We liked the Fitbit One activity tracker, but there was some convenience lacking. While its pebble-like form-factor was very discreet, it meant you always had to take it out and put it in a special arm band if you wanted to monitor your sleep, then return it to your pants in the morning. And which pants did you forget them in this time? More »
Withings’ assault on our paunchy bellies doesn’t look like it’s going to stop, now that the company has launched a portable sleep and activity tracker that’s clearly designed to go after the Fitbit Ultra. The Smart Activity Tracker makes some impressive claims, offering pulse monitoring if you push your finger onto the back of the device, calculating calorie consumption and monitoring the quality of your sleep. The 43.3-millimeter device has an OLED touchscreen display and will instantly upload your data to the Withings Health Mate app over Bluetooth Smart, and promises to go a full fortnight without needing a recharge. The company hasn’t made any statement as to when it plans to release the unit, or how much it’ll cost you, but we’re looking forward to putting it through its paces.
Filed under: Peripherals
BodyMedia fitness trackers have always been the ugly ducklings, because, well, they’re ugly. Thankfully, that’s about to change. The new Core 2 fitness tracker keeps tabs on a whole lot of metrics, and it’s a lot easier on the eyes. More »
The original Fitbit first saw the light of day over four years ago, and boy how things have changed since then. Now it seems like everyone from old incumbents to ambitious upstarts have offered their on takes on the activity tracking formula, so how does Fitbit’s newest offering stack up to the competition?
A small, two-tone doodad that will set you back $99 and track your movement throughout the day. Most of the time, the black or burgundy Fitbit will live inside a similarly-colored silicone skin, and a sturdy metal clip mounted on the back keeps the Fitbit firmly attached to your clothing (the company recommends keeping it somewhere on your torso). When it’s not clipped to your person, chances are it’s bedtime and you’ve tucked it inside the black elastic armband to use as a silent alarm (more on that in a bit).
Before I ramble on for too much longer, know this: the Fitbit works like a treat. It ably tracks the number of steps I take, and its distance tracking seems to be more than adequate to boot — taking the One on one of my occasional runs saw distance counts that never strayed too far from the numbers the Nike+ GPS app offered up. The One is also smart enough to discern whether I’m just walking around or if I’m bounding up and down stairs, which then influences its appraisal of how many calories I’ve burned for the day.
The only thing that didn’t impress as much as I expected it to was the One’s oft-touted sleep tracking feature — I could never get the Fitbit to proffer an amount of time slept that matched up with how much sleep I thought I got. It’s not a dealbreaker for me, but appears I’m not the only one with this problem, and the company should really take closer look here.
The Fitbit experience is only as solid as its other half — the part that takes all of that activity information and turns it into a comprehensive suite of personal analytics. The process of getting all that data linked up with your Fitbit account is dead simple too. All it takes to get started is into plug the included wireless USB dongle in, pair it with the Fitbit by way of the included software, and start moving around.
Ideally that dongle will stay in one of your USB ports indefinitely, where it will connect with the Fitbit whenever they’re in close proximity. I wasn’t having any of that though, and took to syncing it exclusively with the companion iOS app thanks to the One’s low-power Bluetooth radio — a neat feature that Android users unfortunately can’t take advantage of just yet.
Fitbit veterans can feel free to gloss over this section, but once that data is uploaded, users can view their levels of activity splayed out in graph upon graph, as well as log their food intake to see if they’re running a calorie deficit for the day. The Fitbit itself only collects a fraction of the data the service is able to keep tabs on though — truly motivated folks can throw information about their weight changes, blood pressure, mood, and even glucose level into their Fitbit accounts.
One of the most pleasant surprises about this thing was the silent alarm, which worked like a charm. Once the appointed time rolls around, the Fitbit’s tiny vibration motor begins pulsing in short spurts (protip: the vibration is strong if you insert the Fitbit with its screen facing your skin). My only beef? That it stops pulsing after about 10 spurts, only to start up again a few minutes later. Sure, it always managed to rouse me from my deep and fitful spurts of slumber, but I can’t shake the feeling that a continuous vibration would do the job even better.
And then there are the touches that you’ll hardly ever notice. If its screen is off and you pick it up, the Fitbit’s display will come to life with an encouraging (if terse) message to help keep users motivated. They’re not all that compelling — think “CLIMB IT CHRIS” and “SMOOCHES CHRIS” but it’s a testament to the sort of attention to detail that went into making the One.
Really, if there’s one thing that irks me about using the Fitbit One, it’s having to keep up with all the little bits that come with it. I’ve been avid user of Nike’s FuelBand for the past few months now, not so much because it’s my ideal activity tracking solution — I’m no fan of the whole Fuel score conceit in the first place, and it’s awfully limited when it comes to functionality — but because I never really need to take it off until I want to sync it with my PC. It’s a largely self-contained system, and one I never had to spend much time fretting over.
Not so with the Fitbit One. I’ve misplaced the sleep wristband more than once these past few days which meant no silent alarm for me, and the stubby USB charging cable displayed a similar tendency to go AWOL. Oh, and it can’t actually be used to sync with the Fitbit, which strikes as bit of a missed opportunity. Instead, the dongle is a necessity for non-mobile syncing as well as pushing updates to the Fitbit, so that’s another thing you’ll have to keep your eye on (I honestly have no idea where mine is right now).
At $99, it’s not the cheapest little tracking gizmo, but it’s definitely worth the premium over its little brother the Zip. I haven’t spent any considerable amount of time with the Jawbone Up (see John’s review for more on that thing), but my week with the Fitbit has been enough for me to stick my once-trusty Fuelband into a drawer. If you’re looking for a neat (and unabashedly geeky) way to keep tabs on how active you are, the Fitbit One is a wonderful choice — as long as you don’t mind keeping track of all those accessories too.
I’ve had most of the week to wear the $129 Jawbone UP and I thought I’d offer a few impressions for those unsure which model pedometer to buy. I’m a Fitbit man myself because I’ve gotten used to moving the minuscule dongle from pocket to pocket and I have only lost one in my travels. But – and this is a big but – I could be convinced to move over to Jawbone if they fixed a few niggling problems.
The UP, if you’ll recall, is a bracelet that senses your movement. This can be used during the day to see how much you run around and during the evening to see how well you’re sleeping. You can also log your food intake and mood, thereby giving you a fairly good picture of your calorie I/O and general state of being.
It holds a about a week’s charge in a package about as big as a bangle bracelet and there’s a single button to switch from day to night mode. It’s clad in rubber and is waterproof. It also has a silent alarm that will wake you gently from your slumber and a slacker alert that buzzes during a certain interval to remind you to leave your nest of sloth and walk around a little.
What else is different about the new UP? Well, Jawbone completely redesigned the innards, ensuring that no water can get in and that the constant pressure of taking it off and putting it back on wouldn’t break the connectors, chips, or battery. The changes are almost entirely internal but ideally this one will be far more rugged than the previous version.
Now here’s the rub: unlike the $99 Fitbit One and other devices, you sync it by plugging it into your cellphone’s headphone jack. There’s a little cap that covers the jack (which will, at some point, inevitably fall off and be lost) and a USB dongle that you use to charge it with a laptop. You don’t really interact with the UP on a desktop, which works well enough, but I’d love a way to sync wirelessly. Presumably the size of this device – and it’s surprisingly tiny – prevents that from being an option, but it could be a dealbreaker for some. There is, sadly, no external indicator of steps walked so you’re mostly in the dark when it comes to ambulation.
For others, slipping the thing off, popping off the cap, and plugging into a phone isn’t that hard. You don’t have to do it every day (but you’ll want to) and the app is cool enough that you can forgive it some of its drawbacks.
But with so many other devices on the market, why this one? Well, simplicity is a factor. This doesn’t look like a nerd device. It could actually masquerade as a piece of jewelry, provided you’re into rubber. The UP is also quite accurate, matching the Fitbit One almost exactly each time I checked it. In other words, it works.
I also like the reminder feature, which works a bit better than Fitbit’s quiet calm. A buzz on my wrist helps me get up and walk around a bit, which is a great thing.
In the end which is better? I’m not sure. These things are constant reminders of our failure as biological organisms. I do enjoy the UP’s simplicity but the Fitbit, with its stair sensor and comprehensive online interface still keeps me coming back. I’ll wear them both – I’m a dork like that – but I suppose the rule of thumb is simple in this case: if you tend to lose tiny things a lot, buy the UP. Otherwise, weigh the merits – price being one – and see which features you’ll use the most. There is sadly no one clear winner, but the surfeit of choice is great for folks living the quantified life.
If you’ve been biding your time for a FitBit One all-day fitness tracker, you can stop counting the days and start counting calories — it’s now in stores for $100. The newly minted replacement for the FitBit Ultra brings a vibrating alarm, along with a spiffier splashproof design, black or burgundy colors, and a brighter clock / motivational message display. You’ll also get Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity with the Fitbit mobile app on laptops and handheld devices that support the wireless option, letting you see all your stats or taunt rivals on Facebook. If you’re raring to go, grab it at the source below or check the PR for more details.
Continue reading Fitbit One tracker now ready to wake you up, count your calories all day for $100
Filed under: Wearables
Fitbit One tracker now ready to wake you up, count your calories all day for $100 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Nov 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Last month we reviewed the Fitbit Zip, which was basically a glorified pedometer. The Fitbit One is the Zip’s big brother, and successor to the very popular Ultra line. Is the feature-filled gadget worth a hundred bucks? More »
I think we can all agree that technology is a great thing. The right application of technology can make just about anything you want to do easier and more effective. If you’re a gadget fiend looking to get into shape, Fitbit has a new device up for pre-order called the One.
It’s sort of like a high-tech pedometer that you wear day and night. During the day, the device records all sorts of information about your activity such as the number of steps you take, the amount of calories you burn, the distance you travel, and the number of stairs you climb. At night, it records the number of hours you sleep, and the quality of your sleep.
It will tell you how many times a night you wake up and how long and how well you snoozed. In the mornings, it can also wake you with a vibrating silent alarm. The device captures all this data and can automatically sync data with your computer or smartphone via Bluetooth, and you can earn badges and place yourself on leader boards online.
You can pre-order the Fitbit One right now for $99.95(USD).
The Fitbit One fitness tracker is the successor to the older Fitbit Ultra. The gadget supports Bluetooth 4.0 compatibility, which offers very low-energy usage and easy pairing. The Fitbit One is also compatible with the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 and the third generation iPad. It feature a new vibrating alarm so users can wake up without having to disturb their partner. Available in Black and Burgundy, the Fitbit One fitness tracker is priced at $99.95 each. [GigaOm]
Fitbit just announced two new devices, the $99 One, a replacement for the Ultra pedometer, and the Zip, a $60 entry-level model that adds a bit of mirth to the Fitbit family. The One won’t be available until October but I carried Zip around for a week or so already and found it to be quite fun and capable.
The Zip is a departure from the original “clothespin” style Ultra in that it can be removed from its case to create a sort of pedometer lozenge. It also runs on a single watch battery that lasts for six months, making it far more interesting to folks who don’t want to lug their charger with them.
The Zip is similar to the first Fitbit in that it measures steps taken, calories, and distance. It does not support stairs taken, which could be a dealbreaker for fans of the current model. Most important, it does away with Fitbit’s pretty growing flower iconography – a flower grew when you exercised more – and instead replaces it with a smiling face that beams at you when you’ve gotten off your couch.
Instead of a cradle, Fitbit includes a small dongle for USB devices as well as low power Bluetooth support for syncing with mobile devices.
The other new Fitbit, the One, features everything the Ultra had, including the stair meter, as well as Bluetooth 4.0 support. The One also has a gradual alarm for waking yourself from sleep, something that was missing in the original models.
Why a Fitbit? I’ve found that the Fitbit really helps you understand your activity levels. While it’s not a complete indicator of fitness, it’s nice to know I’ve been sitting down all day long and could probably use a walk. While I wouldn’t say it’s a great weight loss tool, it’s definitely an excellent reminder and prod for adding a bit more physical activity to your day. I’m definitely more interested in the One, shown below, when it becomes available because of the gradual alarm and stair feature.
Zip Product Page
One Product Page
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