watches are the only ones I know that do the full EKG thing if that’s something you’re interested in, as far as other options. If you already have an iPhone, I’ve only heard good things about the watches too. Pretty sure their adventure watch only really loses to Garmin on battery life.
I’m not 100% but i think Garmin has a pretty good privacy policy - mozilla seemed to like them - and I got a fenix6 sapphire on ebay used for about $250 and I love it. Way better than my apple watch, particularly because I care more about fitness tracking and hate having texts show up on my watch.
I just bought an xiaomi smart band 7 pro. I really like it for the price!
