How is the sense 2 as a health/fitness tracker?

[LissaxKristine]

I have yet to receive my preorder (what's the point of preordering if you don't get the device until 4-5 days AFTER it's in stores?) and I'm trying to decide if I'm going to keep or return the Sense 2. (I am also considering a swap to the Versa 4).

I am torn. I am disappointed with what I've heard about the device and how it is a downgrade from the previous devices. No app store. No Google Assistant. 

That being said, for me, the issue with that is this is supposed to be an "upgrade." In reality, I don't really care about the smartwatch features. I'm ok with basic call/text notifications. I don't need music on my watch. I am using this as a fitness tracker.

What are your opinions on the Sense 2, not as a smart watch, but as a FITNESS/HEALTH TRACKER? (So, if they advertised it correctly/honestly). And how are the upgraded health/fitness tracking features compared to other or previous models? I'm mostly interested in the cEDA

[t.parker]

When you receive it you will have some time to test it yourself. Just remember about return window. I haven't seen anyome here giving much detail abouy cEDA (and that wouldn't be a feature I would use myself). Look out for the reviews (although not much out there yet). What you probably want to know is how useful cEDA is and how much battery it costs. If you get the watch just test it yourself (and share your findings here, please) and if you're not happy you can return the device.

[LissaxKristine]

Oh, I'm definitely going to test it out a bit. I haven't really seen any reviews or anything on these devices- not even first impressions/unboxings. 

My last two devices were the Versa 2 and the Luxe so I don't have any experience with the regular EDA scanner. So, I don't have much to compare it to. I figured someone here who has had the Sense 1 or even the Charge 5 with EDA scanning could give some insight. 

[t.parker]

@LissaxKristine I find EDA to be a feature which is supposed to tell me what I already know (stress management). It seems to be measuring HRV during the session. Still, this I find very random, For example, the reading taken just now came up with 173ms. That's not even possible (I assume it's RMSSD) for me and I verified it with EliteHRV (chest strap) and Garmin (which came up with 53ms and 54ms) this is a somewhat arbitrary value). It's one of those features that doesn't do much for me. There may be other people who use EDA and have more understanding of it, and how it helps. I wouldn't buy a watch just for the cEDA. I don't find any use for EDA on original Sense. Maybe cEDA will bring something new to the table but so far nobody seem to know.

[LZeeW]

@t.parker   The EDA scan doesn't use HRV.  It measures galvanic skin response, the same skin response used to measure stress in a polygraph.

[t.parker]

@LZeeW are you sure?

Sometimes it shows a number (like 173ms I mentioned in the last response) and sometimes (most of the time really) it can't detect HRV but definitely, it does measure it.

Edit: could it be something that came with an update but Fitbit forgot to mention that now Sense can measure HRV on demand?

[LZeeW]

@t.parker   The Charge 5 uses the same sensor.  Android Central  I tried it on my Charge 5, but gave that device to my son-in-law.

[LissaxKristine]

My assumption based on the little bit of information Fitbit has given was that the cEDA would give you alerts or something when the watch senses an increase in stress levels- like a vibration and a prompt to do a guided breathing session or something. But of course, Fitbit wasn't very clear on it and since I preordered my device I have to wait days to get it. 

[t.parker]

@LZeeW what I'm saying is that the EDA app on Sense measures HRV on demand (within 2 minutes domain). That's all. Not sure if it was there before (I don't think so, I would remember it and other users would definitely notice).

@LissaxKristine the way it's going to work on Sense 2 is unknown until somebody will try to use it 🙂

[LZeeW]

@t.parker   I never saw anything like that on my Charge 5.  I wish I had more information about it.

[--Smeagol--]

@LZeeW Ah a Polygraph. So we are basically getting a random number generator then, excellent. 

[t.parker]

@LZeeW I will tell you a secret 🙂 it is the first time I see HRV in the EDA app on my Sense, too. The funny thing is that it looks like nobody noticed it as there are a few HRV related threads where people wished it was possible to spot check HRV. It may mean one thing - the EDA app is used so rarely that such a significant feature flew under the radar.

[N8teGee]

@t.parker Yeah these features always intrigue me and I often wonder how popular they really are. Let's take the ECG for example, I'm sure it's great for the 0.5% of the population who suffer from Afib. Although I'm sure the other 99.5% would prefer music controls. 

[t.parker]

@N8teGee totally agree. When my wife got Galaxy Watch 5 she was very hyped on blood pressure and ECG features. I don't think she ever used them after first 2-3 days of excitement. But guess what feature she discovered and uses every day. It's a water lock! She uses it during sleep so she doesn't get random screen presses (touch screen of GW5 is very sensitive). If there was a place where users tell what features they need and expect... if only there was such place... 😉

[Skifellows]

I'm going to answer your original question, as I've been using the Sense 2 since receiving it Friday and replacing my Versa 3, which I was generally happy with.

It's auto exercise tracking seems to be a major upgrade.  I forgot to start it this morning on my walk, and after 10 minutes, it buzzed my wrist and told me I was 10 minutes into a walk, and did I want to track it?  I clicked yes, and I got full credit for the first 10 minutes (which is new behavior in my experience).  Not only that, but I forgot to complete it when I got home, and when I checked the time a half-hour later, it was telling me the stats for my walk, correctly calculated for having stopped when I stopped moving.  The Versa 3 never did that (and I have some 2-hour walks that were really 50-minutes in my history because of that).  So that's a plus.

I find that the actual stats seem more accurate than my Versa 3 tracking as well -- I have had walks recently that showed -0- active minutes for a one-hour walk, even though I knew I was getting my heart rate up.  The walks I've taken since the Sense have all given me reasonable credit (30 - 50 active minutes) and good HR charts for them.  I have also tried out the ECG function, and it seems to work well (although I haven't shared with my cardiologist yet).

Sleep tracking also seems a bit more accurate as well.

I haven't used the EDA or cEDA functions, although the watch has asked me my mood a few times over the last few days.  I'm not really into that so I can't really comment.

It also has a few more exercises that it can track automatically/by selection, and they've finally added skiing, which is my other big sport but which they haven't before tracked.  So I'm looking forward to that next month when the season opens here in Colorado.

The user interface on the watch has completely changed, and that has plusses and minuses.  I like that I now have one swipe, one tap to start tracking a walk (if I don't let it track automatically per above).  I don't like the seemingly arbitrary change to swiping up for notifications instead of down; that is taking some getting used to.

I also don't like that the watch faces I was using for my Versa 3 are not available for the Sense 2 -- I don't understand that bit at all, since they weren't displaying anything other than standard stats.

On loss of the Google assistant, I think that might be explained by the "Fitbit Integration" being advertised for the Pixel watch -- we'll see how much you can get out of it.  This is now the top Fitbit for non-Pixel phones (whether Android or Apple), and they are, as you point out, backing away from the smartwatch functionality towards the "top tracker" category. 

[Dwuuds]

about as good as the original inspire HR.