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Originally Posted by Gemme
I don't have a Fitbit, JD, but I do want to get something to help me keep a more accurate count of my energy and caloric output. I'm still looking around. What do you like about the Fitbit and what are you less excited about?
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Hi Gemme!
I've got the Fitbit Charge HR ($150), which just came out. This is a big improvement from the Flex ($100), which I had for a brief time. Keep in mind all my cons and pros are based on the Charge HR (with some comparisons to the Flex). Also, Fitbit just released a Cadillac model, the Surge ($250). It has a wrist-display text message alert (which would be fantastic, admittedly!) and GPS, which allows a much more accurate tracking of distance and workout. But the device is really big, and in the end, I decided it wasn't worth $100 just to add GPS and text message alert.
What I like:
1. It measures heart rate, and even tells you whether you're in cardio range or fat burning range. I've seen some reviews that say the HR monitor isn't accurate enough for the hardcore fitness buff, but it's useful for me. It also calculates your resting heart rate, based on an average of... when you're sleeping? I'm not so sure what, actually. But if I want to track my resting heart rate, I just look at it first thing when I wake up. Which brings me to...
2. Wrist display of stats. There's a button on the left side of the band that allows you to scroll through all your stats (time, steps, heart rate, calories burned, stairs climbed, miles traveled, alarm time) and see them right there. The flex doesn't have this, and I do find I look at my stats a lot less through my phone app now, because they're now so readily available on my wrist. You can also reorder the stats so the ones you most care about are the first ones you see.
3. Measures sleep. It tells you how long you slept, and provides a graph that shows when and for how long you were restless, asleep and awake (when I get up to go to the bathroom, it shows me as awake for 2 minutes, then right back to sleep!). And it does it automatically. With the Flex, you have to tell it when you're going to sleep and when you're waking up. The Charge HR just knows. I had a bout of insomnia last week, and laid in bed for 4 hours before falling asleep- sometimes reading, sometimes lying with the lights off willing my body to go to sleep. The last time I recall looking at the clock was 4:30 AM. Four hours later when I got up for work, my Fitbit stats said I went to sleep at 5:04 AM, which sounds exactly right. It didn't even log the 4 hours I was lying still. Anyway, the sleep function is mostly a novelty thing for me, but at least I'll know if I sleepwalk the next time I take an Ambien.
4. Silent alarm. I wake up to my wrist buzzing now. And because the damn thing knows if I went back to sleep, it even has a snooze alarm and goes off again 10 minutes later!
5. Caller ID display. The Charge HR doesn't display text alerts (darn it), but it does show the phone number or caller ID of any incoming calls from your cell phone (assuming your cell is on and within Bluetooth range). You also get a wrist buzz alert, in case your wrist display isn't in view.
6. The wristband. I HATE HATE HATED the Flex wristband (I really can't stress this enough). The Charge HR has a wristband with a buckle. Hurrah! No more weird interlocking clasp that has to be just right! A word of caution, though: The sizing runs small. The sizes come in large and small, but it should be labeled as one-size-fits-all and Tiny Waif. Seriously. I have a small wrist, and if the size choices are small and large, I always choose small. But that's not the case here. I'm wearing the large wristband, and could still make it 2 positions tighter. And during a work out, the recommendation is to push it an inch higher on your wrist, which requires loosening it another 2 positions. I don't know who's wearing the small size, but I suspect they're less than 12 years old.
7. The app. You can track food, water, and additional exercise through the app. All of those things require manually adding them, so I confess I don't track those much. But on the days I've actually drank 64 ounces of water, tracking it in the app is what motivated me to get those final 16 ounces down. And I easily made my step goal just from running to the bathroom!
Con:
1. It's not made for lefties. Or more specifically, it's not made for right-wrist wearers. The button is on the left side, so I have to use my thumb to change the display. Annoying and awkward. But any lefty will be MORE than familiar with making the adjustment.
2. The electronics can't be removed from the band. If the band breaks, I have to get a whole new Charge. $150 just to replace the band?? I'm hoping Fitbit has a better fix for this if/when it happens to me.
3. You still can't get it wet. Fitbit says it can withstand short periods of moisture, but showering and swimming in it is out of the question. Oh, and they say to wipe off the moisture after a sweaty workout. But I think most people would probably do this anyway, and not just to protect the Fitbit.
4. It's kind of tricky to plug into the charger. This plug-in is behind the display (the part that rests against your wrist), right below this constantly strobing green light that is somehow taking your heartbeat. So if you can't plug it in just right, and have to look at where it plugs in, you get temporarily blinded by the flashing light. Fitbit swears it's not going to damage my vision, but I remain unconvinced.
And now I'm off to watch more Walking Dead...
