This is just a quick review of the Fitbit Alta HR that I’ve been using for around a year.
What I like
- The looks – it’s small enough to wear 24/7, and it’s cool to wear, also in part due to the fact that you can easily switch straps to other colours and materials.
- Sleep tracking – It does a very decent job of tracking sleeping patterns, and has helped me fine tune my sleep in order to sleep in time and get better rest. I especially like the fact that it tracks afternoon siestas, which I can then add to the previous nights’ hours. This would be very difficult if I would be doing manually.
- Reports – they’re fantastic both within the app and on the Fitbit website.
What I don’t like
- Heart rate monitoring inaccuracy – the heart rate monitor will consistently show a lower heart rate when exercising, especially with certain types of sport it seems. Having done some research, I discovered that many others have experienced this.It can be dangerous and cause you to overwork your heart, if you’re trying to train within certain heart rate zones.
My Polar H10 sensor is almost 100% accurate and I have therefore switched exclusively to it while training. It’s a real pity as I love the Fitbit interface and its graphs that allow me to track heart rate evolution during padel matches and at rest over time.
I still use the Fitbit Alta HR, but not for its heart rate monitoring features. Mostly I use it for sleep monitoring, but if a similar device is created that can be easily switched to the Polar HR band when practicing sports, I would switch to it.
The problem with the Polar band is that it’s impractical to wear it 24/7, so ideally it would be a smartwatch or tracker that automatically switches to the Polar for heart rate recording whenever it is present.
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Emerson Farrugia says
July 25, 2018 at 10:58 amOne issue with wristbands and their accuracy is that many don’t maintain proper contact as you move around. The Polar HRM is snug and maintains better contact than a wristband, not to mention that Polar has been creating HRMs for ages, unlike Fitbit.
Another issue is how close the wearable can get to the artery or vein it’s sensing your pulse from. Oura, for example, claims far better signal-to-noise ratios using a ring due to the proximity of the sensor to an arterial pulse in the finger.
Disclaimers: 1) I haven’t read Oura’s research yet, so the above is their claim not mine. 2) I work for Overlap Health, a company that improves healthcare using wearables. The above comments are related to using wearables for fitness, contact me if what you’re trying to doing is clinical.
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Jean says
July 25, 2018 at 11:28 amThanks Emerson, I fully agree with your comments. I haven’t tried the Oura ring but I’ve seen Kevin Rose wearing it and talking about it at a conference last year. It looks interesting but I don’t like wearing rings, especially while practicing sports.
I’ve found the wrist wearables the best to track 24h activity while the chest straps are the best for tracking sports.