I'm happy to report the Flex solves this. With the Fitbit One, I was disappointed that being clipped on my waist, it simply didn't register some non-step activities like paddleboarding. I raised my goal to that step level, and this seems to be working well. So instead, after a few days of using the Flex (I've had it for about three weeks now), I got a sense of how many steps seemed to correspond to what I considered to be the type of healthy daily activity I wanted to hit. But "very active" activity seems to have a high bar to meet. It is, and better than I found the One did. That's not to say the Flex isn't registering activity. Despite all that, the Flex only registered 1 minute of "very active" activity. For example, on Friday, I spent 30 minutes of cross-training in the middle of the day, followed by 30 minutes of inline skating at the end of the day. But how the Flex measures that doesn't seem to capture well when I really am very active. Initially, I was excited over the idea of using the very active minutes option. Two Fitbit Flex settings you'll want to change covers this more, about how you can track progress toward distance, calories burned or "very active minutes" of activity. But despite this, the lights easily shine through.īy default, the device will show your progress toward a step-based goal, but this can be changed, if you know where to look. Technically, I scuffed the cover on the wristband over the display on the actual tracker inside the band. I do wish the display were a bit bigger, and I was disappointed to find I managed to scuff part of it quickly. The Flex also vibrates as an alert when this happens, which has caught me off-guard but in a pleasant way, almost like the band is congratulating me. If you've not been active, you'll only see one or two lights. Tap twice gently on the display, and the lights come on. The Flex now provides the same direct motivation, through five small lights to show your progress. It's right on my wrist, how active I've been - or not. I don't have to open up an app on my phone or computer to check. I don't feel lost in all the data my device collects. It's also easily offset by the advantages the wristband format brings, a water-resistant design like the Up and the Nike FuelBand have, the ability to track non-step activities better and perhaps best of all, direct motivation through progress lights on the deviceĪs I wrote about the Nike FuelBand, being able to easily see my progress toward a particular daily activity goal has been incredibly motivating. The clasp on the FuelBand, when opened, plugs into a USB outlet to charge. The Nike FuelBand remains awesome in not needing anything custom at all. In contrast, my Jawbone Up uses a propriety USB adapter to charge, but that's much easier to use. The Flex holds a charge for about five days and recharges quickly, though getting the small tracker out of the wristband that contains it is a bit fiddly, as is putting it into the custom charger that plugs into a USB outlet. Fitbit is also apparently improving the clasp in versions going out to consumers, versus the pre-production devices that went out to reviewers Underside of Flex band on left showing opening for tracker, in the middle and USB charger on right. Here's a tip: close the clasp by turning the Flex to the side of your wrist and pressing against your wrist bone, rather than into the wrist itself. Like Brian Bennett in CNET's formal review of the Fitbit Flex, I even found myself hurting my wrist at first closing the Flex. But getting the clasp to close takes a little practice. It weighs about half-an-ounce, and never felt heavy or uncomfortable around my wrist. The Flex sells for $100, just like its clip-on sibling, the One. The new wristband version of the Fitbit corrects some of the deficiencies I found with the Fitbit One, such as tracking my standup paddleboarding better and making me feel more motivated to hit my daily activity goal. My series on living with four different activity trackers returns to the Fitbit because there's a new Fitbit in town, the Fitbit Flex.
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