Fitbit Flex Wireless Activity + Sleep Wristband

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jend114
jend114 Posts: 1,058 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Pros and cons please of this? it tracks calories burned correct?

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  • ellenlucy6
    ellenlucy6 Posts: 4
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    I have one and really like it. It tracks steps and gives an estimate of calories burned, although I think its a little high. Pros: It motivates me, tracks my activity levels, lets me keep track of how much sleep I'm getting and is cheaper than lots of other trackers. Cons: calories burned and sleep aren't very accurate, it's not particularly nice looking -like a chunky bracelet, and it can only sync to very few phones and tablets.
  • BeckyD1105
    BeckyD1105 Posts: 444 Member
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    Have you checked out the fitbit one? Does the same thing as the Flex but it clips either to your bra or pants so it's a lot less visible.
  • stkalcevich1
    stkalcevich1 Posts: 5
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    It is well worth the money. it tracks everything i care about when I use it with myfitnesspal.com. I would pay $300 for it when it cost $99
  • damcoole
    damcoole Posts: 12
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    I have a Fitbit One, and have had a Fitbit Ultra. They were both good, and the only reason to get the Flex over the One is if you want sleep tracking. As far as step/calorie/distance/calorie tracking... the One is much better... lasts 6 months on a watch battery, and like BeckyD1105 said, it is much smaller and easier to have on you all the time. I wear mine on my pocket usually, my wife wears hers on her bra.

    Save some money unless you really want the sleep tracking aspect. :)
  • Pipsg1rl
    Pipsg1rl Posts: 1,414 Member
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    I wear my Flex for steps and sleep, have it hooked up to my MFP account so that I can sync calorie burn, and use the Aria Scale.

    It does not track your heart rate and does not give you any burn for weight lifting.

    Maybe not super accurate but apparently the most accurate on the market. You can take the tracker out of the band and wear it in a pocket but don't forget to take it out!
  • scrapjen
    scrapjen Posts: 387 Member
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    I'm a Fitbit fan, I've had mine for four years now and can't imagine not having my Fitbit feedback. I have the One, as I don't care for something on my wrist (and I can see all the stats on the device itself, you can't do that with the Flex). My son has a Flex and likes it, although he wants to switch to a clip one now too.

    I wrote up a blog post about everything you can expect from a Fitbit
    http://jenbsjourney.blogspot.com/2013/08/wondering-about-fitbit.html

    There are many similar devices out there, but I do recommend the Fitbit. It's been around a while, their customer service is really good. Their name is well known, so other programs out there will have Fitbit as a partner, syncing with them. I love how Fitbit and MFP work together, and there are many reward programs (Pact, Achievemint, Everymove, Walgreens, Fitstudio) ... my Fitbit has actually paid for itself in "rewards" I've earned, and I've been able to donate a bunch to charity (Everymove, Earndit, Weightless.org).

    So I say it's worth the investment :)
  • LizL217
    LizL217 Posts: 217 Member
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    I've had a fitbit flex since December and so far I'm a fan.

    Pros:
    - Promotes healthy habits--it gets me to walk a little further than I might otherwise, pushes me to get on the treadmill instead of being lazy and gets me to do a few minutes of jumping jacks if I haven't quite hit 10,000 steps for the day.
    - Syncs up with MFP, unlike some other fitness bands
    - Keeps track of my sleep (not always accurately), and wakes me up with a silent vibration so that when I get up at 5am to go to the gym I don't wake up my husband.
    - Can be worn in the shower and is generally water resistant (not waterproof, see below)
    - Has become a conversation topic, as wearable devices are all the rage and everyone wants to talk about theirs versus others.

    Cons:
    - Looks fine, but isn't always appropriate to wear for all occasions. For example I just went to a wedding so I took it off for that. I've seen alternative fitbit flex bracelets on Etsy and other places, so that's an option.
    - Isn't waterproof, so you can't wear it for swimming.
    - Not sure how accurate its estimate of calories burned is given that it isn't a heart rate monitor, although it generally seems reasonable.

    Generally the cons aren't a big deal, so the pros definitely outweigh.
  • goldenrodfarm
    goldenrodfarm Posts: 34 Member
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    I have a fitbit, I think if you use it to motivate rather then taking it gospel it is a good device. Pros, gives you motivation to achieve your goal, you can see when your activity is high and low and plan for better use, I find the sleep part fairly accurate but that is because I do not usually move when I am sleeping, and I move around a lot when I am trying to sleep and not making it. For someone that moves around a lot or lays in bed not moving but not sleeping it would be very inaccurate, the first person would have wake times listed that didn't exist, and the second would have sleep times that didn't exist. So you need to take into account your habits when looking at the data.
    The same goes for the steps, if you do a lot of hand motion while standing it will count steps, if you don't move your arms much when you do stuff, as in you are carrying a load in that hand, or hanging on to a shopping cart, or you just don't swing your arms when walking, then it will be inaccurate. I know when I went shopping the other day I used a shopping cart in several stores and didn't when in one particular store and the store I didn't use the cart had a lot more steps, although it was similar time frames and probably the same steps. I have a farm and when doing barn chores like feeding I am always carrying a bale of hay or a 5 gallon bucket or a bottle in my left hand, so steps are not registering properly, I am right handed most of the time so I chose to put it on my non-dominate hand. I think this does skew the results somewhat making them lower then the actual.
    I guess the bottom line is you can deliberately skew the results or you can unintentionally skew the results but if you take it as a guideline you can use it in your goal for fitness.

    Just a little addition, I chose the flex because I know for certain I would lose something that had to be clipped on and off, or I would wash and dry it, I figured the flex would be there all the time without me worrying about doing something stupid to it.

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