Fit Bit ionic or Garmin Vivoactive 3

[Jay6ixavenue]

I can't decide  whether to get the fit bit ionic, or the Garmin Vivoactive 3. Any advice on how I can choose between the two. I wanna use the sports watch  for running,walking,and Basketball. I have a strava and Runkeeper account that I know syncs well with the Fitbit,but I also have a Nike+run club account that I know works well with the Garmin. Can anybody give me advice on which would be the best option for me, please and thanks.

[Jay6ixavenue]

Will do,I’ll keep you guys posted on my experience with the Garmin Vivoactive 3 weekly once I get the device in my hands. Says it should be delivered between the 21st and 24th of November,I can’t wait.

[Robstunner]

Depends if you want those advanced running dynamics. Garmin devices are catered to more dedicated runners and bikers where fitbit is more like a hobbyist's device.

If you want training effect, cadence, v02 max, and a bunch of other metrics, Garmin will treat you better. Plus, again since it's a device for more serious runners, you can connect to it with other bluetooth devices like the chest strap, footpod and a bunch of biking attachments. However, It won't give you all the apps that the fitbit will eventually have.

[Jorix]

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Robstunner wrote: ...However, It won't give you all the apps that the fitbit will eventually have.

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Time will tell if and how the fitbit app gallery will take off. But for now, Garmin has way more apps available for a multitude of their devices: https://apps.garmin.com/

[bbarrera]

Garmin's Connect IQ app platform launched in January 2015, apps for almost 3 years now! My bike computer is running multiple apps and widgets, they work great.

From April 2017 article at DCRainmaker:

"As many of you know, today kicks off Garmin’s first Connect IQ Summit, held in Olathe, Kansas.  The summit is aimed at developers wanting to build apps on Garmin’s wearable and related devices.  A sphere that, as of this morning, now encompasses just shy of 5 million Connect IQ capable devices and over 1,000 developers with 3,000 apps in total.  All of which have been downloaded 29 million times to date."

[Beards247]

I've been reading/watching everything I can find the last couple hours on these 2 watches. At least for my needs/interests, I'm leaning towards the Vivoactive 3, but that leaves me with an issue of competing with friends on the fitbit app (steps/day).

Can Vivoactive 3 synch to fitbit phone app (android), at least in terms of steps?

[Jorix]

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@Beards247 wrote:

Can Vivoactive 3 synch to fitbit phone app (android), at least in terms of steps?

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Unfortunately, no.

[jocoyn]

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@Beards247 wrote:

Can Vivoactive 3 synch to fitbit phone app (android), at least in terms of steps?

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Beards, the first Fitbit I had was a cheap little thing you clip on and it just logs steps  so even if you change you could do that and continue with your friends.  I may use mine just for that purpose.

 I am going to order the Vivoactive 3 next week. I get a significant discount from being a member of a search and rescue team and I am just going to watch the sales the weekend to see if they can beat my discount.  Vivoactive currently has more of what I need now, though I realize there is some exciting promise with what the Ionic may be able to do in the future. But I hate the changes Fitbit made to the Dashboard, and I think the Ionic is ugly and I don't want to have to turn around and spend $60 for a leather strap when I can get a standard strap for the Garmin.  I figure in a few years both companies will still be around and fine tuning their selections and I will be assessing my requirements.

[LPKA]

I had 2. (black and white) VA3 and that one is not a smartwatch due to vibration motor. I could not tell if I have any notification, SMS, calls, email.. so it went back.It is brilliant fitness watch and that is it. Today I got Ionic and so far so good.

[Beards247]

That is a good point @jocoyn, I could keep the flex2 on and use another device at the same time.

But I think for now I am going to sit tight. Both the Ionic and Vivo are first gen products; I'll wait to see what kinds of issues pop-up. There's already been a few posts in forum threads about water infiltration (or, at least the devices failing, and the person went for a swim), so reliability may be an initial issue.

[Venkats]

@LPKA

And why would the presence of a vibration motor decidedly make a watch not so smart? Did you know IONIC also has a vibration motor and by your statement it is not smart either.... I don't understand. 

If SMS / Call etc are the mandatory requirements for a smart watch qualification perhaps Apple Watch Series 3 LTE is a better choice for you.

Perception differs among individuals.

[LPKA]

vibration motor is a MUST. At VA3 I did not wake up on time, was waiting to get the alarm. Been on Pebble , Fenix 3 and Gear S3 for years and others woke me up (just me, and not all the family), and due to missing the emails and calls , I have to have my phone on silent - is a SMART features in SMART watch. otherwise you would just buy VIVOMOVE HR and that is it. I need ALL the features  and fitness tracking.

I can not go to Apple, I don't like there software on phone. I'm an Android guy.

[jocoyn]

VA3 vibration motor. To be clear. The VA3 does have a functioning vibration motor. Some consider it to be too weak with the alarm, but report that it is stronger for other activities and feel it could be fixed during a firmware upgrade. If it is a showstopper for the customer it is a showstopper for them. 

And yes it is important to me because I want alerts when my heart-rate exceeds a certain threshold value

[bcalvanese]

I had 2 vivoactive 3's and on both of them the vibration motor could barely be felt even on high. And when I say barely, I mean barely. If you put your hand on the face of the device the vibration was fine, but the part that touches your wrist was barely noticeable.

This makes me think it's a hardware issue because you could really feel it on the face of the device.

It was a deal breaker for me because I use the lap alerts and probably missed 9 out of 10 of them. If I knew I was coming up on a mile and really payed attention then I could feel it, but barely.

[jocoyn]

I have had a VA3 for several days now and the vibration motor IS weaker than I would like but definitely  strong enough to feel it during walks without waiting to feel it... [I have mine set for heart rate zones]. I also feel notification alerts. Overall I like the unit but there are definitely some quirks to work out...the watch is very light and comfortable...

If counting floors is important you may be very frustrated!  This seems to be a chronic Garmin issue. Even though the barometric altimeter seems to be working properly floor counting is not so accurate but I can check daily elevation changes from Garmin connect since most of my "stairs are outside" and even get daily data in a CSV with any number of different user selectable parameters. . Now I thought my fitbit was "the bomb" on floor counting and I imagine it has to do with waterproof units vs non waterproof units and barometric altimeters etc.-and certainly fitbit seems to be stronger in this regard but.......

..... the elevation changes reported by the Garmin (80' per loop around the neighborhood) were spot on with a topo map (ours is  one of the few neighborhoods around here that went with the natural slope of the land and was not heavily graded) .. My fitbit only gave me 5 floors for the same walk. Garmin gives me 2 (LOL) but I have the actual data in feet available to me which is accurate.

So that is where I am right now.  Some vibrations like the alarm and barely perceptible but my vibrations during the walk are acceptable in that I could feel them under any circumstance.  If using a fitness watch to wake up is a necessary user requirement, I would definitely wait. There is a bug there but I am convinced it is a software bug since I can feel the other ones quite fine. 

It is a tough call.  I like the Garmin dashboard and available data a lot more than the Fitbit but there is not much intuitive about either interface and a lot of quirks.

[datalore]

I'm currently on the fence between these 2 devices. I've used a friends watch to create a custom app and I've submitted it to the app gallery; which I think will go live soon. I've talked to other developers and the potential of the Ionic is what makes me lean fitbit. I love the Garmin depth and breadth of data, so that makes me lean VA3. For those fitbit lovers that want run cadence; you'll see an app at the launch of the app gallery or soon thereafter. I will say the VA3 screen is not impressive, but then neither is the Ionic data deep dive, so I'm still torn. I like the fact that I can quickly and easily hack the ionic and customize it, but then I'm a nerd. In any rate I plan to lay low for a few months and see how things shake out. I'll stick with my trusty Charge 2 for the time being. 

[bbarrera]

@datalore a more pragmatic view is that Fitbit's "open SDK/APIs" are missing a lot of stuff, as is the hardware. After all these years of waiting patiently, I have no reason to believe Fitbit will enhance their backend (missing data fields, import/export limitations) so "the potential" is in the eye of the beholder. Talk with some of the more critical Pebble developers for perspective. For sports tracking the Garmin 935 is fully realized out of the box, and it is supported by a mature app store. The Ionic hardware platform will prove limiting over time - I watched a fitness instructor demo the Coach app on YouTube - having used Fitstar I was actually laughing at how she didn't comment on the lack of audio cues. The Fitbit experience is still very focused on steps and the phone app.

[datalore]

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@bbarrera wrote:

@datalore a more pragmatic view is that Fitbit's "open SDK/APIs" are missing a lot of stuff, as is the hardware. After all these years of waiting patiently, I have no reason to believe Fitbit will enhance their backend (missing data fields, import/export limitations) so "the potential" is in the eye of the beholder. Talk with some of the more critical Pebble developers for perspective. For sports tracking the Garmin 935 is fully realized out of the box, and it is supported by a mature app store. The Ionic hardware platform will prove limiting over time - I watched a fitness instructor demo the Coach app on YouTube - having used Fitstar I was actually laughing at how she didn't comment on the lack of audio cues. The Fitbit experience is still very focused on steps and the phone app.

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Not much to disagree with there. I have taken fitbit to task for not including a speaker and microphone in the ionic. I think that was an epic fail on their part. I understand the company had to release something to settle investors down and to get back to profitability. I'm a huge fan of what garmin is doing, but I like the fact I can hack that ionic. I've been writing computer programs since I was 11(why yes, I was popular with the ladies  ), so the thought of making my own custom apps is a turn on for me. I like what the other developers are doing, but the point, as you've so ably put it, is they sure are missing some basic things. As I said, I'll wait around for a while and see if ionic lives up to it's potential; if not I'll be a garmin user. 

[FiZ1point5]

If the Garmin syncs data with any kind of consistency, it'll beat the Ionic handily 😉 

[bbarrera]

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@datalore wrote:

but I like the fact I can hack that ionic. I've been writing computer programs since I was 11(why yes, I was popular with the ladies  ), so the thought of making my own custom apps is a turn on for me. 

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@datalore I'm running my own 'not-on-app-store' apps on Apple Watch and iPhone. For Garmin bike computer I wrote a simple app for my MacBook Pro to open .fit activity file and extract sensor battery data, and calculate % battery loss per hour (varies based on turn-by-turn nav, and backlighting). Never bothered writing an app or widget for bike computer, but I have downloaded and run apps/widgets from the Connect IQ store. A free developer account, download some stuff, and off you go.

If you've been programming since 11 then those platforms are just as open for free personal hacking as Ionic.

[jocoyn]

While I am not dazzled by the sharpness of the VA3 screen, it is bright enough to read at 50% brightness in direct sunlight and crisp enough that my bifocal requiring senior eyes can read the screen without glasses.....so........from a functional standpoint.........