Product Review: Fitbit Flex Bracelet

For the last month and half or so I have been posting photos of my fitbit flex screenshots showing you how far I have come each week, and showing my accomplishments. During this time I have received tons of messages about what exactly fitbit is, and how you get it, and what I think of it. So I decided the best to tell everyone about fitbit and my experience with it is to write a product review on this fun bracelet.

The fitbit bracelet can be found pretty much anywhere from online retailers like Walmart, Target, Amazon etc and in your local stores as well. Personally I purchased my fitbit flex from our local Best Buy retailer for around $99. Fitbit Flex is a soft plastic bracelet that comes with two bracelets one is a size small and one is a size large the bracelets are pretty simple. They are made out of a heavier duty plastic so it allows for flexibility to fit around your wrist comfortably which for me who does not like bracelets or watches is a huge plus. You will notice it has one strip on it this is a window where you will see the LED Lights showing you your progression during the day. Each light will light up to show you how far you have walked, for example if you have three lights showing than you are more than half way to your goal. When you reach your goal of 5000 or 10,000 steps a day all five of your LED lights will light up and your bracelet will vibrate letting you know that you reached your goal for the day. One of the features I wish this one had was showing you the actual steps you took rather than showing LED Lights that light up, they do offer another version of this bracelet called the Fitbit Force which does that exactly, but that option also comes with a $80 more expensive price tag which to me is just not worth it. Underneath your bracelet in a little opening is the heart of fitbit called the tracker this is the brain of the device this is a small little black tracker that holds your LED lights and all of the information on how you did throughout the day. This tracker comes with a charging docking station that plugs into a USB port to charge I normally only have to charge my tracker around every 5-6 days total which is great, and it has notification that will send you a email or text to let you know when your fitbit is running low and needs to be charged which is very convenient.

The fitbit is so much more than just a plain jane pedometer like I had originally thought, this not only counts your steps, and how many miles you have walked, but it also keep tracks of your sleep patterns, and allows you to log in your water intake, your weight loss, calories burned, your calories consumed with a food journal, and how many active minutes you had throughout the day. One of the other great options on this is allows you to add your friends whom have fitbit so that you can compete and track each others progress, it is a great way to help motivate each other. One of the things I did not like about this feature is that the only current way to add your friends is via email , which you would figure with today's social media outlets that allowing a Facebook friends sign up or twitter would of been a lot more convenient that having to know your friends email address.

One of the other great features of this is that if you do water activities like water aerobics like me, your fitbit is waterproof up to ten meters. Daily I wear mine during water aerobics and it will still track my activity and steps taken which is awesome. Some of the things it will not track that we have found through trial and error is your activity on a excercise bike, or eliptical or stair climbing machine. Also if you are in a store pushing a grocery cart it will also not track your steps unless you have one arm free to swing back and forth as you walk, why you have to do this I am not sure. On two occasions I would go to Walmart and do alot of walking and would come out to see that my fitbit only reflected that I walked 200 steps when it more likely 2000 steps.

Some of the features of the Fitbit Flex:

• Tracks your steps, the distance in miles you walked and your active minutes you had per day


• At nightime you put your bracelet into Sleep Mode and it will monitor how long you sleep and how often you awake or are restless during the night


• On your computer you can get into the dashboard and set personal alarms so your bracelet will vibrate like in the morning to wake you.


• LED lights show you how you are progressing during your day.


• Comfortable, slim and easy to wear and durable.


• Syncs easily to your computer, phone, kindles, Ipad and more


• Available in several colors such as black, slate blue grey, lime green, pink (new) and purple (new)


• You can replace the accessory bands cheaply if you want other colors.


• Earn badges to help move you along in your goals.


• Free App to use on your mobile devices.


• Share your progress and compete with your friends whom also have fitbit.

My Personal Experience:

When I first started I didn't think I would love this tracking device as much as I do, but I find myself pumping my gas at the gas station and walking in place just to get those extra few steps in. Or late at night if I see I am within reach of my 10,000 step goal you might find myself walking laps in my kitchen and dining room just to reach that goal. It has also brought out the competitive side of me as I try to push myself to do better than the day before, or with my girlfriend I will try to beat her or come close to beating her. Being a person who does not like to wear watches or bracelets, I was worried I would not like this fitbit. The truth however is it is so light weight and comfortable that I forget I have it on most of the time.

 

 

Disclaimer: I do not receive any compesenation from anyone for my product reviews currently these are based on my own personal opinions.