Friday, July 3, 2015

In Depth: Best Fitbit: How to pick the one that's right for you


In Depth: Best Fitbit: How to pick the one that's right for youFitbits for all

The world of wearable technology is forever growing and that's particularly noticeable when you look at just how many different trackers Fitbit alone offers.

Fitbit is one of the most well known names in the fitness tracking world, which is why its products seem so tempting. Available in most major stores, you can easily walk in, pick a tracker up and immediately start counting every step you take.

However, with six different tracking devices available – the Zip, One, Flex, Charge, Charge HR, and Surge – it can be tough to know just which one is the ideal solution for you.

Here, we take a look at what makes each Fitbit stand out in order to decipher that conundrum.

What each one offers

Given Fitbit's original purpose, it makes sense that each device offers pedometer-based features. Each tracker will record your steps taken, calories burned, and distance covered. Each also makes it simple to sync wirelessly and automatically with a PC, Mac, most iOS devices and some Android phones.

This ties into the ability to track your progress through a customizable dashboard, as well as challenging your friends. Fitbit's strength here is in its ability to easily provide you with personalized weekly goals in order to keep you constantly motivated to do better next time. The interface is clear enough for technophobes, with a smartphone app also available that tracks your routes as well as motivates you with voice cues.

For casual users

Fitbit Zip

For the casual user who just wants to dip their toe into the world of fitness tracking, the Fitbit Zip is an easy recommendation to make, especially at $59.95 (£49.99, AU$79.95). It's not a wristband like some of the others. Instead, you attach it to your clothes like a regular pedometer. It's not very stylish, but it does its job well.

You can wear it all day, looking down at it and checking how much you've achieved so far before syncing it with your computer to get more details. As it attaches to your clothing, you can leave it as obvious or as discreet as you like.

You won't have to worry about battery life often either as the Zip comes with a replaceable watch battery ensuring it lasts up to six months. It might lack many of the features of the other, more advanced models, such as sleep tracking, but it's a good starting point that's different from traditional pedometers. The Zip is also ideal for those not able to wear something on their wrist all day.

For those on a budget

Fitbit One

Fitbit offers two different trackers at the same price: the One and the Flex. They're both $99.95 (£79.99, AU$129.95) but they each offer slightly different pros and cons. The One is a pedometer-style device, much like the Zip, clipping onto your clothing, while the Flex is a wristband.

Visually, the Flex is much more stylish, offering plenty of varied color choices, as well as a minimalistic way of viewing progress. It uses a series of flashing dots to show how your day is progressing, with each light representing 20% of your goal. It's not as informative as the other Fitbits with the bulk of the data only available through the app, but it looks a lot cooler. The One is more traditional looking, with a display highlighting steps, distance, calories, floors climbed and an all important clock feature, though that makes it look dated.

Notably, the One offers this clock facility, and tracks how many floors you've climbed via its altimeter. The Flex lacks these two features. It also has a slightly superior battery life, lasting up to seven days compared to the Flex's five days.

Fitbit Flex

But that's at the price of being something you have to remember to take with you, while the Flex can just happily live on your wrist and be forgotten about. Similarly, while both offer sleep tracking, the Flex is much more convenient to use, especially when it's already resting on your wrist at night. The One requires you to attach it to a wristband before you go to sleep.

The Flex seems more likely to enact a lifestyle change, while the One is too easily left aside and only used for specific workout sessions. Ultimately, you're going to end up occasionally forgetting and not racking up those all-important incidental steps.

More serious Fitbit businessFor the fitness fanatics

Fitbit Charge

For an extra $30 (or another £20 in the UK and AU$40 in Australia), we begin treading into more serious Fitbit business. The Charge is the slightly lesser sibling of the Charge HR, but immediately offers a lot more for the price.

Besides all the features of the Flex, you also gain a clock, auto sleep detection and an altimeter for tracking floors climbed. It's the most inexpensive Fitbit that provides caller ID, too, saving you from getting your phone out of your pocket mid-run.

As a middle-of-the-range, all-round tracker, it's hard to fault the Charge. It's bulkier than the Flex but offers the right features to make it worth the extra heft. Not having to remember to tell your Fitbit that you're going to sleep is a real advantage, too.

The temptation at this price point is throwing in a little more for the Charge HR ($149.95, £119.99, AU$199.95) . Whether it's worth it depends on what you're buying a Fitbit for. If you just want a device to track everyday exercise with a few extra features mixed in, the Charge is perfect for your needs.

Fitbit Charge HR

If you regularly run or perform strenuous exercises, the Charge HR is worth the extra bucks, thanks to its inclusion of a heart rate sensor. Using Fitbit's PurePulse technology, it provides you with a continuous read of your heart, and uses that information to provide simplified heart-rate zones, so you know exactly how you're doing.

For the control freak

For those who want everything, the Fitbit Surge is the ultimate tracker. Offering everything that the Charge HR does, it also gives you text notifications, a way to control your music from your wrist, and GPS tracking without any need for a mobile device to be nearby. It'll also record multiple different sports, such as running, cycling and cross training.

Fitbit Surge

Offering a more detailed interface on your wrist, it's immensely convenient to be able to check your texts at the same time as you skip a track or monitor your heart rate, but it comes at a price. At $249.95, it's $100 more than the Charge HR, meaning it's only really going to be worth it for those who do a lot of outdoor exercising. In the UK, the Surge jumps to £199.99 and in Australia, it will set you back AU$349.95.

Which Fitbit should you buy?

While you've got a choice of six different devices, Fitbit can mostly be broken down between three options.

For the casual user who hasn't quite decided if they're going for a lifestyle change or a brief distraction, the Zip is a good budget option. You get to see how well the Fitbit dashboard works while not having to worry if you'll eventually get bored of fitness tracking.

The ideal choice for the average fitness fan is the Charge. It might lack the heart rate monitoring of the Charge HR but it's not a deal breaker for many at that price. You'll still benefit from extensive tracking, sleep monitoring and the convenience of never needing to remove it.

For the fitness fiend who wants the most effective solution, it has to be the Surge. It's the most expensive of the bunch, but its ability to offer everything you can think of, while tracking exceptionally well, means it's a no-brainer.

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