I'm thinking of getting DH an apple watch for Christmas. Be both wear fitbits so are used to something on our wrists even though retired
. I like the idea of tracking activities beyond those offered by the fitbit.
So if DH doesn't like it, I will inherit it or if he does, I'll also get one. One of my must haves is phone capability. More often than not I forget my iphone and need to call DH especially when i've also left the shopping list on the kitchen counter
. I always have the fitbit on during waking hours. DH has no problems taking his iphone everywhere.
I have the Series 2, which doesn't have phone connectivity without the iPhone.
When I get a call, it will ring on the watch and I can use the Watch to speak and listen but the iPhone has to be in range.
I think often it's people who want to go on a run and not have to carry the iPhone with them. I usually have the iPhone with me.
I've had Fitbit devices for years. But they're now in a fight for their survival. More and more people are spending a little more to get the Watch so they've had no choice but to mimic smart watch features like getting notifications on their devices as well as the ability to pay, a la Apple Pay on the Apple Watch.
So Fitbit smart watches are almost the same prices as Apple Watch but doesn't quite do all the things that Apple Watch can do with iPhones.
In fact, Fitbit won't let you directly sync data with the Apple Health app. on iPhones, so you can't get your steps or stairs climbed over to Apple Health directly. You can buy a third-party app. which will do it for you but Fitbit itself won't help facilitate that data exchange.
It's kind of a shame, I have more data accumulated with Fitbit and I like their dashboard. But my old Fitbit is failing, losing battery power and they still charge $100, the same original price, for a 5-year old design.
When it dies, I'll probably just let it go.
Fitbit rode high on their IPO but now, it's a matter of when they go under. No way they can compete with Apple on a smart Watch that integrates with iPhone better than Apple's own smart watch.
They do support Android but there are a lot of Android smart watches too and Android users tend to spend less money.
Their first mistake though was that a couple of years ago, they cut a deal with Microsoft to integrate their data with Microsoft's health data efforts rather than Apple's efforts.
OK, maybe not a wrong decision per se but when Microsoft smart phones failed in the market, that deal pretty much fizzled. Not too many Fitbit owners have Microsoft Windows phones.
Meanwhile there are complaints all over Fitbit forums about Fitbit not integrating their data with Apple Health app. on iPhones. They're just alienating a lot of their customers but on the other hand, if they make things too good for Apple Health, then they'd be undermining their own smart watches.
So they're stuck between a rock and a hard place.
