Two months with Fitbit

I got an entry level fitness band at Costco a couple of years ago because I wanted to track how much I walked each day. The fitness band worked OK, and did what I needed it to do, but it was bulky and had minimal features. I decided I wanted something a little more robust, something that had more capabilities than just tracking steps. After doing research and price comparison, I decided to go with a Fitbit Charge. Fitness bands are not for everyone; even if you are in the market for a fitness band, the Fitbit may not be for you. There are many types of fitness bands that do different things.

I have had my Fitbit Charge for almost two months; here is my review

PROS
Cost: The Fitbit Charge retails at $129.99. I found mine on a black Friday deal for $99.99. I also used my Target Red Card and got an additional 5% off; making it $95.00.

Lightweight: As I mentioned before, I had another fitness band that was bulky. The Fitbit is lightweight and much thinner than my previous fitness band.

Wireless Syncing: This is one feature that I love! You would think this is a given with fitness bands, but it's not. All the data syncs wirelessly to my phone. I don't have to think about plugging it in to the computer or keeping a log myself, it does it all for me.

Tracking: The Fitbit Charge tracks steps, distance, calories, flights of stairs, active minutes, and sleep (without putting it in sleep mode). It also tracks food & water intake and weight, but it does those manually (therefore I don't track those, I hate tracking my food). I can also record my exercizes. If I go for a walk, jog, or hike, the Fitbit will track where I have gone and input the data into my phone.

The app: The app is great. It keeps track of my activity on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis. This is helpful because it helps I can see my progress (or lack of).

Badges and social: Sometimes Fitbit will reward you with a badge for completing so many steps or being active for so long. You can also challenge friends to a challenge and get a badge that way. The badges are a way to keep you motivated against yourself, and the social aspect adds a little friendly competition into the mix.

Caller ID: The Fitbit Charge (and other models) have show you on the little screen who is calling you. I don't use this feature a ton, but it is nice.

CONS
The wristband: I fit both the large and the small. I have the large band, and it is almost the tightest it will go. On the small band, I can have it the largest it will go. I wish there was a size in-between.

Lauren has a Fitbit Flex, and with hers you can take out the "brains" of it and change out the band, or put it in your pocket. The Fitbit Charge doesn't have that option. The band is not interchangeable, nor do the "brains" come out.

I think I like the traditional style wristband that is on the Fitbit Charge HR, as opposed to the clasp style wristband on the Fitbit Charge.

It could track other things: I don't view this as a negative myself, but other people might. It doesn't track some activities in real time like swimming or cycling; you can manually add them in later. This isn't a negative for me, because I don't do a lot of those activitiies, but like I said, it might be a negative for others.