Which Watch to Watch … Part 2

Ok, so I am reporting back.

In part 1 of Which Watch to Watch, I decided to get a cheaper alternative to the Apple Watch 4. I wanted something that was capable of monitoring my movements and could be worn at the same time as my Omega SMP without looking silly (in my view – your mileage may differ). I got the Fitbit Charge 4 and was happy with it for a while.

It basically ticks most of the boxes I needed for a health tracker. Well, to be slightly more accurate, it ticked all the boxes I knew about but didn’t tick one that I hadn’t realised was important: I didn’t love it.

Now ok, I always knew that it was a lot cheaper than the Apple Watch for a reason. What I didn’t think about was how much that would affect me. A watch is something to be worn, and I found I didn’t want something using wrist real estate that I didn’t love. Maybe I could have accepted this had it not been for the realisation that it actually costs the same as an Apple Watch! Let me explain.

Apple Watch: £400

Fitbit Charge 4: £150 plus £8 per month for Fitbit Premium.

I got three months of Fitbit Premium for free on buying the device so I was able to see what it offered, and for me the interesting things were mindfulness and sleep insights. But hold on, I hear you say, this capability comes for free with the Apple Watch. It does indeed, and I began to resent in particular the fact that Fitbit were essentially selling my sleep data back to me.

£8 per month equates to £288 over three years – add this to the cost of the Fitbit itself and the spend now is £438 – roughly the price of the Apple Watch. Ok, maybe you can find the Fitbit slightly cheaper – as you can with the Apple Watch, which of course would sell for more money after the three years, should I decide to sell.

[I should mention at this stage that Fitbit looks like it will soon be owned by Google, and I am not sure I trust Google with my data any more.]

So there you have it. And for me, I am back happily with an Apple Watch. I’m signing off now. I have some rings to close …

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