Fitbit today launched its newest wearable activity tracking device, the Fitbit Flex. The wristband, which originally debuted at CES 2013, counts calories burned, distance walked, and steps taken, along with offering tools to record food intake and sleep quality.
At $100, the Fitbit Flex is more affordable than competing products like the Jawbone UP and the Nike FuelBand, priced at $130 and $150, respectively.
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The waterproof band needs to be charged approximately every five days and syncs via Bluetooth 4.0. It works in conjunction with the Fitbit app. Engadget has posted a comprehensive review of the Fitbit Flex, finding the design to be appealing but the sleep and food tracking features to be lacking.
What Fitbit seems to have done is look at the rest of the fitness-tracking field, figure out what features have proven most successful and essential and then packed them in a surprisingly stylish and affordable package. At $100, the Flex isn't an impulse purchase considering its relatively niche appeal, but for those looking to pick up this particular type of lifestyle product, it's a solid choice.
The social aspects of racking up Fuel points and Jawbone's more robust mobile app certainly have their appeal, but we'd say the Flex offers the most well-rounded experience, not to mention the best bang for your buck.
The Fitbit Flex wristband can be purchased from the Fitbit website for $99.95.
Top Rated Comments
The fuelband has the neat display that tells you what you have done and what you need to do to reach your goal. The fact you can press the button and see where you are helps a lot when you are pushing yourself at the gym and want to go a bit further. IMO thats the best use you can get out of these bands. The fuel points may or may not mean much, but you can control how high you want to set them and know what your limits are after a few uses.
Agree 100%, and added bold for emphasis. These bands are what they are. None of them will do anything unless you have the motivation to do it. Fuel points is a great way for the motivated to continue to challenge themselves and go to the next level. But all of them are wildly inaccurate if one is using them to measure "standards" like calories burned and steps taken, especially when used on treadmills and elliptical.
In my opinion, the Fuelband is the most usless.
+1
The flex is probably the best of the 3, it has everything the other 2 have combined. With the exception of the Display on the Nike+
I've been using the FuelBand almost since it launched and have had my share of dissatisfaction with it BUT it has helped me maintain motivate and I've gone from walking at a 1mi/20 min pace to running 1mi/10 min pace. Also have gone from walking 4 miles daily to running 4 miles 5 days/week and 10 miles one day week.
I'm always on the lookout for improvement so I snatched up a Flex yesterday @ BB while I could (they sold out fast). I can't really judge it on accuracy yet but...
The Fuel Band wins on:
1) communication (display in band)
2) charging convenience (USB built into band, no adapter needed, no need to disassemble to charge like the Flex.
3) attractiveness (says a lot b/c the Fuelband is ugly IMHO, but the Flex looks a bit dorky on the wrist as it's very thick near the LED window.
Also huge disappointment with the Flex: does not count stairs climbed like the The One.
The Flex wins on:
1) More complete app (lets you enter in activities, water consumption, food eaten
2) Sleep monitoring if you are in to that. The Fuel Band is useless when sleeping
3) Syncing (Flex syncs automatically to iDevice via BT, though no idea if this is a battery eater. The Fuel Band must be manually synced by pushing a button on the band).
As of right now I'm still sticking w/ the FuelBand. It's the best of an unsatisfying lot. The market is still wide open for a truly complete wearable activity monitor. As I use the Flex the next few days my mind may change, but only if the Flex turns out to be more accurate than the Fuel Band, which consistently under counts my runs on pavement, and severely so on machines (treadmill, elliptical).
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I have a FitBit One and I love it. The Flex does the exact same thing as the One, with but you can wear it on your wrist.
Just an FYI, the Flex DOES NOT count stairs climbed like the One.
In my opinion, the Fuelband is the most usless.
+1
The flex is probably the best of the 3, it has everything the other 2 have combined. With the exception of the Display on the Nike+