After year offlailing mediocrity , smartwatches have gotten good enough to be mainstream . Two devices released in the last month , theApple Watch Series 3and theFitbit Ionic , are the expert we ’ve seen . Not only are they both very , very good at severalize time , they ’re also capable of myriad other matter your Rolex or Timex is not . I ’ve bear the wristables for the last two weeks , test their subroutine and seek to find and answer to one big dubiousness : Which smartwatch is best ?
The contenders
If you look at the contender you ’ll immediately acknowledge not a exclusive Android Wear watch made the cut for this comparing . In the yesteryear , I ’ve been a big lover of what Google is doing on vigil , but I also have to know that Android Wear ’s open platform has become mostly a butt forfancy legacy fashionbrandsthat want to get into the smartwatch secret plan . The results are for the most part machine that do a good job mimic the intent of classical watches , whilst not really offering enough functionality to justify the inconveniences inherent in whip a tiny computing machine to your wrist . Indeed , the Android Wear platform has notoriously languished , and I ca n’t in good faith recommend that anybody buy an Android Wear gadget .
So that leaves two with child contenders for best smartwatch : The Apple Watch Series 3 and the Fitbit Ionic . The Apple Watch is currently the best selling smartwatch in the world , and unlike any other wearable out there , it ’s build from the ground up to work super well with the Apple ecosystem . The late variant , the Series 3 , introduces cellular connectivity . That means you could leave the phone at home and take call over your AirPods ( or another pair Bluetooth twist ) .
The Fitbit Ionic does n’t have cellular connectivity ( it , like the Apple Watch , does have GPS for tracking your campaign during rill or cycle rides ) , but it come from the former bit one company for wearables . alas , Fitbit ’s late foray in to smartwatcheswas a total catastrophe . Yet sincebuying Kickstarter achiever story Pebble last year , the Bob Hope is that Fitbit can overcome an figure of speech job in the smartwatch quad to take on the Apple Watch .
Two very different heart rate trackers. (All images: Alex Cranz/Gizmodo)
To figure out which is best I look at three primary criteria : How well does each twist handle fitness , how good is its electric battery life , and how many other sly “ smart ” features are available .
For the person who loves fitness
One of the main drivers for wearable sales is fitness trailing . the great unwashed want to track their affectionateness pace , usage , sleep , and even how often they stand up up . Both the Apple Watch and Fitbit Ionic can do all that , and if you ’re just nonchalantly trying to keep up with how many footstep you walk each Clarence Day , then you ca n’t go wrong with either .
Yet Fitbit has been working on fitness tracking a lot long than Apple , and it render in its on - the - watch apps and in its super dressed app available for iOS and Android .
Sleep tracking and heart wellness details are both apparent as soon as you open up the app on your telephone set . Everything you take is found in a single app . The only meter you need to change apps when using a Fitbit is if you ’ve puzzle a fondness for other popular apps likeStravaorRunkeeper . But that ’s uncommon , as the Fitbit app is just that unspoiled , and in fact I ’d make bold say it ’s the golden standard for fitness apps integrated with wearables . It ’s intuitive , fast , and super informative without ever clog you with information .
Two very different heart rate trackers. (All images: Alex Cranz/Gizmodo)
Apple , meanwhile , requires at least two apps ( Activity and Health ) to track the same data — three if you need to drop cash on a eternal sleep trail app likeSleep Watch . The customization is certainly appeal , and the act of fitness apps that work with the Apple Watch and tie into the chief Health app are staggering . But for a company that preaches simplicity , it also feel counterintuitive .
The Apple Watch never quite reach the same tier of excellence for fitness tracking as the Fitbit Ionic . Nowhere is that more obvious than in how each machine tracks heart pace . The Apple Watch Series 3 practice a green light - based optical heart charge per unit monitoring organisation — the kind of system found in old Fitbit products and just about every other heart - pace tracker you wear on your carpus . The Fitbit Ionic uses the same organization , but raise it with red and infrared LED . Fitbit claimes that makes it more exact , and when I compare both watches to a Polar H10 chest monitor ( chest admonisher use electrodes applied near the heart ) I found that to be the fount . While the three were within a few beat of each other when I was just sitting around or walking through the neighborhood , the Apple Watch began reporting a higher heart rate the more active I got . At one point the Fitbit and Polar devices say I had nitty-gritty rate of 115 beats per minute while the Apple Watch said it was closer to 125 .
That is n’t the end of the world , but when you sum it all up . the Ionic is still the superior machine if physical fitness is your number one precedence .
For the person who never wants to take their watch off
But not everyone is out to suffer a hundred pounds and get shredded when they bribe a spotter . A great gimmick ask to be more than a steps counter and a substance - rate tracker . It needs a long - lasting barrage fire and a intent that looks good enough that you do n’t require to swerve off your sleeve .
While I personally notice the Ionic deeply unattractive , most people I talked to just assumed it was an Apple Watch . Both devices are grownup and square ( though the 38 mm Apple Watch I wore is small than the 42.5 mm Ionic ) and both furnish a wide variety of strap . Appearance is not what separates these two in terms of all day wear . bombardment aliveness is .
Here the Fitbit Ionic handily trounces the Apple Watch . On average , with GPS turned off , I get six days with the Ionic . I left my battery charger at the office and never once worried about when I ’d get a chance to go back and juice up . Because the watch is pee resistant I even make it in the cascade with me , and ran through a pelting storm , and I sweated . A lot . The vigil handle it all while still tracking my motion , telling me the time , and shooting me notifications from AP News and my tube tracker app .
The Apple Watch , which has cellular service and a whole lot more apps to canvass for notifications , survive only a day on average . Instead of level it at workplace once a week I charged it every nighttime on my bedside table as I hopped in the shower bath ( even though it is piss repellent ) . That ’s a immense discrepancy between the two , and by the battery results alone the Fitbit Ionic is the superior selection for the great unwashed who desire a reliable gimmick that just lives on their radiocarpal joint .
For the person who wants a glimpse of the phone-free future
Okay , so it ’s very clear that the Fitbit Ionic is the best twist for fitness , and its excellent battery life is a game - changer . Those are two of the most of the essence face of a smartwatch . But the Fitbit falls short , well , everywhere else . Smartwatches are supposed to meliorate the way we interact with the digital reality and , hopefully , amend our dependence on our phones .
conceive of a humanity in which earphone are obsolete , and your main unite devices are a pair of smart specs or a watch and some wireless earbuds . This is where the Apple Watch Series 3 is miles forwards of the Fitbit Ionic . It ’s so good at the “ smart ” part that some time it does n’t even feel like a competition .
The other day I leave my headphone in my purse and used my Apple Watch to get through security at the airport and get on my flight . Then I texted my roomy about the dog , and fielded a call from my mom that come in over the watch and piped into my earbuds . That ’s nerveless as hell on earth !
The Fitbit Ionic with its dotty smattering of non - fitness apps and half - baked operating organization , simply ca n’t compare . I ’ve had the equipment over a calendar month and only yesterday got it to check the weather condition . The Ionic does n’t even show me notifications for text , lease alone allow for me to text other people . It ’s a seaworthiness tracker endeavour to be more , while the Apple Watch is a glimpse of the future .
The champion
Apple Watch Series 3 vs Fitbit Ionic
Best for Fitness
Fitbit Ionic
Best for Battery Life
well for Apps
Apple Watch Series 3
Best Smartwatch
If all you care about is fitness , and you really want a color display for your fitness tracker , then the $ 300 Fitbit Ionic is the unadulterated gimmick for you . It endure for days and is as precise as a marrow charge per unit tracker welt to your chest .
But for me , a gadget nerd who is quick for the Star Trek humans right now , the Apple Watch is the best choice . Yes , the fitness trailing still call for melioration , and yes , a day of battery biography is deep pestiferous — especially when I ’m flying back and forth across the state . But this is n’t a struggle of the best fittingness trackers . It ’s a battle of the serious smartwatches , and when it comes to smartwatches few have the noteworthy brains of the Apple Watch Series 3 .
If you require to leave the phone at home and move through the world with a computer on your wrist then there ’s no competition . The Apple Watch Series 3 is the achiever .
Winner: Apple Watch Series 3
video recording slam and edited by Mike Damanskis
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