Fitbit  One Activity Tracker

I'd bought the earlier version, the Fitbit Ultra, to help with my quest to FINALLY lose those last pounds to my goal weight. This is what it took to help make a former couch potato a walkin', exercisin', movin' fool. But my Ultra died due to sweat contact (who was the genius who didn't think to make a pedometer sweatproof???). REI easily and quickly replaced my dead Ultra with the new One. The One unit itself is smaller and lighter than the Ultra, but unlike the Ultra, isn't a "clip" shape in itself. So unless you put it into your pocket, you'll need to use the included clip - making it about the same size as the Ultra in the end. However, the big differences (and bonuses, IMO) are: a) it's sweatproof (yay!); and b) it has a fantastic little vibrating alarm which you set via the desktop software. This keeps track of every step I take, every floor I climb, every calorie I burn, AND the quality of my sleep. I love that it synchs automatically with my computer, now via a TINY little dongle that lives in one USB port - and the charging cord it tiny as well. It charges VERY quickly and the charge lasts about 5-7 days,in my experience. My motivation comes from the goals I've set myself - 10,000 steps per day and at least 10 flights of stairs per day (you can set anything you want)...if I don't reach my goal for the day, I find myself making sure I walk around my house, if necessary to get my steps in! I now average 70,000 steps per week (time to up my goal!) - I used to average less than 20,000 (I told you I was a couch potato!). I also wear it on the included wristband every night to track my sleep - and that vibrating alarm, which I was sure I'd sleep through, REALLY works well!! Very quiet (not really "silent," but it's unlikely to wake a partner like an alarm clock would) and it really works! I set alarms throughout the day to remind myself of things like taking vitamins, appointments, etc. It's more handy than I'd expected it to be. The only drawback with this device is that it IS essentially a pedometer - so activities that don't involve step-like motions aren't recorded totally accurately - things like Zumba (doesn't count any arm movements), spinning, biking, etc.). You CAN overcome that by logging those activities into the desktop manually - but in it's next incarnation, I'd love to see that improved. But for me, that's a relatively small drawback and easily overcome with minimal effort. I love (and depend on) my Fitbit so much that I've literally turned my car around and gone home when I forgot to put it on in the morning...

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.