Fitbit which one?

FatFreeFrolicking

Flex

coffeebrown83

ryanbrowning115 wrote: »

I have a fitbit and love it.

Ditto. I want the HR one, but I'll let them perfect it before I dive in. I currently have a flex. I also had a Fitbit one, but I wanted a wrist tracker.

stitterrell

I have a Fitbit Flex and the Fitbit scales. I found that once I had set up the Fitbit properly (stride etc) it was okay from an accuracy perspective (these devices are never 100%). The app is okay, although I think it could be far slicker.. But it does what you need and give you main stats on the homescreen (which you can edit and reorder). What let the device down for me was how quickly the wristbands started looking tatty and not suitable for work (maybe 6 weeks before I was quite conscious of it). Unfortunately the replacement bands weren't on sale in NZ at the time, and not was I prepared to spend money on replacement bands every couple of months.

I decided to spend up and buy the Jawbone UP Wireless a year ago and have never looked back. The app is slick, the battery takes 1 hour to charge and lasts a massive 2 weeks(!), the accuracy is probably on par with Fitbit. The bands aren't replaceable but I have worn mine all day everyday for 1 year and it still looks great and perfectly fine for work. The only draw back is that it's only splash proof so I have to take off when showering.

I still use the Fitbit scales and app and am really happy with the scales. But when it comes to the wearable device I found the Jawbone to be a superior product. You could always wait for the Apple watch though if you're an Apple user. It'll cost quite a bit more but the user ability sound be great.

cjbrummet

I use the vivofit. I like it. It is waterproof and you don't have to recharge it. Batteries last about a year. I like it because I have the forerunner 15 GPS watch and I have all my activities together. They both sync with MFP.

The only down side is the Vivofit does not do HR. It counts your steps, it warns you when you have been sitting too long, it is waterproof, it logs your sleep activity (I don't use because I work nights and don't like wearing it while I sleep) and it also functions as a watch. You can press a button to see how many steps or how far in miles you have walked from the device as opposed to waiting until you sync with the computer.

Price is anywhere between $99-$129. 129 is the regular price but I have seen them on sale lately. Also the band can be interchanged so you can have alternate colors to wear.

tracydaniels5074

rtrels wrote: »

I have the flex. Works a treat. I have it linked with MFP and it updates regularly during the day and I have negative adjustments on. I find it motivating so far. I was very sedentary and I am aiming for 10K steps a day for the next 4 weeks with the view to steadily increase there after and move into running after I get a good walking base going.
Anyhoo.... the flex gets my vote and its relatively inexpensive compared to some of the others.

I agree. I have a flex and I love it. That paired with MFP have given me a whole new insight to weight loss. It holds you accountable, pushes you to achieve your goals. Plus I have a few friends with it now and we challenge each other every week. It's fun, accurate, and was worth the money .

walruslike

One week of Charge HR and I love it.

I keep seeing accuracy complaints but mine seems pretty good. The position on arm is critical if exercising.... Pushed up arm it's been pretty right every time I crossed checked with manual pulse count for ten secs. But I don't get over about 128 because I'm a fat old fart so maybe in higher ranges it's different??

Normal usage anywhere on wrist seems fine 99% time. During exercise any wrist optical will be inaccurate unless pushed up arm where blood flow is more reliable. Sleep tracking is aotomatic and seems accurate. Very informative.

I wish it was waterproof but since it needs to come off for a shower, that's the perfect time to give it a daily 15 minute charge which seems to be all it needs. I want it on 24 hours for sleep tracking so the daily shower thing works out beaut.

The Fitbit ecosystem is fantastic.... The stats displays and friendly steps competition is very motivating.

Can't speak to long term reliability but it seems to a great purchase.

lynder64

I've been using a Fitbit One since November of 2012 (well... I'm on my 3rd Fitbit BUT I now know how NOT to lose it ;-)) I it and it's very accurate!

dougpconnell219

I love my fitbit charge hr, but now I can't find the Damn cord and its dead!

cyberblonde

blueporker wrote: »

I bought the Surge last Friday and I am loving it.
I have just started walking everywhere so it's great to see how inactive I was and how active I am now.
.
The display gives you a quick update of where you are but I prefer the app to analyse properly.
I didn't think I needed the heart rate monitor but thought I would splash out now for when I do lose enough weight to start toning up. The HRM tells you how long you have been in the fat burn zone or the cardio zone in your workout.£120 is a lot of money but I consider a superb investment.
Good luck with your choice.

This is the one I was thinking of getting, it's saying £199 online. Where did you get it for £120?

cyberblonde

NancyN795 wrote: »

I had a One until I washed it on New Year's Eve. I loved it. I'd been thinking that I would upgrade to a Charge HR after it had been out for a few months, so washing my One pushed up my schedule for buying the HR to ASAP. (On Jan. 10, two days before my HR arrived, my One came back to life.) I really hated not having an activity tracker for those 10 days that my One was dead.

I originally bought the One (in Nov. 2013) because I didn't have to wear it on my wrist, but I have to admit that it is nice to not have to remember to move my FitBit when I change clothes. I like the heart rate function although it really isn't essential - my One seemed to estimate about the same calorie burn each day. The display on the Charge HR seems to be fairly easily scratched, which wasn't the case with the One.

Another reason I chose the One over the Flex is that I wanted the display. Especially since the phone I had at the time wasn't compatible with the FitBit, so if I'd gotten a Flex the only way to see my data would have been to be at my computer.

I didn't want a Surge because I thought it was just too big. I couldn't imagine having that on my wrist. The Charge HR is much smaller. I also don't need the extra features of the Surge.

StaciMarie1974 had a pretty good list of things to consider.

I did not realise the surge was much bigger, hard to tell online

cyberblonde

kanorbryhn wrote: »

I recently got the Fitbit Surge. I both like it and have some reservations with it.

What I like:

• Heart Rate Monitor built in the wrist. I've used chest straps that pair with a watch, but I didn't like the inconvenience of having to wear the strap. I love being able to see my Heart Rate tracked through the entire day. I didn't realize when I worked out my heart rate stays elevated for a couple hours afterwards. I recently played 90 minutes of racquetball with an average HR of 146, it then to about 3 hours for my HR to get back to my resting HR of 50-60. It is also nice to see what your resting HR is, which they take from your sleep/early morning HR. So far the HR seems accurate, as it matches my Blood Pressure monitor within a few points. I will say, (and the online reviews do as well) that it is a lagging monitor, so if you jump down and rip out 50 push-ups and stand back up, you probably won't see much of a difference, then about 15-30 seconds later it will move up to your actual hr. I think this has something to do with the LED technology as well as the wrist placement versus a strap on your heart.
• GPS built in. This is why I bought the Surge and not the Charge HR (which I bought for my wife). I like hiking, running, biking so it is nice to have a GPS on your wrist so that I don't have to carry my phone and use Strava. If you don't want or need GPS, I'd go with the Charge HR.
• I like the way it looks. I can't lie, the other HR monitor watches looks really 80's. Something that your Dad would be wearing in an old family pic. The Surge has a nice modern look, and I don't feel weird at all to wear it to work or in public. (I do work as a professional in the Tech world, so I guess these gadgets are probably more accepted.)
• Ease of use. The touch screen and simple buttons make the usage very simple. You can quick flip through your stats (HR, Cals Burned, Floors, Steps, etc) and jump into exercising tracking mode.
• Calories burned during an activity (run, lift weights, etc) jive with calculators online and seem to be accurate. It's nice because my intense workouts show that I burned more calories, while easy workouts show less burn. Therefore, I feel like I can moderate my calorie intake better.
• Link with your phone. I like that watch alerts me when I receive a text or call. I'm bad about leaving my phone on silent, then missing important calls. With the Surge, I can leave my phone on silent permanently and when I get a call, my Surge will vibrate allowing me to see if I need to answer or not.
• Water Resistant. While I wish it were water proof!! it is only resistant, I did fall into a river while fishing the other day (fully submerged the watch) and jumped out and dried it off immediately. It has not had any issues, so it is fairly resistant.
• Sleep tracking is.

What I wish was better:

• Water Proof - I can't swim with it on.
• Calories burned throughout the day seem ridiculously high. The activity burn seems great, but just working, walking and normal daily activity adds calories to my BMR to the Tune of 1000-1500 calories, which seems crazy. I want to lose 2 lbs a week, 1000 cal deficit, with those extra calories I would be eating 3000 calories a day. Hopefully they can adjust their algorithms in the future to adjust these. If you look at any BMR calculator that adds in guess calories from daily activity (think sedentary, moderate, physical) most only add about 1000 calories if you work a very physically demanding job.
• They don't currently have a Biking exercise mode! Why have a GPS that can't track your biking... LAME. Support page says this feature is coming, and it will be able to link to your strava account.
• The MFP link works great. It's automated, and adjusts your calories according to your cals burned. However, I wish there were more options. The only setup they have is that your Food logs push to Fitbit app, and your Calories Burned push from FitBit to MFP. Theoretically this is good, but because I don't believe the calories burned through normal activities is correct, it ends up offsetting my daily MFP allowance to be wayyyy to high. If they let you only sync logged Fitbit activities that would be awesome. Which is what I do manually. After a few days having my accounts synced, I disconnected them, and just add work out calories from FitBit and track food and calories left from MFP.
• I wish that the activity summaries had more

Overall, I would buy the Surge again.

Really really useful, thank you

cyberblonde

Thank you everyone for some great advice, I really appreciate it.

walruslike

walruslike wrote: »

One week of Charge HR and I love it.

I keep seeing accuracy complaints but mine seems pretty good. The position on arm is critical if exercising.... Pushed up arm it's been pretty right every time I crossed checked with manual pulse count for ten secs. But I don't get over about 128 because I'm a fat old fart so maybe in higher ranges it's different??

I've now tested it against a MIO Alpha watch which has LEDs that are waaaay brighter.... and it has a rep of being accurate. I bumped my rate up to 115 (that's all I could manage...) and they both read within 1 beat of each other. The difference was the MIO got there pretty well instantly and the HR is only pulsing every 5 secs so there was a lag.

Within the constraints of optical HR it seems pretty good to me.