I've used FitBit for over a decade to record my activities, but have been disappointed with the changes made after the Google buyout and went looking for other options. I purchased a Vivosmart5 and LOVE that I can use it as low profile tracker and not a whole smart watch/phone on my wrist. And using it a few days for normal activity seems to be more accurate than FitBit. But yesterday I wore it hiking for the first time and now I'm second guessing that this band will work for me. I could not get the connect to phone for GPS thing to work, and hiking is not an available activity, so just recorded as "walking." I had 2 major problems with that (1) when I stopped to take a break for lunch, I couldn't get it to pause for an extended time so just left it running and (2) the results are wildly inaccurate. My husband recorded the trip on Alltrails and he recorded 9.5 miles and an elevation gain of 1500ft. Garmin recorded 4.9 miles, 20k steps, no elevation.
Is this just the wrong device for hiking? It's bizarre to me that it has no way to record altitude/elevation.
Is there a way to actually record a hike if you do connect to the phone for GPS? But to do that do you have to have cell service? I'm guessing that may be why I couldn't get it to work. But also almost all of the time I'm hiking it's going to be in a place I don't have service.
I've also been trying to export my husband's Alltrails activity to import it into Garmin. If anyone has tips on doing it that way.
I really like this band, but I might have to get something else if it can't record hiking. I haven't tried biking yet. But I don't carry my phone when I bike, so if you have to use your phone for activities, it's just not going to work for me. I appreciate any advice you have.
