Over the last year you’ve probably noticed an increase of people incessantly checking these little rubber bands on their wrist. What are they looking at? FUEL POINTS!!! For those of you who have not yet succumbed to the FuelBand, it is only a matter of time. This is your personal trainer attached to your wrist.
According to Nike, the FuelBand, through a sports-tested accelerometer, tracks your daily activity including running, walking, basketball, dancing and dozens of everyday activities. It tracks each step taken and calorie burned. It also tells the time of day. Nike.com offers a full interactive dashboard that lets you track workouts and also compete with friends. They also offer challenges to encourage you to get up and get moving.
The questions you are all asking are; Does it work? Does it get you in better shape? Well I have spent the last month with my miniature personal trainer and hopefully my review will let you decide if the FuelBand is right for you.
– Nike FuelBand REVIEW –
DESIGN: 
(9 out of 10) The FuelBand is not bulky or disruptive to your day-to-day life. It is noticeable on your wrist but is not an eye sore. It is adjustable so you can find the right size for your wrist. I play basketball with it on my shooting hand and it does not get in the way. The FuelBand’s clip is a USB connector that allows you to plug into your computer to upload the data to the Nike.com dashboard.
DURABILITY:
(8.5 out of 10) The rubber bracelet is surprisingly tough and durable. I have smashed into a lot of things with it and there are little to no marks on the bracelet. I do have to ding the FuelBand a little because when playing basketball the bracelet has a tendency to come undone. Luckily, It hasn’t flown off my wrist but I would prefer a stronger clip.
PERFORMANCE:
(7 out of 10) I genuinely like my FuelBand, it keeps me motivated, and gives me a target to hit. When you hit your goal for the day you feel like a super hero who just destroyed the villain. However, I really think the FuelBand misses the boat on certain activities as it does not detect your movement. For example, a one hour hot yoga session only yielded me 100 fuel points. If you have ever been in a hot yoga class you know that at various points in the class you come close to passing out from heat and sweat. I think that type of workout warrants more than 100 points. The reason for the lack is Fuel Points is the lack of movement in your wrist. I would like to see a feature on the FuelBand that allows you to select your activity you are doing so it could get better calculations. This is a great product if you are runner or a basketball player, but I find the activities that it detects to be limited.
THE ANDE FACTOR:
(5 out of 10): What is the Ande factor, you ask? The Ande Factor is when I deem a device or company to lack common sense or their product annoys me in some way. In this instance, the fact that the Nike FuelBand does not have an Android application is incredibly annoying. I know Nike and Apple are better friends than Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, but you are really alienating a wide pool of potential and current customers. Without the Android application, the only way to sync your device and update your Nike.com profile is to connect to the USB adapter they provide you, which connects with your computer. This adapter also serves as a charger. Apple users get to download a handy dandy app and sync wirelessly. Why does Nike hate us Android users? I don’t know.
VALUE:
(7 out of 10) The FuelBand retails $149 and I have found that to be a reasonable price for similar devices. The durability and easy usability makes this a good purchase. If I had an Iphone I would give this a hire value, but the Ande Factor brings the value down on this product.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
If you are looking for motivation to get you off your butt and moving, then get the Nike FuelBand. No matter how many times I hit it, when I see “GOAL” flash across my wrist band, I feel a strong sense of accomplishment. I also have to point out that the Nike support team is fantastic. They have set up a Twitter Support account (@NikeSupport) and they respond to your questions and help you troubleshoot any issues that arise. Over the course of one month, I worked out 21 out of 31 days. I was nowhere near that in December or November. The FuelBand provides me with that little extra motivation to help me hit my goal but more importantly get up and exercise. Trust me, if you have a FuelBand you will love seeing the below image over and over again.
Buy it Now For $149 or go to Nike.com
I haven’t had the clasp come undone during basketball yet. I found that a small wristband will hold it on my arm away from my wrist while playing. Nike has a Nike+ Running app for Android, there’s no reason for not also having a fuel band app. Cmon Nike!
Tom- it is maddening that there is no android app. The last update I could find about a release was it was coming in summer of 2012. Obviously that didn’t happen. I’ve reached out to Nike requesting an update but haven’t gotten a response.
Hello,
My experienes with the fuelband are mixed.
1. Quality: after 5 months of use, the screws on the back strt oxidating. The rubber around the screws is falling apart.
2. Still no android app available. Despite several anouncements in 2012, there is still no android app available.
3. The fact that it only registers movements of your arms means thqt it’s useless when biking.
Unfortunately its not usable for swimming either.
A nice gimmick – but still a long way to go to improve built quality, give it android connectivity, make it waterproof and a useful tool for fitness tracking.
Hi Thomas- I forgot to mention biking, but you are right that is a big downer. I think the wristband is good for certain types of people but it definitely isn’t for everyone.
Has there been any comparison done with the Jawbone UP yet? It doesn’t have the super hero appeal of praise once you have crushed the inactivity villain of the day, but perhaps other features make up for that ??