Fitbit or Jawbone?

Fitbit Charge HR has everything you're looking for. I have one and it seems very accurate. It is also the top rated in almost every top 10 review.

I had the fitbit flex and the Charge HR. The flex kept putting itself into sleep mode while I was at work, and it annoyed the crap out of me. I much prefer the HR for the heart rate factor, the stairs climbed log and just overall usability of the app.

I have a fitbit flex, and I find it very useful. It does not monitor heart rate, though.

Sleep tracking is very interesting. The less steps I take , the shorter and more restless I sleep.

There is definitely a learning curve to figuring out how to use. Took about a week of trial and error to figure out everything.

Afura wrote: »

I have a friend who has not had much luck with the fitbit, the latest she had was the Fitbit Charge, and she said it just wasn't accurate and didn't work well. She's a big fan of the Jawbone's, and I had been angling towards the Fitbit Charge HR, but I like the way the Jawbone UP3 looks (and it has a HR Meter unlike it's predecessors) as it's not as large as the Fitbit.

I also like how the Up3 looks because it is the first water resistant Jawbone and one of the few sleek looking wearables that has an HRM AND can be worn in water. They keep pushing back the release date, though, which is telling me they are having problems with it. I will wait until there is at least 6 months of "real world" use reviews before I consider it again. One of the trainers at my fitness center had a Jawbone and she had 4 of them break in a matter of 6 months, They kept replacing it, but she gave up on the brand.

@Earlnabby, Jawbone announced they will start shipping the Up3 starting Monday the 20th. They had major issues getting it waterproof which kept delaying the release date. As they can not guarantee the water resistance it now sells as 'Splash proof'.

weavingtheweb wrote: »

@Earlnabby, Jawbone announced they will start shipping the Up3 starting Monday the 20th. They had major issues getting it waterproof which kept delaying the release date. As they can not guarantee the water resistance it now sells as 'Splash proof'.

Well, that is disappointing. I'll stick to my Flex until someone comes out with something water resistant, has an HRM, and is sleek looking.

I have a Charge HR, feel free to add me here and there

In the totally contrary department, I was going to get an activity monitor but didn't because I found that even Google Fit (via my Android Phone) was itself a very useful motivation tool.

One problem with using a Phone is they aren't water proof, splash proof, or sweat proof. I killed the screen / digitizer on my Nexus 5 phone through running sweat accumulating in the small of my back (I use SPI belt - love it). Were I to use a phone for that purpose again encasing it in a ziplock bag is a must.

Phones also aren't great for providing in-run feedback unless you have them strapped to your arm or hand but that wasn't for me. A watch sized device on the other hand I can deal with.

700km of running in Strava logged later, and $125 for one dead cell phone screen replacement, I decided to get a running GPS/HRM watch.

In the end putting off buying a tracker was a good thing because I learned that what a really needed out of a fitness monitor was more running and cycling performance stats and in-workout assistance. I ended up getting a Garmin Forerunner GPS/watch with a HRM strap. I'm very happy with this decision; the Garmin helps me target my pace/effort appropriately for different workouts and I can see the payoff in more effective training.

I did consider a Fitbit or Jawbone to "track everything else" but since I have my phone with me almost all of the time other than when running, having a separate tracker seemed redundant.

I still have Google Fit (which Garmin via Strava sends data to) announcing every day when I've met my target. The phone silently nags me if I don't do the work - it's perfect.