I just saw DC Rainmaker’s video on this, and I’m not impressed. In any case, I’ve bern using my Garmin watch mainly for running, and I’ve been more interested in spot data than history on Connect. Still, I’m on my last Garmin watch. The hardware itself seems to last for only 18-24 months before problems start piling up, so I decided that my next watch will be Coros. I’m under no illusions that the hardware would be more reliable, but it costs half of what I’ve paid for my Garmin.
I’ve had and seen several last for years with daily use and never had an issue. Their support has been top notch anytime I had an issue I’ve gotten a new watch or several bands free of charge. They even paid for the return shipping of my old device.
Vivoactive HR - 2 years in, the casing broke at one of the points where the wristband is attached. Material fatigue. Out of warranty.
Vivoactive 3 - 2 years in, altimeter went haywire. Also, battery life decreased to one day. Just out of warranty.
Fenix 6 - 1.5 years in, GPS got really bad. As in, drift of over 200m from route. Within warranty, so I contacted them and they sent me a replacement watch. That one is still working, and I hope it will for a long time.
By now, I developed a certain expectation of the life of Garmin watches. I divided their price with expected lifetime, and compared that with similar data for Coros. Coros is simply better value for money.
I’ve had several Garmin Venu’s and GPS devices inside the car. But for specifically health trackers I have yet to find a more comprehensive coverage of overall health data. That’s easily accessible to anyone. I seen you mentioned spot data is what you prefer. A Polar H10 might serve the niche better for heart data. Self hosting options for them.
Sure I’d like it fully open source and more on device functionality rather than APIs and algorithms in the cloud. But pound for pound Garmin still runs the fitness and health tracking sector. There are some newer companies popping up with promising options but the tech and IP just isn’t mainstream yet.
I just saw DC Rainmaker’s video on this, and I’m not impressed. In any case, I’ve bern using my Garmin watch mainly for running, and I’ve been more interested in spot data than history on Connect. Still, I’m on my last Garmin watch. The hardware itself seems to last for only 18-24 months before problems start piling up, so I decided that my next watch will be Coros. I’m under no illusions that the hardware would be more reliable, but it costs half of what I’ve paid for my Garmin.
I’ve had and seen several last for years with daily use and never had an issue. Their support has been top notch anytime I had an issue I’ve gotten a new watch or several bands free of charge. They even paid for the return shipping of my old device.
My old FR 110 is still working. Since then:
By now, I developed a certain expectation of the life of Garmin watches. I divided their price with expected lifetime, and compared that with similar data for Coros. Coros is simply better value for money.
I’ve had several Garmin Venu’s and GPS devices inside the car. But for specifically health trackers I have yet to find a more comprehensive coverage of overall health data. That’s easily accessible to anyone. I seen you mentioned spot data is what you prefer. A Polar H10 might serve the niche better for heart data. Self hosting options for them.
Sure I’d like it fully open source and more on device functionality rather than APIs and algorithms in the cloud. But pound for pound Garmin still runs the fitness and health tracking sector. There are some newer companies popping up with promising options but the tech and IP just isn’t mainstream yet.