Fitbit flex

gail1961

I have the fitbit one since January and I really like it. I know others are concerned about the small size and losing it. I do "lose" mine in the house, but then I find it within a few minutes. I lose my phone though too and its huge (I have the note). Dropped my fitbit in the toilet once (yuck). Got it out IMMEDIATELY, dried it off and then sanitized it like crazy. It NEVER quit working. You should wear it on the INSIDE of your pocket (not outside as it can get hooked on things like a seat belt and fall off). I also dropped mine outside and didn't realize it. It was about zero degrees out in January. The screen was blank, but then in a few minutes started working when it warmed up. The reason it fell off was because I had it hooked on my pocket facing out (not inside the pocket) and it must have gotten caught on my seat belt and then fell off when I got out of the car. I have also heard of people washing them! My advice on that is ALWAYS know where it is before doing wash! I washed my phone once, and it NEVER worked after that. So I always make sure I know where my phone and fitbit are before doing laundry!!! I did a lot of research before deciding on the fitbit one. It consistently got high ratings.

katro111

I've had the Flex for a little over a year and just this week I got the BodyMedia Link. I'm going to wear them both for a few weeks to see how they compare, but so far BodyMedia says I take more steps and burn more calories. I knew the Flex was shorting me on steps, but I kinda of assumed it was over-estimating my burns. Apparently not? I'm not sure how I feel about either of them at this point, but I just made a pros and cons list for them.

Fitbit Flex
Pros:
Inconspicuous wrist band
Can wear 24/7
Waterproof
Web dashboard is user-friendly
Android app is user-friendly
Data is free
Bluetooth sync updates the Android app AND the web dashboard
Doesn't make any noises
Has external progress display (albeit a bit primitive)

Cons:
Short on steps
Short on calories
Smells like feet/old cheese if not washed out with peroxide
Charger doesn't always work
Data cannot be exported to Excel

BodyMedia Link
Pros:
More accurate on steps taken
More accurate on calories burned
Data can be exported to Excel

Cons:
When synced with MFP, the calories eaten do not match MFP (dashboard shows 2-4 calories less for some reason)
Activity manager not very user-friendly
Android app not very user-friendly
Bluetooth sync only updates Android app, not the web dashboard
Android app has issues syncing with MFP (multi-hour delay with updating calories consumed)
Not waterproof
Can't wear 24/7
Has weird beeps/chimes
Armband is kind of annoying
No external display/external display can be purchased for additional $$
Only 3 months of free access to data, then must pay monthly fee

Canuname

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/user/seedhousel/status said
I would not recommend buying this product. Mine arrived and all seemed good, until 6 weeks when it broke. It stopped charging, wouldn't reset, totally useless. Having looked into this I have been able to see that this is in fact a regular occurrence with most Fitbits breaking between 6-24 weeks. Gutted. The only positive is I have replaced it with a Polar Loop, which is even better!

Fitbit has one of the best customer service departments. I have had problems with the bands and they have replaced them every time with new bands. My tracker stopped working after 11 months of heavy use and contacted customer service and they sent me a brand new tracker (complete retail package 2 bands, Charger, and USB fob, not just the tracker). Polar Loop is a great product except Polar is famous for not letting you link to external websites like MFP and they decided to make the loop only Bluetooth so you can't use their other chest straps that make it capable to swim with. Bluetooth doesn't work underwater, not enough power. If they would fix both of those problems I would buy it in a heart beat.

Starlage

I just ordrered a flex so I can't review that yet but I wore a bodymedia fit for most of a year and it didn't help me lose weight even though I would eat a deficit of it's crazy high burns. It *did*, however, teach me how to eat at maintenance! The fact that i didn't lose weight with it could have been for many reasons- maybe by food logging, maybe the device- who knows, really. I just know that I wore it for a long time, measured and weighed my food and ate a 500 calorie deficit of it's burns (which regularly would say between 2300-3000 depending on whether I'd exercised or not that day), and didn't lose weight. It'll be interesting to have the flex and see what it says. Plus I got it super cheap on ebay, so if it's crap at least I didn't lose a bunch of money! haha

tjphelps73

I got my fitbit flex yesterday. So far I am happy. I am not understanding the calories it is taking away when it syncs with MFP, but I will get there.