FitBit Force or Jawbone Up

ebayaddict0127

I just bought my husband the FitBit Flex. I believe it was the newest version before the Force came out. He seems to really like it. I found reviews were actually better for the Flex than Force, but it's hard to say.

WalkingAlong

I have been using the UP24 for a little over a week. It sync's seemlessly with my iPhone 4s and even does some coordination with myfitnesspal, which I am using to track food and exercise.

I would REALLY like to have a band that would also read pulse/heart rate. I understand the Basic B1 does that, but it is large and clunky (and more expensive).

Does anyone know of a heart rate device, which is not a chest strap?

The Withings Pulse does spot heart rate checks. But if you want to estimate workout calories, you need a chest strap.

editorgrrl

I have a Fitbit Flex & a Jawbone UP. I much prefer the Jawbone app. It has tons of customizable charts and a more robust social component. It offers daily insights (w/ interpretations of your data) and challenges you to take more steps today or go to bed earlier tonight.

Fitbit has better customer service and more partner apps. (But both sync w/ MFP.) and Fibit makes other trackers that can be clipped to your clothing.

mrsdean4

I looked into both. The Jawbone Up is much better-looking to me, but it has no display, no web app (IIRC) and requires a manual synch. So to know where I'm at for the day I'd have to take it off, take a cap off, and plug it into my phone to synch, then read my data off the phone. I've had a Fitbit for years and it has wireless synching that's automatic and a display on the device, and both a mobile and web display. Both have vibrating alarms and both track sleep. I wore the Fitbit Flex for a day and the plastic wrist device thing isn't for me, at least not until they make them smaller and/or more attractive.

The new UP has automatic bluetooth syncing.


I loved my UP, but loved is he operative word. It worked fine for a couple months, then died. Looking into it, it's a very common issue. A lot of people are on their second, third, or even fourth UP band. The UP is a great tracker, but reliability is a serious concern.

I have had all versions of the fitbit (except the force) and the two jawbone UP units. The fitbits all worked great, the UP had to be replaced and the charging just was a pain for me, as was the app issues, so I sold it and got the Flex. I'm happy with the functionality of the flex but REALLY wish it had a display. I did see that there are some skin rash issues with the Force, and I am prone to such things, so I am waiting until they work that out.

editorgrrl

I'm on my 3rd Up, and waiting for my 3rd Flex to arrive. I bought them each in spring 2013, so the reliabilty's exactly the same in my case. As I said above, Fitbit's customer service was much better than Jawbone's.

Rebekah718

I have tried both. He great think about best buy is you can try an item for fourteen days and then return it. I tried the up it was good but I hated plugging it in all the time. I love the bit bit. Having a clock and it displays everything on the screen I live checking my progress through out the day. The alarm in the morning is great my husband loves me not having the alarm clock waking him up too.

Lilchamp

I bought an UP24 a couple of weeks ago and love, love, love it! I like the look of the actual bracelet, too. My friend has a nike fuelband (and loves it btw) and so I started looking at the different trackers out there. They seem to all be good. Just a matter of what you are personally looking for it to do. It seems pretty accurate to me. I take spin class twice a week so I will set the stopwatch for the duration and also will tie the tracker to my sneaker. After, I add the details on the app. It seems pretty consistent to me. I also like how it tracks my sleep. I am pretty much obsessed with it right now- I love looking at my stats and the trends, etc. I know previous versions of the UP band were not really good and there were a lot of problems with it. But I took a chance because I really like the design, app, etc. so far so good. I needed something to motivate me. We are having such a cold winter and I totally slacked off and lost sight of my goals. I saw weight creeping back on so I bought the tracker. In the two weeks I have had it I lost 4 1/2 pounds. I'm always trying to beat my step gol I set for myself. I really like it. And it has Bluetooth now so it syncs automatically..

swickizer

I am planning on buying the Jawbone UP 24 - I love the fact that it has an alarm clock that will wake you up during your lightest sleep so you aren't as groggy. Also just an FYI, Jawbone recently acquired Bodymedia, so I wouldn't be surprised if the next Jawbone UP generation has a HR monitor.

jennycina93

I have the Jawbone Up and have no complaints. I really like it and it seems very accurate for me. I have never tried a fitbit product so I cannot compare.

KDSnowden

The Garmin VivoFit tracks heartbeat when used with a monitor strap.

steveyinasia

Armed with all this great new information, I went to the Fitbit Force site to take a look. There is a huge popup message advising that they are no longer selling Force and are doing a voluntary recall.....any more news on that?