Which Wear OS Watch is Better for Me - Samsung Galaxy 4 or TicWatch Pro 3 GPS

This is far from a review, more of an update on my plans to test out the new Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 to see if perhaps this is the best solution for my needs?

I just recently switched from my Garmin Fenix 5X to a TicWatch Pro GPS. Now the Garmin Fenix 5X was a fantastic fitness Watch but lacked in the SmartWatch category. On the other hand the TicWatch Pro 3 GPS is a really great OS Wear SmartWatch and the Fitness integration is there but is cumbersome and not as refined as what you get on a dedicated Fitness Watch like what Garmin offers.

So here we are with the new Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 running a new version of Wear OS 3. I have used Samsung Galaxy Watches in the past and liked them a lot even the Samsung App which runs on your SmartPhone and watch is a very full featured App. So I am hoping maybe this solution will get me not only an awesome SmartWatch experience but also solid Fitness tracking capabilities.

Right now I am in the testing stage so the jury is not out yet but so far things are look positive overall with a few hiccups that may or may not be an issue! Stay posted for my more in depth review of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and if it is up to the task at least for my requirements...

Should I Switch to a Wear OS Smart Watch Like the TicWatch Pro 3 GPS

I have been using a Garmin Fenix 5X for almost a year now and I have to say it has been one of the most dependable and reliable Smart Fitness Watches I have used so far. It never lets me down and the battery lasts for days at a time, It just works, never crashes and gives me consistent usable fitness data I can depend on!

So why am I thinking about switching to a Wear OS Smart Watch like the TicWatch Pro 3 GPS? Maybe I'm just nuts or bored or perhaps I just like farting around with tech a bit too much and my Garmin Fenix 5X has just become that thing on my wrist I don't think all that much about.

I can say I do miss the added functionality of a dedicated Smart Watch like the Apple Watch or Samsung Galaxy series of watches, all the cool Apps, being able to answer my phone and speak into my watch, reply to texts on my watch and the constant detailed notifications that allow me to leave my Phone in my pocket most of the time.

After a bunch of research the TicWatch Pro 3 GPS Wear OS Smart Watch may just be something that has good enough Fitness Tracking combined with full featured Smart Watch capabilities and will allow me the best of both words this time around?

My plan is to combine a few Wear OS Apps like Sporty Go linked to Strava combined with Google Fit and the native Mobvoi Fitness Apps to send workout and step info to MyFitnessPal, which at the end of the day will give me my total exercise calories for tracking of my daily calorie expenditure.

So I have a few work arounds to figure out with the TicWatch Pro 3 GPS Wear OS Smart Watch before I can determin if I will be able to switch from my Garmin Fenix 5X to TicWatch Pro 3 GPS but so far it looks promising...

Which is the Best Fitness Smartwatch?

The big question I often get from Clients and in general from people online is... "Which Fitness Tracker or Fitness Smartwatch should I get?" This is really a loaded question. It's kind of like randomly asking me what vehicle is best for you when next to no information about you has been told to me. Even if I did know what your vehicle needs are, there are so many options out there to choose from. Which company, what type of vehicle, what price range... This is the same when trying to figure out the best Fitness Smart Watches to consider.

Do you want a fitness watch more for fitness or for it's smart features, may be a little bit of both? How much money do you want to spend? How integrated with other software do you want it to be? Do you want a stylish Fitness Watch or perhaps a Sporty one? Are you going to be doing basic activities or complex and diverse activities? Do you want the utmost in accuracy when it comes to heart rate, steps and GPS tracking? Do you see what I mean here?

It gets even more complicated because it seem that every watch figures things out a little bit differently then the other ones. Some count more steps and distance than others, some will give you more calories for an activity then a different fitness Smartwatch or Tracker. Some allow for external heart rate monitors which is more accurate and some will only allow you to use the built in optical heart rate monitor. And at the end of the day which one is telling you the truth? Maybe all of them are but in their own way...

I have jumped from one Fitness Tracking device to another in my quest to find the best solution for me and just when I think I have found it, someone comes out with a device that draws me in and I have to try it out. Sometimes it works out for me and sometimes I find myself taking a step back but I kind of enjoy all of this fitness tech in the end.

So which is the Best Fitness Smartwatch? Hell if I know, you're probably going to have to try a few out until you find the one best suited to you. If you have no idea where to start, take a look at some of the Garmin and Fitbit products, they have a combination of really solid software and hardware offerings for a variety of needs.

Good luck in your quest and enjoy the journey...

Switching from Apple to Google

What do I mean by Switching from Apple to Google? Both companies provide hardware, operating systems, applications and services. For the most part I have changed over everything to Google with only a few exceptions.

I don’t recommending this for everyone as I still strongly feel that Apple is a great solution for many people. I still use a Mac desktop computer for my heavy lifting and my family all still has iPhones which was something I needed to consider when I switched over to Google.

 

Why Did I do it?

It all started with the Chromebook, I purchased a Chromebook to replace my MacBook Pro since I already had an iMac desktop computer as my main workhorse and I figured a Chromebook would do everything I needed when I wanted to be portable. As it turned out my Chromebook exceeded my expectations and now my entire family uses them as their main portable computers.

Just recently I purchased my first Google Home and fell in love with the concept. I love the way I can access my smart home devices and automate my life. I even went out and bought a bunch more of the Google Home systems so I could access Google Home in more areas of my house and office. My kids are getting their own units for Christmas along with a family music plan…

The one thing I realized was that Google Home works best if you’re using Google services, like their calendar and contacts. If you want to access this info on your Google Home, then you need to make sure your calendar and contact info is in the Google cloud. At first I achieved this from my Apple iPhone using third party apps that synced my Apple Calendar and Contacts with Google Calendar and Contacts. At this point I started to wonder why I was using Apple hardware if I was becoming so Google oriented?

The last straw that lead me to decide to switch from Apple to Google was when I bought a Samsung Gear Sport Smart Fitness Watch and tried to use it paired with my Apple iPhone only to find out it was crippled in so many ways when paired with an iPhone rather than an Android Phone. I could only really do basic stuff and when it came to adding more Applications to the Samsung Gear Sport Smart Fitness Watch, none of the fitness Apps I really wanted where available. And the thing was I really loved the Samsung Gear Sport Smart Fitness Watch since it had a great design, was superior to my older first gen Apple watch in many ways and its optical heart rate monitor was the first one that actually worked for me. That was it. I decided to switch from Apple to Google!

What did I get?

Well you know I got the Samsung Gear Sport Smart Fitness Watch and so that replaced my Apple Watch. For my iPhone replacement I did some research and ended up getting the Samsung Galaxy S8 plus Android Phone, I was also considering the Google Pixel 2 but really liked the design of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the screen on the Galaxy S8 is simply amazing!

Things to Consider when Switching from Google to Apple.

Calendars and Contacts we kind of covered already but you will need to get your Apple Calendars and Contacts over to Google Calendars and Contacts. There are a few ways to do this, there was even software on my new phone to help with transferring my iPhone data over to my Android phone. I could have even brought over my photos and movies this way but I chose to use Google Photos instead.

I recommend Google Photos to everyone no matter if you use an Apple or Android phone, why wouldn't you. Google Photos is free, space is unlimited and the quality is very good, (1080p video and 16MP Photos). Just download the App on your device and Google Photos starts uploading your photos and movies to the cloud where you can view them and share them on any device. That was a no brainer and not having to buy extra Apple iCloud storage and constantly getting “Your iCloud is Full” warnings is a bonus. My entire family now has Google Photos on their iPhones.

Was I going to lose Find my Phone Locations Services?

Nope, there is an App for that :) I use an App on my Samsung Galaxy S8 called xFi Locator which allows me to tap into Apple location sharing services. All I need to do is log my Apple credentials in and since I use this setup with my Apple family location services, I then have access to my entire families phone locations. I can also use this same App to locate my Android devices so I have it on my Chromebook and my Samsung Galaxy S8 to find either one if I need to.

What about Facetime?

My family doesn’t use facetime a lot, we see enough of each other most days but it is nice when I travel so I wanted a solution for this. I went with Google Duo as it seemed like the logical choice and again you can download Google Duo to the iPhone and it sets up super quickly by simply entering in your phone number as your username.

Online Storage and Documents.

I was already using Google Drive and Dropbox as my online storage choices so there was really no change there as these options work on pretty much every device. Same with my documents like Word and Excel. I was primarily using Google Docs for this so no change was required here either.

Apple Mail on Non-Apple Devices.

Apple has their 2-Factor Authentication which does make setting up your Apple mail on an Android device a little more complicated than on an iPhone but it can be done by creating a device specific password. You may have to do this online using your Apple ID through Apples Apple ID Webpage.

Other Miscellaneous Apps.

When it comes to most Apps, you can generally find all the same popular Apps for Android as you would find on your iOS iPhone and for the most part they look and work about the same but be prepared for a little bit of weirdness since some features may work differently on each platform.

Getting use to the Android Interface.

I have been using an Apple iPhone since the very first version came out so I’m not going to lie, there was some getting use to the new interface and is one System OS better than the other? Not really, Apple offers a bit more simplicity with pretty much the same user experience from phone to phone. Android Phones are more customizable which means one phone can look and navigate completely different than another Android phone. Companies also like to throw their own custom interfaces on their devices to perhaps differentiate themselves. At the end of the day I can get around on my Samsung Galaxy S8 just as easily and quickly as I did on my Apple iPhone.

Do I regret Switching from Apple to Google?

When I first made the jump I was a little bit worried. I knew I had some work ahead of me doing some research to figure to some workarounds between the devices. I’m happy to say I am very pleased with my decision at the end of the day. Not only am I more educated about the different phone options out there but I feel that at least for me at this point in my life Switching from Apple to Google was the right decision. I feel I have more options available to me now when it comes to hardware choices for Phones and Fitness Tech devices. Apple does like to keep their hardware and software a bit more closed in which can be limiting at times.

Google is more open when it comes to cross compatibility, offering most of their Apps and Applications to be run on pretty much any device. Yes some Google based hardware will not work so well with Apple devices but this is more of an Apple control issue meaning Apple does not always play well with others. To sum it up I would say Apple acts more like the introvert, whereas Google is more of the extrovert. I kinda feel like hanging out with the more outgoing and fun kids and so far I am not missing my iPhone at all.

times.

GetFitOver40 - September 2015 Update Video

In this GetFitOver40 - September 2015 Update Video I talk about some stuff going on in my life and how that is going to effect some of the content and videos for GetFitOver40.com.

I also feature some products and ideas that I will be making videos about in the near future...

Back to normal life again:

• The good news is I am not really training for any fitness competitions at the moment, so that takes some stress off of me and allows me to focus on more content and videos for the channel and of course some time for myself to slowdown a bit and relax.
• My next Men's Physique Fitness Contest will most likely be the BC’s next year in May 2016, then perhaps if I do well at the BC's, I will compete at the Nationals shortly thereafter?
• Kids are back in school!!! Isn't that just wonderful! Again this will help me to focus on producing more content and videos for the channel since I work from home and there will be fewer interruptions.
• I am back up to a more healthy body weight again, at least in terms of weight training. Being at 5% body fat is not the most conducive for getting strong and having energy in the gym. In about three weeks I went from a dry 185 pounds to a somewhat wet 200 pounds. Some of that is water weight but according to my Skulpt Aim I am around 7-8% Body Fat right now which is perfect for me. I feel really good! 

Upcoming Videos:

• I want to focus on quick training videos where I go over one muscle group at a time, showcasing different types of equipment that can be used from very basic to more advanced. I also want to expand on some Fitness Training techniques that have worked for me.
• I plan to do more Diet/Nutritional Videos that will be useful for simply losing a few pounds and even some videos focussed on how to prep for a fitness contest, what's really involved!
• EC Technologies External Battery Pack Product Review - Always have power for your USB devices!
• SKULPT Aim Full Review - I have now had a lot of time to extensively test out my Skulpt Aim and I am glad I waited since getting to a really low in body fat did effect how the Skulpt Aim read my body fat percentages.
• MOTO 360 Review, not sure how soon I want to do this one since I will be giving my personal thoughts as an iPhone user pairing Android Wear with an iPhone. Android Wear paired with an iPhone is all very new and limited to some degree right now but I am sure Google will be working on updates and bringing more features and functionality to Android Wear on iOS.
• 2UNDR Review - Just waiting for my 2UNDR undies to make it back through the wash so I can give you my thoughts on this super comfortable men's underwear.
• Kinivo K300 HDMI Switch - I pretty much just show this product from Kinivo since it was kind of sent to me by mistake and is not something I personally can really use or think fits into the health and fitness spectrum.