Help choosing Devices to count steps and cals (

kar328

I've had my Flex for about 14 months and love it. I wear it 24/7 and forget it's there. If I have the scrub nurse role at work, I wear it around my badge holder (a coworker sometimes sticks hers on a bra strap). It does count steps like that. I've played with it when pushing a grocery cart and not swinging my arms and it does pick up steps. Occasionally it does pick up extra steps with crazy arm movement (probably not a good choice if you conduct orchestras) but it would be hard to find something totally accurate unless you have someone walk with you recording all your steps :laugh: I do have a Polar FT4 too, and while the chest strap is comfortable, I wouldn't want to wear it 24/7. The Flex lets me see my TDEE averages for the past 30 days and watch how those numbers change. Also my average calorie intake. The sleep function helps me see how much of a change there is on nights I have trouble sleeping. The alarm is nice, it wakes you up by vibrating - no obnoxious loud noise. I hit 10K almost every day, a big improvement to my 5-6K before that.

Lots of good trackers out there, it would depend on what specific goals you want to work on.

CynthiaT60

following

Ftw37

I started with the fitbit One last year.

Fitbit One
Pros:
* Great battery life
* Nice display on unit
* Counts flights of stairs climbed (altimeter)
* Step count / calorie adjustment links to MFP

Cons:
* Need to wear on included fabric wristband to track sleep--inconvenient
* Clip on format made me sometimes forget to switch between pants, etc.

So I decided to upgrade to the fibit flex:

Fitbit Flex
Pros:
* wristband means wear 24/7 - no need to swap out between clothes, for sleep.
* Step count / calorie adjustment links to MFP
* Nice small band. Easy to forget I'm wearing it.

Cons:
* worse battery life (have to charge every 4 days or so)

Not really Cons, IMHO:
* dots on device, detailed stats only available in phone app. Not a problem for me, since I use the phone all the time.
* no altimeter. I never really got use out of it on the One, and the barometric pressure aspect of it gave me weird results during high and low barometric events. I got a 75 story benefit one day, while sitting at my desk.

I've since decided to move to the Garmin Vivofit:

Garmin VivoFit
Pros:
* integrates with my Garmin watch via Garmin Connect. All fitness/activity tracking in one spot. Garmin Connect is amazing.
* Built in display
* battery lasts a YEAR - no recharging every 4 days. Yay.
* Waterproof to 50 metres.
* Will integrate with ANT+ HRM (Mio Link, or other) if desired. I won't use this, as I use the watch to connect ANT+ sensors during running/cycling.

Cons:
* I may lose my large stable of fitbit friends, who keep me striving to remain near the top of my friends list.
* Is a bit bigger than the Fitbit flex

Not really Cons, IMHO:
* Although it does link to MFP for calorie adjustment, steps are not passed to MFP. I don't use the MFP step graphs so much, but am glad for the negative calorie adjustment capabilities.


HTH, FTW

JennsJourney30

Don't get any fitbit products please. I had a flex for a year or maybe not even a year but nearly, and it died on me recently. It would charge but would not switch on. Tried resetting. Nothing at all. Really expensive and not worth it.

Is there something you would recommend? Open to all suggestions

JennsJourney30

The Fitbit will work even if you don't measure your stride length. It estimates stride length based on height and gender, and will use its estimate to calculate your distance based on number of steps. If you want the most accurate measure of your distance covered, then you would need to enter your measured stride length. But that's not necessary for the FitBit to function.

I'm less concerned about absolute accuracy in distance or calories burned, and more in general trends, plus using it as an incentive to move more. Hey, I should check it now so I can see how sedentary I am, sitting at the computer. :grumble:

I agree I want to accurate to a point because I do kind of want to see what I am burning and moving every day. But I am not expecting anything to be hundred percent accurate. I'm not a huge fitness guru or anything basically I'm looking for something to help me motivate myself to beat my steps every day and to basically see when I'm sitting too much and when I'm eating too much.
Also to help me see what workouts I'm doing burn more than others.

paulperryman

Fitbit Flex does a good job of both, it's simple wear it on your wrist or ankle 24/7 needs a 2hr charge ever 4 days or so. It measures movement not steps perse as do most and the calorie estimate seems to be reasonably accurate for the whole day not just walking.

I also use a Polar FT60 Heart Rate Monitor to register my VO2, exercise calories

wear the Polar for a 24hr period on a non exercise day and use that as a baseline to see how much you average then you add exercise ontop of that. and there's you TDEE within 95% accuracy. and the fitbit will be pretty close other then exercise/walking it registers alot higher in those then a HRM would so in that case you just enter the exercise burns as the HRM sais not take what fitbit gives.

paulperryman

The fitbit as is the also the case with pedometers in general they are not measuring steps they are measuring lateral and forward to back movement, if you wear it on your wrist and move you arms alot it will still register steps.

tarcotti

I have a Polar heart rate monitor, its the best around! It measures everything so accurately, I love it! I guess some would say its expensive, but I'm not sparing any expense when it comes to my health. Better than lots of doctor bills in the future.

http://www.polar.com/us-en/products

JennsJourney30

I started with the fitbit One last year.

Fitbit One
Pros:
* Great battery life
* Nice display on unit
* Counts flights of stairs climbed (altimeter)
* Step count / calorie adjustment links to MFP

Cons:
* Need to wear on included fabric wristband to track sleep--inconvenient
* Clip on format made me sometimes forget to switch between pants, etc.

So I decided to upgrade to the fibit flex:

Fitbit Flex
Pros:
* wristband means wear 24/7 - no need to swap out between clothes, for sleep.
* Step count / calorie adjustment links to MFP
* Nice small band. Easy to forget I'm wearing it.

Cons:
* worse battery life (have to charge every 4 days or so)

Not really Cons, IMHO:
* dots on device, detailed stats only available in phone app. Not a problem for me, since I use the phone all the time.
* no altimeter. I never really got use out of it on the One, and the barometric pressure aspect of it gave me weird results during high and low barometric events. I got a 75 story benefit one day, while sitting at my desk.

I've since decided to move to the Garmin Vivofit:

Garmin VivoFit
Pros:
* integrates with my Garmin watch via Garmin Connect. All fitness/activity tracking in one spot. Garmin Connect is amazing.
* Built in display
* battery lasts a YEAR - no recharging every 4 days. Yay.
* Waterproof to 50 metres.
* Will integrate with ANT+ HRM (Mio Link, or other) if desired. I won't use this, as I use the watch to connect ANT+ sensors during running/cycling.

Cons:
* I may lose my large stable of fitbit friends, who keep me striving to remain near the top of my friends list.
* Is a bit bigger than the Fitbit flex

Not really Cons, IMHO:
* Although it does link to MFP for calorie adjustment, steps are not passed to MFP. I don't use the MFP step graphs so much, but am glad for the negative calorie adjustment capabilities.


HTH, FTW

Thank you! Great reviews.

JourneyingJessica

I love my fitbit flex. Its small & unobtrusive. I doesn't have an LCD display like some but it syncs quickly to my phone which is always near me anyways.

Armagan123

Bump

Bekkahs_Life

I have the FitBit One and I LOVE it... syncs perfectly to MFP

True_Blue82

I've been looking at trackers, read a ton of reviews, and asked my FB friends. From what I've seen, I'm considering either the Fitbit Flex or the One. I usually am in a suit, so the larger trackers with digital readouts would not work for me. I don't often have something to clip to, but I could put the One on my bra or underwear, although I'm not overly keen on that idea. I have a Garmin GPS for running, so I really just want to track steps and have it auto sync to my phone and MFP. I'd love to get the Fitbit Force, but they are nearly impossible to find even on eBay and it's not worth the extra $$ for me to have the digital readout. The dots are enough for me.

I have a few friends who have had problems with the Jawbone and it was panned in a number of the reviews because there's no feedback except vibrations (hard to tell why it's vibrating) and some have had their UPs just up & quit. Fitbit has a lot of good reviews.

My preference would be Garmin - I love my running watch - but it's just too big and obvious. I think that the Flex is small enough to be discreet but I'm going to go and check them out before I make the decision.

parkparksarah

are these devices really works?

heybales

are these devices really works?

Your question is already answered in most of the posts.

Well, seeing as how your question was not clear anyway, there are all kinds of posts here that may potentially answer your real question as to what does "works" even mean.

Read the info that is available, do you a world of good.

JennsJourney30

I've been looking at trackers, read a ton of reviews, and asked my FB friends. From what I've seen, I'm considering either the Fitbit Flex or the One. I usually am in a suit, so the larger trackers with digital readouts would not work for me. I don't often have something to clip to, but I could put the One on my bra or underwear, although I'm not overly keen on that idea. I have a Garmin GPS for running, so I really just want to track steps and have it auto sync to my phone and MFP. I'd love to get the Fitbit Force, but they are nearly impossible to find even on eBay and it's not worth the extra $$ for me to have the digital readout. The dots are enough for me.

I have a few friends who have had problems with the Jawbone and it was panned in a number of the reviews because there's no feedback except vibrations (hard to tell why it's vibrating) and some have had their UPs just up & quit. Fitbit has a lot of good reviews.

My preference would be Garmin - I love my running watch - but it's just too big and obvious. I think that the Flex is small enough to be discreet but I'm going to go and check them out before I make the decision.

I'd love to hear what you decided to go with and why.

I'm looking them up online to see the. I'll probably venture to the store to take a look.

FromHereOnOut

I agonized over what to get and finally decided on Garmin Vivofit and I love it!

No charging, everything visible on wrist display, and use of hrm were the big deciding factors

pinkraynedropjacki

I've been looking at trackers, read a ton of reviews, and asked my FB friends. From what I've seen, I'm considering either the Fitbit Flex or the One. I usually am in a suit, so the larger trackers with digital readouts would not work for me. I don't often have something to clip to, but I could put the One on my bra or underwear, although I'm not overly keen on that idea. I have a Garmin GPS for running, so I really just want to track steps and have it auto sync to my phone and MFP. I'd love to get the Fitbit Force, but they are nearly impossible to find even on eBay and it's not worth the extra $$ for me to have the digital readout. The dots are enough for me.

I have a few friends who have had problems with the Jawbone and it was panned in a number of the reviews because there's no feedback except vibrations (hard to tell why it's vibrating) and some have had their UPs just up & quit. Fitbit has a lot of good reviews.

My preference would be Garmin - I love my running watch - but it's just too big and obvious. I think that the Flex is small enough to be discreet but I'm going to go and check them out before I make the decision.

Well considering the Force was recalled you wont find them anywhere & if you do you are not covered under any warranty anyway.

Kikilarue59

I had one of the original Fitbit Pedometers. well, it finally quit. I loved it because it counted stairs.
Don't know if the fitbit wristband does this. bit the revised fitbit one does.
So I have it on order.

peoplegreet1

I think I will go for the low profile pedometer and just calculate my calories by wearing it. If I can just find a good pedometer that is cheap I would be happy.