Ask HN: What is the best alternative to Apple Watch in 2021?

[odai4real]

Hi everyone! Lately, I have been a bit obsessed with health and trying to bio-hack my body. So far, there are some good indicators and I realized the importance of measuring and adjusting my life style to better optimize towards the results I am trying to achieve. My day job is 100% remote and in front of a laptop/screen so I need something to keep me honest.

I would like to get a smart watch and I really just want something that can measure accurately and be able to get me that data (even in a CSV format. No need for fancy dashboards for now). Most of the reviews I am reading are pointing me towards Apple Watch. However, I don't want to get an iPhone (also, I just got out of the Apple ecosystem 2 years ago and I'd like to stay out of it for personal preference).

What is the best alternative in the market in your opinion? Fitbit seems to have a bit of inaccurate sensors (at least some reviews claim). Is there a good independent smart watch maker that you would recommend? Or should I bite the bullet and go for an Apple Watch?

Thank you in advance!

[throwaway888abc]

Check Garmin, rock solid

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/c10002-p1.html

EDIT: for CSV/analytics - there is numerous open source tools available + connect portal/app

https://medium.com/@azholud/analysis-and-visualization-of-ac...

[curmudgeon22 → throwaway888abc]

I second Garmin. My wife has a Apple Watch, battery lasts most of a day. My Garmin venu lasts ~5 days.

[odai4real → throwaway888abc]

Awesome. This gives me a starting point. Thank you for the suggestion!

[meowzero]

In terms of inaccurate sensors, all of them have inaccurate sensors. They are all taking an educated guess. If you need accurate sensors, you have to buy dedicated sensor for what you need (heart rate, oxygen, etc).

It also depends on what you value. I use a Fitbit because of the sleep data and the long battery life, where I don't have to charge it every day.

[runjake]

Garmin Instinct. The cheap model is fine.

You'll get more unfettered access to stats than you know what to do with.

[odai4real → runjake]

Thanks for the suggestion! I'm adding this to the shortlist.

[mickuehl]

If its about training, training data, recovery status etc, I would look into the Polar Vantage...

[odai4real → mickuehl]

Interesting, I had never heard of it. I got the Oura ring for tracking recovery and sleep. However, for active health stats and better integration, I thought a smart watch would be a good idea. I'll definitely look into Polar Vantage. Thanks for the suggestion!