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Non-watch tracker alternative

7584636
over 1 year ago

Hi,
I think I speak for myself and many more people who enjoy watches and want continuous data and to use the garmin ecosystem.

At the moment to get the data, for example, I cannot use my loved mechanical watches. Moreover, the are situation in which a person would simply want to be more dressy. In the end, a watch  or chest strap is really during an activity, and less so during rest time. My point is that there are some situation where I (and I believe many more users) would enjoy to get fitness data from a device that is not a watch, and still feed the data into garmin connect.

For example, if I am going to a wedding I would like to use the dressy mechanical watch but still get basic fitness data for the day during garmin connect. Then I could use my Instinct in selected days and during activities or sleep, but we would have the alternative to be more dressy or simply use different watches without sacrificing fitness and health tracking.

A solution that would be perfect would be either a band like whoop, wearable either as a bracelet or on the arm, which would be not so capital expensive to produce for gamrin given they already do chest bands. Or a smart ring. The goal would be to able to track data and feed it into garmin connect (mainly HR, to track fitness and recovery) when one does not want to use a smartwatch.

I hope with this post to engage the community  and show garmin market for this solution, which can be very simple if done through a band similar to whoop's one.

  • 0 3 months ago in reply to Alren

    I do similar for when doing Heat Training in the Sauna after working out.  Just record it as a Yoga workout (I cover the watch with my shirt to prevent it from getting blasted with the heat).  Pretty cool to see HR/respiration data on longer Sauna sessions! 

  • 0 3 months ago

    Just adding to the voices here. I like the Garmin ecosystem, and I've been using Garmin for a long time already - my current Venu 2 has been with me for 3 years now, and that's just the latest. Not even counting the bike products, etc. Don't get me wrong, the Venu 2 is great and the closest I can get to a mechanical watch but I would love something like a ring, or a band, or anything that's NOT a watch that I can wear 24/7.

    Please, please please invest in something that's not a smartwatch. I want the option to wear a mechanical watch, use something less obtrusive while sleeping, and less... in the way when working out. Something that can still tie into the Garmin ecosystem, or I will have to consider shifting to Ultrahuman or Whoop or taking a look at the latest products from Polar.

  • 0 3 months ago

    small story: in the end I went swimming in the sea, and recorded th activity, but the down button got blocked. For this reason, it did not turn on anymore if not in service mode and I had to send it back. So I got to wear my mech, and loved it. After 2 or 3 weeks, I got the garmin replacement. I cannot use it anymore. I decided to wear it during activities, and during sleep, but not during the day. I also realised I was getting to obssessed with garmin numbers, for no reason. I do not need to read constantly my HR bpm, or the watch to tell me if I am rested or relaxed. Take it easy, and you'll be.

    so this is a lesson learnt. However, I just prefer to wear the mech watch I like in everyday life and situation. Hence, I am doing it. less usage to the garmin now. I would still use a band or a ring if I could, something non intrusive.

    Second lesson learnt, is the ecosystem thing. So, when this happened, to keep tracking everything I bought a Polar h9. the idea was to keep tracking on Strava and intervals.icu. I do mainly cyclinh and bodyweight training.  But my real ecosystem with data and all was garmin, What happened is that I thought I should have bought a garmin cycling computer instead, because my data and tracking is there. unless I pay the 99€ for strava.

    well, I like open-source things. this ecosystem locking consumers in is not nice. the thing the we are consumers is not nice. the more I think about capitalism the more I believe that humans are considering humans cows to be milked, livestock to be sacrificed to new god called profit (is it a new one though?)

    What I mean is that yes, I buy a tool that gives a certain use. the algorythims and tools should be separated from the device acquiring data. I would like to be able to decided whether to use the garmin data (all of them) on any platform - in a standard and open and inter-operable way. I am dreaming about open-source analaytics, yes compatible with any device also for recovery and non-activities related data

  • 0 3 months ago in reply to 7584636
    7584636 said:
    would like to be able to decided whether to use the garmin data (all of them) on any platform - in a standard and open and inter-operable way

    If your main activity is cycling, GoldenCheetah could be a good option for you. It works offline, you transfer your activity files from your watch via USB to your computer and analyze them in GC, independent from any vendors platform. You can do that with any type of sports watch, but Garnin is by far the easiest, direct download via USB, the FIT file format is for a large part documented, and contains a rich set of data. IMHO by far the best choice if you want to be in charge of your data. 

    <Wishful thinking start> I would like there to be, one day, a non-watch tracker from Garmin that syncs sleep and other stats _directly_ to a Garmin Fenix, and not via the mobile app and cloud. A companion band. Free with a new Fenix 8. Unique selling point!<Wishful thinking end>

  • 0 3 months ago in reply to Data

    Hi, thanks for the input.

    I will check out. What is it this band syncing to a Fenix? Does it mean you have to wear a fenix anyway?

  • 0 3 months ago in reply to 7584636

    That was wishful thinking, it does not exist.

    I will edit my post to be clearer.

  • 0 3 months ago in reply to 7584636

    I've got the chest strap (Garmin HRM-Pro Heart Rate Monitor) which can track data without a watch and sync via phone or my Fenix 6. In relation to this thread though, the chest strap is not a viable alternative to wear instead of a watch which is why everyone here is after something to complement a mechanical watch or wear when sleeping to continue tracking data.

  • 0 3 months ago in reply to Data

    Just as a follow up to the above conversation. I used a standard garmin HR chest strap with my watch set on yoga. I was able to leave my watch in the room next door and it worked through a lead lined wall. Got lots of useful data from my time doing surgery particularly stress level (not just HR). Not unsurprisingly this was both physically and mentally taxing. Explains poor HRV that night. Thanks for the yoga suggestion as lots of activities eg cycling/ walking/ strength training, do not measure stress level. I would prefer an arm band to do this if garmin ever came up with such a thing….

  • 0 3 months ago

    +1

    I love my Garmin but i also love my mechanical luxury watches. A band alternative will be great to allow flexibility. After couple of years of using garmin 24x7 I would probably come to a point where i may consider alternative that give me the flexibility to wear my mechanicals if Garmin dont see any benefit to them in offering a band alternative