The Fitbit and other similar sports technology galvanized the industry in recent months. At first these thick wristbands drew curious eyes, now they number among other modern fitness staples. Everyone finds the idea of a step counter, calorie counter, stair counter, heart rate counter, watch combo attractive. The Fitbit makes wellness a tractable science rather than a hit or miss. And when it comes to health we would all rather it be a hit than a miss.

For my birthday last April my mom got me none other than the Fitbit Charge. The Charge comes complete with a step counter, pedometer, stair counter, calorie counter, sleep evaluation and standard watch.  The heart rate function was not included in my version of the Charge, not that I minded much with all of the other advanced measurement systems.

Yet with every good innovation or system, comes possible drawbacks or defects. Here is my review of the Fitbit Charge after about six months of usage.

Installation

The first thing a first time Fitbit member  needs to do is to install the Fitbit program, create an account and sync their particular Fitbit to the site. This tracks the individual’s progress and saves fitness data to the account. The instructions for this process were (thankfully) easy to understand and implement.  The total process should take no more than 30 to 45 minutes.

Fit and design

The first statement I made about the Fitbit Charge was:  “It kind of looks like a parole tracker”.  Not to undermine the gracious gift of my mother but the thing looks like a device from the world of Blade Runner or something.  Manufactures seems aware of this issue as evidenced by the option for colors such as teal, violet, lime and pink.

In honesty after a few months I forgot all about the bulkiness and the sci-fi appeal of the Fitbit. After all, a lot of other people owned one by then too.

The watch’s overall fit is fairly snug and adjustable to various wrist sizes.  Perhaps the number one Fitbit complaint is skin irritation. I personally experienced a rash in the first few months of owning the Charge. My habit of scratching at it even caused some blisters which I covered with band-aids to prevent further irritation.  My theory is that the irritation resulted from not cleaning the area under the band enough or not drying my wrist after showers.

Some users of the Fitbit Tracker report burns and other less than mild skin reactions to the watch. The company still continues to investigate the cause behind these odd occurrences and in the spring of 2015 issued a recall of Trackers.

Charge however appears free of major incidents, though the watch may result in small irritations, depending upon a person’s level of sensitivity. I find this trait of the Fitbit a minor defect.

I do however have a complaint against one particular aspect of the Fitbit Charge’s design: the clasp. Perhaps, I obtained (with my infinite luck) a defective product but a closer look at the design seems to reaffirm my complaint.  The clasp often releases or even falls out of the watch. At summer camp a few months ago, the watch randomly came off during a ropes course without my notice. I almost lost it in the forest.  Several other incidents occurred where the watch just fell off. Sometimes I was simply walking around in my house or in a public place. I find it unacceptable (or at least al little lame) that a $130 sports watch falls off in routine activities.

Progress

The Fitbit syncs whenever it is close to a device with both the software loaded and the dongle in place. This allows the owner to see a day to day progressive report and earn certain badges and awards. Here individuals may also set fitness goals and receive tips and insight.  The site serves as a helpful visual and an incentive to become more active.

The owner may also allow Fitbit to send emails about progress and stats o

Fitbit allows you to select a particular goal for steps. When the goal is reached the Fitbit buzzes. A step counter in the pocket is theoretically more precise than one on the wrist. However, I suspect a fairly accurate step reading on the Fitbit Charge.

Calorie Counter

The Fitbit calculates the basal metabolic rate (BMR) along with the tracker activities and any activities logged on the site. Basal metabolic rate is the calculation of the calories burned during the basic functions it takes to keep the body alive. This takes into consideration gender, age, height and weight.

The concern with this rests in the tracker activities. Without the function of heart rate, the Charge mainly measures steps. However, steps are not always of equal impact. For example, Usain Bolt took 41 steps to complete a 100 meter race. My mom took 82 steps to walk to the mailbox and back. Who burned more calories?  The answer is pretty obvious.  Yet the Fitbit Charge has no way of differentiating between walking and running steps.

Pedometer

The pedometer is perhaps the most accurate aspect of the Fitbit.  I have absolutely no complaint with it.

Stair Counter

The fit bit counts flights of stairs somewhat accurately. For example large movements such as high knees will often be counted as stairs.

Sleep

The sleep measuring feature of the Fitbit was the most interesting to me.  The Fitbit senses when the body becomes still in the state of sleep. It counts all significant movements as being awake.  The owner can set goals for time asleep on the account.

I am unsure of the accuracy of this function. LiveScience reports skepticism at the preciseness of this method as well.

“Experts say that while most trackers can in theory tell when a person is awake versus asleep, they are prone to mistakes.”- LiveScience

From Aug. 24 to Aug. 30 Fitbit reports that it took an average of 1min for me to fall asleep, I woke up on average 8 times and slept and average 6 hours and 42 minutes per night.

Waking up eight times per night seems a little much though the rest of the data seems fairly precise. I continue to read the sleep data with a grain of salt.

Though flawed the Fitbit has been a great fit for me. Its features motivate high activity levels and alert users to holes in their lifestyles. For instance, the Fitbit showed me that I need to sleep more because I am literally so exhausted that I fall asleep after one minute.  The Fitbit data should however be studied critically.

You certainly don’t need the Fitbit to maintain a healthy lifestyle. However the device does help significantly. I urge you to study up on the Fitbit if you are at all interested before purchase.

The choice is yours. Will you be nutty about health?

For the previous Health Nut post read Health Nut: An Apple a Day keeps the Free Radicals away.