Accuracy

[kurtextrem]

How accurate did you find the other trackers? (Compared to the BodyMedia)

[aismail]

@kurtextrem it depends on the use-case. They all say they do everything, but not with enough accuracy.

• Basis Watch is very precise for sleep tracking, but very bad at tracking workouts (because there is sweat between your hand and the wearable, and it moves more during workouts); resting heart rate is very good though, a metric for the heart health conscious
• Fitbit was surprisingly accurate for steps tracking (but it fails during driving, and so does BodyMedia with calories burned but not steps)
• Jawbone UP was very good at detecting light vs. deep sleep - I loved the smart alarm to wake me up in light sleep
• BodyMedia was very precise at calories burned (except counting more calories than the basal rate during driving); I even used it to estimate how much more I burn when using a stand-up desk (30% more), or compare walking in the cold dressed thinly with walking in normal temperature

[kurtextrem]

Thanks. I'm asking because the BodyMedias will stop working on the 1st February of 2016 (as BodyMedia has been acquired by Jawbone years ago and they decided to shut down the servers).

[aismail]

I know! That is so sad. If I were to choose a wearable, I would focus just on counting steps (eg day to day activity) and sleep. Day to day activity burns way more calories than workouts! For me a 90 min martial arts training is about 500-600 calories. 3 times a week means half of what I eat in one aingle day.

Good luck!

Andrei Ismail

Software Engineer http://ismail.strikingly.com