Help???

dejesus4
dejesus4 Posts: 32 Member
edited November 10 in Fitness and Exercise
What is the best gadget to track daily? Fitbit Jawbone
Why?
Pros & cons

Replies

  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
    Fitbit is the most popular brand, followed by Jawbone. Polar Loop and Garmin Vivo products follow close behind, but all depends on what you want, as they have different features.

    A clip-on worn around the waist or bra strap is usually more accurate than a wrist band, because the wrist band can pick up extra movements, like typing, as steps, or miss steps if you're carrying something or pushing a buggy. But they're also easier to lose or forget.

    A band that connects to a chest strap heart rate monitor is helpful if you do a lot of cardio. It will alter the calorie burn according to the data from the chest strap, to give you a more accurate picture.

    The newer bands that have optical heart rate monitoring are hit and miss. The tech is new, and can be very inaccurate. The reason is that the bands use a tiny LED light shown on your skin to read your pulse from the blood passing through the veins just under your skin. If the band isn't tight enough to block out ambient light from the room, then it won't read correctly. People report major issues with activities where there's a lot of movement. The bands are fine when at rest, but if you go running or to a Zumba class or CrossFit, it's likely to be way off because the movement causes gaps between the band and your skin where the light gets in.

    Another consideration is water. Do you want to swim with your band? Are you likely to forget to take it off before you shower? There's a few that are waterproof.

    Do you need a screen? Some bands have no screen, and all the info is read on your phone app. Some have indicator lights on the band to at least let you know how you're doing. Some have tiny screens with just a little info, some have big screens with smartwatch capabilities so you can read caller ID and text info from your phone right on your wrist.

    The best thing to do is decide which features you want first, and then find the band that has the closest match. Read lots of reviews, or watch some on YouTube, to make sure you're getting something with a quality you can live with.

    Supposedly Jawbone's Up3 is going to be the most advanced tracker yet, but there have been major integrity issues with the band's release. They began taking pre-orders in November and missed the release date on their confirmation e-mails without announcing anything official...they just called or emailed individuals to let them know. Messed up a lot of people's Christmas to find out 3 days before that the band you ordered overnight won't be there in time to put under the tree. They still haven't issued a new release date, and their explanation for the angry customers who are asking why is that they are "fine tuning the production process." For 2 months? So...lots of potential Up3 users have been driven to other products because of the shady handling by Jawbone. Fair warning.
  • McBoffin
    McBoffin Posts: 76 Member
    ^^^
    Very comprehensive reply. It's probably worth looking at other things each company makes. Me and Mrs McBoffin each use a fitbit flex and we have the fitbit aria scales. Both work very well for us (although I'm hoping for a charge HR for my birthday ;-) ).
  • dejesus4
    dejesus4 Posts: 32 Member
    As of now I am leaning towards the Fitbit Charge HR. I am just trying to get others opinions. I plan to read and watch more info on all the options.
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
    dejesus4 wrote: »
    As of now I am leaning towards the Fitbit Charge HR. I am just trying to get others opinions. I plan to read and watch more info on all the options.

    Make sure you purchase from a place which has a good return policy (as in, no "restocking" fee.) That way you will have time to test it under various conditions, like heavy workouts and such, to be sure it's accurate for you. Also, from what I've seen from others, it helps if you tighten the band when you're expecting heavy activity, and it helps to push the band further up your arm. These things help with the ambient light problem.
  • FitnessOverFood
    FitnessOverFood Posts: 37
    dejesus4 wrote: »
    As of now I am leaning towards the Fitbit Charge HR. I am just trying to get others opinions. I plan to read and watch more info on all the options.

    I ordered my Fitbit ChargeHR directly from Fitbit's website (they've yet to surface an any stores).

    I've been using it for about 2 weeks now and I don't have any complaints. For the types of activities that I do, it's tracks what I need perfectly, and I like being able to see my stats right on my arm throughout the day. Also, I can go without a watch as it has the time on it. [my watches are fairly large, so the light Fitbit is welcomed].

    Additionally, I've connected MFP to my Fitbit account, so everything I put into MFP automatically syncs to Fitbit, I rarely have to use the app other than when I want to see my graphs or look at my sleep patterns. Etc.

    Message me if you have more questions.
  • FitnessOverFood
    FitnessOverFood Posts: 37
    Sidenote: I wish there was a "Like button" for SnuggleSmacks comment.
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