Best Fitness Tracker?

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madysenrae
madysenrae Posts: 1 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey everybody!

I am looking to buy a fitness tracker. Any recommendations? I don't want it to be linked to a subscription account (but a free app is okay), and I'd also like it to have some features. For example: calories burned, steps taken, distance traveled (and climbed), and sleep cycle. I'd also like it to be easy to use and have a decent battery life. If you have used any products out there like fitbit, jawbone, garmin, nike, Jillian Michaels 360 armband (comes with subscription though...), or anything else, please let me know what you think! I can't decide which would be best for me. I am considering waiting until the spring of 2015 to get the fitbit surge, because after research, I think that one looks really awesome as of now!

Please let me know your thoughts!

Replies

  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 Posts: 1,896 Member
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    The Jawbone UP3 is releasing sometime in the next month or two and looks to be pretty stellar based on what I've read.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited November 2014
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    madysenrae wrote: »
    Hey everybody!

    I am looking to buy a fitness tracker. Any recommendations? I don't want it to be linked to a subscription account (but a free app is okay), and I'd also like it to have some features. For example: calories burned, steps taken, distance traveled (and stairs climbed), and sleep cycle. I'd also like it to be easy to use and have a decent battery life. If you have used any products out there like fitbit, jawbone, garmin, nike, Jillian Michaels 360 armband (comes with subscription though...), or anything else, please let me know what you think! I can't decide which would be best for me. I am considering waiting until the spring of 2015 to get the fitbit surge, because after research, I think that one looks really awesome as of now!

    Please let me know your thoughts!

    Highlighted the features my FitBit One has. They have a website/app...no fee. You can link it to MFP and set the calories to adjust accordingly.

    The battery life is 7-10 days. More if you don't use it during sleep. Tracking sleep is interesting though.

    I clip mine to my bra or waistband. This is good (for work)....and bad (easy to lose, or wash). The FitBit Flex is a bracelet type. These have their own plusses and minuses.

    Newer models will incorporate a heart rate monitor. This has limited use though. A HRM is designed for steady state cardio. If you don't own an HRM already (I do) this might be useful for your cardio workouts. For step based cardio my FitBit is not too far off, non-step based.....HRM is useful.
  • LilRedRooster
    LilRedRooster Posts: 1,421 Member
    edited November 2014
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    I've had the Garmin Vivofit for a few months now, and really like it. It syncs with MFP well, and though it doesn't charge via a USB like FitBit or some of the others, Garmin has rated the battery life at a year. The few months that I've had it, I haven't had a problem with it at all. It can sync via your computer, or through Bluetooth with their Connect app. It tracks steps, calories, sleep, all that good stuff, and since it links with MyFitnessPal, it also will adjust your calories based on your ACTUAL burned through activity, rather than just the guess that MFP gives you. It can also incorporate a heart rate monitor, but I already have one through Polar, so I didn't bother getting the Garmin version, so I can't speak about how that works.

    I like it a lot, and it seems like it's comparable to FitBit at the same price. Though I got mine at Verizon and they discounted it through a special so it was actually cheaper than the new FitBit.
  • arijaycomet
    arijaycomet Posts: 21
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    I've reviewed these devices, ad nauseum -- check out my blog:
    www.arijaycomet.com

    For what you have described, it sounds like virtually any of the trackers will work for you. On my blog you'll find a holiday shopping list, so that might be worth checking into.

    Most of the good units don't have a subscription -- just a free app. Many of them offer pay-services, but aren't worth the price. For $50 the Misfit Flash is my top suggestion. On Black Friday the Fitbit Charge will be $99 at a few places, so look at that as a good option if you want a proper display to show stats. If you ever want to scale up to a heart rate monitor, the Garmin Vivosmart is a nice option.

    You mention the Surge-- I think that till be nice piece of kit, but at $250 you're tickling devices that are far better like the Polar M400 that I recently reviewed on my www.arijaycomet.com site/blog ... happy shopping!

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