what is the most accurate fitness tracker?

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Em7b5
Em7b5 Posts: 31 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
i have been waiting months for the up3 to come out, as i needed an accurate replacement for my bodymedia armband. the reviews for the up3 have been abysmal, so i will not be purchasing it or any of jawbone's other products. now i'm looking for an alternative fitness tracker and have been going back and forth between the fitbit surge and the microsoft band. does anyone have either of these devices and can attest to their accuracy? if not, do you have any recommendations for a device that is accurate and will seamlessly sync with mfp?
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Replies

  • jrline
    jrline Posts: 2,353 Member
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    I love my fitbit surge. From all my research it is the most accurate.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    I upgraded to a Fitbit Charge HR, but I lost all the weight & maintained for 8 months with a Fitbit Flex, which doesn't even have a heart rate monitor.

    TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is by definition the number of calories at which your weight will stabilize, so my Fitbit burn = TDEE.

    You can learn more in the Fitbit Users group: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users
  • PeachyPlum
    PeachyPlum Posts: 1,243 Member
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    Oh no, I hate to hear that about the UP3 as I figured when my BodyMedia armband died that's what I planned to go to. With that in mind, I'll probably buy a new BM armband from Amazon or Ebay while there are still some left!
  • TheBigFb
    TheBigFb Posts: 649 Member
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    The mirror
  • kinkyslinky16
    kinkyslinky16 Posts: 1,469 Member
    edited May 2015
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    I have a bodymedia, fitbit flex and my husband has the surge. The surge seems somewhat inaccurate to me. My husband and I will do the same thing all day (walk at the zoo) and somehow he will have more than double the steps, even though he's 6'4" and has a larger stride. His calorie count seems way too high to me as well. It will also show that he's climbed a few flights of stairs when he's climbed none. He likes it though.

    I've compared the flex to bodymedia. . The step counts are way different, but the calorie counts are always within 50 calories of each other. I just hate wearing it on my wrist. I prefer the bodymedia.... mine seems like it might be crapping out soon... need to find another one!
  • Gizziemoto
    Gizziemoto Posts: 430 Member
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    After two months of research, I went to the Garmin Vivosmart with the HRM strap. Was waiting for UP but they made me so mad when I needed support on my armband that I cancelled by armband subscription, my armband was not even a year old, and swore I would never buy another product from them. Okay rant over. The calorie burn is only about 40-50 different calories different. The fitbit is not much different in calorie burn either. I also like not having to pay a fee.
  • PeachyPlum
    PeachyPlum Posts: 1,243 Member
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    @kinkyslinky16 How can you tell it's ready to crap out? I'm wondering what warning signs I should look out for!
  • angelexperiment
    angelexperiment Posts: 1,917 Member
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    I did not hear great things about the microsoft band. I myself looked up many many reviews before I chose my garmin vivofit2. As far as accuracy I found the fitbitzip was most accurate but it is a cipon pedometer. Fitbitone also a pocket pedometer with more stuff on it. But accurate.

    In my reasearch I found none to be as accurate as tge body media unfortunately.

    I bought the vivofit2 because it has a pod you can put in your shoe if you want. And that is most accurate for steps. It doesn't have a altimeter tho for stairs tho. But it tracks distance. Sleep. Has a backlight. Can be paired with a chest strap hrm which is the most accurate hrm. Callories burned. Steps tajen. Goal steps. And vibrations when you need to m9ve. Heart rate with hrm. Time. And a stopwatch. It is waterproof and can go up to 50 meters. It still tracks when you use a stroller or cart. It doesn't pair with android tho. But with computer. It syncs with mfp as far as I know. The syncs are automatic with phone not multiple like with the vivofit which is their base model. If you want more features ther is tge vivosmart and vivoactive the vivoactive has gps and the vivosmart pairs with a camera and all pair with hrm which is sold separately or in a bundle if you ask about it or seek it on Amazon.

    The other one that was similar to it was tge polar loop it has a hrm strap sold separately that pairs too. But you could not seperate it from band.(the device to use in a shoe) it does not tell you mileage or dustance. It is water proof to 20 meters. It has a sleep function. Tells steps and cal burn. Has a led display. And it can be used for cycling too. It is supposed to work well with strollers carts.

    well I recommend research and dcrainmaker does very in depth reviews of all fitness gear. Even the really nice ones like the garmin fenix3 which is well a car payment! But I found him to be awesome!
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    edited May 2015
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    kinkyslinky16 wrote: »
    I have a bodymedia, fitbit flex and my husband has the surge. The surge seems somewhat inaccurate to me. My husband and I will do the same thing all day (walk at the zoo) and somehow he will have more than double the steps, even though he's 6'4" and has a larger stride. His calorie count seems way too high to me as well. It will also show that he's climbed a few flights of stairs when he's climbed none. He likes it though.

    TDEE is based on sex, age, height, and weight—so your husband's burn will always be way more than yours.

    Fitbit's stair count does not affect your burn in any way—it's just meant to be a fun metric. It's based on changes in air pressure, so you can get lots of "flights" just walking outside on a windy day.

    The only way to gauge the accuracy is to trust your Fitbit for several weeks, then reevaluate your progress. As I said above, my Fitbit burn is 100% accurate. YMMV.

    Gizziemoto wrote: »
    Was waiting for UP but they made me so mad when I needed support on my armband that I cancelled by armband subscription, my armband was not even a year old, and swore I would never buy another product from them. Okay rant over.

    I used to have a Jawbone UP24, and my customer service experiences were so awful I'd never again recommend them to anyone.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    editorgrrl wrote: »

    TDEE is based on sex, age, height, and weight—so your husband's burn will always be way more than yours.


    The only way to gauge the accuracy is to trust your Fitbit for several weeks, then reevaluate your progress. As I said above, my Fitbit burn is 100% accurate. YMMV.

    I have had a Fitbit Flex for over a year and found its burn to be pretty accurate. Mine is giving me a TDEE of 2717 calories. I calculated my TDEE using actual calories eaten, adjusted for weight lost, in the same time period and it came out to 2803. Being within 100 calories is pretty darn accurate in my book. I would trust the numbers from any Fitbit, based on past experience with the brand. The longer you wear it, the better the numbers will be because it has more past data to factor in.
  • allbarrett
    allbarrett Posts: 159 Member
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    I had a Flex which finally bit the bucket and now have a Charge HR, which I really like. I previously calibrated the Flex against both a Jawbone UP and against a Garmin watch and found it accurate, but I had terrible difficulties getting my Flex to charge. The Charge HR charges easily, seems pretty accurate except for the "number of floors" which is invariably crap (I don't care about number of floors, however, so I just ignore those numbers). I like Fitbit (the company) and am happy with my Charge. I wouldn't want to wear an armband all the time, chest straps I find extremely uncomfortable, and the Charge has a watch, so while it isn't exactly beautiful, at least it has other functions. My husband has a Surge and is completely in love with it (this was the replacement for his Jawbone). He has calibrated it against his Garmin and found it to be acceptable accuracy (30 m difference between the two units over a 5 km distance, in a downtown area where satellite coverage is iffy).

    "Most accurate" is going to be tricky at any time. Fitbit seems pretty good, generally, but I've never seem a problem with Jawbone and others apparently have. I'd get whatever unit has the functionality you want then check it against a known distance and adjust the stride length so that you get a match.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    allbarrett wrote: »
    I had a Flex which finally bit the bucket and now have a Charge HR, which I really like. I previously calibrated the Flex against both a Jawbone UP and against a Garmin watch and found it accurate, but I had terrible difficulties getting my Flex to charge. The Charge HR charges easily, seems pretty accurate except for the "number of floors" which is invariably crap (I don't care about number of floors, however, so I just ignore those numbers). I like Fitbit (the company) and am happy with my Charge. I wouldn't want to wear an armband all the time, chest straps I find extremely uncomfortable, and the Charge has a watch, so while it isn't exactly beautiful, at least it has other functions. My husband has a Surge and is completely in love with it (this was the replacement for his Jawbone). He has calibrated it against his Garmin and found it to be acceptable accuracy (30 m difference between the two units over a 5 km distance, in a downtown area where satellite coverage is iffy).

    "Most accurate" is going to be tricky at any time. Fitbit seems pretty good, generally, but I've never seem a problem with Jawbone and others apparently have. I'd get whatever unit has the functionality you want then check it against a known distance and adjust the stride length so that you get a match.

    I really wish they would have been able to make the Charge HR water resistant instead of just splash resistant :'( I really wanted one but I am in the pool 6 hours a week and don't want to take my tracker off.

  • ltkasmala
    ltkasmala Posts: 109 Member
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    I have been using a Fitbit Flex since January 2015. While I can't say I've lost much more weight since it's inception, it does help keep me aware of calorie intake and expenditure, it merges nicely with this MFP site, and can also be accessed via a phone app. It holds a charge fairly well, also.
  • kinkyslinky16
    kinkyslinky16 Posts: 1,469 Member
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    PeachyPlum wrote: »
    @kinkyslinky16 How can you tell it's ready to crap out? I'm wondering what warning signs I should look out for!
    It's making some pretty pathetic sounds lol. Sounds like it's dying.
  • sfagans
    sfagans Posts: 13 Member
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    I have a Jawbone Up and I've been happy with it.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    The only exercise I do is walking. Is it true that a a Heart Rate Monitor would be useless for me?

    I have a fitbit zip at the moment.
  • RodHudson1229
    RodHudson1229 Posts: 65 Member
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    It really depends on your budget and what you want out of it. I have both the Fitbit Charge which I like very much. It's great for steps and the whole challenges with friends it motivating. I also have a Garmin Fenix 2 which is not exactly a fitness tracker but a multisport watch it works very well for many activities what it won't do it track daily steps. So for everyday use I have my fitbit and for other activities I use my Fenix...
  • lonerockz
    lonerockz Posts: 100 Member
    edited May 2015
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    I must be one of the few Microsoft Band lovers out there. Many people complain about it not being comfortable. But its made to be adjusted. I wear it loose most of the time, and when I exercise I tighten it up. The clasp is designed to work this way. It syncs well with MFP now (used to be an issue).

    I use it with an iPhone. It does not sync with Apple Health, which is a bummer, but not that big a deal.

    Near as I can tell its accurate. I mean based on my weight loss and my intake the math kind of lines up with 3500 calories = 1lbs lost. (Although I'm a believer that as long as its consistent, accuracy is not that important. Its very consistent.)

    Microsoft is finally starting to use the data they collect to give you feedback on how your doing. Tells me that people like me burn X calories, and I burn Y. Etc.

    I've had a HRM that had a strap before and found it too awkward to be useful. All day HRM is what you want.
  • lonerockz
    lonerockz Posts: 100 Member
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    christinev297, I think everyone can benefit from heart rate monitoring if your trying to control weight. The reason is that your body adjusts to exercise, and a HRM gives you the data to tell you that. For example about 3 months ago I started using the Stairmaster. I burned about 180 calories in 10 minutes on it. My speed was about 65 steps per minute. Now to get the same burn I have to up the speed to 75 steps/min. I know this because I can see my heart rate data. My BPM was dropping as my body became better at doing the exercise. Without HRM data my hour of exercise that 3 months ago was 800 calories burned would probably be down to 700 or less. But with the data I keep upping my difficulty to keep my burn up.

    Anyone that says they are at a plateau should get a HRM. Most likely they are not burning what they think they are, and so their "deficit" is not really a deficit.

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