Fitbit One Activity Tracker

Comments about Fitbit One Activity Tracker:

Amazing tiny device which measures my daily life and encourages more & faster actions. Somehow it estimates my calorie burning, stairs climbed, efficiency of sleep,exercise intensity. Have recommended to friends and plan to buy some as gifts.

Comments about Fitbit One Activity Tracker:

I never know it is in my pocket (don't let it hit the washer), but it reminds me I need to walk more or that I made my goal.

Comments about Fitbit One Activity Tracker:

I wear the product all day, but only some nights. I fall asleep before I remember to put on the comfortable wrist wrap.

The data is interesting and gives me an idea of when I'm moving less than usual which is usually enough to get me out for a walk or run.

I don't track food/water intake and I've not 'tested' accuracy, so I can't comment on these features.

Comments about Fitbit One Activity Tracker:

I have had none of the software problems described in other reviews. My Fitbit has been problem-free since I started using it about a month ago.

The only complaint I have is that it just doesn't know what to make of cycling. I commute by bike, so leaving it at home isn't an option if I want to monitor all-day activity. I went for a ride today. Fitbit thinks I climbed 99 flights of stairs and took 11717 steps. The ride was about 26 miles, and I did gain & lose the same 100' repeatedly, but I can't figure out if that's an accurate reflection of the day's activities. The ride probably burned about 1000 calories, and Fitbit thinks I've burned 1870 calories today. That's probably close, but I'm guessing.

It does much better on running/walking days. I probably shouldn't complain because the product does not claim to accurately measure activities like cycling. Because I have the Fitbit synced to my Sparkpeople account, I cannot also log exercise because doing so would essentially give me double credit. Maybe that's okay - I don't need to be that obsessive about logging things!

I like the sleep tracker, even though it's really just measuring when you're motionless. I knew before that I get up once or twice a night to use the toilet (I drink a lot of water); I didn't realize how much I move around at night. I've given up my illusion that I'm getting at least 7 1/2 hours of sleep a night.

The clip is pretty tenacious. I wear it on the waist band of my trousers or on a bra strap. It hasn't fallen off yet. The inside of the clip can get sweaty, but I haven't had any performance issues. (The unit appears to be sweatproof.)

Bottom line, it isn't everything I hoped for, but I believe it was worth the price. I would recommend it.

Comments about Fitbit One Activity Tracker:

I used Sleep by MotionX on the iPhone for a few months to see if I actually wanted the whole activity tracking thing, and turns out I found it fun. Fun enough to blow my dividend check on a Fitbit One this year. So far it has been great. It is small, yet has a good battery, which lasts for about a week, and a clear but basic display for quick information at a glance. Though there is a cheaper model, the One has an altimeter, which is nice when tracking vertical gains. It's also pretty simple, which is a pro and a con.

It is nice that it is so simple. One button handles all the on-device interface, and, at least for me, the software has been flawless on my mac laptop and iPhone, syncing without me having to do a thing. Set up was easy too - I did it on my iPhone in about five minutes. I know others have had problems, but they seem to relate to the Android app or to various PC bluetooth drivers.

It's not so nice sometimes that it is so simple. I wish it could adjust to the sport I was doing (specifically skiing) - seems that the hardware could do it, and that it would be just a matter of software to track it correctly. As it is, it works best for walking/running. The data you get isn't as robust as I imagined. Seems that there is a pay gateway to get access to the more tasty data, and I simply didn't see any mention about there being a pay/free data split before buying into it.

Overall, good product. Hope it lasts for a while - daily carry items tend to take a beating. It's more a toy for me than anything, but I can see how it could help achieve fitness goals one sets, or really help in any training regime. But it is fun, regardless.

Comments about Fitbit One Activity Tracker:

The Fitbit is helpful in keeping you active because it tracks how many daily steps you take, and compels you to try and reach a goal of at least 10,000 steps. Since you want to meet the goal, it inclines you to make better choices like walking somewhere instead of driving, or actually taking advantage of your lunch break rather than sitting at your desk. It also helps you realize how much you are burning calories through basic daily movements. I'm amazed at how many calories I lose while simply cooking dinner at night.

It's also motivating in that it pits you against your friends in friendly competition. The downside is that not a lot of my friends have the Fitbit yet, but it is pretty self motivating.

I still have more exploring to do on the website, but I'm happy with the Fitbit so far.

Comments about Fitbit One Activity Tracker:

I loved my FitBit so much that I bought one for my daughter and now for my wife. We all find it very motivating to compete and track our results on the website.

Comments about Fitbit One Activity Tracker:

So much fun my wife just HAS to have one. Ahhh the good ol rebate.....

Comments about Fitbit One Activity Tracker:

I went through about five Fitbit Ultras before getting the One. All the Fitbits have a lightweight, useful design, track steps accurately & can be used to figure your overall activity & challenge yourself to new fitness goals. But.....

Fitbit One suffers from the same type of problem that the Ultra did - the peripheral support details are HORRIBLE! Probably most frustrating to me is that I bought this device to have LESS work, when, in fact, it creates MORE work. The only way you can USE the information collected by the Fitbit is through the Fitbit software- and getting to that software is now going to consume almost an hour of your time, every day, despite your best efforts.

Do you have a spare 40 minutes a day to troubleshoot your laptop, your android phone, the Fitbit dongle and the interface? I don't - and I'm tired of trying. The software that you download takes priority in my laptop routine, so it comes up first - BEFORE any other software has loaded, and it hogs the operation until it's done - but it's never done. One consequence of this is that my laptop has not connected to my WiFi until AFTER the Fitbit software has loaded, so the Fitbit software ALWAYS tells me that I have "No Internet Connection Found." This necessitates removing the dongle, taking down ALL other programs and reloading the start - and you get to do this again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again. You do have other options. You can RELOAD the software, but you must first carefully remove it all first and download it again. Fun? I don't think so.

I've had the Fitbit One about a month now and I've reloaded the software six times, spent 40 minutes a day syncing or attempting to sync about six days per week on average, have downloaded the Android phone version and found it to be as useless as the laptop for syncing - again, the same message over and over, that "No Internet Connection Found" To top it off, it then very neatly goes ONTO the internet, straight to the online help section where you can read the instructions one more time BUT YOU CANNOT SYNC! That's right - you're online, but your software tells you it cannot connect to the internet. No kidding.

When I had the Ultras, I found that actual, bonafide Fitbit support was scarce. The clip would break, I'd email them, they'd promise another within ten days, five weeks later I'd email for a status and they'd tell me that their supplier had changed and it was an inadvertent error and they'd send another. Replacement parts took 8-9 weeks to arrive, on average, IF they ever did, and were all just as poor quality as the original peripherals. Why have an expensive device with 39 cent clips and USB ports whose wires don't last two weeks?

Another thing I've noticed about the One is that the USB charging cable, while more reliable than the prior USB sync port, takes far longer to charge the Fitbit than the product information claims. Mine takes about two hours and must be done about every five days - not exactly the quick, once a week charge they claim.

Bottom line: this is a useful, innovative device, but it's relatively expensive and full of bugs. You will be the beta tester for this product - and whether you find it helpful or frustrating, it will test your patience and resolve.

Comments about Fitbit One Activity Tracker:

I don't have many words to describe this thing, but it really makes your activity and its tracking addictive!

I don't go an hour without checking it to see which goals I'm short on so I can make sure to hit em all. I don't have a ton of time to be really active during the week, so I find it helpful that it keeps me in check with my caloric intake and monitoring my food breakdown.

As an aside I bought the scale as well, which just adds another piece to the tracking puzzle. Shower, hop on the scale, get dressed toss it in my pocket and be ready for the day. The FitBit has replaced my cell phone as the one gadget I worry about leaving at home!