We’ve outlined the best fitness apps for Android in the past, but now we want to understand exactly which one of these is the best for you to lose some weight or build mass. The problem with fitness apps is that they all do a little something different, so it’s a little tough to compare them all. So, we decided to focus on three of the more popular options, apply them to how well they help you achieve your fitness goals and give you an in-depth description of which one is better. We decided to compare Noom Weight Loss Coach, Instant Heart Rate and Calorie Counter – My Fitness Pal. Keep in mind that all of these have paid versions which you can find on the respective Google Play pages, and we will outline if each one is worth the money.
Our Ratings:
Noom Weight Loss Coach: 4.5 out of 5 stars Instant Heart Rate: 4.0 out of 5 stars Calorie Counter – My Fitness Pal: 5 out of 5 stars
Google Play Ratings and Links:
Noom Weight Loss Coach: 4.3 out of 5 stars
Instant Heart Rate: 4.3 out of 5 stars
Calorie Counter – My Fitness Pal: 4.6 out of 5 stars
Noom Weight Loss Coach – Mainly for Those Trying to Lose Weight
The Good
If you set a goal to lose some weight then this is your best option as a fitness app. You get some nice features to track how many calories are coming in and what you should and shouldn’t be eating. The calendar is really easy to play around with and schedule meals and type in what you ate over the past few days.
You can also throw in how many steps you walked and how much healthier you are eating. The pedometer is pretty nice and it seems like it works just fine when I threw it in my own pocket. This is essential to the integration since you don’t have to record and type in your own steps. The coaching is okay, but it really starts to excel when you look into the paid version of the app, because they give you unique challenges like reaching a certain amount of steps during the day. Then you can use interval training workouts that actually work quite well, even if you don’t plan on losing weight and want to pack on some muscle. The best part is where you can place multiple excercise on the schedule so you don’t have to just stick with something like running for the day. The reminders come in nicely and really urge you to keep up with your schedule.
The Bad
The app is $4.99 per month if you want to go with the upgrade. Let me make it clear that the additional features are quite wonderful, but there’s something about paying $4.99 per month for an app that irks me. It’s one thing to pay a monthly fee for a full fitness training program with videos and everything like Daily Burn, but five bucks a month for an app just seems excessive.
The initial coaching system is a little watered down for my taste, so it seems like you really only get the whole package if you pay the monthly fee. The knowledge base is fine, but it seems a little unorganized, and some of the tracking graphs can look too cluttered and complicated. I personally like a simple fitness app that lets me quickly lose weight or gain mass, but this tries to cram in too many features or tricky things that might confuse or intimidate people.
The Bottom Line
Noom Weight Loss Coach is the best choice if you just want to lose some weight, but it’s a little cluttered and the price tag is not that friendly. You can typically just pay for a video program if you really want to workout from home and then that pays for itself after a while. The good thing is that you can test this out and if you never use it you can simply stop paying the monthly fee. Five bucks a month isn’t bad for a test, but it’s quite a bit if you keep using it all the time.
Instant Heart Rate – For The Self-Starters
The Good
Sometimes all people need to get healthy with an app is simplicity. The Instant Heart Rate app is perfect for doing your own workouts and checking your heart rate and logging it as you go. The app has a feature to push your finger tip to the camera lens. It then gives you a fairly accurate heart rate reading.
The scheduling is perfect since you get to see how much better your heart rate gets as you exercise more. It also syncs up to Google Fit and you can write down notes for every reading you get for your heart rate. There is a sharing feature just in case you want to give yourself some motivation and compete with friends. There is also a nice little area that tells you the average heart rate readings so you can benchmark your own heart rate and improve.
The Bad
When I work out I get a little sweaty, so it’s weird pushing my sweaty fingers to my nice Android phone. This is a huge downside for me since I can’t see myself pulling my phone out after a run and wanting to dirty the phone.
You’ll also realize that this is not a full workout app. It’s only for measuring your heart rate so the market is rather limited. Most people will find that they will only use this as an app to pair with a more feature rich app with workouts and more tracking features. I do know a few people who like independently working out, and this is perfect for them.
The Bottom Line
If you hate listening to other people tell you what exercises to do then this is a nice app to stay fit. It has the huge downside of messing up your phone with sweaty fingers, but you can usually wipe of your fingers before doing this. In terms of features, it’s a little limited, but you can get an unlimited timeline and charting feature if you pay the extra fee. This extra fee is only $1.99 so it’s a huge improvement from the monthly fee we saw from the Noom app.
Calorie Counter – My Fitness Pal – The Golden Ticket
The Good
To start, the Calorie Counter – My Fitness Pal app is completely free, and it has tons of features for just about any type of workout. It’s designed to bring you the best nutrition guidelines and allow you to store how much exercise and how many calories you have burned. It gives you a nice daily summary with goals, food, exercise and the net of your calories.
It’s a social network so you can put up your own goals next to other people you know. I like competing with my buddies and even betting them to see who can burn the most calories in a week or two. You can quickly see the nutritional facts on certain food items and punch in ingredients for a recipe to see how many calories you are taking in.
The Bad
The app doesn’t really give you many workouts, but it is meant for you to understand how many calories are going in and out. The bar code scanner doesn’t always seem to work, but it’s not the worst thing in the world. The app does give you some exercises, but I’ve found that other apps are better focused for this.
The Bottom Line
If you really like to compete and you want the perfect tracking solution for your food, exercises and calories, this works quite well. I would recommend trying it out since you don’t have to pay a dime. They don’t even have any in-app purchases which is just wonderful for the person who uses the app all the time.
Conclusion
That’s it for the Noom vs Instant Heart Rate vs My Fitness Pal Android fitness app showdown, so let us know in the comments if you have any questions about this in-depth review. I personally think that My Fitness Pal blows the other two out of the water, but like a stated before, it’s a little tough to compare these apps since they have so many different features. However, in terms of functionality, interface and features, the My Fitness Pal app is quite favorable. Let me know if you think otherwise.
