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Watch with PulseOx, Fenix5, D2 Delta, Apple


Bryan

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Does anyone have experience or PIREPS with any of the newer watches that have the PulseOx built in?

Here are the ones I am looking at:

  • Garmin D2 Delta PX Aviator Pilot
  • Garmin Fenix 5
  • *Apple Watch Series 4

*the Apple watches have the sensor but the functionality has not been released.  Hoping they will enable it during the ECG release, soon

I have owned a Garmin Fenix 3 for health activities for several years, and really like it. The battery last almost an entire week with about 5-6 moderate activities during the week and seems to do a good at tracking heart-rate.  But, I am more interested in tracking my O2 sat levels while flying - constantly.

The obvious choice is the new Delta PX Aviator watch but it is nearly 1.2 AMUs.  I think I would jump on it if it were 2/3 to half that price but I can use my finger pulse ox for $3-400 difference.

Does anyone have any of these?

 

watches.jpg

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I bought a fitbit-like unit from Costco for $150. It has a separate finger cuff for the pulse ox and works well. It has an exercise mode, and a sleep mode, plus it can link to your phone to download data. Most importantly, the cuff will vibrate if your pulse ox drops below a threshold that you can set.

I'm continuing to watch the wrist-based devices for measuring pulse ox and have read that they might not be ready for prime time yet. And I don't want to spend that much yet until I'm confident they're good. The Costco unit works pretty well, especially for the price, but it isn't an everyday wear device for me because of the cuff.

Sent from my LG-US996 using Tapatalk

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Looking at it from the other direction...

Fit bit is great for heart rate data while jogging...

Pulse-ox isn’t portable enough.  Had to stop running to get the reading... another example of that cat in the trunk challenge...

For best info... it needs to be in place collecting data all the time. Reviewable by phone or iPad...

Adding alarms and notifications only makes sense...

The sleep monitor works really well at predicting how well your day is going to go. Or how long it is going to go...

 

If it isn’t part of your everyday gear... It will get forgotten...

If it isn’t on for the whole flight you... you will always get to it next... when you get a chance... or... not.............

Using the pulse-ox often, gives you excellent feedback for what your low O2 signs are... a couple of deep breaths like i’m Working hard, and some fuzzy central vision, are some strong hints now that I know what they mean...

Deep breaths while sitting in a chair... I must be flying really hard... :)

I have a few years of Fitbit experience... if they include the pulse-ox feature, that is a buy it tomorrow kind of thing...

Iwatches are probably quite good as they are heading / targeting in the direction of being medical device quality. Idevice quality is 10X anything Fitbit is making... and priced properly for it.

Great questions!

Best regards,

-a-

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  • 4 months later...

I’m assuming the next generation of Apple Watch will have ECG, pulse ox, etc..  They recently came out with a study using the Apple Watch to screen for new cases of atrial fibrillation (a risk factor for stroke) and it was essentially a negative study. Despite that, the watches are definitely getting more sophisticated. I’m a little nervous with what the Apples and Googles of the world intend to do with your medical data, but it’s definitely helpful when someone comes to the ER and they have all of their information on their phones.

If I were in the market for an aviation watch right now, I’d just wait for the next Apple Watch. Things like watch METAR, and a bunch of other aviation apps make it the most useful for me. Not sure what happened to the foreflight app, though.

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I bought the D2 Delta PX then returned it and got the D2 Delta instead. I didn’t think the built in pulse ox was worth the extra price, plus it’s just a big watch. I think the Delta is perfect and bought a new fingertip pulse ox and a nice steak dinner with the savings. 

Honestly I don’t really find myself looking at the watch enough in flight to make the constant pulse ox monitoring worth it. The best feature to me is the flight logging (see attached example) but your mileage may vary  

 

CD5F1A00-BF1A-48A4-BF90-D93F2E06C7BC.png

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3 minutes ago, Mike A said:

I bought the D2 Delta PX then returned it and got the D2 Delta instead. I didn’t think the built in pulse ox was worth the extra price, plus it’s just a big watch. I think the Delta is perfect and bought a new fingertip pulse ox and a nice steak dinner with the savings. 

Honestly I don’t really find myself looking at the watch enough in flight to make the constant pulse ox monitoring worth it. The best feature to me is the flight logging (see attached example) but your mileage may vary  

 

CD5F1A00-BF1A-48A4-BF90-D93F2E06C7BC.png

Zero calories for sitting in a plane for 3 hours? I think you got ripped off...:D

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2 minutes ago, Mike A said:

I bought the D2 Delta PX then returned it and got the D2 Delta instead. I didn’t think the built in pulse ox was worth the extra price, plus it’s just a big watch. I think the Delta is perfect and bought a new fingertip pulse ox and a nice steak dinner with the savings. 

Honestly I don’t really find myself looking at the watch enough in flight to make the constant pulse ox monitoring worth it. The best feature to me is the flight logging (see attached example) but your mileage may vary  

 

CD5F1A00-BF1A-48A4-BF90-D93F2E06C7BC.png

Yeah, the 578 miles in 3 hours is nice (doesn't 193 mph average sound awesome?  :P ), but you really need to work on that big "0 Calories" thing . . . .

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2 hours ago, HRM said:

@Bryan What did you wind up with?

Anybody have a D2  Charlie?

I have the D2 Delta PX. I am a former Fenix  owner, so not new to Garmin watches. I love the PX and love that it does the O2. It is not perfect but does a nice job with the O2%. Waiting for a software update to my FS510 to get flight plan transfer to the D2, not that it is really needed but will be nice for tracking.

265485A3-5C04-4732-837A-6215F307238F.jpeg

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2 hours ago, Bryan said:

I have the D2 Delta PX.

That's the one I meant^_^--the new one.

So, is it basically a Fenix 5x plus with the aviation goodies?

I want to use it for working out/fitness AND aviation. Gottah stay healthy to fly.

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Just now, HRM said:

That's the one I meant^_^--the new one.

So, is it basically a Fenix 5x plus with the aviation goodies?

I want to use it for working out/fitness AND aviation. Gottah stay healthy to fly.

Correct. All the Fenix 5x stuff and the aviation. I run with mine every morning. It has the bike and swimming stuff too.

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5 minutes ago, HRM said:

Gottah stay healthy to fly.

I agree with this! But haven't ventured into smart watch / fitbug territory yet . . .

My workout program is pulling the Mooney out of the hangar and pushing it back in; folding up while getting in and out keeps me flexible.

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29 minutes ago, Hank said:

My workout program is pulling the Mooney out of the hangar and pushing it back in; folding up while getting in and out keeps me flexible.

I've often said that when I can't get the Mooney in and out of the hangar it will be time to fold my wings.

That said, I did install a winch and oh do I love that thing! :P

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I’ve got the D2 Charlie. Like everyone else said, it’s good for flight tracking. 

I haven’t ventured into the world of O2 required flights yet, so not needing an oxygen reader as of yet. 

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On 10/29/2018 at 11:11 AM, Bryan said:

Does anyone have experience or PIREPS with any of the newer watches that have the PulseOx built in?

Here are the ones I am looking at:

  • Garmin D2 Delta PX Aviator Pilot
  • Garmin Fenix 5
  • *Apple Watch Series 4

*the Apple watches have the sensor but the functionality has not been released.  Hoping they will enable it during the ECG release, soon

I have owned a Garmin Fenix 3 for health activities for several years, and really like it. The battery last almost an entire week with about 5-6 moderate activities during the week and seems to do a good at tracking heart-rate.  But, I am more interested in tracking my O2 sat levels while flying - constantly.

The obvious choice is the new Delta PX Aviator watch but it is nearly 1.2 AMUs.  I think I would jump on it if it were 2/3 to half that price but I can use my finger pulse ox for $3-400 difference.

Does anyone have any of these?

 

watches.jpg

You may already know this but the Fenix 5 base model doesn't have PulseOx. You have to get the 5X or 5X Plus for that feature. 

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On 3/22/2019 at 10:18 PM, carusoam said:

Get the O2 reader any ways.... you want to know how well things are working at much lower levels than the standard Olevel... 

I believe the watch also uses it in fitness modes, which is why the Fenix 5 Plus has it.

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  • 3 years later...

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