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FYI: A small percentage of Fitbit Force users have reported skin sensitivity.

Click here to learn more.

Details –> https://help.fitbit.com/customer/portal/articles/1425569

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For those of you that know me, you know I’m into technology. While I am not typically an “early adopter” on new tech; I don’t stand in line for the latest iPhone or pre-order the next gaming console, I do love getting new tech gadgets!

A couple of years ago, I got a Fitbit. At the time, they were pretty new and not too many people that I hung out with had one.  So I suppose I was a bit of an early adopter there, but not intentional by any means… I blogged out that Fitbit, not too long after I got it. That blog post was actually one of the earliest posts you’ll find on this site.  If interested, you can check out that article here –> The Fitbit and Me

A lot has changed in personal activity trackers since my original Fitbit, even from the FitBit company, they have released several new models of their activity trackers, each with their own features. The thing that I didn’t like about the Ultra is that I had to remember to put it on everyday.  I would forget to take it out of my pocket or leave it on my dresser at night and lose all my activity from that day. This is what also can make it prone to losing.

Fitbit Force

The Fitbit Force was release in early 2013 with much hoopla! At the time, the Force was probably one of the more advanced trackers on the market, but I wasn’t ready to take the jump at that time. My old Ultra was still going strong and honestly, I didn’t think I needed the extra features that the Force offered.

However as 2013 progressed, my little Fitbit Ultra and it’s plastic body really began to show signs of wear and towards the end I was using a rubber band to keep it together…It was looking pretty sad.

Shortly after Christmas I decided to use some gift money to upgrade my old Fitbit to the newer Fitbit Force.  I decided on the Force for a few of reasons; The feature set offered by the Fitbit Force as well as the technology and the improvements to the website’s dashboard (see below) were super easy to use. Plus the product had been reviewed by several sources and they all agreed that for activity trackers that were currently on the market, the Force was the best for the money.

What’s In the Box?

So what do you get with it?  What’s in the Fitbit Force box? As you can see from the image below, not much… The wrist-worn tracker, a charging cable and a USB dongle for wireless syncing.  That’s pretty much all that is in there besides a quick-start guide.

Activity Tracking

This is where I think the Fitbit company shines, with a couple of exceptions I’ll get to later. The device can track 7 different pieces of data, but when you combine that with both the Fitbit provided features on the website and the ability to connect to 3rd party fitness-related sites, it is quite a bit more than just 7.

Style

Ok, I’ve never been accused of having great fashion, but this is a pretty stylish device.  The Fitbit Force’s band is not big and distracting or flashy. I have the black model (it also comes in Slate Blue/Gray) and it really feels more like a wrist watch than anything else and most people have actually asked me that very question: “What kind of watch it that?”

Comfort

This was something I was a little concerned with before I purchased the Fitbit Force. I am not a watch wearer, at least not for the past 15 years or so… However, the band on the Force is really smooth and comfy against my wrist. It’s adjustable strap is fairly easy to put on, but it doesn’t lay flat like a wrist watch band might, so I generally have to lay my wrist down on the table or my leg in order to secure it.

The day I purchased the Fitbit Force, there were reports where some consumers were having what appeared to be allergic reactions to the device and breaking out in some kind of rash.  I immediately thought; Great…Just my luck.  However, as the stories were further investigated, it would seem that many, perhaps unknowingly, were having an allergic reaction to the Nickel metal found on the underside of the device where the charing cable connects. Thankfully, I have been wearing it for nearly 3 weeks and have not had any issues.

Accuracy

This is always an interesting part of the story for me. No one that I know has the patience nor the resources to track all of the points of data that this device can track. However, I thought it would be an interesting test to see how much variance my old Ultra and the newer Force would compare when worn for a week.

Here are the results in just comparing total steps for each day over the course of a week.  There was no real pattern to the variance, but they were the same numbers each day either…?

One would think that the newer Force would be more accurate given the advance in tech and software. However, a very simple test of my own revealed an obvious flaw with the Fitbit Force. Standing still, I simply moved my arm with the Force on it in a circular motion noting the step count prior to doing so.  Guess what…The step count went up! I normally don’t go around swinging my arms like that, but it could explain why the variance between the two.  The accelerometer in the Force clearly isn’t 100% accurate.

Does the Fitbit Force work well enough to tell you how active you’ve been that day?  I think so – and that’s really the point for the majority of consumers of these types of products.  They typically aren’t too concerned with the precision, but rather just want to know; “How active was I today?”

Data, Data and more Data

As I mentioned earlier, the Fitbit Force itself is simply the data collection device.  It does give you some instant feedback on those metrics that I noted above, but the real treasure is in the data and the ultimately how it can be used.

Below is a screen shot from the Fitbit’s Dashboard – which is entirely FREE with your Fitbit device.  Of course each device may or may not track all of these things, but once it has been collected you can view all of your data from within the dashboard.  From there you can dive into each area and get some specifics about the time of day you were most active, when throughout the night you were disturbed while sleeping.  Not only that, but ALL your data is there, not just the past 24 hours that is stored on your device.  It’s pretty amazing really!

On Your Phone

With the Fitbit Force, you can even sync your device while you are away from your computer using Bluetooth.  While this isn’t available for ALL phones, most of the newer smart phones do have this capability now. With the FitBit app, you can sync wirelessly and see you data on your phone instantly.

It has also been stated that you will soon be able to get incoming call notifications directly on your Fitbit Force – that’s pretty cool!  However, I am rarely too far from my phone to not notice the call coming in on it. I’ll have to wait an see once this feature becomes available if I will like/use it.

Motivators

From either the Fitbit app or the Fitbit dashboard you can see how you are tracking against your daily goals.  With the daily goals, you can earn “Badges” for your efforts. Number of steps in a single day, number of floors climbed in a single day, etc..  But since your data is available and can be aggregated, you can also earn long-term Badges like the 1,000 mile club, or the 5,000 floors climbed.  This can give you something to work towards, not only on a daily basis, but also over the course of a year or longer. I think this is a great advantage that the Fitbit has over some of the other activity trackers.

Features Missing

One of the biggest features I feel is missing from the Force is a heart rate monitor.  I was hoping that if I waited long enough for a newer model it would be there, but alas…it has come yet.  There are some other activity trackers that have a heart rate monitor feature, but some of them require a separate strap or attachment to offer this.  With a heart rate monitor, you would be able to capture a TRUE caloric burn, without the need of a formula.  This would also lend to a more accurate “Active Minutes” feature as well.

With the Fitbit Force, you can setup one or more alarms.  These can be for anything really, waking up in the morning, taking the trash out or nudge to get up and move around every couple of hours.  You can setup as many as you like, which is great, but for the alarm that is suppose to wake you in the AM, there’s no snooze button… To combat that, I have setup two alarms. One at my normal wake-up time (4:45 AM) and then a second one 15 minutes later.  That has been working well for me thus far.

Waterproof – the Fitbit Force, unfortunately, isn’t waterproof.  It is water resistant – which basically means sweat, a splash of water or rain won’t harm it, but you can’t keep it on while showering or swimming.  This is habit I’ll have to get used to, as I mentioned before I don’t normally wear a watch, so I have to constantly remind myself to take it off before showering.

Summary

The Fitbit Force is a really cool piece of fitness technology. The amount of data it collects and then allows you to see in the dashboard is incredible! The price of the Fitbit Force is $129.95 retail.  I didn’t pay quite that much, I got lucky and found it online for about 20% less than that, so it was a good deal in my eyes.

I think these activity trackers are only going to gain in popularity as they become more mainstream. Ease of use is the biggest factor here and the Fitbit products do a pretty good on that. Plus, having a little reminder at the end of your arm that you should really get active can’t be a bad thing right?

Do you have a Fitbit?  I’d love to hear your thoughts (Good or Bad)!

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