Ticwatch GTH vs Fitbit Sense

When you place them side by side, you’ll find that the Ticwatch GTH and the Fitbit Sense are two similar smartwatches.

But are they just superficially similar?

Hmm, both smartwatches are fitness focused.

Both smartwatches also follow similar design features.

But the price difference is distinct.

So what’s the difference? Is the Ticwatch GTH cheap and good?

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Cheap and good

Yes, I believe the Ticwatch GTH is cheap and good if you’re comparing it directly to the Fitbit Sense.

For a fraction of the Fitbit Sense’s price you get a smartwatch that gives you pretty good health data.

Design and comfort

Both smartwatches are really nicely designed.

They follow all the elements that make them look like modern smartwatches.

Curved glass, rounded edges. One-button-minimalism.

That’s pretty great.

I would say that if you’re looking for a smartwatch that’s not “serious” looking, you’re in the right place.

Health data

Both smartwatches centre around the idea that a smartwatch can help you improve your lifestyle, habits and workouts.

Knowledge is power.

It’s easy to get biased and think that the Fitbit is a superior watch because it’s more pricey.

But I have always felt Mobvoi, the company who makes Ticwatches, have always made great smartwatches with great bang for buck.

Neck-and-neck with 2021’s hottest health metrics

Both smartwatches are pretty high up there in terms of the health metrics.

Blood oxygen saturation? You got it. 

It’s also sometimes known as oximeter or Sp02.

You know it’s a modern smartwatch when the rear of the smartwatch has red LEDs to track this metric.

I honestly don’t know how to use this metric or what I should do in case of a low percentage, but on both watches you have the feature in case you ever figure it out.

Stress tracking

Want to know if you’re stressed? You now no longer need to be introspective! Your watch can tell you!

Both smartwatches have a method to tell you about your stress levels.

However, the Fitbit Sense has an EDA meter (electrodermal response) that gives you more insight as to how your body is responding as you do breathing exercises.

I wouldn’t pay extra for this feature, and if you don’t, there’s the Fitbit Versa 3 (and by that token, the Ticwatch GTH).

Sports

Both smartwatches are also workout trackers but I think you’ll be better off with the information the Fitbit Sense will offer.

The important part here is that the data seems more coherent.

Let’s just get it out of the way that these two watches have very few exercises available. 

Stray from the run-bike-swim triad and you’ll find yourself having fewer and fewer options.

As a fan of watersports (kayaking/paddle boarding, etc) you’ll find yourself “cycling” on water often.

Anyway, the data that you get from the Ticwatch GTH is a lot worse.

Internal GPS

For one, the Ticwatch GTH has no integrated GPS and depends on your smartphone for all its location data.

If you’re like me and you own a deteriorating smartphone which always has to be in power saving mode, you’ll find that there won’t be any GPS data.

Whereas on the Fitbit Sense, you have a internal GPS. That really helps if you don’t want to bring your smartphone with you.

Sports data

Some smartwatch fitness apps might have a lot of choices for exercises and workouts, but they might provide no discernable data.

Google Fit is high on that list. You can pick out many, many workouts but they really don’t make much of a difference in the data you get.

The Ticwatch GTH is really bad in this situation. Almost all the data you can get is about the same.

You sometimes don’t even get distance data with the Ticwatch GTH. If you walk or run, the Ticwatch GTH tracks dstaince based on a estimation on the number of steps you take, but otherwise, most of the time you’ll only het heart rate and time elapsed on your screen.

Painful!

The FItbit Sense is a lot better, but still not particularly impressive because the data you get across workouts is pretty much the same.

Messages, emails and replies

On the Ticwatch GTH, you can receive your messages and emails but you can’t reply to them.

The Ticwatch GTH has no microphone, so naturally, you can’t use a speech to text system to input a reply, even if it had one.

This is where the Fitbit Sense really has an advantage over the Ticwatch GTH. If you receive a message or email, you could reply to it (when paired to an Android).

You could use its excellent speech to text system or you can use a quick reply.

I think this is a key feature you’d want to consider. It’s something that I have found to be very useful on all smartwatches because it avoids you having to pull out your smartphone just to reply.

Voice assistant

The Fitbit series had always had a voice assistant but it is now a lot better.

Whereas the Ticwatch GTH doesn’t and that’s pretty bad.

I have always found that having a voice assistant really makes my life easier because I can tell my smartwatch what I want it to do (check weather, start a timer, etc) and it will do it.

This really helps me avoid tedious tapping in order to get the same result.

Unfortunately, the TIcwatch GTH has no such functionality.

However, the Fitbit Sense’s voice assistant really got supercharged because Fitbit has joined forces with Google.You can choose between Google Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa. The latter gives poorer results than the former, which is why I am glad there’s this new update on the Fitbit Sense.

Watch faces

Both smartwatches have a really comprehensive selection of watch faces and they are both designed to look “modern.”

What I particularly liked about Fitbit’s range of watch faces are the custom, user-generated ones. I really like the meme watch faces.

On the other hand, the Ticwatch GTH has a lot of beautifully designed watch faces with beautiful drawings and art. However, what I found is that the watch faces often show the step count and you can’t change it. 

I’m not one to care for my step counts so I wish I could change it for something else.

Sleep tracking

I really like sleep tracking on my smartwatches and I am glad the Ticwatch GTH and the Fitbit Sense both offer it.

The functionality of both are about the same: it tells you when you fell asleep, when you woke up and the depth of your sleep.

Phone app

Mobvoi used to have a really crummy mobile phone app but it has gotten a lot more comprehensive and appealing.

However, when it comes to being a tool to enhance your health and lifestyle, I’d say the Fitbit app is better.

There are a few areas in which the Fitbit app beats Mobvoi’s app.

For one, the Fitbit app has a calorie counter.

It feels like the Fitbit app is much more comprehensive of a health and wellness app.

The Fitbit app also has some activities and programs you can sign up for. Most of it is not accessible, though, unless you have Fitbit Premium, which has a monthly subscription cost.

Verdict

The Ticwatch GTH offers really good value if you’re looking for a watch that will tell time and look good while telling time.

It’s also highly affordable and that really makes it double appealing.

The best part about it is that you get great health stats including the respiration rate, stress tracking, blood oxygen saturation, etc.

The downside to the Ticwatch GTH is that it’s not a very good productivity tool.

The Fitbit Sense adds a layer of usefulness by having features such as a voice assistant and the ability to reply to messages.

It’s honestly such a lifesaver to have a voice assistant. I absolutely hate starting timers by tapping on my screen.

The Fitbit app is also part of the consideration. It’s not only a data store like the Mobvoi app is. It’s also a program that has extra features beyond what the watch offers.

Overall, the real question is whether you want to pay multiple times the Ticwatch GTH’s price in order to get the benefits of the Fitbit Sense.