The Fitbit Flex: Finally A Wearable Fitness Tracker Done Right

I’ve long been fascinated by wearable technology and fitness trackers. It’s a trend that is still very much in its infancy in my opinion. I expect fitness trackers to go mainstream this year as America continues to confront its obesity problem.

Your body is the most important device you have. And thanks to these new wearable fitness trackers you can constantly improve it. You can measure and improve your physical activity and sleep patterns, both of which could have a huge impact on your health and happiness.

Leading the way in this area among public companies is Nike. (I am long $NKE and love what they are doing with the Nike Accelerator, Nike+ and NikeFuel) While among private companies it’s Jawbone and Fitbit.

David Pogue at the New York Times did a great review a few weeks ago of two of the best wearable trackers available right now: the Jawbone Up and the Nike+ Fuelband. The whole review is worth a read but here’s his quick 1 minute video review:

Both the Up and the Fuelband have their pros and cons which Pogue lays out clearly. The main cons for each are:

- Jawbone Up: no bluetooth (so uploading data is manual)
- Nike Fuelband: no sleep tracking, older version of Bluetooth (not Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy) which is a battery hog

I also found this comparison review from gdgt very handy:

As you can see, the Fitbit One wins fairly easily among these. The main issue is that it’s not wearable though. So users have to remember to put it in their pocket or strap it to themselves every morning.

Enter the Fitbit Flex.


Fitbit debuted the Flex at CES and it’s launching this Spring. Simply put, it’s incredible. Fitbit has done everything right here:

- Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy (so battery life lasts up to 7 days), sleep tracking, waterproof, indicator lights to track your daily activity goal (each light represents 20% towards your goal which is motivates you throughout the day), silent vibrating alarm clock, sync capability to fitness apps like Runkeeper, and more.

I personally can’t wait for it. Well done Fitbit.

Nike and Jawbone, it’s your move.

Recent comments

Blog comments powered by Disqus