Fitness usefulness.

[naira1]

Am thinking of getting this watch with the intention of using it as a normal day to day watch as well as my companion for jogging and cycling. So some questions for those that have it.

1).how accurate is the heart rate and GPS sensors?
2).Does it track daily activities? And how well.
3). Which fitness app works better? I uses runstastic, polar flow and Endomondo.
4). Does it track sleep?

##I was hoping of getting the watch, then buy a band that is suitable for sport because of sweating. Any idea what band I can get?

I know many questions but I prefer spending 350 for this watch and use it for my training instead of spending an extra 300 for a separate sport watch.

 

[N4Newbie]

The LG Watch Urbane does not have built-in GPS. It does have a 9-axis sensor (3-axis gyroscope, 3-axis accelerometer and 3-axis compass) and a PPG sensor ( Photoplethysmogram - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ) for measuring heartrate.

I would not think of this watch as a fitness device. It seems to track steps quite well and the heartrate sensor is accurate but only during the time that you actually use it. Currently I do not see an option to automatically take heartrate measurements according to a preset schedule.

I don't see a sleep tracker of any kind however I suppose it might be possible for someone to create "an app for that" or then again, maybe not.

 

[N4Newbie]

Also, the LG Watch Urbane LTE is expected to have a GPS and may possibly be more useful as a fitness device. However, it will almost certainly be more (significantly more?) expensive than the Urbane which, at $349, is already the most expensive Android smartwatch on the market.

No telling yet when the Urbane LTE will be released to market...

 

[tech_fan]

I have purchased all the Galaxy Gear watch series, Moto 360 and now the Urbane. I also have a Fitbit. I was hoping that i would be able to combine the Fitbit and my wearable so, I would only need one device but, that has never been the case. The data I get from Fitbit is way more comprehensive then I would get from Google Fit or the other fitness apps available for Android Wear or Tizen.

This Urbane is far more accurate in terms of activity than I have seen in the wearable market. At one point, I tried to see if I could get a consistency in the accuracy between the Fitbit and Tizen and Android Wear. The percentage ranged widely between 70% to 95%. I tried to find a relationship between the inaccuracies but was not able to find one. For example, was I moving my hands too much one day verses the next? Was I driving more one day than the next? There was no relationship.

However, now that I have been using both for the Fitbit and the Urbane, when I get to about 8500 and 9000 steps, I am getting close to 10,000 on my fitbit. Sometimes it surprises me and other times, its pretty accurate.

 

[N4Newbie]

...
However, now that I have been using both for the Fitbit and the Urbane, when I get to about 8500 and 9000 steps, I am getting close to 10,000 on my fitbit. Sometimes it surprises me and other times, its pretty accurate.

The problem with all of these devices is that, unless you spend an entire day mentally counting every single step you take, you really have no practical way of knowing which device is actually the more accurate of the two. Personally, I think the only accurate way to count steps is with an ankle-worn device which would have the added ability to recognize cycling and treadmill use when the hands are forced to hold the grips as is commonly done when the belt is inclined more than a few degrees.

 

[naira1]

I have purchased all the Galaxy Gear watch series, Moto 360 and now the Urbane. I also have a Fitbit. I was hoping that i would be able to combine the Fitbit and my wearable so, I would only need one device but, that has never been the case. The data I get from Fitbit is way more comprehensive then I would get from Google Fit or the other fitness apps available for Android Wear or Tizen.

This Urbane is far more accurate in terms of activity than I have seen in the wearable market. At one point, I tried to see if I could get a consistency in the accuracy between the Fitbit and Tizen and Android Wear. The percentage ranged widely between 70% to 95%. I tried to find a relationship between the inaccuracies but was not able to find one. For example, was I moving my hands too much one day verses the next? Was I driving more one day than the next? There was no relationship.

However, now that I have been using both for the Fitbit and the Urbane, when I get to about 8500 and 9000 steps, I am getting close to 10,000 on my fitbit. Sometimes it surprises me and other times, its pretty accurate.

This sounds promising. But I do agree that Google fit is just not ready for prime time. It's so lacking in features like what you get from fitbit or polar which is why I was hoping to use a 3rd party app with the watch.

So apart from steps counting do you think the urbane can measure the distance covered while running or jogging?

Also how accurate is the heart rate monitor when you are on the move not when you are standing still?

 

[naira1]

It looks like the Sony SW3 is the only Android wear with a built in GPS. That's sad.
Well no other choice than get the urbane and keep my polar M400.

 

[tech_fan]

This sounds promising. But I do agree that Google fit is just not ready for prime time. It's so lacking in features like what you get from fitbit or polar which is why I was hoping to use a 3rd party app with the watch.

So apart from steps counting do you think the urbane can measure the distance covered while running or jogging?

Also how accurate is the heart rate monitor when you are on the move not when you are standing still?

The distance measured would be based on the number of steps so, if the step accuracy is not there, than the distance will not be there either. I was reading somewhere about the accuracy of the wearables somewhere and the article and/or video said that the results were to be used as a guide. My Fitbit One seems to be the most accurate in my tests when I counted steps verses seeing what counter stated. Btw, one day, I looked at my watch and it told me I had done 8000 steps. I thought that was rather odd because it felt like I did more. Then I took off my Urbane and left it on a counter and for some odd reason, it showed 10,000 steps.

I have not really used the heart rate monitor too much after my experience with the Galaxy Gear first and second version. I compared the accuracy of those to my Polar and it was not very accurate. I have not really used it much since then.I want to say that the accuracy is somewhat the same as the accuracy of the pedometer.

In other words, both of these are well intentioned but at the same time, they seem like work in progress. I am also not sure how much of their time is devoted to accuracy either.