Fitbit and Fitbit Ultra Pedometer Wellness Monitor

The Fitbit is a full-featured pedometer (steps, distance, calories) and wellness monitor. It uploads wirelessly to a web site to enjoy graphs and charts of steps, active steps, distance, sleep quality and to track your diet, heart rate, blood pressure, glucose. It is smaller than most pedometers and can be worn discreetly on your waistband or in a pocket. It works with both PC and Mac and had no additional subscription fee to track your activity online. It has an iPhone app and an Android app and integrates with an increasing number of other apps and fitness tracking sites.

Fitbit Ultra: This update debuted in 2011, for the same price as the original Fitbit. The display is brighter, which is a welcome improvement. It also tracks stairclimbing and has a stopwatch function.

I found the Fitbit to be the best activity tracker I have reviewed so far -- small, quiet, convenient, with a full-featured web site included at no extra charge.

The Fitbit pedometer displays steps, distance, calories and a growing flower to indicate your progress towards your daily goal. The mechanism is silent. It is designed as a clip to clip to your waistband, but also can be accurate if carried in a pocket. You can upload your data to the internet for ongoing graphs and stats and to track your diet.

The pedometer has only one button and it automatically resets each day. To track sleep periods and sleep quality, you press the button for a couple of seconds to start and stop that function. But otherwise, this is foolproof.

Size: The Fitbit is smaller than most pedometers and very convenient to wear or carry in a pocket.

Noise: The Fitbit is silent.

Accuracy: The Fitbit appears very accurate and correlates well with other trusted pedometers. I experienced one case of reduced steps when it was clipped to my waistband at an extreme angle.

Display: The LED display on the original was too dim to read outdoors. They made it brighter on the Ultra so it can be read outdoors, although better in indirect light rather than bright sunshine.

Battery: The battery recharges via a USB base station plugged into a computer. A full charge should last about 10 days. The unit can save seven days' worth of data before needing to upload.

Accessories: It comes with a wristband to wear it while sleeping to track sleep quality, and an extra clip for thicker waistbands. It doesn't come with a security leash. I immediately added a leash from another pedometer when it popped off my waistband in the restroom the first day I wore it.

Ordering: The Fitbit is available from the manufacturer and some retailers.

Costs: The price as of December, 2011 was $99 US. When you buy the Fitbit pedometer, it includes use of the web site for no additional subscription fee. There is an optional fee per year for a Premium membership which includes more in-depth reports and personalized training. However, the basic reports seemed more than adequate for me.

The Fitbit comes with a USB base unit which both uploads data wirelessly and recharges the Fitbit's internal battery. On first use, you install the Fitbit Service Manager software and register for the Fitbit web site, and set a few basic bits of information about yourself. Weight is needed to calculate your calories burned. The set-up was easy.

The data automatically uploads any time you are within about 15 feet of the base unit, you never have to remember to do it.

To upload away from home you will need to use a computer on which you can install the software and which has a USB port, and bring along your base unit. FitBit Apps
The iPhone app and Android app let you add food and activity to your online log, but you can't upload the step data from the Fitbit itself.

Recharging Trick: Sometimes the Fitbit doesn't seem to recharge when put in the base unit. We discovered that if you put a rubber band around it to hold it in better contact with the unit, you solve that problem.

Your homepage includes:
Calories: Graph shows calories burned every five minutes, color coded for intensity. It also shows the calories you enter via the Food Log. You can review past days.

Activity: A pie chart and a graph of steps and activity every five minutes are displayed. It totals steps taken, distance, and an Active Score.

Sleep Efficiency: If you wear the unit to bed in its wristband or just clipped to your nightwear, and remember to start and stop it in sleep mode, it tracks your sleep pattern. This displays with a sleep efficiency score, when you went to bed, how long it took you to fall asleep, times awakened, how long you were in bed and actual sleep time.

Journal: You can track your mood each day, allergies and any custom log you want to keep (smoking, strength training, alcohol, stretching, anything). You can also journal information about the day.

My Stats: A weight tracking graph is shown. You can view 7-Day, 30-Day and All-Time Best for steps, calories burned, miles, active score, and very active minutes. You also see comparisons between you and all Fitbit users, updated weekly.

Friends: If you have friends who use a Fitbit, you can see how you compare with them for steps, distance, active points and very active time. You can also join groups and compare yourself to the group.

In addition to the data from the Fitbit, you can enter other data onto the web site to track food intake, other exercise activities, weight, sleep, heart rate, blood pressure, and glucose. You can also add any custom tracker you wish to chart.

Food Log: The food log is easy to use as a food diary. Once you enter a food, it adds it to a quick pick list. It also allows you to create your own "food" if it isn't already on the list of 50,000 different foods, so you will have it available to choose from for future meals. You can create meals so you can easily add them to your daily log rather than adding one food at a time. While I found their list less comprehensive than I would like, users can always use our free Calorie Count site to get calories for a recipe and then use that in the Fitbit food log. You can use the iPhone app to add food and activities to your log throughout the day.

Activities: You can add other physical activities you did and you can edit your walking step record for those times you forgot to wear your Fitbit. You can save your favorite workouts to quickly add from a pick list.

Weight: You can track your weight in several ways. You can track pounds, body fat, and body measurements.

Heart Rate, Blood Pressure, Blood Glucose: Those who wish to track this data can easily enter it and view graphs.

Apps and Integration with Other Programs: The iPhone app and Android app lets you update the food and water you have throughout the day and activity, but it doesn't read the data from the Fitbit. You can see your Fitbit data that has been uploaded through your base unit. Fitbit can integrate data with Microsoft HealthVault, Endomondo, and Nike+ as well as several other tracking systems. Fitbit Apps

Update: Breakage and Improvements in the Fitbit Ultra

My Fitbit succumbed to stress and simply fell apart after 15 months of wearing it most days of the week. The plastic elbow simply gave out. The warranty is only for 12 months. I could have avoided this breakage if I had used the provided belt clip holster rather using the Fitbit as its own clip. But I like wearing it flat as its own clip and will continue to do so with the replacement, even though I know it may break in a year.

The Fitbit Ultra replacement also includes stair climbing tracking and a stopwatch. These are nice improvements. They aren't enough for me to order one while my original was still working, but nice to have in the replacement. If you find an original Fitbit tracker on sale, go for the bargain unless you really want to have the stair climbing display.

Bottom Line

The Fitbit is the activity tracker that most of us have been waiting for. It is small, easy to wear, and super easy to use. The web site has no additional fees. It works both with PC and Mac.