I Got a Fitbit! A Product Review

Product Review: Fitbit Flex and Fitbit Aria

I've now had my Fitbit for several months and I felt like I could do a thorough review on it now that I have used it in several different instances.

I got a Fitbit Flex in the mail on Wednesday the 15th of January. My aunt had given me $100 for Christmas and I was trying to think of something to get with it when my lovely friend Katie told me about Fitbit. I immediately read through their entire website and ordered the Fitbit Flex in black. This wristband is slightly narrower than the new Force, but I don't ever wear watches and I thought having a device with a screen/watchface would be overkill. I always have my phone with me, so I can look at the number of steps I have taken there.

I then spent the next week reading and watching every review on the planet about all the Fitbit products to make sure that my decision was the right one. (Normally people do this before they buy a product. I tend to do it after and wait with trepidation for the item to ship, hoping that all those horrible reviews were just grumpy people.) After a long wait, I was so excited to receive my Flex in the mail. I set it up in about 20 minutes and was out the door to go to the gym to put it to the test. It was a pretty easy gym workout for me because someone had brought their whining three year old son to the gym. I couldn't concentrate on doing anything super hard because I was spending all my mental power to try not to yell at this child. After 45 minutes, they left and quiet descended.

I always do the elliptical when I'm at the gym and I tested the step count of the machine vs the flex to see if it was accurate. The flex was low by about 200 steps, but that probably was when I was using the stationary handles to get my heart rate several times during the exercise. I then added the weightlifting section as an activity and I think it calculated my workout quite nicely. I have since been to the gym many times and I can say that the flex is always about 20- 50 steps off compared to the machine. I think this discrepancy indicates the times I am fiddling with my headphones or raising the crossramp and resistance.

Ballet was another challenge. I take three ballet classes a week. They are all 1.5 hours or longer and I work up enough of a sweat that I drip on the floor if I don't bring a towel. (I am not over exaggerating. I work really hard in those classes.) I only wore my Flex twice in class. The first time, it told me I took about 200 steps in 1.5 hours. I know I walk more than that, but my arms are either waving around or completely still, so this wristband does not calculate this well at all. Jewelry is not allowed in my ballet studio, so I felt really strange walking in with a giant black band on my wrist when no one else is wearing any jewelry at all. Also, I mentioned sweat. My Fitbit got in the way of the sweat and my towel as I tried to quickly wipe down my arms in between exercises. After the second class, I just decided it wasn't worth it to wear to class. I take it off my wrist when I put on my skirt and shoes and I put it back on when I change clothes after class. I don't really care that it will be slightly off. I just add my activity into the fitness log and I move on with my life.

I have noticed two things that do bug me about the flex.

The first is that it sometimes counts bumpy roads as steps. This wouldn't be a problem, except for the fact that I live in an area of Louisiana that has some of the worst and/or bumpiest roads in the history of roads. The only other roads that I have been on that have been worse were honest to goodness dirt roads in the woods of North Carolina. When I drive into New Orleans four times a week, I drive across the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. The south bound road is older than the north bound and is much bumpier. My tracker counts every bump over every joint of the bridge as a step. It only does it on the south bound bridge, not the north, but it does it, nonetheless. I recently found an app for my phone called DriveBit that you tap when you commute and it tells your Fitbit app on your phone that you were driving and not walking and not to count those steps. I'm not sure if it actually works since I haven't used it over the bridge yet, just the interstate, but I hope it works.

The second is that it goes into sleep mode when I am shaking spices into my cooking. It is really funny to suddenly feel my wrist vibrate when I'm shaking oregano into my spaghetti sauce. I think this is just a problem you get if you are vigorously shaking your spices (which you do when moisture gets in there and solidifies your garlic salt!) so it shouldn't bother most people. The only problem I've had is that it thought I was sleeping for several hours when I didn't notice and correct the accidental sleep log. I went back in on my app and fixed it later all it was all fine.

On the subject of apps, the Fitbit application works really well. (I have a Samsung Galaxy SIII for reference.) I usually use it instead of the online webpage, just because my phone in normally on hand and my computer isn't always. I haven't had any problems with the application or syncing between the app and the webpage. I hardly ever use the dongle that came with the Fitbit, since I usually sync via my phone, but it does work well when I do use it. I use the phone app to record my foods so I can see how many more calories I should burn or eat in that day. Many of the foods I like to eat are not in the database because they are usually obscure brands or vegan. I try to find similar products and substitute them in my food log. I know someone who just makes custom foods with the number of calories they think they ate.

About three weeks after I bought my Fitbit Flex, I was at BestBuy and saw that they carried Fitbit products. I bought a pack of extra bands (navy blue, turquoise, and orange) and a Fitbit Aria. The bands are really fantastic. I love the black band for nicer/dressy occasions such as church or going to a fancy restaurant. I also wear black a lot, so it matches almost everything I wear. The other colors are great for when I want to add a splash of color or match my outfit for the day. They are all rather stiff for the first week or two, but they soften up nicely as you wear them more. Here is one of my problems. If you don't take them off and clean them everyday or every few days (depending on how much you sweat) they begin to smell. I haven't been able to get the smell to go away entirely and it really doesn't smell good. It's a cross between strong cheese sitting in the sun and old shoes. Not a very pleasant smell. This is the one thing that really, really bothers me. Maybe a deodorizing or vinegar spray would get the smell out, I'll let you know when I try it.

The Aria is pretty nice. I got it in white to match my bedroom floor, but it also comes in black that would match my bathroom. It takes a little while to set up, so you can't just step on it and go. I put in all my information on the computer and it wirelessly synced up with the scale. I find that it tends to weigh you on the heavy side, but only by about 2 pounds. It is very consistent. The body fat percentage, in my opinion, is off. It is also consistent, but I can't believe that my body fat take up almost half of my body weight. Compared to my lean muscle level that is taken at my gym, it should be about 10 to 15 pounds less than it says it is. I can't complain too much about this though, because it helps me understand how my body reacts to different activities. The thing I like most about the Aria is the wireless sync to my Fitbit. I don't have to input anything. It just uploads by itself. This is really helpful when I roll out of bed and weigh myself and don't remember to write it down until ten hours later and I've forgotten how much I weighed.

In conclusion, I love my Fitbit Flex. It has be monumental in my Walk to Mordor and much more accurate than hip pedometers have been for me in the past. (Hip pedometers have to sit upright for the step count to be accurate. When you are overweight, the pedometer will not sit in the upright position, and will not accurately count steps. One previously used pedometer gave me an extra two steps for every one step I took going up the stairs.) It works really well in normal everyday life as well as on hikes and in the gym. I don't recommend it for ballet or dance where your arms are largely stationary while your body moves. (Maybe one of the other Fitbits would work better for you in this instance, like the One or the Zip.) I think it is well worth the money and has helped me quantify my fitness on a daily basis. I also enjoy the Aria, but I wouldn't say it is necessary for life. If you already have a nice scale, stick with that. If you don't, watch some review videos on YouTube and decide if you want to spend a large chunk of money on a home scale.

Fitbit Flex $99.95 (4.75/5)
Fitbit Bands set of 3 $29.95 (5/5)
Fitbit Aria $129.95 (4/5)
Fitbit Flex individual bands $14.95

(my rating scale: 0- I hated it and want to return it. 1- it was bad, but not bad enough to return. 2- it was ok, but I don't see myself using it very much. 3- it works well, but there are several problems that annoy me. 4- I really like it but there is one this that bugs me about this. 5- I absolutely love this product and will use it forever until I die.)