Buy fitbit device or just use fitbit app with mobiletracker?

[SunsetRunner]

Have questions that ran through my mind. Should i buy a fitbit device or just use fitbit mobiletracker option through my phone? ...Which way is better? Which is best fitbit to get?

[MakMak]

Hi, @SunsetRunner! It really depends on what you're looking to get out of it. If you use the app, you'll essentially have a fancy pedometer. If you buy a tracker, you'll (most likely) have heart rate and sleep information in addition to steps. This will give you a more accurate total picture of your health and activity. As far as which tracker to get, again, that depends on what you're looking to get out of it. You can do a comparison of the different trackers and features within the Fitbit store. People on the forums can also give you feedback on the trackers if you're more specific about what you want.

[SunsetRunner]

Well,  im leaning towards just sticking towards just the mobiletracker which will use my phone as step count.  My work is going to be starting a walking challenge against other towns. So steps is mainly what i want.  My samsung s9+ phone has a sensor to check my heartrate and more. Just wasnt sure if 1 way was worse on my battery or if it really doesnt make difference either way. Also i was originally eyeing the fitbit charge 3, but i saw bad reviews on amazon that it has major glitches, doesnt count steps correctly, plus other issues.   Even other devices have issues. Right now I stand to not bother with a device and just use the app with my phone. As it is probably only going to be a yearly temporary period of time used. Because i mainly use samsung health for monitoring. 

---

@MakMak wrote:

Hi, @SunsetRunner! It really depends on what you're looking to get out of it. If you use the app, you'll essentially have a fancy pedometer. If you buy a tracker, you'll (most likely) have heart rate and sleep information in addition to steps. This will give you a more accurate total picture of your health and activity. As far as which tracker to get, again, that depends on what you're looking to get out of it. You can do a comparison of the different trackers and features within the Fitbit store. People on the forums can also give you feedback on the trackers if you're more specific about what you want.

---

[MakMak · Accepted solution]

If you already use Samsung Health, you're probably not going to see any difference in battery life by using MobileTrack. It's using the same hardware in your phone. If steps is all you want it for, you probably don't need to spring for a tracker, to be honest. The difference with what your phone will track with heart rate vs the Fitbit is that the phone gives you one instant in time, the Fitbit monitors you more or less constantly. I liked the Charge 3, although it's not my go-to daily device. I prefer the Versa. I did think when I used it that the step count was not as sensitive as some of the other models (whether you think that's better or worse), but I didn't have any issues with my device.