Band and Garmin 620 accuracy compared

[cardingtr]

I did the Turkey trot today here in Houston at Galleria area. I wear both Garmin 620, without the HRM, since both wont be inherently accurate anyway, and Band on my left hand. I pressed both devices within seconds of each other and at finish, I pressed stop on Garmin first and Band after about 5 seconds later.

Here are the metrics after the run:


If you notice they are seconds compared and even the calories are almost the same! Distance and pace are freakinly within 1/10 of seconds of each other!

When I compared the splits:

both are within seconds compared!

Even my heart rate although I don't have anything to compare, is in line with my most recent lactate threshold test.
At this point, I'll say the Band is accurate enough, the only reason right now preventing me from fully ditching my Garmin 620 is the lack of average lap pace for BAND.

Microsoft: PLEASE, add this feature as soon as possible. Maybe before Houston Marathon??:smile:

 

[dbregman]

Nice comparison. Thanks.

 

[mfm77]

Great comparison! It shows that the Band stacks up well against the more established fitness devices.

 

[davsug]

nice review, and I find the same accuracy between the Band and my Garmin 305, which has always been super accurate. I just used the Band for 3 races I did this Thurs, Fri & Sat (5mi, 5k, 5k), and the Band was within 100th of a mile each time. I'm really impressed with the accuracy of the GPS as well as how quickly it picks up a signal. I agree the only thing I wish it had was average pace. That's a big deal for me. Aside from that, it's my go-to now. Love it.

 

[Rob Reilley]

Thanks form comparison. I am currently comparing it to the 610. I like the Band, but wish it had a more features to match the 610 (auto-pause, resume activity in progress, Strava). Did you have any issues with syncing runkeeper? Somehow my run yesterday got split up. It ended one and I had to start another. Only the last one uploaded. I did see the first one on Microsoft Health, but it never synced it.

 

[eyecrispy]

Too bad the battery life is terrible with GPS on. I'm very active and this thing can't keep up with me without a daily charge. Sometimes multiple charges. I find it to be accurate as well, but if I have to worry about it dying after a few workouts, it won't work for me.

 

[Darin Hamel]

Thank you! I was planning on doing this with my 910XT.

 

[berty6294]

Awesome review! This makes me more confident in my future purchase of the Band! Actually two, one for me and one for my mother! Just as soon as its sold at Best Buy so I can use my employee discount muahaha!

 

[cardingtr]

Too bad the battery life is terrible with GPS on. I'm very active and this thing can't keep up with me without a daily charge. Sometimes multiple charges. I find it to be accurate as well, but if I have to worry about it dying after a few workouts, it won't work for me.

I also run 4-5 times a week from 7-18 miles this week as I increase my miles leading up to marathon on Jan 18th and yes, battery is a big downer. I bought 2 extra charging cable so now I can charge from home, car and work.
I run 14 miles today and has 70% left when I checked. Not bad.

 

[eyecrispy]

I also run 4-5 times a week from 7-18 miles this week as I increase my miles leading up to marathon on Jan 18th and yes, battery is a big downer. I bought 2 extra charging cable so now I can charge from home, car and work.
I run 14 miles today and has 70% left when I checked. Not bad.

Yea but you have to plan ahead and either charge to full overnight or first thing in the morning before on run in order to not run out. Some folks charge overnight but then that defeats the purpose of the sleep tracking. It's ashame that they didn't consider the more serious athletes who need extended battery life. I will not keep this due to that. I don't care for the form factor but would've kept it had it not been for the pitiful battery. I'm hoping the Fitbit surge is a winner. Seems to be everything I need. It's less sensors but what good are sensors if they just suck the juice out of the battery.

 

[Darin Hamel]

Been wondering about the battery life when the GPS is on. I got the Garmin 910 because of the 20 hour battery life and I run ultras. I am hoping the M-Band has a long life like it. I'll give it a try when we have an over 40 degree day.

 

[eyecrispy]

Been wondering about the battery life when the GPS is on. I got the Garmin 910 because of the 20 hour battery life and I run ultras. I am hoping the M-Band has a long life like it. I'll give it a try when we have an over 40 degree day.

There's no way the band will last through an ultra. It nearly drains the battery after a 3-5 mile run. I start with 70-80% and am down to 10% by the end of these runs. It's pitiful.

 

[lostlogik]

There's no way the band will last through an ultra. It nearly drains the battery after a 3-5 mile run. I start with 70-80% and am down to 10% by the end of these runs. It's pitiful.

what about those guys that have run a marathon with it on?

 

[eyecrispy]

what about those guys that have run a marathon with it on?

I don't know. I am reporting personal experience. I think they say they turn the screen off and someone mentioned airplane mode. My thing is, I shouldn't have to jump through hoops to get battery to last. I'm not saying I need it to last a week with my activity level, but I shouldn't be needing to charge it daily. If the band is this way, I cringe to think how terrible the AppleWatch will be.

 

[mfm77]

what about those guys that have run a marathon with it on?

As I said in a prior post, I ran with it for my first marathon and turned the HRM and GPS on but the notifications and the screen off. Every time I hit a mile, the Band would vibrate and show me the pace for that mile. On a full charge, It lasted from about 5:30 in the morning (race began at 7:20 am) to about 1 pm or so. I leave the screen on (with notifications and HRM) during the day to track my steps, but I'm a little concerned that I only get a couple of days out of it with those settings. That said, a software update or two might fix it. I have given thought to returning it, but I'm leaning toward keeping it and hoping that Microsoft irons out the kinks with some nifty software updates.