 So in this video I'm going to do a quick update on what wearable device I'm using, what I've experimented with over the last few years, and why I've settled on the device I am using. Let's get into it. Hey guys, Alex here from AlexFegers.com. Now if you've been following my YouTube channel or my blog or newsletters for a while, you know that I like using health trackers or health wearables. In particular, I like learning about my sleep and stress and recovery. So I've used all sorts of devices over the years and I've reviewed a lot of them as well. My team have reviewed a lot of them, like the BioStrap, the O-ring, the Apple Watch. And I'll put links to all of those videos and reviews down below if you want to check them out. But the other day I got asked what I was doing because I personally haven't really covered this topic much in the last year or so, maybe even more. And I put quite a detailed response to that question and I thought, you know what, there might be other people wondering the same thing and I might be able to share some insights and some personal experiences that may help you if you're in the wearable space or looking at getting into the wearable space. So what am I doing? As of what are we, August 2021? Well, I'm actually back to using the O-ring. This is the second generation O-ring. It's actually been out for a few years now. But let me give you a bit of a backstory. So again, if you haven't been following my stuff, you would have seen that I was a big fan of the original O-ring. For various reasons, the main thing was form factor. It wasn't a bulky wristband or a chest strap. It just went on your finger. And also the fact that I had the airplane mode, like the low EMF mode, you could disable EMF. So that was why I liked it early on. O-ring then released their new and improved generation 2 O-ring, which is what I have here. And that's what I used for a long time. It was great. I mean, it's hardly noticeable when it's on your finger. It's not as bulky as the first one, not as chunky. The software has had some improvements. Though I still think there could be some more improvements, but maybe we'll touch on that later. And yeah, I mean, the battery life is good and it gives me the information that I want. I would like to see some more metrics, but hey, I mean, given the size of it, it's always been pretty impressive. But then what happened is I became a father and my wife gave birth to a gorgeous little boy. And I decided around that time that, hey, I wanted to minimize the technology that he was going to be exposed to as a baby and also that I was using. And I was concerned like, even though this O-ring does have an airplane mode, you can disable the transmitter. I was concerned that maybe I'd forget to do that or I wouldn't have enabled it properly. Around the same time, there were some new wearables on the market, or some other companies had updated products. So they were seeing in me their new and improved version. So I thought, hey, you know what, I'll experiment with some of these. And one of these was the Biostrap EVO that was the wristband. And I've always liked the Biostrap. I think from a data metric point of view, it's one of the best out there. If you're a serious biohacker right into your recovery and sleep and all that sort of stuff, I think it's one of the better devices, especially a year or two ago. So, you know, I came and I put that on. And the weird thing is, I've never been able to do wristbands. Like years ago, before the O-ring was out, I tried a jawbone, I think it was. And after a few days, I took it off. I actually had all my clients use jawbones before O-ring was out, because I wanted to see, as a coach, I wanted to see their data. And they will wore it. And a lot of them, you know, had FitBeds, and some of them got Apple watches and that later on. So they were all used to it. But I don't even wear a watch, like I haven't wore a watch since I was a teenager. So just having something on my wrist, I really struggled with it. And just knowing that, knowing though that it was going to help me and it was going to give some great information, I still really struggled with it. I was just like, nah, I just, I don't know, it would catch on things when I'd be on the farm and even putting clothes on. And I was just like, oh, what is this? And of course, the buy strap doesn't have a screen on it. So, you know, there's no, there's no, what's the word, instant use. Like, you don't look at it for the time. We'll see some data and stuff. So what happened is after a few nights or a few days of wearing it, I was like, hey, I can't do this during the day. And I feel uncomfortable wearing it as well, even when I was out and about. So then I just started wearing it at night just for the sleep data, which was good. But I think with a device like that, you really need to have it on 24 seven or not 24 seven, but most of the day as well. So you're getting your movement activity. You're getting the stress load from the day and then the algorithms can, you know, work their magic and give out some really good analytics. So yeah, I actually stopped using it. And in fact, my son at the time, he would have been about one now, was always a bit like, what is this dad? And I was playing with it because it was so foreign. So I stopped it. There was also one or two other little devices that came. I can't remember exactly what they were. And again, I put them on and those other devices weren't as exciting as the BioStrap. So I didn't really bother with them very recently. I thought, you know what, I'm going to get a watch. I'm going to get a smart watch. And part of the reason I wanted to do that was there have been times now, like especially out on the farm or if I'm doing a little bit of hunting where, you know, it's nice to know the time. You know, when it's going to get dark, you know, that was more what I was looking for. But also I've been back into training now. Like my boy is two and a half years old, I've been back out of the gym. And, you know, I thought, hey, I might get into some running or some rowing or some cycling or something and, you know, having a heart rate monitor device. You know, I thought, hey, I'm going to, I'm going to go get a smart watch. So I looked into smart watch options and I found the Garmin Tactics Delta. I think that's what it was called. It's like top of the range Garmin. It was like, I think it was about 1800 or 1500 US, but you could spend more and get one that had, it was like the military grade one. And it had like the ballistic information, ballistic info for longer and shooting, which I do a little bit of, a little bit of. And it had that all built in. I was like, I'll stop it. I'm going to go all out and buy this watch. And yeah, it arrived and I put it on and straight away I was like, I can't do this. It was exactly the same problem as the bystrap. And I was like, I can't, I just can't have, I can't handle something on my wrist. And I really wanted it to work, but the problem with the Garmin as well, I mean, this device was like, it's like the most advanced smart watch on the market. All right, today. So it had a lot of technology in it and it was indestructible effectively. I mean, it's designed for military soldiers and stuff. So it was quite kind of chunky as well. So I think if I had more of a streamlined watch, maybe I could have tolerated it. But yeah, I put it on and seriously, we're then just walking around the house. I was like, this is just not going to work. So yeah, I get the Garmin put on my watch. I put on my wrist and I'm like, yeah, it's so chunky. And I just couldn't do it. And I thought, you know what? Maybe what I should do is if I'm not going to keep it or use it long-term, sorry, if I'm not going to use it long-term, maybe what I should do is at least review it for a month. And, you know, it's some content and I can share my experiences and yeah, it's all good. So thinking I'll do that, I actually went and dug up my O-ring because I thought, well, it would be good to compare the sleep tracking function and the recovery tracking function on the Garmin and compare that with my O-ring data, you know, just to see if they will line up. And I know the O-ring is not perfect for sleep, but hey, it's pretty good. So, you know, I went and dug up the O-ring, put it on and thought, oh, this is cool. I haven't worn this for a long time. But around the same time, and remember that the Garmin had just arrived. I've only had this for a few hours. I, when I sit it all up, I remember that it's got the green LEDs that are pulsing all the time. So I took it off. I took it off before I even went to bed because I was like, I do all these things for my sleep and health and minimizing artificial light and all that jazz. And then now I'm going to be wearing a device that uses transmitting and you can turn off those functions, but it's a smart watch without any, you know, Bluetooth connectivity or anything like that. It's almost like having an iPhone without a SIM card in it, right? So I was like, I can deal with that at night, turning off those functions. But I was like, knowing that it's going to be pulsing this green light on my hand all night, I was like, oh, I really, yeah, I just couldn't do it. So I took it off, put it back in the box and, um, yeah, I didn't even really set it up. So I, I, I, if you're curious as to my thoughts on the government, I mean, I probably had on my wrist for 20 minutes max. And I didn't even set it up. So I can't give you any feedback other than it was too bulky for me. And yeah, it was never going to work out. But to wrap up the story, what happened is I had the O-ring on, right? And now fast forward like a month. And I still have the O-ring on. So I'm back to using the O-ring. So I've gone full circle and I guess the key takeaway here is for me, I know that I can't really use wrist straps. It just, it just, it just doesn't sit with me like wristbands. In a nutshell, I stopped using the O-ring for a long time. I tried some other devices, wrist based watches and smart devices. None of them really sat well with me. So I've gone back to using the O-ring and I'm, I'm happy, but could be happier. I hope you've enjoyed it. If you have any questions about what I've just said or the devices I've mentioned or anything like that, or actually, if you know of any smart watches that don't have the green LEDs and use red or near infrared devices, please, please let me know. Because it is something I would like to, you know, potentially experiment with or at least review. But the fact that all these devices have green, I just don't even bother with it. So anyway, please let me know if you have experience with, experiences with smart devices or wearables that I may not be aware of, you know, some new and improved stuff, what I've missed over the last few years, let me know. And yeah, be sure to check out my reviews on all these gadgets as well. I do have a couple up in my team have done a few of them as well. All right guys, if there's something else you want to know about my life or what I'm doing, because I am doing a lot of reviews now, but I'm getting a lot of questions as well. Like, hey, what do you think of this and what are you doing in this? In regards to whatever, just let me know and I might be able to help the video. All right guys, bye.