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I've been holding off getting a smartwatch since basically forever (last couple of years it has been waiting for the new Qualcomm chip to come out for a WearOS, either the next decent Fossil or the ever rumoured Pixel Watch) but have been getting a lot of people pushing me towards getting a proper fitness tracker. Currently I use my phone to track runs and monitor sleep. For the latter it's a bit awkward as it's on the bed, for the former it's fine and works well with Strava but I guess not having a phone strapped to my arm could be nicer. Garmins look good, the Vivo 4 and the Instinct both seem to tick all the boxes and my understanding from looking at them is the Vivo 4 is a swish looking smartwatch that works well as a fitness tracker while the Instinct is a more bare bones, rugged and longer lasting option. Do these need a phone paired to them or would they be realistic options to play podcasts/music through headphones without one on a run? Will they integrate with Strava for run tracking? Will either of them function as a smartwatch i.e. decent pay integration, able to check messages, store digital tickets/store cards? (it looks like the Vivo is a maybe and the Instinct is, well, barebones). I've gotten some idea of the difference from online browsing but some first hand experience would really help, especially with how well they pair up with an Android phone (will there be frequent frustration over apps not matching between devices, etc).
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Apr 28, 2021 15:14
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| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 16:17 |
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Well prime day cometh and I've pulled the trigger on a Garmin Fenix 6 Pro. I am looking forward to going for a run without my phone and curious to see what the training stuff is actually like for my running. Also seeing some stats from strength training days beyond just what weight I lifted.
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Jun 21, 2021 18:06
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Trip report on the Fenix 6, it's a really good fitness tracker and it's weirdly nice not having a phone strapped to my arm for runs. The VO2 estimate and training advice has actually been helpful. Charges lasting a week or so is also nice but I can definitely seeing it being a bit of a disappointment for more typical smart watch stuff. I can't really respond to messages but it does save me pulling my phone out of my pocket constantly to see that I've had another post in one of the group WhatsApp charts I don't follow too closely.
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Jul 8, 2021 18:11
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Interesting just because I've got Fénix 6 pro and definitely don't have the notification issue. There's an option to dismiss or mark as read for SMS or WhatsApp messages. Wondering if that's an actual difference or you've got a setting you can do it via. I've definitely got contactless payment on the Fénix but it's only through Garmin pay and that seems to work with a limited set of cards/banks so mine is set up with a Wise debit card I use for travel as an emergency thing in case I need to but anything while out running.
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Sep 2, 2022 07:46
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rufius posted:I got a Garmin Fenix 7 Solar. It is good. It replaced an Apple Watch 6. I've got a Fenix 6 pro and the only complaint I've got about it is that there's nothing good for managing podcasts on the watch. I've got Spotify but trying to go through the revolutions podcasts is a ball ache. I can scroll 5 episodes at a time and downloading them is hit or miss, sometimes there's a long loading time between the 5 episodes screens. It works fine if you've got a regular podcast and just want the most recent couple of episodes but otherwise... Happily everything I really want it for works perfectly and the battery life is great. It's also got training plans built in that are pretty good for running. Not sure how well it works for anything else.
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Sep 15, 2022 19:03
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| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 16:17 |
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rufius posted:I only borrowed a Fenix 6 for a couple weeks. While I’m not a big touch user, the Fenix 7 is a lot easier to use because it has touch. I haven't done a compare and contrast but I'm very happy with the button navigation for my fēnix 6 and I'm not sure how much a touch screen would improve the experience. That said I use it almost exclusively for exercise tracking and checking if a notification is worth getting my phone out for.
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Feb 13, 2023 14:10
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