Fitbit Flex Review

The Fitbit Flex might not be new technology, but it is to us! At Keystone Click we are beginning to take steps to incorporate wellness into our routine. This includes making sure our desks are set up for good posture, learning new stretches, and receiving monthly 15-minute massages.  Recently, Lori, Greg and I each picked up a Fitbit Flex in order to track our health and fitness goals more closely and motivate us to be more active throughout the day.

In case you aren’t familiar with the Fitbit Flex, it is a small fitness tracker you wear on your wrist. It tracks steps taken, calories burned, quality of sleep and much more. The water resistant tracker allows you to shower or wash dishes without needing to take the wristband off.

It’s also extremely comfortable so you can easily sleep with it on. You have the ability to set a silent alarm to peacefully wake you up in the morning without disturbing your partner.

The flex comes in a variety of color options as well as two different sizes. Create a free Fitbit account and you’ll be ready to start syncing your device automatically to your PC, mac, iOS device, and certain android devices. You can purchase and learn more about the Fitbit Flex here.

Since we’ve each had our Flex for a few weeks already, we’ve decided to give you a quick review of the device and let you know why we’re happy to have chose the Flex over other available fitness trackers.

Min’s Review

First Impression:

I spent quite a lot of time deciding what fitness tracker to purchase, and I’m glad I made the decision to buy the Flex. The price was right and the features where exactly what I was looking for.

Likes:

I love the step tracker! It’s so fun competing against my friends for weekly step totals. (I WILL beat Greg someday!) It’s great to see how active I am throughout the day, and gives me the motivation I need to get moving on days that I’m less active. I really enjoy the sleep tracker and silent alarms as well. It’s nice to not have to fumble around for my cell phone to shut off an alarm in the morning.

The app and website are very easy to use. This was a major reason I chose the flex over other trackers. Some other trackers give you far more detailed reports, but the apps seemed confusing and a lot of the data wasn’t really necessary. With the flex you also have the ability to switch colors of your wristbands, which is something most other brands don’t offer.

Dislikes:

I don’t like having to take the wristband off to charge it. I’ve needed to charge my flex on the weekends when I’m usually most active. I loose out on a few hours of steps because I need to take it off.

The water, food and calorie intake feature is very cool, but I often find myself not wanting to spend the time filling it out (especially the food log.) I do a lot of my own cooking, so it becomes a pain having to look up each ingredient to more accurately estimate calories.

The step count and calories burned isn’t incredibly accurate either. For example, if you’re holding your arm steady, or pushing a cart while shopping, the flex won’t always count your steps. My workouts involve a lot of strength training, so while during certain movements steps aren’t counted, which effects your calories burned according to the tracker.

I’ve also found a few minor annoyances with the Flex. One being that after showering with the Flex on moisture gets trapped in the wristband and fogs up the display screen.  You just have to take the flex out of the wristband and dry it out to solve the problem.  I’ve also struggled with putting the tracker into sleep mode a few times.

Overall:

So far I’ve really enjoyed the Flex. It gives me the motivation I need to get up and moving and makes it fun because you are competing against friends.

I give it a 4 out of 5 stars. There are some areas that could be improved upon, but overall it is exactly what I expected and hoped for!

Lori’s Review

First Impression:

I think it’s very cool. I heard of a few people using it and found that overall, the reviews were positive.

Likes:

Seeing my steps, activity, and calorie burn in real time has been an excellent motivator! I really like that I’m able to compete with my colleagues and see how well they are doing compared to me. For example, I bought one for my husband as well. We like to battle each other to see who has more steps throughout the week.

I definitely like that the app is fairly simple to use and the tracker syncs up pretty quickly. I’ve actually purchased the scale that goes with it, and have been really happy to see my weight and BMI over a period of time. It really allows me to keep a closer tab on my fitness and health goals.

Dislikes:

I’m not a fan that you have to take it off to charge it. Too bad they couldn’t harness the kinetic energy to recharge the Flex. That would be even more motivation to keep moving! Also, I think it’s a bit inaccurate when it comes to physical activities. For example, I’ll skate for a good hour straight playing hockey, and the Flex will read that I had a total of “13 active minutes.” A few kinks could be worked out there.

Overall:

I like it a lot. The price is reasonable and both the web app and the iphone app are engaging. Areas for improvement still exist, but I’m definitely happy with it. I give it a 4 out of 5 rating.

Greg’s Review

First Impression:

I wasn’t really impressed right away. It seemed pretty simple, and not really worth the overall investment. After using it for a longer period of time that changed with viewing the stats and tracking over time.

Likes:

There are a lot of things to like about the Flex. The silent alarm feature is really nice and useful. Being waterproof is really nice as well.

Dislikes:

I don’t like that it doesn’t monitor your heart rate. (That would be really cool.) I was really hoping it would ‘buzz’ when being inactive for an hour. I’d also like to have the option to set up alerts via the app; such as having a message go out for the meal I didn’t log.

Overall:

For what it is, I give it a 3.5. It’s above average, but there is still room for improvement.

Overall we think the Fitbit Flex is a great device for getting the motivation you need to stay active, but there are some areas for improvement.

Do you have a Fitbit, or are you planning to pick one up soon? Let us know in the comments!

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