With its built-in GPS, the Garmin Vivoactive HR allows you to run or bike without needing a smartphone connection for GPS tracking. It is water-resistant down to 50m, so you can swim with it. In fact, it can track your swims as well.

It is also a smartwatch, as it displays notifications you receive on your paired smartphone. You have the option to include which notifications, such as messages, social media or e-mail, to be displayed.

As a fitness tracker, it monitors your all-day physical activities as well as your sleep. Plus, it has a built-in heart-rate sensor for all-day heart-rate monitoring as well as tracking your exercise intensity.

It has a rectangular colour touchscreen display (205 x 148 pixels) with a rubber wristband.

By default, the watch shows the time and date. Swiping the display up or down toggles through panels showing calendar, weather, heart rate summary and notifications.

There are two buttons below the display. The left button works as the back button, while the right button gives you access to a panel to choose workouts from, such as run, bike and pool swim. Pressing and holding the right button brings you to the main menu to change watch faces and settings.

The step-tracking function proved to be very generous. The Vivoactive HR counted up to 15 per cent more steps than my calibrated Fitbit Charge HR.

Sleep tracking is automatic and consistent, although it seems to like adding an hour or two to my sleep each night.

Securing a GPS lock in open space takes around 20sec. Tracking of runs was spot-on and did not differ much, in terms of distance tracked, when compared with my calibrated TomTom Spark Cardio running watch.

In terms of heart-rate monitoring, the readings I got were almost identical to those of the Charge HR and Spark Cardio.

Battery life is around eight days, with all-day heart-rate tracking activated. It should last up to 13 hours with GPS constantly on.

Text: Trevor Tan/Straits Times 

Like the iPhone 7, the Series 2 does not differ much from its predecessor in terms of design. It is the inside that gets all the upgrades.

The Series 2 now comes with built-in GPS. So it can track distance and speed for walks and runs without the need to bring along your iPhone for GPS tracking.

It is also now water resistant down to a depth of 50m. So no more worries when washing hands or showering. Indeed, you can now go swimming in the pool or ocean with the new Apple Watch. And it can even track your pool or open water swims. But it is not meant for diving.

The Series 2 still comes in the 38mm and 42mm case models, with different colours and case materials. The case materials range from the entry-level Sport models that come with an anodised aluminium case, to the new Edition models that have a smooth and pearl white ceramic case. I reviewed the space grey aluminium Sport model, though I would love to have reviewed the new ceramic model as it looks the most sleek and chic.

Design-wise, Series 2 models look exactly like their predecessors, with a Digital Crown and a Side Button on their right. The watch face remains rectangular. So watch purists who prefer a round watch face might have to wait another 18 months.

The display of the Series 2 is much brighter than its predecessor. I can see it much more clearly now under bright sunlight.

The Side Button below the digital crown used to be a short cut that brings up your favourite contacts. But in the new watchOS 3, pressing this button will pull up your favourite apps. This is much quicker than pressing the Digital Crown to go to the home screen, where all apps appear as circular icons, to look and tap on the app you want.

In addition, you can now swipe up from the display’s bottom to get to the panel that gives you quick access to settings like Airplane, Sleep and Silent modes. Apps also start up much faster than in the original, thanks to the new dual-core processor.

Like the original, notifications mirror that of your paired iPhone. You can make calls from the watch or activate Siri by just saying “hey, Siri”.

Unlike many GPS running watches that I have tested, the Apple Watch Series does not need the usual 30 seconds to one minute to get a GPS signal lock. All you need to do is to select outdoor run, and off you go. It is quite amazing.

After the run, just place the watch near your iPhone to update the Activity app on your iPhone, to get the route map and vital statistics of your run. I found the distance tracking readings to be not much different from my TomTom Spark Cardio.

To track a swim workout, select the Pool Swim option and input the length of the pool, say 50m. And you are ready to go. I did not test the watch in open water.

The watch will automatically detect your swimming stroke, swim distance, number of laps, lap times, calories and even your average heart rate. It was spot-on in tracking my laps and distance. And I didn’t even have to calibrate it like I have to with my TomTom Spark Cardio.

The Series 2 will auto-lock the display to prevent accidental screen touches from water splashes during a swim workout. Upon  completing your swim, you need to rotate the Digital Crown to disable auto-lock and trigger the speaker to eject water that has entered it. You can really feel the water rushing out from the speaker. Pretty neat.

Battery life remains relatively similar to that of its predecessor. Going for a 400m swim and a 3km walk and 2km run on the same day with notifications turned on, I found half of the watch’s battery drained by the time I went to bed. So it should be good enough for two days of use.

Text:Trevor Tan/Straits Times 

Fitbit’s Charge 2 is the heir to the fitness gadget company’s most popular fitness tracker, the Charge HR. The latter has been my personal favourite with its accurate step-tracking and heart rate monitoring abilities. But it is looking dated with new releases from the likes of Garmin, Samsung and even Apple.

The Charge 2 seems like a blend of Fitbit’s Surge, Alta and Charge HR. But it looks sleeker than them with its silver metallic sides and a bigger Oled monochrome screen that is four times larger than its predecessor’s. A lone button sits to the left of the display.

You can now tap on the display to view various fitness statistics, such as steps taken, calories burned, floors climbed and heart rate. And with the bigger display, the date and time stay on the top with the statistics shown below.

Its rubber strap (black, version reviewed) is easy to put on, and comfortable to wear. But unlike the Charge HR, the Charge 2’s rubber straps are swappable. Owners will soon be able to buy other rubber straps ($49.95 each), as well as leather ($109.95) and special edition metallic straps ($298).

The Charge 2 now has the ability to display notifications when paired with a smartphone. It can also track your running distance via your smartphone’s GPS sensor. But it would have been better if it had built-in GPS like the Samsung Gear Fit2.

Another one of its new features is Relax, which is similar to Apple watchOS 3’s Breathe. It brings you through a session on deep breathing to help you, well, relax.

Charge 2 automatically tracks runs, aerobic workouts and elliptical sessions. But you can also start a workout manually and choose which workout you want, like treadmill running or weight training.

The automatic sports tracking feature works well in detecting walks and runs, provided you walk or run for more than 10 minutes at least.

However, I found my running distance readings increasing by more than 20 per cent without GPS. When connected with my iPhone 6s Plus’s GPS, the readings came to within 2 per cent of the actual distance.

The Charge 2 also does a great job of tracking fitness statistics and sleep. Results of my steps taken with the Charge 2 differed by less than 1 per cent from my calibrated Charge HR.

There is no need to manually trigger the sleep-tracking mode. The Charge 2 does this automatically and can detect when I am awake, having a restless sleep, or in deep slumber. It was pretty accurate at pinpointing the time when I woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.

However, heart rate measurements can differ by up to 10 beats per minute from results taken with my Apple Watch Series 2 and my TomTom Spark GPS watch.

If you have previous Fitbit products and think you can use one of those cables with the Charge 2, you would be wrong. You need the bundled proprietary USB cable to charge the device. It is not a deal-breaker but is certainly a hassle.

Another downer is that the Charge 2 is only splash-resistant. So, you can wash your hands or jog with it, but not swim with it.

Like its predecessor, Charge 2’s battery life is around five days, or six days if you are not running or do not have too many notifications. Pretty good for a fitness tracker with a display.

Text:Trevor Tan/Straits Times 

The Motorola Moto 360 Sport is, well, the sporty version of the second-generation Moto 360 smartwatch. It comes in black, white and orange (version reviewed).

Launched last December in Europe and January this year in the United States, the Sport landed in Singapore only recently when Motorola made its comeback here.

I own both the first- and second-generation Motorola Moto 360 smartwatches and have always loved their build and design.

The Sport is essentially the same Android Wear smartwatch as the second-generation Moto 360, with similar scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass, IP67 dust and water resistance and built-in heart rate monitor. It also tracks your daily steps taken and calories burned. Despite the similarities, it looks and feels different.

The Sport has a single-piece silicone construction, which is supposed to resist fading and staining, and does not absorb perspiration.

It has built-in GPS, something not found in other Moto 360 models and many smartwatches. So you do not need to run with a smartphone to get GPS distance tracking.

Like the second-generation Moto 360, it has a home button at the two o’clock position. But the Sport has a visible microphone at the seven o’clock position.

Its round touchscreen display (360 x 325 pixels) also features a “flat tyre” design found in other Moto 360 models. There is a small black space at the bottom of the display. While many watch purists have dissed it, I find this design to be practical as it ensures alerts and notifications are visible all the time.

The Sport uses the Motorola AnyLight screen that remains visible under most lighting conditions, even under bright sunlight.

It is comfortable to wear, but the single-piece silicone construction means you will not be able to swop watch bands. This means the Sport is stuck with the running watch look, instead of being able to be transformed into a sleek smartwatch, like the second-generation Moto 360.

The default watch face shows the steps taken, calories burned and heart activity in minutes. There is also a virtual start button that you can tap to start a run. After tapping Start, select indoors or outdoors, set a goal like specific timing or distance, and start running.

In my Housing Board estate, it took around 30sec to secure a GPS fix. Distance tracking readings were close to my calibrated TomTom Spark Cardio + Music running watch, with a difference of at most 3 per cent. The differences for indoor runs were around 8 per cent. Fitness tracking readings were also quite accurate, with only a 2 per cent difference compared with my calibrated Fitbit Charge HR.

However, battery life is the Moto 360 Sport’s Achilles’ heel. Most of the time, during the review, it lasted only one day with notifications turned on. If you go for a long run with GPS on, you might want to charge it immediately after the run.

Text:Trevor Tan/Straits Times 

The Garmin Vivomove might look and function like an analogue watch, but it also tracks your daily steps taken, sleep and workouts.

In Singapore, it is available in Sport and Classic editions. Both are essentially the same device with a metallic case and a crown on the right. The Sport model has a rubber strap, while the Classic model has a leather strap.

The Sport model is available in black (version reviewed) or white, while the Classic comes in rose gold or black.

I prefer the black Sport version as it looks more rugged and “dirt-proof” with its black metallic case and silver bezel.

The Vivomove has a water resistance rating of 50m, so you can swim with it. Thus, having a rubber strap is more practical.

Furthermore, the Sport model is cheaper and you can buy a leather strap later on to replace the rubber one, if you like, as the Vivomove takes the common 20mm watch strap.

With a minimalistic round watch face and analogue movement, both Vivomove versions look like classic timepieces. I have no qualms wearing this watch to wedding dinners or black-tie events.

On the watch face is a move bar and a progress bar. The move bar will slowly fill up in red if you do not move, while the progress bar shows the percentage of your daily-step goal.

To set your daily-step goal, you will need to connect the Vivomove to the Garmin Connect app (available on Android and iOS) on your smartphone.

Press the crown for three seconds to start the pairing process. I was half-expecting the time to be synchronised after pairing. However, you need to adjust the time separately using the crown.

And that is about the only occasion for using the crown. Everything else is automatic, including sleep tracking and workouts.

The Vivomove is pretty accurate in terms of step counting. The readings differed from those of my calibrated Fitbit Charge HR by no more than 1.5 per cent.

The Vivomove automatically adjusts the daily-step goal for the next day based on your current day performance, so you have a more achievable target.

I ran with it on my usual jogging route and found the distance readings varied by around 10 per cent from the actual distance.

It was also less than spot-on in terms of sleep tracking. It tends to overestimate my sleep duration by an hour or so.

The Vivomove lacks a heart-rate monitor so you do not get health stats like your resting heart rate.

And while you can swim with it, it does not detect swimming as a workout. It also lacks a vibration motor. Thus, you need to constantly glance at the Move bar to know when you need to get yourself off the chair.

On the plus side, it uses a CR2025 coin battery that should last up to a year, according to Garmin. So you do not need to worry about charging it daily.

Text:Trevor Tan/Straits Times 

If you baulk at having to pay $200 or more for a fitness tracker, take a look at the LifeTrak Zone R420. It does almost everything others do, but at a more affordable price.

It automatically tracks steps, calories burnt, distance travelled and sleep patterns. Its highlight, though, is its ability to measure your current heart rate using its electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor.

Plus, it can measure continuous heart rate via a Bluetooth chest belt heart-rate monitor (HRM), which is not included in the package.

The R420 looks rather plain. It can be easily mistaken for a cheap wristwatch. But its silicone strap feels comfortable on the wrist and is easily replaceable.

It has a small round display and three buttons on its right. The large middle metallic button is the heart- rate sensor. Press and hold this button to get your current heart rate. Pressing it once toggles through your sleep, distance, calories and steps on the display. Double press to activate the backlight.

The top button lets you toggle through workout data, a chart showing step counts, and your daily activity readings. Double pressing the top button will bring you to the watch settings.

Pressing the bottom button once flips the display between one that shows only time, and one with time, date and day. Double pressing this button activates sleep tracking, while holding down the button activates Bluetooth syncing with your smartphone.

It is rather confusing, with each button performing so many functions. Even after using it for some time, I still find myself pressing the wrong buttons.

The small display is always on and shows the time, but it is difficult to see the display under bright sunlight. In dim conditions, the backlighting does not help much.

It was a bit stingy in tracking my steps, posting readings that are 10 to 12 per cent less than corresponding measurements from my calibrated Fitbit Charge HR.

Automatic sleep tracking, though, is very accurate, in terms of pinpointing when I slept and when I woke up.

And, unlike some fitness trackers, it did not register those times when I placed it on the table as sleep. However, it does not pinpoint whether you have light or deep sleep.

Heart-rate measurement using the middle button yields readings that are pretty similar to those on my Apple Watch and Charge HR. At most it differs by four to five beats a minute.

However, unlike Charge HR that continuously measures your heart rate, you need to keep pressing the button to get measurements at regular intervals. A hassle.

The review set did not come with a Bluetooth chest strap HRM, so I wasn’t able to test this feature. I think LifeTrak should have a bundle option that includes a Bluetooth chest strap HRM.

On the upside, the R420 uses a standard CR2032 coin battery, which is expected to last for a year. Many fitness trackers in the market run flat in about five days to a week.

Text:Trevor Tan/Straits Times 

The TomTom Spark Cardio + Music GPS Fitness Watch not only tracks your runs with its built-in GPS and heart-rate monitor (HRM), but it is also an integrated music player with 3GB of internal memory for music storage.

Add $80 more, and you can get a bundle that includes a pair of Bluetooth headphones.

In terms of looks, the Spark follows the mould of most fitness watches. In other words, it is not something I will wear to a wedding dinner.

The Spark consists of a watch module and a rubber strap. You need to remove the module from the strap for charging.

The watch module has a square four-way button sited just below the watch display. The strap feels comfortable and secure.

Other than tracking runs, it also tracks other indoor and outdoor activities, such as swimming, cycling and treadmill.

Like the other two watches in this roundup, the Spark is also a fitness tracker that automatically monitors your steps and sleep duration. It tracks your heart rate all day, in 10min intervals.

To start a run, press the button’s right side for workouts that include Run, Cycle, Swim, Treadmill or Gym.

Press the right side again to select the workout. In Run, you can select Training that includes Goals, Laps or Zones. Each represents a different objective. So if, for example, you set the run as Fat Burn (in Zones), the watch will display your ideal and current heart-rate zones during the run.

The Spark needed only 10sec to get a GPS signal lock from the streets in my HDB estate. The process took just 3sec on the open running track.

My run distance readings were accurate, only a few metres off from the actual distances. Heart- rate readings during runs were consistently very close to the readings by the Wahoo Fitness Blue chest-strap HRM.

For step tracking, I found that the Spark closely matched my calibrated Fitbit Charge HR. The difference was a mere 0.4 per cent.

Only with sleep monitoring did the accuracy falter. It did not track the correct time I fell asleep or woke up.

Battery life is around 5hr when you utilise Spark’s full suite of GPS, heart-rate monitoring and music playback. Use it as a fitness tracker, and it can last around two weeks before you need to charge it.

Text:Trevor Tan/Straits Times