I have been and always will be an advocate of Fitbit. I love my Fitbit Alta and have used it religiously for well over a year maybe even two but there have been some limitations and now that Apple have really upped their game with the Apple Watch series 3, I decided to jump ship and give the new Watch a try.
One of my main bugbears with my Fitbit is that it can only register steps when your arm is swinging, this is fine for most people but when you have a baby your arms don’t get much chance to swing idly at your side. You’re either pushing a pram, carrying a baby or your arms are full to the brim with things you’re carrying from one room to another in a desperate attempt to make the house loos tidy. In these instances my Fitbit doesn’t record any steps, I could walk for 3 hours but if I’m pushing a pram with both hands I get no credit for it, it’s the same in the supermarket if you’re pushing a trolley too by the way. There is a work around which is to put your Fitbit in your back pocket and then it will still record your steps, however this is a bit rubbish for a device that is solely designed to count steps.
I would often forget to take it off and put it in my pocket or I would forget it’s in there and sit on it. Whilst I never feared it would break when I sat on it, it is a sharp metal item and it’s quite uncomfortable on the bottom. Having it in my pocket would also mean that I didn’t have access to the data whilst walking, I couldn’t check on my step count, see the time or feel my phone notifications because I couldn’t feel the alert through my pocket. All in all, not a great solution to quite a big problem when step counting is the whole point of owning a Fitbit in the first place.
My Fitbit Alta does give me phone notifications for calls, texts and emails which is great but I couldn’t respond to them and I also couldn’t control my music from the Alta either. These are all things that the Apple Watch does and it does it really well. I did so much research before I bought one to find out if I would have the same step count issues and everyone I asked and every review I watched, said that the Watch still recorded steps even when pushing a pram, and having taken a few walks with it I can attest that indeed it does! I can’t even tell you how happy this makes me considering I am using these steps for MyFitnessPal and my new weight loss journey; which is so important to me to keep an accurate track of my activity.
I’m also able to respond to messages by using Siri or the preset responses that come with the Apple Watch and I’ve now got control of my music from my Watch as well. I can see what song is playing, adjust volume and skip through tracks without having to get my phone out of my bag or pocket. This might not sound like a big deal but when you constantly have your hands full, it’s a game changer not to have to juggle a very expensive phone that I’m scared I’m going to drop.
Now, let’s talk about the other element of the Apple Watch that draws us in, its looks. This thing is beautiful. I know many people don’t appreciate its square body and would prefer the traditional round face of some of the Android smart watches. However personally I am a fan of the design, I think it works well for the features and apps and allows more data to be shown on the screen.
I chose the 38mm Watch because it’s the perfect size for my wrist, yes you get more screen space with the 42mm which might make things easier to read and navigate but such a big watch face would look ridiculous on me. Maybe it’s a little sexist but I do think of the 38mm as being for ladies and the larger 42mm for men. That’s how it works in our house anyway with my husband having the larger Watch and it looks just right on his arm.
The new Series 3 also comes in a new gold colour. It’s different to the previous year’s rose gold which was much more pink in colour. Whilst I loved the pink version of the iPhone, it just didn’t look right on me in the Watch. The colour of the Watch and the accompanying band didn’t suit my skin tone but this new gold is much more muted and looks better in my opinion. It also matches my phone and case which is a big influencer for me, as sad as that might seem. I love that it all matches. I love that the Watch strap and phone case are the exact same shade (pink sand, it’s called) and whilst I am not a gold jewellery wearer, I’ve made an exception because this gold Apple Watch is just too pretty.
These are some of the reasons why I’ve decided to move away from by Fitbit Alta and give the Apple Watch another try. As I mentioned in my “Unboxing” post, I had the original Watch but couldn’t get on with it. All of the things that annoyed me about it, have been fixed now and I’m hoping that Series 3 is going to be the one that really nestles itself into my life like a little assistant on my wrist.
Let me know what you think about this post in the comments box.
