My brother Jordan is the comedian in our family, and does a funny standup routine about his Fitbit fitness tracker. It makes me laugh every time ?! But fitness trackers and smartwatches are no laughing matter once you consider that they are constantly emitting EMF (ElectroMagnetic Fields) to update your smartphone via Bluetooth or WiFi. And, just in case you haven’t gotten the memo yet… too much EMF has been linked to infertility, tumor growth, and a host of other serious health concerns.
Don’t get me wrong, I think fitness trackers are great! They motivate me to help reach my fitness goals, but all that EMF is bad for my health goals! Sheesh, what a catch-22! It’s sad to say, but we live in a world where it’s almost impossible to escape this EMF’n poison without living in a cave. So we need to take care to limit our EMF exposure.
Fortunately, I found that there are fitness trackers without Bluetooth… Well, that’s not entirely true. They have Bluetooth, but it can easily be turned off. Phew! At least there are some options for checking your heart rate, monitoring your sleep, and counting your steps without worrying about the constant radiation.
EMF and Bluetooth in fitness trackers
The specific type of EMF radiation that comes from Bluetooth has not been extensively studied like other forms of EMF. However, there are a few studies done that indicate that it is definitely something to be taken seriously… More especially, because the devices that use it are so close to us all the time. One study found that after just 6 minutes of low Bluetooth exposure, insects had cells that died because of it.
Also, keep in mind that the standards that regulate Bluetooth and all other EMF were created in 1996, and haven’t changed since then! These outdated standards are allowing devices into our homes that pass the “safety inspection”… but are, in fact, radiating us with more EMF than we should be getting. If it were just one device in our home, then it might not be that big of a deal… but we have lots of devices in our home EMF’ing it up for us. And that spells bad news for our future health.
Top fitness trackers without Bluetooth
Using one of these top fitness trackers without Bluetooth will still give you a great experience, and cut out the EMF while you enjoy it. Prices listed below are retail costs found on the Garmin website, but they are often sold $50-$100 cheaper on Amazon.
Garmin Vívosmart & Vívoactive
Garmin has several fitness trackers in their Vivosmart and Vivoactive lines that allow you to go without Bluetooth.
Vivosmart
Is the most affordable of the two and retails for $129.99 for the latest Vívosmart 4. You can purchase a previous model for as little as $60 (Vivosmart 3 or Vivosmart HR). But consumers report that the tracking accuracy is not as good in the earlier models. It will monitor your heart rate, track your steps & calories, and has an altimeter that can tell you how many floors you’ve climbed. Its vibration alerts are a nice way to remind you to keep active.
Vivoactive
he major difference between the the two is that the Vivoactive has a larger touch screen and built-in GPS. This is a fitness tracker for extra sporty people… from biking to playing golf it tracks everything the Vivosmart does and more! Stick with either the Vivoactive 3 (retail cost: $249.99) or Vivoactive 4 (retail cost: $349.99). Stay away from the Music and Verizon versions because those are designed for a continuous Bluetooth communication experience.
>>See savings on Amazon: Vivoactive 3, Vivoactive 4
How to turn off Bluetooth for Vivosmart and Vivoactive Garmin fitness trackers…
Got to ‘Settings’ > Scroll and select ‘Bluetooth’ > ‘Status’ > ‘Off’ to disable Bluetooth. It’s worth noting that the Vivo series of fitness trackers does not have WiFi, which is a bonus from an EMF perspective. These trackers will hold about 24 hours or realtime tracking before you will need to sync it to your smartphone. To do this you simply briefly enable Bluetooth once a day for it to allow it to sync with your Garmin app. Each can last about a week in-between charges.
Samsung Gear Fit Pro 2
The Samsung Gear Fit Pro 2 comes with similar feature set as the Garmin Vivosmart, but at the lower cost of $99 – $145. BEWARE: Even though it states that it is water resistant up to 50 meters, many have had issues of water seeping in and ruining it. So if you’re not a fan of water then this a solid choice. Battery life is also great and, best of all, you can completely disable Bluetooth.
>>Check out different Samsung Gear Fit Pro 2 options on Amazon
How to turn off Bluetooth for the Samsung Gear Ft Pro 2 fitness tracker…
Swipe left from the home screen over to the settings window > Under settings, scroll to Bluetooth > Uncheck to disable. Just like the Garmin trackers, you will need to enable Bluetooth (or WiFi) at least once a day to allow the Gear Fit Pro 2 to sync-up.
Parting thought
For many people, fitness watches are the missing ingredient to helping stay active and keep pushing towards reaching their goals. If you’re that kind of person, then be sure to give one of these fitness trackers without bluetooth a try. Disabling bluetooth is key to cutting EMF out of your life. Hopefully, as more and more research shows the health dangers regarding Bluetooth radiation and demands continues to shift towards less wireless, manufacturers will follow and offer more options that allow us to disconnect from Bluetooth.
PS – Another option is to grab a simple, battery-powered pedometer. One that I like, is the OZO Fitness SC 3D Digital Pedometer. >>Check it out on Amazon
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