Activity Trackers: Which one to get (Fitbit Charge vs Jawbone Up 2)

PearlSheep
PearlSheep Posts: 9 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've been doing a lot of research on activity trackers, and I'm having a bit of a conundrum. I'm in the market to get my first activity/fitness tracker, and I've narrowed it down to these two. I've looked at various review sites, watched a number of videos, but I still can't seem to decide between the two. Both have things that I like (the Fitbit has a watch which is nice, as well as the name to back it up; the Jawbone has a really encouraging app and looks a bit better to me), and things I don't (Fitbit's band has issues, and the dependency of nickel on their main device worries me; Jawbone's visual interface on the band is practically non-existent, and the community doesn't seem as robust as Fitbit's).

Things I plan on doing: Walking (and moving into running), weight training, cycling, swimming and tracking diet/caloric intake, and tracking sleep habits.

I know I probably can't go wrong with either, but I'd love some advice from people who use either device. I'm not currently looking at the Charge HR, although having a heart rate monitor might be interesting.

Replies

  • DaddieCat
    DaddieCat Posts: 3,646 Member
    Neither of them will be very good for tracking anything other than steps, stairs, and dietary intake. You can log other things via the app or the web interface, but it's then extrapolated via an algorithm and not necessarily traking your actual workout/activity.

    I currently use the Fitbit Surge, which I'm satisfied with, but ultimately, both are really glorified pedometers with some fancy bells and whistles. The fitbit community can be good, but I don't know anything about the jawbone community as I only had mine for a short while... I didn't find it comfortable to wear and the lack of visual interface caused me to return it.

    As for sleep tracking, I tend to find it squirrely at best. I often log activity while asleep and the sleep tracking does not accurately reflect my actual sleep habits. (I'm not active while I sleep, to log steps or anything like that... my significant other can confirm... lol)

    Ultimately, there is not a major difference between the two other than what you have already listed being aware of and it comes down to a personal usefulness/aesthetic conundrum.
  • Simply827
    Simply827 Posts: 41 Member
    I don't have either device, but I have ordered an Oura (https://ouraring.com/). I especially liked how it focused more so on the sleep aspect of things and measures how well you recover from daily activities. I'm excited to get mine. Perhaps it may have more of the features you're looking for.
  • PearlSheep
    PearlSheep Posts: 9 Member
    Simply827 wrote: »
    I don't have either device, but I have ordered an Oura (https://ouraring.com/). I especially liked how it focused more so on the sleep aspect of things and measures how well you recover from daily activities. I'm excited to get mine. Perhaps it may have more of the features you're looking for.

    The Oura is interesting, and I definitely like seeing devices that aren't just a chunky wrist band, but this is a bit out of my budget right now. I'll keep it on my radar for later, though.
  • Simply827
    Simply827 Posts: 41 Member
    Cool. I hope you're happy with whatever you ultimately decide on.
  • thehumanista
    thehumanista Posts: 6 Member
    Simply827 wrote: »
    I don't have either device, but I have ordered an Oura (https://ouraring.com/). I especially liked how it focused more so on the sleep aspect of things and measures how well you recover from daily activities. I'm excited to get mine. Perhaps it may have more of the features you're looking for.

    Another thumbs up for the Oura ring! I can't wait to get my sizing rings so I can tell them what size to send. What color are you getting? I chose white but am still on the fence...

    As for the Jawbone vs Fitbit, the device you will use it with matters. Fitbit refuses to integrate with iOS Apple Health Kit so if you use Apple products and expect Fitbit to consistently sync with Health Kit, it will not. I used to have a premium Fitbit subscription, a Fitbit One, and an Aria scale. Due to their backward policies and refusal to listen to their users - Fitbit owns your data and can therefore profit from it, I cancelled my membership, retired my Fitbit, and gave away the scale. I now have a Withings Body Meter (a better scale anyway with more features), a Jawbone Move and Up2, and an Apple watch. The Jawbone app is much better than fitbit as their predictive engine is actually helpful identifying trends you might not have noticed.
  • 628462
    628462 Posts: 58 Member
    MrsVoid wrote: »
    Simply827 wrote: »
    I don't have either device, but I have ordered an Oura (https://ouraring.com/). I especially liked how it focused more so on the sleep aspect of things and measures how well you recover from daily activities. I'm excited to get mine. Perhaps it may have more of the features you're looking for.

    The Oura is interesting, and I definitely like seeing devices that aren't just a chunky wrist band, but this is a bit out of my budget right now. I'll keep it on my radar for later, though.

  • 628462
    628462 Posts: 58 Member
    I like the jawbone over fitbit simply because it has idle alerts to remind you to get up and move and a smart alarm that during a set window of time (30 min) will only wake you up while you are in a light sleep - this feature is brilliant and makes waking up so much easier. Unfortunately jawbone has a lot of issues and glitches they need to work out.
    Anyone know of any other trackers that have idle alerts and smart alarms?

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