Fitbit opinions

kgirlhart · February 2016

I am thinking about getting a fitbit. I'm looking at the flex or the one. I'd like to hear from people who have had either (or both) and get the pros and cons. I don't really know if I would rther have the wrist version or one that could be hidden. I'm also interested in the sleep tracker and I wonder if it is really helpful. My main exercise is walking. I have a sedentary job but I walk 3-4 miles with my dog everyday. Is there a way to track the intentional walking separate from the daily steps or does it all just go together? Any advice or opinions would be appreciated.

yesimpson · February 2016

I have the Flex and I like it. It seems reasonably accurate at calculating my TDEE and encourages me to not sit at my desk for long periods at work.

Obviously the Flex primarily counts steps. I then enter gym sessions/classes as exercise sessions in MFP and I track runs with Runkeeper; as long as I provide the start time and the duration, they all work together so I don't get double credit for these activities, if that makes sense? So, say I go out for an hour's run tracked with Runkeeper, this will pull through to MFP and overwrite the input from Fitbit for the duration I was out training.

You could do a similar thing with your 'intentional' walks, and you will then be able to track this separately if you like access to more detailed data, but it will still count towards any daily step goals you may have.

The sleep tracker also seems to be pretty good at estimating what time I've drifted off and how 'efficient' my sleep is, and I notice a difference in my mood and energy levels the days after it records a poor night's sleep compared to those it records as good. It's not overly scientific or essential, but interesting.

StaciMarie1974 · February 2016

I have the One. So does my husband and son. My daughter has the Flex.

The Flex has very limited info on the device itself. You'll need to pull up the Fitbit website or phone app for detailed information. The One shows more info on the device.

The Flex is water resistant. The One is not.

The Flex may not track steps when you're holding a shopping cart handle or carrying something with your arms - when your hands are not swinging by your side. The Flex may count extra steps if you 'talk' with your hands or do other hand/arm activities. The One clips to your body/clothing and is meant to be worn on the core so does not have those potential issues.

CaptainJoy · February 2016

My daughter gave me her Fitbit Flex when she upgraded to one with a heart monitor. I love it and can change the wristband colors and wear it while washing dishes and in the shower. The ones with the heart rate monitor are more sensitive to water and must be taken off to wash dishes or shower. The sleep tracker works great. When you walk the dog, remember to keep the wrist that you wear it on swinging. If you're pushing a shopping cart with both hands, it doesn't track steps properly. I made the mistake of walking with my hands in my pockets a few times when it was cold and it didn't register most of my steps.

peleroja · February 2016

I clip my One to my bra every morning and forget about it, and I like it particularly because I don't have to wear a wristband, as I don't think they're particularly fashionable nor do I need to be aware that I'm wearing it. I also like that it still tracks my steps accurately if I'm not moving my arms and that I don't tend to get false steps for stuff like brushing my teeth or housecleaning or whatever. That's pretty much all just personal preference though.

I used the sleep tracker for a while when I first got mine, but I have pretty regular sleep patterns and don't suffer from any kind of insomnia or restless sleep, so after a couple months of seeing pretty much identical readings every morning, I decided it wasn't especially beneficial for me and haven't tracked it since. I think if I were having sleep issues it would be interesting data to have, though.

All walking gets counted together and it doesn't matter if you are doing it purposely or not. I do track my exercise separately for running, biking, etc via the Fitbit app, though.

kgirlhart · February 2016

It sounds like the fitbit one might be the choice for me. I'm not sure I would want to wear a wrist band all the time. Plus I didn't think about the swinging or not swinging of the arms causing inaccuracies. I'm still not sure about syncing it to mfp, but I guess that would be something I can figure out after I get it. I have mfp set sedentary and I do eat back usually about 75% of my exercise calories and I don't want to double count any of them.

peleroja · February 2016

kgirlhart wrote: »

It sounds like the fitbit one might be the choice for me. I'm not sure I would want to wear a wrist band all the time. Plus I didn't think about the swinging or not swinging of the arms causing inaccuracies. I'm still not sure about syncing it to mfp, but I guess that would be something I can figure out after I get it. I have mfp set sedentary and I do eat back usually about 75% of my exercise calories and I don't want to double count any of them.

If you get a Fitbit, the easiest thing to do is to keep your MFP set to sedentary, link them, and stop logging exercise into MFP (especially step-based exercise like walking/running/elliptical.) Use the fitbit app to log additional exercise if applicable and let it all transfer over to MFP, which will then add on exercise calories based on your Fitbit steps and activity. Keep using MFP to log your food. This should avoid any double-counting and will make it pretty seamless in my experience.

StaciMarie1974 · February 2016

I don't wear a watch/bracelet and whenever I try - I get frustrated within a day or two. Because of that the One was the option for me, and I have no regrets. I don't use the sleep function - I sleep well and don't have reason to 'track' it. The flights of stairs are not essential, but an extra little data point. When hubby & I climbed a 600 ft waterfall (well, the steps beside it) last summer it was neat to see the flights of stairs counted. Then we waled down the back path and walked up the stairs again. That was a major workout!

As for connecting in MFP it can be a little confusing to understand the data meanings between the two. If you need help figuring it out, let me know.

Terpnista84 · February 2016

I had the Charge. Be careful and make sure it isn't loose because I lost mine that way. I don't like the design of the Fitbit and I hated wearing it every day. I use the app on my phone now. My only complaint is that it takes forever to sync up with MFP. I don't miss not having the Charge anymore since I basically carry my phone everywhere it counts about 80% of my steps.

kgirlhart · February 2016

Thanks peleroja. That makes a lot of sense.

I get annoyed wearing bracelets too. I do think that the One sounds best for me. I have a pedometer on my phone, but there are too many times when I don't have a pocket or just don't want my phone in my pocket.

kmbrooks15 · February 2016

I have the Flex but am going to purchase the Blaze when it comes out next month. It's a bit more detailed, plus it monitors heartrate. It's also a smartwatch that will control the music on your phone and allow texts to show up. It's a lot less expensive than the Apple Watch, too!

sfkn123 · February 2016

My wife and I have the Charge since 5/1/15. I've had FOUR exchanges, and my wife has had three. The band breaks easily (not just the buckle part, but the band that cannot be changed), the battery wouldn't last more than a day. One time I found condensation under the screen, even though I don't sweat excessively or bring it into the showers.

I definitely would not recommend the Charge or the Charge HR, but the Flex seems to not have as many issues.

Please do take a look at their help forums to see what kind of issues other users run into.

As the warranty is only good for one year, it's really like paying $150 annual membership.

n25philly · February 2016

I am a long time fit bit user. Do not buy the flex. Total waste of money. The device itself works fine, but when I had mine I went through a half a dozen of the wrist bands as over time they would always break. The cost of that adds up. I finally gave up on the device when it stopped charging. I always had problems with charging because of the way it goes into the charger and the connects would have trouble registering. Finally it reached the point where it wouldn't at all. They advise that you do special cleaning to the device and even that didn't work. Add in the limited information you get from the device itself and it's just not worth it.

I now have a charge hr andit is so much better. As mention before though you have to keep it kind of tight or else it might come undone (often) and it won't register your heart rate correctly if loose. If you want the one it's a good device, just be careful where you put it, I've lost ones before when I used them do to just simply falling out of the holder.

With any of the wrist based ones if you are doing something like pushing a shopping cart where it won't really register your steps, just take it off and put it in your pocket.

DanyellMcGinnis · February 2016

I bought a Fitbit One a little over two years ago because my health insurance company started a wellness program where we get Amazon (and other) gift cards with points, and getting 10,000 steps a day earns a lot of points. At the time, some of the newer wrist models weren't out yet. My fiance has a Charge he got for Christmas.

They do seem to count steps a bit differently. The One matches what my treadmill says. It also still holds a charge for over a week though it is two years old. My fiance's Charge (a wrist model) is only a few months old and won't hold a charge for even a day. He is going to have to get it replaced. Although that may be specific to the Charge and not all wrist models.

Anyway, the Fitbit One was totally the right choice for me. I clip it to my waistband (I never wear dresses) or the neck of a t-shirt (when I exercise). I like that I can see so many things on the display (steps, flights of stairs, miles, calories, etc.). Also, left-handed mode is great if you are left-handed -- there really is a point to it.

The only bad things are the One holders. The silicone clip will start to fall apart. I got Fitbit to replace my first one because it fell apart within a year. Then the Amazon price came down and now I just buy replacement ones as needed. I'm on my 4th, although one of my cats did destroy one of them so I can't blame the product for that (kitty has a taste for silicone...). The sleep wristband will stop staying closed after awhile; the Velcro stinks. But you can get a generic wristband with a zipper in it on Amazon for a few bucks and use that instead.

I don't link my Fitbit to MFP. But that is a personal choice. Right now, I prefer to log exercise manually. But that is because some of the exercise I do is not going to result in a lot of steps (e.g., kettlebells) but is going to burn a ton of calories and I don't use the Fitbit website for much at all, so I'd rather just log it on the site I actually visit every day.

nikhil_c8 · February 2016

I agree with n25philly both on felx and on charge HR..My Suggestion get the charge HR. TRacks both heart rate and Steps (as well as floors climbed) and is far more accurate in calorie counting. CON it is not water proof

kirstenb13 · February 2016

I have the One as well and have used it for >2 years and really like it. The wrist band fitbits just look too goofy to me and I feel something you wear on your body is going to be more accurate. I clip it inside my jeans pocket (so if it falls off it lands in the pocket) or keep it in a small pocket of my workout pants. I only tried the sleep tracking a couple of times in the beginning and found it pretty complicated to set up so if that's very important to you, you might want to look at one of the fancier ones.
I only count steps with it, synch those to mfp and then eat those calories, works great for me. But there is no way to only count certain steps unless you take it off I think.
And I agree the holders die pretty quickly and are quite expensive for such a little piece of plastic.

dubird · February 2016

I have the charge HR and I really like it. It took me a while to get it adjusted. Because I talk with my hands, I can't wear on my dominant hand! But once I got it sorted, it works great. None are going to be 100% accurate, but it's close enough that it's been helping me find my maintenance calories. Plus, the little buzz you get at 10000 steps is kinda nice. XD

kgirlhart · February 2016

Thanks for all of your answers. I'm kind of leaning toward the One. I was a little hesitant about the wrist bands and it sounds like they aren't as accurate. I do want it to count my steps when I'm grocery shopping and I don't want it to count steps when I'm sitting around but moving my hands. I do have another question. Does the One count steps when you are driving or sitting in a car? I have a pedometer on my phone and it will count steps when in the car or anytime the phone moves at all.

kirstenb13 · February 2016

I find mine to be remarkably accurate when moving but not walking. Even fidgeting about from one leg to the other doesn't give me steps and definitely not being in a car or something.