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The Apple Watch Series 6 and Fitbit Sense are the high smartwatches that may assist control your health ranges and act as a telephone different in your wrist. Both even have an electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG — Apple makes use of ECG) app, observe exercises, sleep and blood oxygen ranges, however they’re totally different in the approach they go about doing these items. To allow you to determine which is proper for you, I’ve in contrast them on every little thing from health monitoring to battery life and total efficiency.
If you have got an Android telephone, the Fitbit is your solely choice, however each work with iOS gadgets, making the resolution trickier when you’ve got an iPhone. After two weeks of carrying these watches, I can inform you that there is no one-size-fits-all choice. If you need the best total smartwatch, with seamless health monitoring and security options, get the $399 (£379, AU$599) Apple Watch. If you need the most strong sleep monitoring, temperature sensor and the best battery life, get the $329 (£299, AU$499) Fitbit Sense.
Lexy Savvides/CNET
The newest Apple Watch has a sturdy set of health monitoring options, an FDA-cleared ECG, blood oxygen monitoring and all the responsiveness you may need from a smartwatch. It’s additionally the higher choice in case you want built-in LTE to make use of your watch with out your iPhone close by.
Lexy Savvides/CNET
The Fitbit Sense additionally presents an FDA-cleared ECG, robust sleep monitoring, a temperature sensor and a stress monitoring sensor. Unlike the Apple Watch, it additionally works with Android, has loads of third-party watch faces to select from, and presents the higher battery lifetime of the two watches.
Both are comfy to put on, with acquainted designs
The Series 6 appears like each different Apple Watch that has come earlier than it, with a sq. face obtainable in two sizes (both 40 or 44mm) plus a digital crown and aspect button. The Sense appears like a higher-end Versa and is available in only one 40mm measurement with a stainless-steel rim round the sq. face, however as a substitute of a bodily button, it has an indentation on the aspect that vibrates when pressed and can be utilized to manage the display. While the Fitbit is bodily bigger than the 40mm Apple Watch, the precise display measurement is solely a hair greater than the Apple Watch due to the bezels. The Apple Watch additionally has bezels round the display, though they’re slimmer than these on the Sense.
Each watch has a coloration, always-on display that is straightforward to see in broad daylight, though I discovered the Apple Watch takes the edge for total brightness when glancing down at my wrist throughout an outside exercise.
The Sense has many extra watch faces to select from than the Apple Watch, together with third-party ones. However, you’ll be able to additional customise some Apple Watch faces to incorporate issues, that are much like shortcuts: They can show data reminiscent of climate or calendar appointments at a look. Both even have totally different colours and {hardware} finishes to select from.
Straps on each are straightforward to swap out and in with fast launch buttons and you’ll change up the look with all kinds of bands together with leather-based, woven and silicone choices.
Fitbit has added sensors, however chances are you’ll not want them
Each watch can scan for potential indicators of a coronary heart situation known as atrial fibrillation or aFib with their ECG apps. Place your finger on the digital crown for 30 seconds on the Apple Watch, whilst you place your index and thumb on the reverse corners of the Fitbit Sense for the similar period of time to take a studying.
You can share outcomes from each along with your physician. See the place the ECG is obtainable round the world on the Apple Watch and on the Fitbit Sense. Each watch can even monitor for indicators of excessive or low coronary heart charge and notify you accordingly.
Both can even observe SpO2, or blood oxygen saturation, whilst you sleep. Check ranges in the Health app in your iPhone for the Apple Watch, or wait for the Fitbit to calculate your nightly common on the SpO2 watch-face about an hour after waking up. It’s additionally displayed in the sleep part inside the Fitbit app as a graph, however will solely present variations all through the night time and never actual percentages. The Apple Watch additionally helps you to take a spot examine of SpO2 and takes background readings all through the day — the Fitbit would not have an on-demand studying. Neither one in every of these watches are meant for use as medical gadgets and is probably not as correct as a conventional pulse oximeter which is what medical doctors use to measure SpO2.
Fitbit’s watch has two extra sensors that the Apple Watch lacks: a temperature sensor that measures variations in pores and skin temperature all through the night time, and an EDA or electrodermal exercise sensor that makes use of sweat to find out stress ranges. Changes in baseline temperature (like what’s monitored with the Sense) can point out quite a lot of totally different situations like the onset of a fever or modifications in menstrual cycle.
But as attention-grabbing as having all this knowledge is, stress detection on the Sense specifically appears extra like a piece in progress than a completely fledged well being function at the second. To take a measurement you first place your palm over the watch face for 2 minutes whereas the EDA sensor analyzes sweat ranges. The watch then makes use of this metric, together with sleep, exercise and coronary heart charge variability knowledge to calculate a stress rating that can provide you perception into how your physique responds to emphasize. The downside is the Sense would not offer you any indication of what to do with a excessive or low stress administration rating, like getting extra sleep or holding off on a strenuous exercise. There are some guided meditations in the Fitbit app, however I’m unsure how efficient they have been at lowering my stress ranges.
To entry these guided meditations, in addition to guided exercises, extra nuanced well being knowledge sleep and temperature variations you’ll need to pay $10 a month for a Fitbit Premium account. Apple will quickly roll out its $10 a month Fitness Plus service that gives exercise courses to forged in your iPhone, iPad or Apple TV and sync on to your Apple Watch.
Both additionally supply native sleep monitoring, however the Fitbit Sense has much more knowledge about your sleep than the Apple Watch. Premium subscribers can get a breakdown of their sleep levels — like deep, REM and lightweight — respiration charge, SpO2 and temperature variations culminating in a sleep rating in the morning. The Apple Watch focuses extra on establishing a wholesome bedtime routine and largely appears at period of sleep which exhibits durations of awake time throughout the night time in addition to coronary heart charge and SpO2 knowledge.
The Apple Watch additionally has a fall detection function that may name emergency providers and contacts in case you stay immobile after a tough fall. It additionally has noise degree alerts, irregular coronary heart charge alerts, VO2 max measurements and mobility metrics. And it is also the just one you could probably give to children or aged relations to control their every day well being knowledge with Family Setup.
Great health trackers, however HR is extra correct on the Apple Watch
Each watch has a spread of various workout routines that it could observe, on high of basic metrics like steps and energy. The Apple Watch has over 40 totally different exercises to select from whereas Fitbit has over 20 obtainable that cowl all the primary choices. Both watches additionally robotically detect sure exercises together with walks and runs, so that you get credit score for your effort even in case you neglect to begin a exercise manually. They’re additionally water resistant, permitting them to trace swims.
Both have built-in GPS so you’ll be able to observe the route of your out of doors exercises with out bringing your telephone, however the Sense takes round 10 seconds to amass a sign open air whereas the Apple Watch is inside 1 to 2 seconds. I did a 4-kilometer out of doors run on each and the distance and route have been just about the similar after I in contrast the Sense and Apple Watch outcomes on a map.
The Sense additionally exhibits you coronary heart charge zones reminiscent of cardio, fats burn and peak, on the display in actual time. It can buzz as you enter totally different coronary heart charge zones, which can be useful in case you’re making an attempt to coach at a specific depth.
However, after I in contrast the coronary heart charge monitoring on the Apple Watch and Sense for an outside run towards a chest strap, the customary for such a metric throughout exercises, I observed the Apple Watch saved up whereas the Sense typically lagged behind by about 20 to 30 beats per minute. After round 10 to 15 minutes, the Sense caught as much as the strap’s readings.
After your exercise, the watches break down your metrics in both the iPhone Fitness app (Apple Watch), or the Fitbit app (Sense). I like how clearly the Fitbit app presents your exercise knowledge, together with splits and coronary heart charge zones. The Apple Watch solely offers you your vary, splits and coronary heart charge on a graph somewhat than breaking it down into zones.
The Apple Watch has more smart features
While the Fitbit focuses on health tracking, the Apple Watch is the better package if you also want a designated smartwatch. You’ll get more third-party apps, much tighter integration with the iPhone and faster performance overall. On the Fitbit Sense, even minor tasks like changing watch faces or syncing apps can take 30 seconds or more to complete, whereas on the Apple Watch it’s almost instantaneous.
Responding to notifications or text messages is easy on the Apple Watch: dictate, send a quick canned response, or scribble on the keyboard. You can also take calls from your wrist because the mic and speaker are decent quality. If you have an iPhone, the Sense won’t let you respond to notifications, but if you’re on Android you can either send a quick response or dictate a message. The same goes for phone calls — only Android users can make or answer calls from their wrist with the Sense as long as it’s in range of the phone.
The Apple Watch is the only one that has an LTE option for $100 more than the Wi-Fi only model (it costs $499 in the US) to take calls and stay connected without your phone nearby.
Each has the option to use a voice assistant: Siri on the Apple Watch, or Alexa on the Fitbit Sense. Google Assistant support is coming at some stage on the Sense, although at the time of this review it hasn’t been activated on my watch. Put simply, Siri can do a lot more on the Apple Watch than Alexa on the Sense, like start a workout, send a text message or start a timer. Alexa is limited in what it can do, and it’s a lot slower, but it does let you control smart home devices if you have any. The Apple Watch also lets you control smart home devices with Siri.
Finally, you can’t store your own music on the Fitbit Sense. Instead, you’re limited to downloading music for offline listening from Deezer or Pandora with a premium subscription. The Apple Watch on the other hand lets you store your own music (it has 32GB of storage) or download music from Apple Music for offline listening with a subscription.
Battery life is a clear win for the Fitbit Sense
With notifications from your phone, sleep tracking and the always-on display active, I was able to get a day and change out of the 40mm Apple Watch Series 6. You’ll need at least 30% battery remaining to track your sleep, so you’ll probably need to charge this watch every day to keep it topped up, unless you turn off the always-on display which can extend the battery life to almost two days.
The Fitbit Sense lasts two full days with notifications, always-on display and sleep tracking and can extend it to almost 5 full days by turning off the always-on display.
Each watch charges with a proprietary magnetic puck that snaps on to the back. The Apple Watch charger is forwards and backwards-compatible with earlier Apple Watches, while the Fitbit Sense charger is designed specifically for the watch (so you can’t use earlier Fitbit chargers from the Versa, for example, with the Sense). Both charge to 100% in about an hour and a half.
Which is the better smartwatch?
The Apple Watch is the stronger overall smartwatch that blends fitness tracking with an ECG and SpO2 sensor, but only if you have an iPhone. The Fitbit Sense has a lot to offer for Android users, specifically if you want an ECG, robust sleep tracking and are intrigued by stress and temperature tracking.
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
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