I find the tech really cool, especially it being so thin. It’s also not that expensive.
Buuuut it’s google so I fear this thing is a privacy nightmare.
I’m for smartwatches in general.
About a year ago, I was measuring my blood oxygen on a regular basis for a medical condition, and the oxygen meter thingy wasn’t very convenient to carry around all the time. So I got an Apple Watch (non us models had blood oxygen monitoring even back then) for the convenience and logging. This was genuinely my only concern.
The fact that the watch was displaying my exercise time and calories burned was startling to me… and extremely motivating in a way that quite literally blew my mind. I started exercising regularly, working out. My health started improving in general. I started counting calories and losing weight. I lost weight. I gained muscle that I’ve never had in my life.
I had a friend try to tell me that I could have done all these things without a smartwatch to tell me things. Empirical evidence for decades indicates otherwise. I’ve been told that it’s a crutch and that I’m a lesser man for using it. But you know, you use crutches when you can’t do what other people do. I absolutely love my smartwatch and will hear nothing against it.
I have no opinions on brands or specific models in general. They’re pretty much all the same to me. Get whatever has the features you want and like. As far as I know my apple health data stays local to my phone and my data exports, so I feel pretty safe there.
I think the whole health/fitness tech world is a great example of what’s wrong with capitalism. A lot of this stuff is genuinely really helpful and can extend lives, but you can only use it if you’re willing to let them sell incredibly detailed and personal data to whoever that want.
Hail Gadgetbridge! Works quite well with my Garmin
Oh thank you! I’ve wanted something like this for ages.
Google = Nope
In addition to the privacy stuff, there’s also the inevitable rug pull: https://killedbygoogle.com/
What will probably happen is that Google will finish incorporating Fitbit to the Android/Google ecosystem and kill the independent brand. The Fitbit app has already been rebranded to Google and Google has stopped selling high end Fitbit watches while incorporating the tech to new Google watches.
Just fyi, the Fitbit app was completely killed a couple months ago. It’s now fully migrated to Google health
I would look at Garmin. The cirqa has the same aesthetics, and it looks like the fitbit air has a subscription for some functionality. While the Garmin is more expensive, everything else is included.
I prefer the built in GPS for running so I don’t have to take my phone with me. Maybe you’d like the vivo active or lily 2?
The Garmin Cirqa doesn’t have GPS
Oh right. The larger point being anything from Garmin is probably better than anything else on the market. Theyll last years with no additional fees, and they apparently dont sell any of your data. Anything with them is opt in, and all part of why the devices seem so expensive. Seems they aren’t making money on shady business practices.
I’ve seen the garmin one. The thing is, it’s thicker than this one, which is what I really liked about the Fitbit Air. Yea, it is garmin, that’s of course true. Right now, I wear an apple watch most of the time, but I would like a more discreet tracker that just is as small and lightweight and invisible as the fitbit happens to be
If it wasn’t Google I’d probably have got one. I got a Polar Loop instead. It’s got quite a few negative reviews because when it first came out it had loads of problems but it’s fine now. It’s not as cheap but from a reputable EU company.
Interesting! I wear a Garmin instinct, but I get more and more annoyed by it. Way to often when I want to check the time I see some notification instead.
Using a band like this and a normal watch could solve that 🤔
Google switched a lot of free things to a monthly subscription, and their remake of Google health is indicative of more to come. It’s enshittifying fast, I wouldn’t.
I don’t like wearing things on my wrist
The concept is very cool. I think it began with chinese rings? I wish the market goes towards that model. This way I can get actually good watches without distractions and still get health data.
I do like the simple aesthetic of the Air (also the Flex 2 from years ago) but nowadays I just avoid wearable tech. Get a nice wristwatch instead :)
I already wear an apple watch and I love it.
