In the know: how accurate is your activity tracker
On May 24th, an article was released in the Journal of Personalized Medicine in which a group of scientits from Stanford University wanted to answer this exact question. They tested seven different wearable bands that monitor both heart rate and energy expenditure (calories burned). The seven pieces of equipment were the Apple Watch, Basis Peak, Fitbit Surge, Microsoft Band, Mio Alpha 2, PulseOn and the Samsung Gear S2. To verify accuracy for heart rate, they compared them with a medical-grade electrocardiograph. The calories used was estimated with an instrument for measuring the oxygen and carbon dioxide in breath -- a good proxy for metabolism and energy expenditure. Results: For heart rate, all the devices were withing a 5% margin. This is good since heart rate is measured directley and uses a simple formula for everyone. If you wear one of these devices for this purpose, you can share this information with your doctor with co...