I have
been introduced to fitbit by my good friend, who is a CIO of a global company. I did some online research and figured out that it does not make any difference buying online or in-store. I walked up to a Challenge store in Tampiness, Singapore and picked up a fitbit Flex. One of the reasons I bought in-store was that there was no price difference and secondly I wanted to really touch and feel it. I bought it for about $130 SGD. If you are a member of Challenger, you save another 10% or so…I took membership and got a gift too…
What are the great things about fitBit Flex ?
- It is a great little small band and does not feel that I am wearing anything heavy like a watch.
- I wear it all day, except when I take shower, no issues to my skin with the material and I don’t even feel it.
- The fitbit comes with a phenomenal app that lets you track the following
- Your Daily Steps
- Your distance covered
- Your sleep activity ( including effective sleep vs restlessness )
- Your active minutes
- You can set a goal and the tracker will give you a buzz when you complete the goal, it will blink after you have completed 20% of your goal.
- There are about 5 led lights on the tracker and they tell you how far you are to the goal in a day
- The charging of the tracker is pretty good, I use it for up to 6 days, when I do a full charge. Full charge takes about 2 hrs or so. That’s once a week charge
- The flex comes with a very nice silent alaram feature that lets you wake up early in the morning without making any noise. It vibrates on your skin and creates a titillating sensation that lets you wake up. I like this feature a lot.
- You can look at your history for a week, month or year….Also, the data from this can be used in other apps like MapMyRun and other apps.
- You can sync the data once every day or once every few weeks. It does not lose any data. I have had synched once in a week and it is fine.
- I like the sleep feature as well, you just have to tap the fitbit and then it will put that in sleep mode
- One of the reasons I bought this was that, this is water proof. You can wear it and swim. I did try it and works great. I usually, wash the fitbit tracker after a run so that there is no grease or sweat.
What can be improved in fitBit Flex Tracker ?
- The design of the band for the FitBit Flex is not that great. I broke the band within two month. The way they have embedded plastic with rubber is very vulnerable, it can be improved a lot. I have heard many such issues online as well and from my friends. But they were nice to replace it with a new one, once I raised the issue that it broke.
- The fitbit flex tracker does not go to sleep mode, when you lie down on a bed and tap the flex. I think, it is not handled well from firmware perspective. You have to sit and then put it in sleep mode. It sometimes drives your crazy to put in sleep mode. Then I figured out the trick that you need to be up sitting and then put to sleep mode
- The app is great, but can be improved. I have seen the Jawbone app and it is amazing. I would love to see like a journey or a daily journal…now it is not…
- The flex data cannot be seen on app, when you do not have internet access. I think, the mobile app can have feature to process the data and show it…Usually, when we go on hike, there is less or NO connectivity for days and it is frustrating.
Overall, I think the fitbit flex wrist band is a great fitness tracker and I recommend buying it…My experience so far has been great. I love their customer service as well.
What has been your experience ? Do you like it ?