21.1.2015

I have been using my Fitbit Flex for exactly two weeks and am really enjoying it. I wear it all the time and don't take it off, as it is water-resistant up to 10m and so you can shower, swim, wash dishes in it, etc. I have never owned any kind of pedometer or tracker before, so it was a big step up for me to start tracking all my activity with this wristband, but so far my experience has been positive, and I have embraced it as an all round enhancement to my lifestyle.I didn't buy my Fitbit from Amazon. I actually got it free from Aviva, after doing a survey for them. I think they must be trialing the device to offer to their Health Insurance Customers in exchange for a premium reduction for leading a more active lifestyle,or similar. Regardless of how I obtained my tracker, though, I really like it, and am pretty sure that if it stopped functioning for some reason, I would buy another, almost certainly from Amazon, as their prices are usually better than anywhere else, and their after-sales care is so good.I have the slate coloured version, and I wear the smaller of the two bands, on the widest setting. As someone else said, I wear it tightly enough so that I can fit one finger under the band, but loosely enough to slide up and down a couple of inches on my wrist. It is light to wear and quite comfortable, and I often don't feel it on me. I have got very used to wearing it, and haven't felt any urge or need to take it off, except to charge. I'm getting about 7 days out of each charge, which seems pretty fair. I'm not sure how long it is taking to charge, as I haven't really paid attention. I just charge it while sitting at the computer, and if I have to get up and do anything I unplug it from the computer and put it, charger and all, in my pocket, until I get back to the comp. It tracks well enough in my pocket for that short time, that I don't bother putting it into the wrist band until I have got a full charge. The wrist band has only fallen off once, so far, but I think I may not have done it up properly the first time, as it has been fine since.Like other people, I initially had a lot of trouble getting the wrist band fastened, but after doing it once, the rubber seems to get a little more flexible. Somebody recommended that you do it up a couple of times OFF your wrist first. This seems like very sound advice, and I wish I had thought of that when I was struggling. I'd rather it was hard to do up than have it falling off all the time, though, so I don't consider this much of an issue.I had been swimming for exercise on a regular basis for about 18 months prior to getting my tracker, and didn't think I needed to think too much about my activity levels. However, since starting to wear my Fitbit Flex I have become much more aware of how active I am, (or how inactive), during the parts of the day when I'm not exercising at the pool or at the gym, and it definitely encourages me to get up and move around during my more sluggish times. When I started with my Fitbit, I wasn't sure whether I would really like micro-managing my exercise, and wondered whether it might start to get oppressive, but so far I have found it to be very motivating, and it hasn't made me feel as though I am obsessing unhealthily at all.I am impressed by the technology and how much thought has gone into the design of the software. I can see how having the app on a smart phone would be really useful, but even on the less transportable laptop, I am delighted with all the things I can do. The dashboard is fully customizable, so you can decide which tiles you want to keep and which to get rid of. I'm currently tracking steps, activity, calories burned, sleep and water drunk, but you can have more items on it if you want to.I like the various functions on the dashboard, including the sleep tracker. I'm not very good at going to bed at a sensible time, and I am finding that I'm looking to see how much sleep I got every morning with great interest, and am definitely going to bed earlier, so that my Fitbit will be pleased with me. Sounds silly, I know, but it does seem to work. I usually object to being jollied along and encouraged to exercise more, sleep better, etc, but I've found that I don't mind when it's my Fitbit telling me. Instead of finding it annoying or condescending when my dashboard tells me I am a Champ for meeting my goal, I find myself smiling instead. I'd say they have found just the right balance between being encouraging and letting you get on with it yourself.I find the water tracking really useful too. I am definitely drinking more now that I have an easy way to keep track of how much I have actually drunk, and am strongly motivated to meet my goal in terms of water drunk, as well as steps taken. I also like the way I can log activities separately and have them added in to my day's total activity. This is particularly useful when your main exercise is swimming, which the Fitbit doesn't track very well, and otherwise I'd have no way of getting an accurate activity record. I have got into the habit of making a mental note of when I start and finish my swim, so that I can insert my exercise sessions accurately into my other activity.I'm not sure there are really many negatives I can think of, except that I'd really love it if my Flex would track my pulse, too. There are versions of the Fitbit which will do this, but I wouldn't switch to them instead because I wouldn't want to give up a band which I can wear all day and night and take in the shower and the pool, or lose the sleep tracking functionality. I also think the makers could do a lot to add to their FAQs on the website, as they are far from comprehensive. There is an online community, where you can, in theory, find out answers to questions not dealt with in the FAQ, but I found it exceedingly difficult to wade through all the posts to find anything useful.Next step: I don't like buying things I don't strictly need, but I must admit to being tempted by the third-party selection of coloured replacement bands to use with the tracker. I like the slate version I have; it seems very business-like and sporty, but I'm thinking it would be fun to have a range of different coloured bands to wear. Perhaps I'll ask the kids for a set for my birthday.

27.6.2013

I have had my Fitbit Flex for two weeks now and think that I have tested it enough to give it a good review.Like so many people out there I am in constant need of exercise but always seem to lack the motivation. As a die hard gadget geek the idea of merging my love of the latest and greatest technology with the my desire to get off my ever growing backside and do some exercise seemed like a great idea.So how did it work out after two weeks of use?To be honest not so great, not because it doesn't work but rather because they simply haven't taken the idea far enough. I have broken the pros and cons down into following categories:STYLINGStraight out of the box I thought that this looked good.It is small, stylish and comfortable to wear with any outfit whether it is smart dress for a business meeting, casual clothes when out with friends or even my sweaty gym gear when I am actually trying to get active.However as good as I think it does look there are a number of my friends and colleagues who have all commented on it and are not so impressed. However, when they discovered that different coloured straps could be bought for it they perked up a bit, though not by much.So mixed feedback on the styling.THE BUILD QUALITYThe device itself is as robust as promised.The strap is obviously little more than rubber with a semi-transparent plastic band to show the LED's from the device. There really wasn't much they could get wrong there.The actual tracker (that I have come to think of in my mind as 'the pod') is a solid looking device that doesn't rattle when shook or flex much under pressure. It survived water as the write up suggests though I have to admit that I haven't taken it swimming yet, I have simply kept it on in the shower. I have every reason to believe that it will last quite some time without breaking based on the build quality.TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES & SOFTWAREOkay, so down to the most important matter, what can it do?Well it does quite effectively work as a pedometer. I have tested it against an old pedometer and the results were very accurate. It also neatly worked out the distance I have walked to a fair degree of accuracy. It then syncs all of this data via Bluetooth to your smartphone. All good so far.When tapped, the app will give you feedback of how far you are into your goal number using the five LEDs to show the percentage of how you are doing. It will vibrate once you have reached your goal which does put a smile on your face.But the tapping doesn't stop there, you have to tap the device like a mad man for few seconds to activate sleep mode where it will monitor your sleep patterns and then do the same thing in the morning to deactivate it. This isn't all that user friendly and with only the five LEDs as feedback it isn't easy to figure out without referring to the manual exactly what mode you have set.There is a silent alarm that works fine but again to deactivate it there is a considerable amount of tapping involved that at times simply doesn't seem to work. I do like the silent alarm though and found it to be much more effective at getting me up in the morning than a noise alarm.The software that this device interacts with is very user friendly and incredibly easy to use so there are no problems there. There are a lot of extra features (weight tracking & food tracking etc) but some of these simply have nothing to do with the band what soever.After a while using this device the limits of the technology become very clear. I am surprised that something attached to your wrist doesn't have a heartbeat monitor built in as that would be very useful in an exercise device such as this. Also this really only tracks step motion, like walking and running, so it is not much use for things like cycling, rowing or other activities that don't involve you physically stepping. All in all it seems to me like an expensive and glorified pedometer.My main gripe however is with the lack of feedback you get from the device. The LEDs simply aren't enough to motivate you, especially when they only come on when you actively tap the device. Nothing is automated so you don't get reminders to exercise or anything else that might be motivational.SUMMARYOverall I am not unhappy with this device. It does exactly what it said it would, I enjoy using it and the silent alarm function is awesome. Where I think that this device deserves to lose a star from the rating is in how much father the idea could go but doesn't.Ideally in my next band like this I would like to see a device that is constantly reminding me to work out. It should detect if I am being lazy or am in danger of not meeting my goals and constantly remind me to get moving. That would be motivational and really helpful where as with this one it is easy to forget that it is there and ignore it completely.The visual feedback from the device needs to be improved dramatically. In an age of touchscreen devices so small that they can fit into watch faces and iPod nano's etc, it is really disappointing to have to constantly go into the app on your phone in order to find out where you are with things because all you can see on the device itself is five blinking LEDs. This would have been better built into a digital watch where you could cycle through the functions at will.I am sure in the near future there are going to be devices such of this that does all of that as well as things like heart rate monitoring, accurate calorie counting from other exercises and more as well. So my advice would be not to spend the £90 for this glorified pedometer and wait for something more revolutionary to come along. You will not be ripped off in buying this device, you will just be left wanting.

8.7.2014

Firstly, i spent quite a long time (over a number of lunch hours) reading a multitude of reviews on all the current crop of "fitness" tracker devices. What i learned from all of this is that they all seem to have their good points, and all seem to have weaknesses. What sent me down the Fitbit route was simply being able to chat to some colleagues who were real-world users of these devices. Out of the them, the Fitbit just edged it for my money.So, one week in and here are my thoughts on the Fitbit Flex...Good Points* Set up was easy. Given there was no documentation or user instruction within the box, intuition (and the web) led the way for me, and i had mine up and running,synched to my phone within 10 minutes.* The strap is reasonably comfortable. I neede the larger of the 2 straps included within the box, and the securing clip snapped into place with a reassuring click. Yes, its a little more bulky than say a watch strap, but it is a lot lighter.* Water resistance? It claims you can wear it in the shower, but i wondered why you would want to track your "steps" in a shower anyway. I'm used to removing my watches and rings before showering so removing the fitbit was no issue.* Battery life seems good. It came with about 1/2 a charge, and i've only needed to put it in for a full charge just once in a week. What i've started doing is plugging it in for a top up every other day (whilst i'm in the shower) - it seems quite happy with that.* Colour. I read a few comments about how some of the brighter coloured straps seemed to get dirty and show up the signs of wear quite quickly. I opted for the Slate Grey strap (which oddly looks kind of blueish) - this seems to have kept clean.* Phone App. The iPhone app is quite intuitive to use, and has a reasonably clear and simple layout. I cannot comment on the iPad app as my iPad is not compatible with it (i have an iPad 2 and you need one of the Bluetooth v4 iPads - 3,4, Air for the app to work). The web-based dashboard is well laid out and user-friendly too.* Device user interface. This is all done via "tapping" onto the front panel. You can get it to show your progress towards whatever goal you have setup (steps, activity etc). Quite simple and straight forward once you work out which bit responds to the tapping. I found it responds better to being tapped with a finger nail, than the soft pad of a finger.* Sleep mode tracking seems to be effective. Once you get used to the fact that you have to tell it you are going to sleep (tapping several times). I found it recorded my sleep/restlessness very accurately.Not-so good points* The Calories burnt figure seems to be over-zealous. I presume its based on a generic algorithum that uses the basic stats (height, weight, gender etc) to work out your basic metabolic burn rate. As i guide i guess its better than nothing.* The Flex does not log altitude, so does not keep a log of "floors" traversed. This means you get no entries in that area of the activity log (on the app and Dashboard). A minor niggle as i guess the dashboard is designed to cover all the various Fitbit devices available.* The activity tracker can cause you to double-up on steps if you are not too careful with how you log your activity. For instance i go out for a walk around our business park at lunchtime. When i get back i can see it has logged the steps taken. If i then go into the activity tracker and try to enter in a "Walking" activity it will then calcualte a number of steps taken for the duration of your activity and add then onto your total, thus doubling up. If you wear your Fitbit when out cycling it can also lead to erratic counting - whilst wearing my fitbit on a 20k ride it logged 26000 steps!The worst points* The food log is horribly US-centric. Entering in items such as fresh fruit and veg can be problematic as the list it presents seems to be veg portions from numerous restuarant chains. I found that i had to add in my own "custom" entries for most of the stuff i tend to eat. This is a one-off, as once an item is in your personal list then it can be picked in again. It's a pain. It does seem to have a bar-code scanner on the app, but i've yet to get it to work on any UK product!* Also on the food log, the custom entry area on the iPhone app is dreadful. I cannot find how you can enter in decimal / fractional values for grammes/ounces etc as the default pop-up keypad only contains the numerics. So i tend to use the Web dashboard for adding in custom entries into the food logger, and use the App for on-the-go entering of stuff that is already in my list.OverallI like the simplicity of the Fitbit. The dashboard and app are good and easy to use, once you have got over the niggles about the food list. I guess it can be whatever you want to make from an activity tracker. I do a lot of cycling so use other gadgets (Garmin) for tracking my cycling activities, and use the Fitbit simply for tracking how active (or not) i am at work and home. The food / drink tracker is a handy guide to see roughly what i've eaten, but if you are on a proper diet plan (Slimming World etc) then other apps are better at accurately logging your food.There seems to be some integration with the Fitbit intelligent scales (for weight/BMI etc) which i've not yet explored, but their scales are on order so may provide an update once i've used them.

19.8.2014

I love this tracker. It has so much going for it that I can't do anything else but recommend it.When I was looking to buy an activity tracker (there are so many out there these days), I compared a few to see which was the best 'fit' for me - the Nike FuelBand, the Jawbone Up24, Polar Loop, Garmin Vivofit and this one. The FuelBand was the first to be struck off the list (too expensive, too unreliable, and the Nike+ website is an awful awful experience), followed by the Up24 (again too expensive and a little too feminine for me), then the Vivofit (tempting, although seems to be compromised by the decision to have a long-life battery). So it came down to the Loop and the Flex.And as much as I like the look of the Loop,Fitbit have nailed it with the accompanying smartphone app and website.The Flex itself is subtle, so if you want something that shouts out "I'm tracking my activity!", then it's probably not for you (although you can get a variety of loud wristbands for it). Once you've got the hang of the clasp, it stays securely on your wrist and can be worn 24/7. Not only is it showerproof, but you can go swimming with this thing. I also love the fact I can take the sensor (it's tiny!) out of the wristband and pop it in my pocket if I want - something I do at work.It accurately records steps (I've tested it against a number of different step trackers) and is a brilliant sleep tracker. If you forget to activate the sleep mode (or fall asleep beforehand), just go to the app or website and add the time period of your sleep; Fitbit calculates your sleep pattern anyway based on your movement. Likewise, if you've accidently activated sleep mode (I've done it through too much vigorous movement), it seems to work out you're not actually sleeping and therefore not record a period of sleep.The battery life is good (I get around 5-6 days out of it) and the three-or-so-hours charging time doesn't really impact on recording your activity. I would probably prefer a longer time between charges, but I'm just being picky.Now for the website. I really don't think any of the other trackers come close to the Fitbit website for recording your overall activity and calorie intake/burn. Although it has options to log food, weight, exercise, etc., it also connects with numerous other websites to sync data. You really can't go wrong with keeping an accurate check on things. I'm not a big fan of the food logging part of the website, but again Fitbit come up trumps by connecting to MyFitnessPal - which in my opinion is the best calorie counter out there (and it's free). I also connect to MapMyFitness and Endomondo for other activities - and I've never had a problem with the syncing of data.The smartphone app (I have the iOS version) is just brilliant. If you don't have a Flex, this app is a really good indicator of how the Flex works and how FitBit records your activity. If you have an iPhone 5S with the M7 chip, then it will also track your steps accurately. It's free to use (and it's free to have an account with Fitbit), so if you're thinking of buying a Flex then download the app. Some of the functions are missing, but it's a great advert for Fitbit and their trackers. the latest update even allows you to record runs and walks.The app links with the Flex by Bluetooth Low Energy. Saying that, you don't need to have the Bluetooth switched on all the time, just switch it on to sync your data. the Flex also comes with a USB dongle to wireless connect every 15 minutes if you are within range.So what don't I like about the Flex? Nothing.

3.9.2014

I did quite a bit of research into fitness trackers before asking for a fitbit for my birthday (which was last month), and decided on the fitbit primarily because of the secure wristband style of the device, but also because I was intrigued by the sleep tracker function.I've worn the fitbit almost all the time since setting it up just over 2 weeks ago. I always take if off to shower so it doesn't get gunky, and it has to be taken off to charge, but I wear it the rest of the time. It's comfortable and pretty unobtrusive, though I do find myself looking at it and expecting to see the time, which (as it has no screen) it doesn't show! So far the charge has lasted about 6 days,and I do find it useful that when I sync the fitbit with my phone or laptop there's a battery level indicator so you get some warning about how long you have before a charge is needed. I've bought a couple of spare charges so I can have them at home, work and on the move so I don't get caught out!I was pretty active before I got my fitbit, but I'm a bit of a geek and I like to keep track of how I'm doing, so that was a big part of the attraction of getting a device like this. However, it seems a bit random in terms of how it tracks activity and what it registers. It only really seems to be accurate for step style activities like walking and running. This morning for example I did a metafit class which is a 30 minute high intensity bodyweight session which leaves me sweating and knackered by the end and is a really tough work out - but the fitbit doesn't register this is a period of 'very active minutes' on the dashboard when clearly it is. It does however register my walk to work (approx 30 minutes at a steady but not fast pace) as a 'very active' period. It's also a bit weird when cycling - it registers a number of steps and some distance but nothing that really relates to the distance covered in the bike ride. In an ideal world I like to see the fitbit more accurately track all different types of exercise and fitness activities.I'm also not entirely convinced by the sleep function, I often wake for short periods in the night (but rarely get up), and the fitbit doesn't seem to differentiate between these periods of wakefulness and restless sleep. It's not a major issue but it does mean my fitbit record suggests I'm getting a better nights sleep than I am!!I haven't used the food diary function really, I like the idea of it but it takes too much time to look up calorie values of food to enter everything you eat - this function would be better if the fitbit could automatically add a calorie value when a food is entered.Finally, I'd like to be able to change my target number of steps, calories etc as the fitbit is set with the government's recommended minimum daily 10,000 steps and 30 minutes of being very active. As I was fairly fit and active before I got my fitbit I expect to beat these targets easily (and so far have done so) so I'd like to be able to set myself more of a challenge but if this is possible I haven't yet figured out how!!This is a great device and I'd definitely recommend it as a fitness tracker, but it's perhaps better for those who are just starting out on their fitness journey, or whose primary form of exercise is walking, rather than those (like me) who already do a lot of different types of exercise.

3.7.2013

I hated this when I first used it - the packaging is minimal and there was a total lack of instructions aside from a web site address to go to.When I did get it setup using the supplied WiFi dongle I was quite underwhelmed. You go to the fitbit.com website and it seemed to just show steps and a few other things - not much more than you'd get from a much cheaper pedometer.After using it (well just wearing it) I checked the dashboard again then there were lots more stats that made it more useful and where it really came into it's own was installing the free app for iPhone and Android.The tracker syncs with no input (after you've entered your website login details) and the data is pushed to your phone and the web site.You get at a glance - steps taken, mileage, calories and activity. This is well presented and in a similar tile format to the new UI in Windows 8.The tracker is a bit of a pain to put on at first, but you soon don't notice that it's there. It's waterproof so can be used pretty much doing anything. There are two different sized wristbands supplied and you take the actual (tiny) tracker out to charge - I've charged it once in 3 days and just popped it into the supplied USB cradle to top up and it's been doing fine so far. The display is very limited - just 5 dots to show you how far you are on your daily targets (you can set your own target easily enough)Where it does come into it's own is with the tiles you can plug in (on the website) - I used the sleep monitor last night for the first time and was pretty impressed. Although it's manual (you press a button on the phone when you get into bed and wake up) the results were pretty accurate and shown that I got 7 hours 16 minutes sleep, with 6 minutes restless based on my activity. You can also do other things such as food, weight, etc and it's quite powerful.On thing I didn't like is that there is a premium area on the site that is $50 per year and offers extra content such as reports on food and activity, a trainer to increase your activity and the opportunity to export the data to Excel. Bear in mind the price of the product I feel this should be included and not a paid for extra. The instructions need to exist in a far better form, even if it's just a set this up and then go to the website.Although it's an expensive product, and you can get a cheap pedometer to do the basic stuff for a fraction of the price, for me the fitbit is worth the extra money.The connectivity is brilliant - it just works with the minimum of fuss and it's always available on your phone.The extra features such as sleep activity are added extras that genuinely provide extra value.Finally it's the ease of use overall - from the long life, how unobtrusive it is on the wrist and the at a glance graphs/motivation.It's something I can see getting a lot of use out of in the long term and it helps with the motivation to just hit the next target and generally improve my health.Overall recommendedEDIT 10/02/14 - I broke the strap on the fitbit (by inserting the tracker too harshly!) and dropped an email to support and they sent out a brand new one (from the USA) that arrived in four days! Very impressive after sales service. I'm also using the tracker every day and highly recommend.

23.10.2014

I bought my fitbit with three free straps from Amazon unfortunately the way they were ordered meant I got the wrong size. As usual Amazon were very good at handling the situation and resolved the issue quickly and without fuss.Now my fitbit, had a few problems early on with a rash but that seemed to be due to me wearing it very tightly around my wrist, I've since loosened it off and the rash has went away. I think it was a sweat rash but in any case no more problems. You can log activities on the dashboard and I have been logging my three times a week gym sessions, I just don't know how to work out if I am actually logging it properly to get a reasonably accurate calorie count.I log the gym session but the fitbit automatically logs the arm movements as well during the gym session as steps and it seems to me that I may be double logging my calorie count . I reduced the calorie count as shown on the gym machines to compensate when logged but would like to be more accurate.The good bits, sleep - very good representation of my sleep patterns, when I'm a bit tired in the morning then it shows a higher than normal restless pattern, when really rested you can see long periods of sleep.Exercise - I like the way you can't hide, if you are active it shows it, if not then you can't convince yourself that you did more than the actual count. It seems to be quite accurate with steps but then all of these fitness monitors are an approximation to a real count of your calories used. Obviously it doesn't show up either on the gym bike or my racing bike as the arms don't move maybe I should attach it to my ankle ???....Day to day usage - It's waterproof, I wear it in the shower, sweating in the gym and swimming all with no problems, it got covered in emulsion and gloss paint during diy and cleaned up easily, it can be a bit difficult to reattach but I like that because it is very secure on your wrist, just remember don't attach it too tightly. It's quite unobtrusive and doesn't get in the way of anything. Mine fully charges in about an hour and a half and lasts for 6 days so you don't lose too much log time while charging.The dashboard - is a good represenation of your activity during the day/week/month/year/all, albeit a little quirky in usage. it's easy to log your food intake and calorie count in but is too much aligned with the US foodstuffs. You can add your own easily and that offsets the irkiness of the US bias. Pity Fitbit don't collect the personal food data from dashboards (it could be permission based) and add a customer country specific listing of food. As usual it seems to be more Apple centric than Android but works well nonetheless. I would like to be able to modify some of the settings more in the dashboard as the calorie usage etc are just average values and not person specific.This my first foray into health monitors and am quite pleased with the results, strangely for me with gadgets, it has motivated me to do more exercise and time will tell how long that lasts. I can't wait until health monitors get really good i.e. monitoring pulse, BP, real exercise values, GPS movement based logging, plus all the things the fitbit does at the moment.I'll add other comments later if I feel they are helpful...

23.6.2013

For myself the big reason and benefit of this was to see just how good a sleep other half was getting. Complaints of him not sleeping properly but me doing was starting to drive me insane. Got the proof now needed, he has been sleeping and fairly well too.Lots of gadgets well pedometers that give you readings for walking/steps etc but this gives you your sleep patterns too. If any teenagers in the family, well one of these are not needed for their sleep pattern, as any parent will probably tell you they sleep well most of the time. Really useful though for them to see just how much walking/steps they are not doing and maybe give them some encouragement to keep up their level of activity whengot to that level they are happy with it might not be yours but at least with it being more interactive it could give them that push they need. Will be using it on daughter and will do an update on how that pans outs.Easy to set up and everything you need to use it all neatly boxed, as long as you have a computer to do the initial set up you are then able to start. I was amazed at just how easy to use it was.Two sized wrist bands. One ideal for smaller wrists more like a ladies sized one the other bigger for a mans wrist both waterproof just different sizes. Did think at first there were two trackers with there being the two wrist bands then realised not. Husband using one at the moment but after a couple of weeks I am going to try it out for a long stint, especially for the sleep pattern.The wrist bands are the only fiddly thing to do, a lot of pressure is needed to push through the two bits into the other part of the strap. Plus other half does not tend to wear a watch a lot so having something on your wrist when not used to something being there can take a bit of getting used to. I suppose if you are used to wearing and watch and taking it on and off this is probably not an issue to you. If suffering from any sort of hand arthritis then not really an option as too hard to put on, will have to get help to put mine on tried but nearly lost it on the floor when trying to put the bits through the strap.This really is one of those items that you have to use for a period of time to see any long term results and get a fuller picture, even a month is not really long enough as you may not be doing as much due to holidays or maybe even more and then not get a true reflection. Either that or my idea was to put it onto the dog and let him run around and see my steps go up whilst sitting on the sun lounger reading. Sadly can not do this with this tracker like the old pedometers. As you have to put in your weight height etc and some how me and a beagle do not match up.A good but expensive bit of kit but time will tell.Youngest was a bit gutted he could not use it as for 18 plus, he did try fudging the weight etc and height thing to try to get around it but to no avail. Also not compatible with his Nexus (but they do say that they are working on that issue). Just would have thought it with being such a new item comptabile with most devices so worth checking out first before buying on the website to make sure as an expensive item if it does not work for your device.

21.7.2014

Okay, so it has taken me a year to get around to reviewing this, but I feel I can give the review the good and the bad over a longer period of time than most. It has made me more aware of how (in)active I am from day to day, the display is easy to understand and the vibration when you have achieved your daily step goal (you can change this) can be quite satisfying. I initially used the sleep monitor but soon started to forget to change modes when going to sleep or waking and although you can set the sleep start/stop times on the website and it gives you the sleep data, I gave up on this in the end. Sometimes it was quite stubborn about changing modes too,and I would be jabbing away at it like some deranged creature and getting nowhere even after shouting "SLEEP, YOU BASTARD!!" at it, and by the time I had got it to change I was too wound up to sleep. At other times it would switch modes while I was applauding at a talk or conference.As for the build quality, the strap has started to split after a year of near constant wear. Initially I was quite annoyed about this but then I remembered the punishment I put it through in the first week of ownership and I soon forgave Fitbit for this.Picture the scene, I had gone out with friends to see Senser (check them out if you haven't heard their music, I recommend the 'How to do battle' album in particular. Go on, have a listen to 'The end of the world show') playing live and I had forgotten to remove my nice new Flex before going out. The support acts had warmed the crowd up nicely and things kicked off when Senser played. All bands play harder when they are live but this was mosh pit heaven!! I dived in there and went at it until I felt I was about to collapse. When I crawled out of the pit for a break and a drink I discovered that my Flex was gone!! Fallen off my wrist somewhere out there in a moshpit that could have flattened Dresden.I looked around but there was a sea of heavy looking blokes in boots leaping about and going batshit crazy, my heart sunk to think that my brand new Flex was probably smashed to pieces and was unlikely to be much more than dust by the time a few hundred boots had landed on it, but I felt it was a worthy sacrifice to such a great live musical act. At the end of the show when people where filtering out I, with heavy heart, searched for what was going to be left of it.It was INTACT!!! It was covered in black bootprints and far from where I had been happily losing the plot, but despite the marks (which washed off), a slight pinch mark at the corner of the bracelet screen, and a few scratches on the metal clip thingumy, it had survived something that should surely have sent it to silicon heaven!Still serving me well on a daily basis this has to be the toughest and best bit of fitness gear I have purchased. Oh, and the battery STILL lasts me nearly a full week on one charge.If you are only going to take it for walks or runs you can rest assured it will take it in its stride.

15.10.2014

We've had this now for 5 months and I have to say it's a nice device. I purchased this primarily for my wife to track her sleep as she was always tired.The fitbit flex consists of two parts; a strap and the fitbit which slips into it. The flex is like a tiny spaceage capsule with tiny lights to indicate things like charging, your mode (daytime or sleep), and how far you are through your 10,000 daily steps.To get the fitbit up and running you have to create an account on fitbit.com and then assign your flex to that account. You can do this on any device that supports low-power bluetooth (for example the iphone 4s and above or ipad 3 and above). We had an ipad 2,

7.1.2014

I'm a gadget freak, like many people today I suppose and, also like many others in the modern world, I am well aware of the fact that I don't move enough in my daily life in order to maintain fitness. A couple of gym visits a week with the rest of my time spent seated in front of a computer or a book simply does not cut it. So; I decided to give the FitBit Flex a try, since it held out the promise of being a constant "conscience" about my daily movement quota. And it is working like a dream in the four weeks I have been using it. The integration with the online and smartphone interfaces is excellent and compelling, the visual (and vibration!) feedback from the device itself throughout the day,

22.6.2013

I got this to keep tabs on my energy and calorie expenditure and sleep patterns for health reasons. I decided to pair it with my iPad Mini and downloaded the appropriate free App from the iTunes App Store. Once I had selected the Flex on the Fitbit App, I was taken step by step through the Flex setup procedure. This proved quite straightforward after removing and charging the tracker unit. Once charged, the tracker unit is replaced in the bracelet and set up completed. The unit seeks information as to your age, sex, height and weight before it pairs with your chosen link. It will clearly take a little time to familiarise myself with the Flex and get the most benefits from it. Right off, however,

9.3.2014

I bought this as a little present to myself through the Fitbit website. I had started on my fitness journey late in October 2014 and had faltered a little. I had heard about activity trackers through My Fitness Pal, where I record my activities and log my food. I looked through all the wearable trackers and the Fitbit Flex came out as the best option for me.It tracks your steps so you can try and hit your targets such as 10,000 steps a day. It can also show you how far in miles you have walked a day. If you have been quite active for a period of time this all adds up as 'very active minutes'. I try and hit 30 very active minutes a day - such as going for a walk on my lunch break or for a run after work.

25.1.2015

I am still happy with my fitbit some months on. It effortlessly records sleep and steps giving progress to focus on to improve 'lifestyle'. A bit more than a pedometer because I am trying to improve my sleep and it gives a measurement to refer to.o I forget that I am wearing Fitbit, though It dropped off my wrist a few times (maybe I didn't close it properly,) but luckily found it in bed. The strap was tough to close to start with until it softened upo not a 'look' at smart occasions, like a swimming pool key strap, so I bought the Tory Birch strap which has had compliments (but expensive at £170). (The Jawbone has a better look.)o The dash board on my MacBook is informative, clear,

26.2.2014

I travel a lot with my job and bought this to keep a track of my level of activity and calorie burn, food intake and just to see how well I am sleeping, especially with frequent time zone changes. It is far better than I expected. it is very comfortable and I quickly forgot I was wearing it next to my watch. My battery lasts over a week before needing a recharge….more than the 5 day claim, so that's good. It's incredibly easy to install and the interface on my Mac and iPhone is excellent. Sync happens automatically.Entering food intake is straight forward, and my only gripe is that they don't have a library of UK food brands yet….closest is a US library……but most foods are there,

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