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My father wears Casio watches almost exclusively, he's been tempted by a Fitbit so he can start tracking his step count, but even though I've bought him the Fitbit, he's finding the whole setup and app usage too intimidating, and so he hasn't used it.

This, in the silver ABL-100WE-2AEF model, is exactly what he wants. Same Casio, same interface, just now it has step count. He doesn't even need / want the Bluetooth.

(Me, I'll keep rocking my Pebble Time 2. Absolutely love it.)

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Of all the things "smart watches" do, the one thing beyond time that most people actually perceive daily is their tracked steps.

IE; My apple watch ais the only one that goes out of it's way to make sure I know my steps for the day, and is always "accurate". Which is nice, but gimmicky for someone like me who doesn't analyze my steps.

I imagine Casio went after similar low hanging fruit, as an acceleromater is cheap/old tech, while still being able to feature compete with something like an apple watch.

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I guess it's a more complicated thing to implement (!= low hanging fruit), but I'd be more interested in sleep tracking than step tracking.
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Sure, but we can't do sleep tracking well. Todays devices mostly guess and map to typical patterns. Might, might not, work reasonably for you. But chances are that if you want to track your sleep because you suspect irregularities then they are about as useful as a potato.
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The Apple Watch is quite accurate (according to Apple's own research, at least), and it doesn't guess or map to typical patterns: https://www.apple.com/health/pdf/Estimating_Sleep_Stages_fro...
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From other anectdata the apple watch seems to just as bad as everything else.

We just don't seem to have any idea how to track sleep quality even with better devices than just a watch/whatever. Even a binary, is the person I'm attached to sleeping, is hit and miss. And with that in mind you can be pretty sure that the sleep stages etc is even worse.

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The problem with sleep tracking watches is that simply wearing them alters your sleep patterns/quality.
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> Step counter seems like a bizarre thing to focus in on? are people passionately tracking steps without their phones?

Yup. I go for walks specifically to leave my damn phone at home. I do bring an Apple Watch w/ airpods in case I need to take an urgent call and for podcasts, but I don't bother with texts or alerts or any other nonsense.

And while step tracking is not critical, if you have health goals that include a minimum number of steps a day I find it incredibly nice to have. I can check my counter before bed, and take the dog for a 30 minute walk if I'm behind for the day. Just a means to hold myself accountable on those crappy low energy stressful days.

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People are, absolutely, yes! In the tech world there is an ever-growing focus on devices which can operate independently of smartphones, even to an offline/local-first extent.

The trend is trickling down into other circles as well. People are beginning to correctly identify needless hyperconverged connectivity as a burden rather than a convenience.

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It's always been this way. It adds to the charm, to be realized in a few decades. Camp-chique.

Indiglo WATER RESIST 69m ALARM Chronograph

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I had this same reaction to past step counters. I keep my phone in my pocket, and it works basically perfectly as a step counter.

But then I realized that many people do not keep their phone in their pocket, especially women. For them, a watch, bracelet or ring really is the best option.

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Grandpa kept a pedometer in a little pouch for decades. I got him a Fitbit but he didn’t like that, and more recently another cheap pedometer off of Amazon.
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I am not passionate about it but I like to make sure I'm moving a lot. I like that I can at a glance just see how much that's happened each day. I have one of these. Had one a while now and its the only watch I've ever used that I've stuck with and kept using.
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My phone is sitting on my desk now connected to a charger - meaning any pacing I'm doing at the moment it not tracked. When I cook I often set my phone on the counter with the recipe - again while I'm moving all over. I often go to the bathroom in the middle of the night without bringing my phone.

I hate watches, but one would be better for step tracking - it is more likely to be on me to track information.

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Step tracking is for health reasons. Unless you do activities you describe 12h a day, every day, whether they are counted or not doesnt move the proverbial health needle a bit
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From what I can tell health is about both quantity and quality. 30 minutes of exercise and sitting is not good for health. That is why 10,000 steps per day is so often a goal - I can do a few thousand steps in the 30 minutes of exercise, but other activities should also give steps and I want to know in general how active I am.
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Step tracking is for people who like to pretend they are doing something healthy without actually exerting any dedicated effort above and beyond their normal routine.

"Walking briskly for 30 minutes" is a better measure of something healthy than how many steps you took.

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Just go run or go on a walk every day.
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But that doesn't give me data...

I do try to get my daily exercise. However it is still interesting to know how many steps I've taken. (sometimes my daily exercise is bike or swimming which are obviously not steps)

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Not sure how old you are, but I am pushing 40. In order to stay healthy I need to track my steps and calories(somewhat), otherwise, I gain weight.

Tracking steps helps me stay on track.

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> are people passionately tracking steps without their phones?

The least apps on my phone, the better. And the least I've got my phone on me, the better. I often leave the house without taking my phone.

I don't track my steps but the wife does... Using a watch.

Why do you automatically assume everybody on earth is as tied to his phone as you are?

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You must be unfamiliar with the cult of the 10,000 steps a day.
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