When it comes to living a healthier lifestyle, we’ll take every last little bit of help we can get. The latest trend is a slew of wearable tech options, sitting pretty on your wrist and taking note of how your exercise is stacking up, how your calories are adding up, and how your sleep is measuring up. We spent two weeks putting Fitbit Flex to the test. Here’s how we got on…
The pitch: They say that Flex is your ‘perfect companion’. Worn day and night on the wrist, it tracks all of your activity. It’s pitched to be ‘the motivation you need’ to get out and be more active.
The style: This wearable fitness tool is designed not to be noticed. As much as the common trend might be to shout it from the rooftops when you run from your front door to the end of the garden, not everyone wants their efforts noticed in an important work meeting. The Fitbit Flex is a subtle device that could pass for a funky watch or a piece of costume jewellery, so you needn’t worry about how you’ll get away with wearing it. It comes in various, and we had the super sleek slate version to play with. The tracker is flexible too, so if you want to expand your collection of bands you can choose a Flex to match your outfit.
The engagement: Remember we mentioned the trend of shouting loud and proud about your good work? Well, it’s not for everyone, but if you and a friend are using each other for encouragement and moral support (or competiton), you can connect to other Fitbit users on Fitbit.com, sharing stats, progress etc. There’s a leaderboard option too. Each to their own, but it’s our opinion that the only person you’re in a fitness competition with is yourself.
The badges: This, however, is a nice way to reward you when you reach your goals. You can earn Fitbit badges for daily and weekly achievements. You set your goal, and when you hit the target, you get a new badge! We suggest a system of setting a fiver/tenner aside everytime you earn a badge, working up to completing a 5km/10m etc and buying yourself that bag/dress/pair of shoes you’ve been lusting after.
The food log: The whole system depends on you downloading the mobile app and syncing your data regularly. You log your meals, your water intake, your workouts and of course your starting weight, height etc. While the workout side of things is fine, the food one demands a bit more of you. While the database is a big one, you may find that it’s slightly Americanised and it may take you a while to accurately input your meals. Practice makes perfect though, so don’t give up. Once you’ve developed a pattern, you can use the tool to set goals for calories too.
The sleep log: This is the feature we really love. The Fitbit monitors your sleep cycle, so you can see every morning how many hours and minutes you’ve spent in slumber, what proportion of that was deep sleep, how long it took you to get to sleep and how many times you’ve woken up during the night. You can also set a silent alarm that wakes you with subtle vibrations instead of a blaring ringtone – a much more pleasant way to face the world each day.
The Verdict: After two weeks of continuous use, we’re giving the Fitbit Flex a firm thumbs up. We had a few failings at the outset, and found inputting food intake especially finicky. This is one of those things whereby you’ll get as much out of it as you put in. However, the sleep monitor and the fitness tracker take minimal effort and quickly become invaluable. Win! We’ll be making this a permanent fixture in our fitness routine.
Fitbit FLEX™ is currently available from Harvey Norman, Sam McCauley Chemists, Vodafone, O2, 53 Degrees North, Lloyds Pharmacies, McCabes Pharmacies, Expert Stores, DID Electrical Healthways, iConnect Stores, and CompuB from €99.99.
