Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Let me start by saying that I am first time Fitbit and Apple watch user. I couldn't find a lot of reviews comparing the two, so I decided to purchase both and return one of them. Which one is better? Well that depends on what you're using it for. A little about me: I'm a 29 year old guy who works out 3-5 days a week with weights and runs 2-4 miles a day at an 8:30-9:00 minute pace. I work as a Resident Physician in a busy ER and originally wanted a pedometer see how much I walk in a given work day. Appearance and build quality: Winner- Apple First up was the Fitbit charge 2. The packaging was great, very "Apple" like, but the build quality of the device left something to be desired. The band is made of a comfortable silicone and the display appears to be a "cheap" appearing plastic. While the device won't impress on looks, it is somewhat low profile and and comfortable on the wrist. The screen itself isn't the most responsive, but it works well enough. The display is bright and easily visible. I did not have trouble seeing the screen outdoors. The apple watch was everything you'd expect from an Apple product. Sleek, responsive, and user friendly. I'd stop short of calling it "stylish", but it feels noticeably more polished than the Fitbit Fitness: Winner- Fitbit Here's where the two products completely diverge. I found the Fitbit to be an incredible fitness device compared to the Apple watch. Everything is streamlined for fitness with the Fitbit, while the apple watch is cluttered and optimized as a "smart watch". With a quick glance on the fitbit I can see the time, my steps taken, and heart rate. It takes just seconds to set up a workout and scroll the the menus. The beauty of fitbit lies in it's simplicity. The apple watch can also show steps taken, and heart rate, but does not give you continuous monitoring of heart rate like the fitbit. The fitbit can also track sleep, and give you an estimate of your cardio fitness score (V02 Max). Other features: Clearly the fitbit is not a smart watch, but the text and call notifications are great when you're working out and don't have quick access to your phone. Yes, you can't see the whole text, but i'm not using this feature to replace my phone, I'm using it to screen for important texts or calls that I would need to stop my workout for. The apple watch on the other hand can text, call, and use many of the same apps as your iPhone. If you have apple music you can also listen to music on Bluetooth headphones. The built in GPS and waterproofing are great features as well. Accuracy: Tie I have no idea what the negative reviews are talking about (Maybe they received a defective device or have exceptionally hairy arms?). The fitbit is impressively accurate with resting and active heart rate. I've compared manual hearts and treadmill measurements with a variation of +/- 5 while active and +/- 2 at rest. I don't care if my real heart is 155 or 158 while I workout, I just want to know what zone i'm in. My run this morning was within .03 miles of my phone GPS, and the pace was spot on. Good enough for me, but i'm not a competitive runner. The apple watch is slightly more accurate when it comes to distance, and probably more suited for someone who runs at a competitive pace. Steps taken? I give the edge to fitbit. Apple watch skipped a lot of my steps and took a while to update. Yes, the fitbit adds 20-30 steps while I sleep, and another 20-30 while I drive. But I do these things every day, so who cares? I care about the trends. I'm not a competitive walker. Sleep seems accurate as well and is excellent for trending. I can tell when I have a restless night and the fitbit is great for quantifying that. You cannot track sleep with the Apple watch. No idea if the calories burned are accurate for either product, but again, trends. The App: Winner- Fitbit I think this where the fitbit completely shines as a fitness product. The app is so user friendly, so streamlined, and generally fun to play around with. I love watching my cardio fitness score change and keeping an eye on my resting heart rate overnight. Apple has a ton of 3rd party apps which are great, but it lacks the complete integration of the fitbit. Final thoughts: The reality is that these are completely different products used for completely different reasons. I haven't decided which one I will be keeping yet, but if I were basing my decision on fitness alone, at a non competitive level, I would choose the fitbit hands down. There are other useful features that make the Apple watch appealing in my line of work, so I'll have to weigh those into my decision. Overall, the fitbit makes fitness fun. It's packed with so many cool features, and really is a motivator for daily movement. It is perfect for someone who wants to streamline their fitness goals and keep track of their life. It is a wear all day and all night product. The apple watch doesn't have the same coolness factor with regard to fitness, and really doesn't motivate me to workout anymore than my iPhone would. It is perfect for someone who doesn't care about tracking fitness goals, but wants to leave their phone at home during a workout. The ability to stream music, track distance with a built in GPS, and respond to text messages are wonderful. This is a take off during the day and never wear at night product. I would use this primarily as a smart watch with the added bonus of being incredibly useful for running. If you do decide on the fitbit, be careful with sizing! I have a 7 inch wrist and the large band fits me on the last 2-4 holes (keep it loose when not working out). In other words, the band runs pretty large. For reference, the Apple watch is 38 mm in grey. Hopefully that helps!