I finally switched from a cheap $20 fitness tracker to a proper watch, and the difference is insane.

Used that basic band for like 8 months. It was fine for steps, but the heart rate was always way off during workouts, and the sleep tracking was just a guess. Upgraded to a Garmin last week. The before and after on the data is wild. The old one said I slept 7 hours, the new one shows I was actually awake for 45 minutes of that. My running pace is way more accurate now too. Makes me wonder how many people are making decisions based on junk data from budget gear. Anyone else have a gadget that totally misled them before you upgraded?

3 comments

3 Comments

caleb_hill1mo ago

Yeah, it's crazy how much we trust the numbers from these cheap gadgets. I had a similar thing with a kitchen scale that was off by like 20 grams, totally messed up my baking for months. Makes you question all the little data points we use without thinking.

miles8251mo ago

Ever try calibrating that scale with a known weight, @caleb_hill? I did that with mine using a nickel, since they're exactly 5 grams. Found out it was reading heavy, which explained why my coffee was always tasting weak. Now I test any new gadget against something I know is right.

morgan41015d ago

Budget gear can really mess with your head. I used a knockoff tracker that said my resting heart rate was 90, which made me panic for no reason. Upgrading showed it was actually in the 60s and saved me a lot of stress.