Ahh, the Fitbit.
Fitbit is a company that makes wearable fitness trackers. It’s like a pedometer and a sleep tracker all rolled up into one band-like bracelet that you wear 24/7.
They track your steps, activity level, calories burned during the day, sleep efficiency (ie how many times you wake up and are restless during the night), and even have a calorie tracker (similar to My Fitness Pal).
There are different models of the Fitbit, but we have the Flex.
Accuracy
In the three months that I’ve been wearing my Fitbit, I haven’t noted an issue with accuracy as far as the amount of steps I’ve taken and calories I’ve burned.
The only thing that may not be as accurate is the sleep tracker.
If you do wake up in the middle of the night, and actually remember it, check your Fitbit the next morning to see whether you have record of it. It may not. You have to be pretty active if you wake during the night for the Fitbit to reord it.
Fitbit does have some tips to make your device more accurate (ie which wrist to wear the flex on), and it will track your activity regardless of whether you are taking real steps.
The Fitbit also doesn’t track the movement as steps. To make it more accurate, if you are on an elliptical, don’t rest your arms on the stationary grips.
Comfort/Design
The Fitbit isn’t particularly pretty.
It’s not horrible, but the big rubber band on your wrist isn’t the prettiest accessory.
It would be ideal if it could be worn somewhere more discreet, but that would take away from its accuracy.
The Fitbit is water proof, so you can wash it, and it’s rubber so it doesn’t get gross or smelly. The Fitbit Flex comes with two bands, and but they are breakable so watch for that.
It’s a pretty comfortable design, overall.
Convenience
The only thing that might be considered a bit inconvenient is charging it, and at first, you only need to charge once per week.
The Fitbit app is great, because it lets you see what your progress is in real time. Just bring it up on your phone while you’re working out and it well tell you how many steps (or equivalent) you’ve have taken that day and will actually count them as you watch it.
It also is interesting to be able to wake up, and grab your phone while you’re am still in bed to see how Fitbit thought you slept that night.
Overall, the Fitbit Flex is a pretty good product. It does have a shelf life of about 1 year, so plan on replacing it after that period of time.
