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Study: Smartphones Just As Good As Fitness Trackers For Counting Steps 128

Posted by samzenpus from the stepping-it-up dept.
jfruh writes While dedicated fitness trackers that you wear around your wrist have any number of functions, many people are focused on a single metric: counting steps, which serves as a proxy for determining how active you are. But a recent study from the University of Pennsylvania showed that if that's mainly what you want out of a fitness tracker, then you almost certainly have a device in your pocket that can do the same thing as well if not better: your smartphone.
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Study: Smartphones Just As Good As Fitness Trackers For Counting Steps More

Study: Smartphones Just As Good As Fitness Trackers For Counting Steps

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  • But the price... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by hooiberg ( 1789158 ) on Thursday February 12, 2015 @06:29AM (#49036749)
    But smartphones are a lot more expensive than fitness trackers. Moreover, they tend to be far more complicated devices. Moreover, they are quite big and inconvenient to carry along when practicing fitness. So, actually, they are not so good at all for this purpose.

    • Re:But the price... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by hcs_$reboot ( 1536101 ) on Thursday February 12, 2015 @06:35AM (#49036771)
      TFS

      you almost certainly have a device in your pocket that can do the same thing as well if not better: your smartphone

      implies that you already have a smartphone. So, use it instead of purchasing another device...

      • Also implies that it's in my pocket when I'm about to go for a run and it most certainly isn't. They're too big, too heavy, and too fragile to take with me when running. They flop around in your pocket (if you even have a pocket) and they get covered in condensation. A case won't help because it only adds to the weight and condensation occurs inside the case anyway.

        • Re:But the price... (Score:5, Informative)

          by gstoddart ( 321705 ) on Thursday February 12, 2015 @09:35AM (#49037379) Homepage

          Obviously you've never seen the weather-proof armbands people use for jogging with their cell phone ... put in the headphones, put it in the sealed case, strap it to your arm and go do your thing.

          This is literally a solved problem, and has been for a bunch of years.

          The accessories makers have been all over covering the running crowd for a LONG time.

        • I agree with you there, I don't care if there are armbands etc for my smartphone, that isn't practical at work. I use a fitbit because it's always clipped inside my pocket, my phone I set down often at work and sometimes forget to pick up when I leave my desk and I don't like to carry my phone with me when I work out. I also will be relaxing on my vacation but still want to make sure I am moving around enough while I'm away without my phone, my fitbit will be coming with me.
      • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re: (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward

      If you had trained enough, every normally-sized smartphone would fit into your anus by now.

      • Re:But the price... (Score:5, Funny)

        by Thanshin ( 1188877 ) on Thursday February 12, 2015 @06:56AM (#49036845)

        As always, the best part of Slashdot isn't the news but the insight by the experts in each topic.

        Thank you for your feedback.

        • (Moreover, fitness trackers are far more shock and water/sweat resistant than smartphones) :-)

          • Re:But the price... (Score:4, Insightful)

            by itzly ( 3699663 ) on Thursday February 12, 2015 @07:32AM (#49036957)

            I think they are mainly talking about people who carry a simple device to count their steps during a normal day. In that situation, it's perfectly normal to be carrying a smart phone, and not worry too much about it getting covered in sweat or getting exposed to shocks.

            • Just put it in a fanny pack, along with your id, some money, your phone's headphones, keys, and anything else you might need.

            • I'm interested to know how running one of these apps all day affects battery life. And how (especially on an iPhone) one can verify that the app is still running.

              • I've got one on my iPhone. It came with the iOS 8 upgrade, and that doesn't seem to have hurt my battery life. Interesting thing is that, when I installed iOS 8 and the fitness app came up, it had historical data on my steps before I upgraded the OS.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dcw3 ( 649211 )

        Maybe your average ex-con anus. Mine is a bit tighter.

    • I have a FitBit, I also have a smart phone with the FitBit app on. The smart phone has motion sensors and data collection ability.

      The FitBit is a lot more accurate when counting steps, for many different reasons - I leave my phone on my desk when at work, so it doesnt capture my movements around the office. I leave my phone on my bedside cabinet at night, so it doesn't capture my early morning routine. I leave my phone on the coffee table when I'm at home, so it doesn't capture my pottering around the ho

      • Wrist band type pedometers I find highly inaccurate. I have two waist worn pedometers and put them on for a week, at the end of each day they were between +/- 20-50 out (10,000 steps), the FitBit was + 1,000 to 2,000 different. The FitBit was counting when I raised my arm, ate from a spoon, and other stuff...

        I do agree we may put our phone down when at home or in the office. However, many pedometers do not count unless it detects more than 20 steps, so at home for me they rarely count my steps.

      • I have a FitBit, I also have a smart phone with the FitBit app on. The smart phone has motion sensors and data collection ability.

        The FitBit is a lot more accurate

        I'd like an opinion from you as a FitBit user (or any other FitBit users out there)...

        Yes, FitBit's advantages include the fact that it follows you everywhere since it's more easily worn anywhere, including the shower nowadays for some of the newer models.

        I got a FitBit as a gift for a good friend of mine. She was appalled by how it asks for p

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by blang ( 450736 )

          On phones, most apps tend to ask for more permissions than they really need, and if you don't accept it, the app will not install.
          Your friend sounds extremely paranoid, possibly for a reason. I doubt letting the battery run out is not going to erase any data, though.
          And "The Company" is not the one thing to worry about. Rather how well they can keep the data secure, and out of the hands of potential stalkers.,
          Some people have experienced rape and violence, and have PTSD. This paranoia is just a way of copin

    • But smartphones are a lot more expensive than fitness trackers.

      Depends on how you measure it. I've already got a smartphone. It's a sunk cost. A fitness tracker would have minimal benefit to me at significant additional cost.

      Moreover, they tend to be far more complicated devices.

      Because they do a lot more. I don't think that is news to anyone.

      Moreover, they are quite big and inconvenient to carry along when practicing fitness.

      This is the one and only meaningful benefit to fitness trackers. Instead of carrying a full computer you are just carrying the sensors and some storage to log the data.

      • If you already have a smartphone, the story is a bit different, I agree.

        If you want a device that does a lot more, that may also be OK. But it makes sense only when you would also use all those features. If I would just like something that monitors my fitness, I would not be tempted to buy a device that can do a lot of other things as well. If I am looking for a chair, I will not buy a car, just because it is four chairs with a whole lot of extra stuff. And I would not like to take the time to get acquain

        • If you already have a smartphone, the story is a bit different, I agree.

          And the sales figures for smartphones say that odds are far better than not that you do have a smartphone. I don't think I've met a single person who has a fitness tracker who does not also have a smartphone. The target demographic for fitness trackers is very close to a subset of the demographic for smartphones.

          If I would just like something that monitors my fitness, I would not be tempted to buy a device that can do a lot of other things as well.

          Please point me to a fitness tracker that is usable as a standalone device without either a smartphone or a PC. I've certainly never seen one.

          And I would not like to take the time to get acquainted with a smart phone, while I could master a fitness tracker in a few minutes.

          If you haven't actually tried a smartphone how do you

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by blang ( 450736 )

          But if you are a user of a fitness tracker, you are also possibly a novice exerciser, and bring an mp3 player. Now you have 2 devices that could be replaced with a smartphone. And the smartphone can call 911, and take a picture of that man biting a squirrel on the path. There are tons of reasons to bring along the smartphone, even if you did not use as a tracker.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by blang ( 450736 )

        If you don't need the accuracy, why in the godforsaken earth do you even need a tracker.
        Spend 1 minute at the end of each week or month, and do the napkin math.

      • If I'm running (yeah, like that happens a lot), a phone's annoying, though an armband helps. A well-designed small pedometer wouldn't be as annoying, but the basic $5 waist-band-clip step-counter pedometers fall off.

        For walking, though, I'm normally wearing clothes with pockets, and the phone's not an problem; if I wanted to track motion with it it would be fine. (The basic $5 waist-band-clip step-counter pedometers? Still fall off.)

    • Honestly, that was one of my main reasons for getting an Android Wear smartwatch. I hate having to make sure I take my phone with me any time I'm walking around or having to carry my phone at the gym while running. There are obviously other benefits to Android Wear, but the pedometer functionality was my #1 motivator.

    • Most people I know that excercise already take their smartphones with them. It's their music player. Then again, it's also their fitness tracker already. This is not news!

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by blang ( 450736 )

      Uh?
      The price for adding fitness tracking to a smartphone is normally $0 if you already own one. Most users would need just a free app.
      There are very few people that do not own a smartphone these days, and also there are very few that leave their house without it.
      They want to be reachable, and they want to be able to call 911 when something bad happens.
      Or navigate, if venturing into unknown territories,.
      And they also double as mp3 player and camera, should you encounter an interesting motif.

      But I agree thou

      • I work as a programmer, so I know how buggy software usually is, so I do not have a smartphone. And I leave my mobile phone at home when I go out, just because I do not want to be reachable everywhere and at anytime. And navigating in unknown territory is a fun adventure without an electronic map. :-)

        But I agree with you as well. Many people have a smartphone, so for them the expense for a fitness tracker would be less than a few hundred bucks. (unless they get a very high end running watch, but that is
    • Phone, fitness tracker, music player, camera, video-player, GPS-locator, internet browser .... Why have another device?

  • Poor testers! (Score:5, Funny)

    by ctrl-alt-canc ( 977108 ) on Thursday February 12, 2015 @06:40AM (#49036783)
    From the article:
    Researchers gave participants an iPhone 5s running three fitness apps, a Galaxy S4 running one fitness app and six wearable devices, including products from Fitbit, Jawbone and Nike.
     The people doing the test probably collapsed under the weight of all these devices...

    • The people doing the test probably collapsed under the weight of all these devices...

      Were they hobbits??

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by qbast ( 1265706 )
        They were typical fitness app users, who take a lot of time on their devices, apps, posting to facebook but little on actual physical activity.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by blang ( 450736 )

          That seems to be the entryway though. The fitness gadgets (trackers, mp3 players) are the gateway drugs that potentially can lead to an exercising lifestyle.
          Once you start exercising, at first you can only do it indoors, because you are ashamed of your physical appearance or poor fitness.
          When you graduate to move outdoors, you will need gadgets to get you going. Track the progress, see the improvement. And the mp3 player to distract you from the rote of moving around. After a year or 2, you can drop the mp3

  • Or As Bad As ...?
  • Its much convenient to have small fitness tracker on your wrist or pocket. Phones barely fit in pockets now-a-days. Added bonus almost all fitness tracker now-a-days come with HR monitors.
  • I've used my iPhone to track my steps as well as a FitBit to do so. I can agree from experience that they both track just as well as the other. The difference? My phone is much larger and is much more expensive to replace. I like that I don't have to bring my phone with me to track my activity when I'm out doing stuff (and no annoying calls). I also track my stats when playing ice hockey. What kind of fool would bring a phone for that?

    They may be the same in terms of counting steps, but in terms of
    • I've tested it with my Galaxy S5 and found it typically overestimates steps by 25% to 75%. The primary reason appears to be I'm usually wearing dress pants with fairly loose pockets. And no I'm not going to strap a phone to my leg at work and I'd knock it off of a carrying case.
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Bad Summary: Looking at the graphs in the study (Score:5, Informative)

    by Chrisq ( 894406 ) on Thursday February 12, 2015 @08:01AM (#49037039)

    Looking at the graphs in the study [netdna-cdn.com] a more accurate report would be:

    Of the dedicated devices the "Fitbit One" and the "Fitbit Zip" where super accurate, but the average for dedicated devices was brought down by the abysmal performance of the "Nike Fuelband". The various apps tested gave a reasonable performance, as did the other dedicated devices tested

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ameoba ( 173803 )

      "Fitbit only usable device, Nike Fuelband total shit".

      • Re:Bad Summary: Looking at the graphs in the study (Score:5, Informative)

        by swillden ( 191260 ) <shawn-ds@willden.org> on Thursday February 12, 2015 @10:36AM (#49037771) Journal

        "Fitbit only usable device, Nike Fuelband total shit".

        I think they're all quite usable. In this space utility is not dependent on accuracy, for most people, because for most people it really doesn't matter if you get an extremely accurate step count. What matters is that you get a reasonable estimate of your activity level, as compared with you activity level measured on other days.

        Fitbit tries to estimate calories burned from your walking, and if that were at all accurate, it could arguably be important to get an accurate step count. But it's not, because people are too different.

        For most of a year I performed very detailed tracking of my caloric intake vs expenditure, including the use of a Fitbit step tracker and a cycling power meter, and plotted those against my weight gain/loss. What I found, once I had determined by base metabolic rate, was that estimating caloric expenditure with the power meter is highly accurate, but Fitbit's estimate of my caloric expenditure due to walking consistently overreported by about 30%.

        That's not because Fitbit is doing anything wrong; their pedometers are quite accurate and I'm sure they're using reasonable models for estimating energy use based on the walker's weight and height. The fact that the overreporting rate was so consistent even though my body weight changed by almost 15% supports this. A friend who did the same experiment for a while found that for him the Fitbit-reported caloric expenditure only slightly overreported. He and I are different; perhaps his walking style is significantly less efficient than mine, or perhaps it's something in the composition of our diets (the human body is an imperfect heat engine; different sorts of foods are converted with varying efficiencies, and even the combinations matter).

        Then I tried using my phone to measure my steps. It reported far fewer steps than my Fitbit did every day, which concerned me, so I did some tests. I walked some measured courses with both and counted my steps. The Fitbit was darned near perfect, being off by only a step or two in thousands -- and it's entirely possible that those errors were mine, not the device's, since I was counting mentally rather than using a counting device. The phone, was bad... but in a consistent way. In fact, I found that, for me, applying Fitbit's formula (using their web site) but my phone's step counts actually provided a much better estimate of caloric expenditure, when calibrated against weight change.

        If you're actually trying to convert steps to calories, I think inter-person variability is a bigger factor than device accuracy, and if you're anal enough to actually try to calibrate the system, your calibration for the former will easily take care of the latter -- as long as you consistently use the same device.

        However most people don't, and won't ever, do the controlled experimentation and analysis to calibrate themselves. So what most people really use a pedometer for is to (a) track relative physical activity level over time and (b) set and work towards goals of increasing activity. If what matters is relative activity, then an inaccurate but reasonably consistent device is just as good as a perfectly-accurate device.

        And you probably already have a phone, which is a reasonably-consistent pedometer. If you already have a Nike Fuelband, that works, too.

        (And now I'm waiting to see if my AC stalker shows up and crapfloods responses to this post.)

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by Chrisq ( 894406 )

          "Fitbit only usable device, Nike Fuelband total shit".

          I think they're all quite usable. In this space utility is not dependent on accuracy, for most people, because for most people it really doesn't matter if you get an extremely accurate step count. What matters is that you get a reasonable estimate of your activity level, as compared with you activity level measured on other days.

          You could argue that something that sometimes only registers half the steps might make you fitter .... if you exercise until it says 10,000 steps every day you could be doing a lot more.

  • I use Sleep As Android to wake me up optimally. It uses the accelerometer to estimate and track sleep phase - quite effectively to. But it eats my battery like mad - if I let it track sleep all night long, I can expect a 40-60% drain. It basically can't let the phone go into deep sleep so it can keep on getting accelerometer data.
    I also have a MiFit band, which cost around $20 with shipping and has a 41mah battery which looks like it's easily going to surpass the expected 30 days of usage per charge. It tra

  • Sure, you could use your phone, but (Score:3)

    by indytx ( 825419 ) on Thursday February 12, 2015 @08:12AM (#49037081)
    Phones are inconvenient compared to a fitness tracker. First, I have to charge my phone daily, and my tracker can go at least a week. Second, I don't have to keep my phone in the bedroom. I suppose I'm just showing my age for not wanting my phone in my bedroom. My tracker can silently wake me up! I'd have to actually sleep with my phone for that. Finally, I don't like running or exercising with my phone. My tracker weighs so much less, and I don't have to worry about it getting sweaty. Phones can do so much, but sometimes you just want a device which does less.

    • Phones are inconvenient compared to a fitness tracker.

      Only in some circumstances. For general use as a pedometer I normally have my smartphone with me anyway so a fitness tracker would be redundant. The only time a fitness tracker is helpful is when the bulk of a smartphone makes carrying one prohibitive or when there is a risk of damage to the phone (sweat, impact etc)

      First, I have to charge my phone daily, and my tracker can go at least a week

      I charge my phone daily anyway. Not really seeing a problem here. Doesn't really cause me any problems

      Second, I don't have to keep my phone in the bedroom. I suppose I'm just showing my age for not wanting my phone in my bedroom.

      I use my phone as my alarm clock so different strokes for different folks I suppose. It

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by jedidiah ( 1196 )

        >> Phones are inconvenient compared to a fitness tracker.

        > Only in some circumstances.

        That's kind of the ENTIRE point. All that is required is ONE use case for which the phone is woefully inappropriate and the advantage goes to the dedicated device.

        • That's kind of the ENTIRE point. All that is required is ONE use case for which the phone is woefully inappropriate and the advantage goes to the dedicated device.

          Umm, no. It doesn't work like that. I know folks here on slashdot just love to find the one corner case and then declare that invalidates everything else but the real world doesn't work that way most of the time. I live near a park where people go running every day. Probably the majority of them are carrying some sort of smartphone with them, usually listening to music while they run and in cases like my wife as a safety measure. Not everyone of course but lots of them. They didn't all say "OMG a fitn

          • My phone is already doing so much. If I'm going somewhere I know I will be taking pictures then I bring a camera. Otherwise I get pictures of the first couple of hours of activities and then a phone that doesn't do anything at all. It isn't a convenience savings if I have to bring my phone and extra charging capabilities over a phone and a dedicated camera. Same thing with a fitness tracker, my phone can do it, but I've got better use for that charge.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      This kind of thing always amuses me:

      " I don't like running or exercising with my phone. My tracker weighs so much less"

      You go out of your way to spend calories, but you complain about something weighing more... You should be pleased of a tiny bit of added weight - makes it easier to exert yourself. It is like the people who circle the parking lot to find the parking space closest to the fitness center where they then run a mile on a stupid treadmill.

    • If you have to charge your phone daily, it might be high time for a new battery. I have to charge mine only every three weeks or so. With a few longer calls maybe every two weeks.

  • I rigged my PC with an accelerometer, gyroscope and compass. Time to strap this baby to my waist and go for a jog!

  • Something my fiancé pointed out is that phones can never work quite as well as fitness trackers for women. Women's clothes often don't have useful pockets if they have pockets at all. So if she's walking around the house in a dress without a purse those aren't steps are likely not getting tracked. Though that might be a small number of steps so it might not make a difference overall.

    • My wife has exactly this problem, she clips her FitBit One to the strap on her bra. Works just fine. Yes she could wear a wrist fitness tracker but she hates things around her wrists.

  • I know I am counter to popularity, but I don't carry a phone that often. I am not allowed to use it at work, I only use it for tethering at school, and more often than not, I find myself trying to get away from the thing than keeping the annoyance of a device around. As opposed to my fitness tracker, no one questions me having it on, I don't get points deducted in class if I look at it, and no one every asks me to remove it.

    Perhaps I am the niche, but in my case, the fitness tracker makes sense for me.

  • The fitbit is in my pocket frome when I get dressed in the morning until I get home and go pants free.
    The cellphone lives on my desk while I am at work.

    So the cellphone utterly sucks at counting my steps while it's on my desk.

  • I've had a step counter running on my iphone 5, and it drains the battery faster than normal. It's also not something I care to wear when I'm doing cardio. My Garmin band (vivosmart) weighs essentially nothing and the battery lasts for days. Winner: Garmin.

  • Why are we step counting in the 21st century? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Applehu Akbar ( 2968043 ) on Thursday February 12, 2015 @11:15AM (#49038059)

    Step-counting is fine in the gym, but on the street a smartphone can do what no fitness tracker can: track how far you are walking/running and, combined with map information, over what hills and at what altitude. The old-style pedometer relied on your being able to calculate an average stride and stick with it under all conditions.

    • on the street a smartphone can do what no fitness tracker can: track how far you are walking/running

      Because GPS is a massive battery suck?

      • I can hike most of the day while creating a GPS track on my phone. Any exercise session will be shorter than that.

        • I need a new phone. :/ My Samsung Galaxy S3 running Cyanogenmod loses about 30% of battery in an hour using GPS guidance.

  • At least that has been my experience with fitness tracker apps.

    But they do seem to work fine otherwise.

    • Depends on the app and the phone. Some phones, like the Nexus 5/LG G2, have hardware step counters that apps can use instead of the accelerometer/GPS. Those phones and apps barely touch your battery at all, and are significantly more accurate than the rest.

  • Employer Benefits (Score:4, Insightful)

    by braindrainbahrain ( 874202 ) on Thursday February 12, 2015 @12:56PM (#49038851)

    In my case, my employer gives me Health Care Spending account money based on how many steps I log on my fitbit. So even if my phone can do the function, it won't get me my money.

    • Could you theoretically make a living from just walking, if you would make, say 20 or 30 miles per day?

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