Fitbit Flex Wristband Movement and Sleep Tracker Review

So what Exactly is a Wireless Activity & Sleep Tracker Wristband?

Here is an excerpt from the Fitbit website:
"This slim, stylish device is with you all the time. During the day, it tracks steps, distance, and calories burned. At night, it tracks your sleep cycle and wakes you silently in the morning. Just check out the lights to see how you stack up against your personal goal. It’s the motivation you need to get out and be more active."

First of all, the Fitbit Flex allows you to track your activity:

• Your steps walked and run, none step based movement.
• The Fitbit software calculates that information into calories burned and distance covered.
• You can also manually enter information.

 And the Flex also tracks your lack of activity or should I say your sleep patterns:

• How many hours of slept in total.
• Your deep sleep versus your restless sleep.
• How many times you awoke in the night and times that you where restless.

The Fitbit Flex also syncs with your Smart  Phone or Computer using Bluetooth:

• The Flex loads information into the Fitbit App and Web-based interface allowing you to see this information so you can see exactly how your progress is going in real time.
• You can add food eaten and see calories burned vs calories consumed to help you keep on track with your eating and exercise goals.
• You can add friends and compare how each other is doing and perhaps have a competition or help motive each other.
• The Fitbit software sends you Award Badge Notifications when you have achieved certain goals which is also motivational.

Here are some of the more positive key points about the Fitbit Flex I want to makes sure to point out:

• The Flex costs about $100 which is very competitive compared to other movement tracking devices in the market.
• The Fitbit Flex has very cool lights that indicates where you are in terms of your daily goals.
• The Flex will vibrate and flash when you meet your daily steps goals.
• The Fitbit Flex is one of the only complete system offerings; A varitey of Movement Trackers, the Fitbit Aria WiFi Scale, and Intigrtated Software that is accessible on both your smart phone and computer with synchronization between all devices via the web.
• Bluetooth syncing is seamless and gives you realtime results.
• I like that you can quickly and easily change the band which can be useful if your band gets worn or damaged, or you simply just want to change the color for a new look!
• The Flex is very comfortable to wear, it is rather light weight, does not seem to catch on anything, and I had no fear of losing or breaking it while it was being worn.
• I have found the battery has been lasting for about 4-5 days and you also get a smartphone software notification that tells you when your battery is low.

There where a few concerns I had with the Fitbit Flex but nothing too serious: 

• I found overall the Fitbit Flex band is holding up well but does show some signs of edge wear, it is nice that at any time you can easily replace the band portion and it will look new again.
• I noticed when you shower, water can get inside the Flex where the dongle is located, you will need to clean that area out and wipe down the dongle from time to time so that you do not get a bacteria problem.
• I found the Fitbit Flex was a bit more generous calorie wise than my Jawbone UP, by about 500 calories per day. It would be nice if you could make an adjustment for this to match your individual metabolism?
• I found a bit of a glitch when entering manual activities if you go back and make a small change to them after the fact. Even if I deleted it and entered it again I found that my calories would get double for that activity. The only solution I found was to delete and then re add the activity but make some small changes to the start and end times. I am confident Fitbit will fix this software problem over time.

So far I am really liking the Fitbit Flex and I highly recommend it, other than the slightly higher calories burned then I am used to, I think the entire system is the best one going right now because it really covers all aspects of your fitness goal tracking.

Make sure to stay tuned to my Fitbit Flex vs Jawbone Up Comparison Review coming later on.

GetFitOver40 Update Video - Human Trainer and Upcoming Fitbit Flex Review

Here's a bit of an update and preview video all in one for you. First of all I did shoot my Fitbit Flex Wristband Movement and Sleep Tracker Review Video today but still need to edit and post it so hopefully I can have this for you later in the week, It is not a comparison video to my Jawbone Up but I do make a few cross references to it during the video review. So stay posted for that one...

I was so excited to try my Human Trainer Suspension System that late last night I gave it a go and got a really great workout in, I have to say it really does give a good workout, even with my limited knowledge of how to really get the most out of it at this point. SO in this video I show you a few exercises I learned last night while testing it out, again keep posted for my upcoming review of the " The Human Suspension Trainer System"

Fitbit Flex Wristband Movement and Sleep Tracker Unboxing

Well I finally got my long awaited Fitbit Flex Wristband Movement and Sleep Tracker! It is very nice and in a way I like the way it looks and feels on my wrist a bit better than my Jawbone Up, maybe the flashing lights have something to do with it ;)

This is an unboxing video and not a review so stay posted for my full video review of the Fitbit Flex and also a comparison video review that I will make between the Fitbit flex and Jawbone Up.

So what do you get inside the box when you purchase a Fitbit Flex?

• You get one Fitness Movement and Sleep Tracker that fits inside a band.
• You get two bands, one large and one small.
• You get one clasp unit that can be used with either sized band.
• You get a USB charging cable that plugs into a computer or USB charger.
• Your get a proprietary Bluetooth dongle for syncing your Fitbit Flex to your computer if required.
• You get a redirect pamphlet sending you to www.fitbit.com/setup for activation, account setup, software downloads and online manuals and information.
• You get a regulation and safety sheet.

What will your Fitbit Flex do out of the box? 

• Track your Movement; steps, distance, calories burned, active minutes.
• Track your Sleep; hours slept, times woken up, sleep quality, silent vibration alarm.
• Show you your daily progress using the LED light as an indicator.
• Sync with Bluetooth to your Smart Phone or Computer and upload all this information to your Fitbit account so you have easy access to all this information in real time.

Keep in mind Fitbit offers a complete solution, not only do they have fitness trackers but they also have some very cool scales that not only tell you your body weight but also your body fat while also being able to send this information wirelessly to your Fitbit account. check out my Fitbit Aria Video Review for more on the Fitbit scales.

All right, so make sure to watch my unboxing YouTube video for the Fitbit Flex and again make sure to checkout my upcoming Full review and comparison with the Jawbone Up!