Gadgetory

hey everyone and welcome to another review by Jim's review room today we'll be looking at the Fitbit flex now this is an activity bracelet that monitors your movement and even your sleep patterns and if you wish I've also done a review on the competing activity bracelet the jawbone up and you can click on this pop up video here to watch that later so we're going to go over the Fitbit flex features construction and styling and determine if it's easy to use so without further delay let's get started so I purchased the Fitbit flex for $99 at the time of this review mine came in black and slate was also available in stores now online you can purchase different colors as well in orange navy and mint green now in the box Fitbit didn't skimp and it provided two wristbands one small and the other large and each Bend has various notches that ensures whatever size wrist you have the band will fit so in regards to putting on the band when you first purchase this and attempt it to put it on I personally found it slightly difficult the tabs didn't snap into the holes as easily as I'd like however over time the holes will stretch out a little bit and you'll develop your own technique for snapping it in and eventually the process will feel natural to you the rubber material makes it very comfortable to wear all day actually light wearing this more than I did jump on up just for the fact 90% of this band is just rubber and the only computerized part lays behind this protruding piece here and in turn this band feels ridiculously light to where it's not cumbersome at the jawbone up because it's flatter all around and because of the majority of the band is just rubber again it's less susceptible to damage again the only computerized part is located here and this is the brains of the device the only time you would take this out is to charge it with the supplied USB cable and typically the battery does last about 10 days on a full charge there not to worry as well the Fitbit flex is also water-resistant now washing my hands and showering daily with the Sun found no damage to this unit itself and Leslie in regards to its physical rundown the band features this strip here that once tapped twice it'll indicate your progress on your daily goals with its five illuminating LED dots so overall it's a very durable simple and practical design and I have to admit the Fitbit flex is very easy to use the Flex offers a free app for download for either your Apple or Android power device and once downloaded and installed everything is now done wirelessly and there's no need to take off the band the app does record your steps and distance walk the minutes you were very active and calories burned and tapping on any one of them expands its category now this is where I found myself wanting to do better personally I didn't realize how inactive I was I do work in an office environment and sit in front of a computer most of the day unfortunately so hence my chart looks a little bit weak here but sliding the chart over reviews to break down throughout the day again you can view burn calories distance and active minutes and because of this chart it was like a reality check where I needed to get in better health and like a pedometer this Fitbit also monitors your sleep through movement during the night now once I'm in bed and ready to snooze the night away I open the Fitbit app and tell the band I'm going to sleep as soon as I get up I tell the band I'm awake and a summary chart of my night's sleep displays and throughout the night it tracks your sleep restlessness and how long you are actually up as you can see here this is where I got up in the middle of night to use the restroom now as I've said in my jawbone up review it's a great way to monitor if you're getting a good night's rest and if not you can adjust your thermostat maybe adjust the lighting even napping under different mattress and comparing your results to optimize your deep sleep other features on the fitbit app include food and drink intake which is a huge plus i access the food log through the calories eaten category on the home page and simply select the meal of the day now earlier today I had Panera Bread for lunch and I ordered my second most favorite sandwich the Sierra turkey now this app actually finds it and records it with little to no fuss and I would repeatedly do this throughout the day or for the day at night in one more example let's say for breakfast I ate a Chobani Greek yogurt again this easily finds it for you as you can see here now one of the downfalls I have to mention though the step meter the food diary in a sleep log there weren't as detailed at the jawbone up now the up actually had a section after put in putting your food you can also view the amount of sugar fat and protein taken this one example there the flex only recorded calorie intake that's it so for sleeping the up broke my sleep down to light sleep deep sleep how fast it fell asleep in and how long I was awake for the fit Fitbit flex only had the time I was asleep time I was awake and how many minutes in total I was Restless and the information on the app was just a little bit easier to read and easier on the eyes with more information in general it just makes me more of an informed and health-conscious individual so the last notable feature here was logging your work out there were no generic options and everything had to be manually inputted in similar to your food diary so let's say for example I lifted weights today for about let's say 30 minutes or so I searched weightlifting and then I select my time of day and duration save it and it records your calories burned and then going back onto your home page it does tally and total your efforts for that day it's a great way to compare the amount of calories you've taken and the calories burn to balance yourself to a healthier you so all in all it's a easy to use in the app software does more than just track your steps and sleep which it does automatically as long as you're wearing it with your interaction and commitment though you can log in your foods water intake and workout sessions if you have friends with a Fitbit flex you can compare and compete with your progress within the app as well another feature is a vibrating alarm you can set up an alarm and wake yourself up from a vibration on your wrist without disturbing those around you in bed and lastly with this band you can have other Fitbit accessories work in conjunction with your flex to automatically log in your information a perfect example is getting a Fitbit scale which sinks into the same app to record your daily weight so in my opinion both competing activity bands had their own pros and cons the Flex is a very comfortable and subtle device to wear while the job went up was a bit more chunky and required manually syncing in your data however the jawbone up does have so much more to offer in its free app like a more detailed breakdowns of your activity exercise and daily consumption food so overall the Fitbit flex is a great device on its own merits again it's $99 at time of this review while the jawbone up is $129 so that's it for reviewing the Fitbit flex definitely click on the other videos above and also watch the job on up review that I've done as well as always please show you support by liking and subscribing to feature alerts to new products this is Jimmy from gems review room take care everyone bye