I recently bought a FITBIT Versa 3 to track some wellness markers such as Sleep,
Sleep Resting HeartRate(RHR) and Heart Rate Variabilty(HRV) as well as GPS hiking and swimming functiones.
I like Garmin but because I don’t run anymore I felt that thier products was a bit of overkill.
I have come to learn that if I want to track HRV and sleeping RHR I have to pay FITBIT $10 a month for premium services…
Think this a foul, red flag, red card, and highway robbery. They sell a device that is supposed to track wellness you pay $200+ for the device and then they want to charge more for additional services. Who knew that if your device tracks RHR that it would not track it complety without paying extra…
SO MY QUESTIONS IS:
Does anyone know if there are 3rd party HRV or Sleep RHR apps that can sync with FITBIT?
In the past I used Elite HRV and my Garmin Chest strap from my 1030 and it worked fine. I just wanted to have one devce that does it all and I thought FITBIT Versa 3 was the less expensive answer to a Garmin Fenix.
I also passed on the Oura Ring for that same reason $300 and a monthly subscription.
If anyone has any info on an App that can link to FitBit and track HRV and sleeping RHR it would be appreciated.
For clarity, are you looking for a third party app that will connect to your Fitbit Versa and pull data off of the Versa directly? Or to Fitbit’s cloud service which your Versa has passed its data to?
I am looking for a similar device.
I don’t want to buy or wear a bulky full on watch (garmin, polar, …) all of the time.
And now as I really only cycle, I no longer need a full on watch for running, swimming, …
I don’t mind wearing a band all the time and in fact I want something with a silent alarm to wake me up in the morning too for my workouts without disturbing my wife.
Capturing sleep, resting heart rate, … is also desired.
I am also not a fan or Oura or whoop at the moment.
I was leaning towards a Fitbit Charge 4 for form factor, minimal, … but was just concerned about Fitbit quality after reading some reviews they die a lot and then also wondering if Google was going to release brand new Fitbit devices right after I buy a charge 4.
My wife has had numerous versa’s…all because they crash after about 8-9 months then get replaced under warranty. Her hr monitor is always way off…about the only thing it does well is track sleep…she constantly has syncing problems with it on ios. I would not rely on fitbit for anything…you get what you pay for.
I use the EliteHRV to take my HRV(!) each morning. I link it with a Polar H10 heart rate strap. I paid a small fee to link it automatically to TrainingPeaks. I measure my sleep and RHR on a Garmin Forerunner 735XT. It is now a simple automated process, and I just take 2 mins to update the metrics in TrainingPeaks each day. I have contemplated the Withings Sleep mat as an alternative to using my watch, and I also have at £20 pulse ox finger sensor which I could use to do my RHR if I wanted. Decided that what I really wanted was to ensure that all my data was in Trainingpeaks.
I’m think I want data directly from my Fitbit Versa. But I don’t know. I just want to be able to track my sleeping RHR and HRV via my Fitbit. But under the Fitbit system I can only do that if I purchase a premium membership. That is what has got my feathers ruffled. So any ideas you have would be appreciated
Thanks for the article. Okay I will see but I think I will write FitBit central and express my displeasure. The Versa 3 is supposed to be the top of the line and yet they still want more money. Normally , I just go with the flow but for some reason this just rubbed me the wrong way.
I think I’m going to leave a negative review on Fitbit eveytime I can give a customer review.
thanks again
No, but I could just pop it on before I get out of bed. The key thing is consistency of measurement as much as possible. So currently with the HRV, I get up in the morning, come downstairs put the HR strap on and after making myself a cup of coffee, sit down and measure my HRV, pop the O2 sensor whilst doing this, and then once done, the HRV gets pushed to TrainingPeaks. I then check Garmin Connect for my Sleep, and update the metrics for the day. Simple process that doesn’t really add any hassle to my day. Only tracking the O2 whilst recovering from Covid, probably will not continue with that much longer.
I am reluctant to get sucked into a multitude of subscription services, a few pounds (or dollars ) here and there and it all starts to add up. Also think that the once a day measurement is enough for me to help make decisions. Have had some interesting metrics both with Covid and now as recovering. However, it the few months of data prior to that that gives me confidence. For example, using the Elite app my HRV pre-covid was between 55 and 60, but it went down to about 30 at the lowest and is yet to return to anything above 50. Similarly my resting HR is about 10 beats higher. The tracking will help me judge when to consider fully returning to training. I do think that actually making recording those metrics a key part to the start of my day makes me more self-aware.
Thanks for the reply. Yeah, it’s my fault for not doing a more detailed research… I’m okay with everything so far(Android) except paying $10 monthly fee for HRV and sleeping RHR functions.
Okay thanks. I agree with everything you said. I was just tryng to find one device that did it all but not for the price of the top of the line Garmin Fenix as I dont run. I thought it was too much money. and fitbit was the answer but like you I dont want to pay for another subscription. But I can do HRV with my Garmin chest strap with Elite HRV and my 1030 also has an HRV function. I’m a US Expat living in Spain and we have had so many lockdowns and quarantines trainng has been a challenge as well. You correct that you feel much more self aware when you are tracking HRV daily. thanks again. good luck
