The Fitbit Flex is a device that tracks your movement the entire time you’re wearing it to determine calories burned while you’re doing everything from sleeping to exercising, and even includes an analysis of your quality of sleep (sleepwalkers can finally know how many steps they’ve unconsciously taken!). Disguised as one of those trendy “special cause” armbands that people seem to love, the Fitbit Flex is available in a variety of colors. The actual tracking device can be removed and placed into other bands, so that you can coordinate the band with your outfit, mood, weather, activity, or whatever.
People are becoming more aware of the significant health benefits that come from moving more throughout the day. Fitbit has proven expertise in providing a great experience that will actually get people to move more each day – this is done with our easy-to-understand graphs and charts, ability to set daily goals and compete with friends and family, we’re aware that there is no ‘one size fits all’ option in fitness, so Fitbit wants to offer the widest variety on the market. When we saw that we could bring our knowledge to a wristband format done right, we had to create the new Fitbit Flex. -James Park, CEO and co-founder of Fitbit.
How it works:
The “tracker” is a device that works via 4.0 bluetooth and syncs with your computer, iPads, iPods, and some mobile phones through a wireless USB dongle. It allows you to plug in your “goals” for movement, and it tracks your steps and calories burned. There is also a feature to allow you to track food and water intake, as well as your weight. You can see your stats in real time on whichever device you are using to track. In addition, it tracks where you are in relation to meeting your goals, and has LED lights that flash to correspond with how you are doing (epileptics beware!). This could be cool, or it could be an annoying reminder that you sit on your ass at a desk all day!Key Features:
- Water resistant
- Wireless tracking
- Real time tracking
- Variety of colors
- Flashing lights (Ravers will love this!)
- Battery life: 5-7 days, on a rechargeable lithium ion battery
Sync-ability:
- iPhone 4S and higher
- iPad, 3rd generation and higher
- iPod touch, 5th generation
- PCs & Macs
- Select Android devices (Samsung Galaxy S III , Note II)
Our Concerns…
- Comfortable? Cumbersome? It is made of silicone, so will it pull on arm hairs?
- iPhone favorable, but what about my DroidX? It’s not clear if my phone would be supported, but they are working to add more.
- Accuracy. Pedometers are notorious for being wrong, is this any better? Also, if I’m walking on a treadmill versus snowboarding down a mid-grade slope, does it take the degree of difficulty in the activity into account for calorie count?
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