Fitbit Ultra Wireless Activity Plus Sleep Tracker Review

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Product DescriptionThe new Fitbit Ultra Wireless Activity Tracker makes every step you take a step toward better fitness, even on your busiest days. Like the original, the Ultra tracks your day down to details a pedometer can’t catch, giving you access to the exact steps you take, calories you burn and distance you travel, along with how long and how well you sleep. And now, with its altimeter technology, Fitbit can track the heart-healthy activity of climbing stairs, encouraging you to take the stairs not the elevator, or walking that hill. The Ultra also gives you more measures to track your fitness (a stair counter, a stopwatch, and fitness achievement badges), and more options (a clock, an iphone app, and new colors). Check your real time stats at any time with a quick glance at your tracker. It’s compact and discreet enough to wear all day long in your pocket, clipped to your waist, or even attached to your bra. Good sleep is another key to good health and weight loss, which is why Fitbit can also track your sleep. Simply slip your tracker inside the included wristband and you’ll see how long and how well you sleep. Fitbit wirelessly uploads your data to Fitbit.com whenever you’re within 15 feet of your computer. Works automatically -- no buttons to push, no data to enter. At Fitbit.com, free online tools show how your activity measures up over time and keep you motivated, with no monthly fee required. Track your progress with graphs, see how you compare to others, or compete with friends and family. Plus, you can use Fitbit.com or Fitbit’s new free iphone app to log what you eat from our database of over a 100,000 foods, or record workouts from activities like pilates, yoga, or cycling. The Fitbit ultra gives you a clear sense of how you’re doing and encourages you to be more active, because the more you know, the more motivated you’ll be. And these small changes can really add up: Fitbit users increase their daily steps by 43% and have lost an average of 13 lbs.

Fitbit Ultra Wireless Activity Plus Sleep Tracker

Customer Reviews:* I was an avid user of the bodymedia bodybug (now named the "Armband Advantage") for the past year. When it came time to renew my bodybug subscription at $9.95 a month, I did a little shopping around and opted to pay $100 for the fitbit with no subscription. Be forewarned that I can't really sing the praises of the fitbit without comparing it to the bodybug.PROs- LIGHTWEIGHT AND SMALL. It is MUCH easier to inconspicuously wear the fitbit than the bodybug. I'm looking forward to wearing tank tops this summer without having a conspicuous armband on. It was fine for bumming around and shopping; people would ask me about it and I didn't mind answering questions. But when it came to going out at night or attending weddings in sleeveless dresses, I was forced to leave the bodybug at home. Sometimes I'd pop it out of the armband and put it in my bra, but even that was sometimes a challenge. The fitbit easily clips on my bra with no bulges or discomfort.- NO BEEPS OR SOUNDS. The bodybug made 3 beeps any time it made contact with your body for the first time, or if it lost contact with your body. Kinda embarrassing if you're in a quiet atmosphere.- COMFORTABLE. Fitbit doesn't sit against your skin, so it's much more comfortable. I don't care what bodymedia says, it's not always comfortable to have a sweaty piece of plastic against your skin all day. (In their instructions they recommend you take it off for an hour a day, so no calorie tracking on the bodybugg for that time period).- AFFORDABLE. The unit itself is about half the price of bodybugg. As for the online data, the graphs and info on fitbit.com are comparable, if not better than those on bodymedia.com; with no monthly subscription needed (saving you about $10 a month). You can buy the 'premium' fitbit access for $49 a year (still less than half the price of bodymedia.com), but I find the charts on fitbit.com are fine for my needs. Charts show activity throughout the day in 5-minute increments. The one thing that it doesn't offer is the ability to see how many calories you burned for a specific time period. Bodymedia.com allows you to drag your mouse across the graphs to hone in on certain time frames (i.e. show me the total calories burned from 3pm to 3:30pm). But you can a) add it up manually (mouse over the bars in the chart for each 5-minute increment between 3pm and 3:30pm. A popup shows the number of burned calories/steps, etc. during each 5-minute increment) or b) use the recording feature mentioned below.- EASY TO TRACK WORKOUTS. Fitbit has a small button that is pretty much a stopwatch, but works well in tracking workouts and sleep. Press and hold the button for a few seconds to start the stopwatch/"recording" and press again to stop it. The duration of the activity will be displayed on your activity log on Fitbit.com. If it's during the day, fitbit assumes it's a workout. If it's at night, fitbit assumes it's sleeping (but you can manually change it). To make a short story long, I use this feature for my workouts and I can easily see data just for the workout session. In comparison, Bodybugg didn't have this feature. I had to take note of what time I started and stopped my workout, then use my mouse to "hone in" on that time frame in the graph in order see the calorie burn.- WIRELESS. I love the wireless functionality. If I'm within 15 feet of my laptop, data is automatically uploaded. Bodybugg has this functionality, too, but I had the version that you have to pop out of the armband and connect via USB to your computer.- ACCURATE. The fitbit is every bit as accurate as the bodybug. I do the elliptical machine and clip fitbit onto my sock. I've gotten good results doing this. There's a lot of hype that bodybug has "4 different sensors," but I'm not convinced that 4 are any better than the 2 in the fitbit. As far as I can tell, the bodybug only uses accelerometer data for its calcs. Anyway, the fitbit is just as accurate.- INTERACTIVE. Love that you can personalize a message to show up on the fitbit. In addition to displaying your personal message, random fitbit messages like "Vamos!" or "Walk Me" are displayed randomly. Too cute! I also like getting weekly emails that show me my progress or congratulate me on certain achievements (10000 steps, 10 flights of stairs, etc.)- DISPLAY IS ON THE UNIT. Unlike Bodybugg, which is kind of a 'black box' until you sync it to your computer, you can push the button on your fitbit at any time and see all the data for that day (steps, calories, miles, stairs, etc.). I found this to be very handy when it's getting towards midnight and I need to get more steps in. I just walk around my apartment, then check the display to see if I've met my goal. Also has a clock, which is nice.CONs- SMALL. Okay, if I HAVE to pick a con, it's that it takes some time to get in the habit of taking the fitbit off one set of clothes and putting them on another. In the beginning I'd change clothes to go out, only to later remember that my fitbit was clipped on the first outfit. I can definitely see how people have accidentally washed their fitbits. No biggy.- NO DATA EXPORT. You can't export your data from the fitbit site unless you buy the premium access. Not a deal breaker for me (and premium access is still cheaper than bodymedia anyway).- DAILY DATA DOESN'T RESET UNTIL YOU SYNC IT. I haven't fully tested this, but there was a 2-day period where I was traveling and unable to sync to my computer. I noticed that the data on the second day looked pretty high, so I assume it was still counting from the day before. Everything was fine in the online dashboard once I synced it. Not a big deal for me.SUMMARY: Any pedometer or similar tool will be a great asset to any fitness program. I find myself wanting to take extra steps and take the stairs just to get "credit" for them in my daily tallies. I think fitbit is an affordable and easy tool to use. Hope this helps!UPDATE June 2012: NEW "PRO:" Two of my family members now have fitbits so we can compete against each other on the website. I see my ranking in steps, activity level & distance. I got one for my mom 'cuz I figured she'd be easy to beat, and she beats me everyday! As such, I'm trying to up my steps to compete with her. This is a great feature that's definitely on the "PRO" list. When other people can see how many steps you do, it adds accountability. If I'm watching tv it will force me to get up and get some steps in while thinking "I don't want friends to see I've only done 2000 steps today." Competing against others is optional; you have to send them an invite to be your fitbit friend.You can also link your fitbit account to your foursquare account to 'unlock' more fitness badges. * The device is well made, and has a sleek design to it. It doesn't feel like it would break open if it got dropped. The button is hard enough to push that you won't push it by accident, but easy to push when you want to.I've come to really appreciate the ability to track my sleep patterns, especially helpful as I'm a life long insomniac who has taken every sleeping pill ever made. To be able to see the real difference in how I feel on 5 hours of sleep versus 8 hours has been very helpful. And to be able to track the number of times I wake up during the night especially when I'm taking these so-called prescription meds that guarantee me a peaceful nights sleep has been eye-opening, to say the least. Melatonin 10 Grams Melatonin 99% Bulk Powder, as a side bar, has resulted in less "wake ups" than the prescribed meds. Sometimes natural is better for getting a full nights rest, who knew.The website is very impressive. Good overall feedback of your productivity on any given day/night. You can track just about anything you can imagine with regards to health/wellness. It also correlates that information with your tracker to give you a better picture of health.I do agree with other reviewers' comments about using the leash, Safety Leash for Pedometer (1) Unit. Helps Save Pedometers From Loss. For a couple extra dollars it's well worth it.I highly recommend this for anyone who wants to track their daily activity levels or just be more conscious of how much effort they put out during the day. Really a great little device.