It won’t replace a Fitbit, but there is still a lot it does well.
The company’s revamped smartwatch operating system improves upon many of the problems that plagued Android Wear watches for the past two and a half years. I’ve had a chance to try out some of its features on both the LG Watch Style and the LG Watch Sport.
The good news is the interface is cleaner and easier to navigate, with an on-watch Play Store for downloading apps, and watch faces that can be customized to include app shortcuts and widgets — including Google Fit stats like steps and calorie count for one-glance use. Shortcuts to start Google Fit workouts are easier to make, too.
When the update arrives on existing watches over the next few weeks, along with newly updated apps, the revamped fitness experience could possibly rival your Fitbit. But at this point, it still has work to do.
Android Wear watches always had some basic fitness-tracking features. They could track steps, distance, calories burned and active minutes. Google Fit will also automatically log workouts. It’s similar to what we have seen from Fitbit and Samsung. The watches know when you are walking, running, biking and even doing aerobics. The workout will then be logged automatically in the Google Fit app.
Automatic workout tracking is helpful, but sometimes it can get confused. A moderate walk with my dog was recorded as a bike ride, for example. The lack of on-watch indicators was also frustrating. It’s unclear when exactly an exercise is being recorded. You won’t know until you open the Google Fit app on your phone. On Samsung’s Gear S3 , the automatic recording happens more clearly and with better heads-up stats on recent accomplishments.
Android Wear 2.0 now comes preloaded with a new and improved Google Fit workout. The app gives you the ability to view all of your fitness data right on the watch. It also lets you set a specific fitness goal, such as walking 10,000 steps or running three times a week. Unfortunately, the app still doesn’t support all-day heart-rate tracking or sleep tracking, although there are some third-party options available in the new Wear app store that do.
