
Fitbit
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Review Fitbit
Health tracker with WiFi scale and wristband integration
Author: Tariq Abdulla
Date: 18 May 2017, tested on HTC One S
Integrates easily with other apps, powerful functionality, intuitive interface, no ads
Best used with Fitbit products
Fitbit for Android is a health & fitness tracker that lets you log your weight, calories eaten, calories burned, and water intake. You can use it to synchronise any of the Fitbit trackers, and fitbit.com, with your Android device.
Fitbit have a range of trackers including clips and wristbands that track your steps, activity and sleep quality; as well as a WiFi scale with body fat analyser. The body scale is the thing I am most tempted by. You can already do activity tracking with your phone, so it can be hard to justify the high cost of wristbands. The Fitbit Aria scale stores and automatically recognises up to 8 people, and then keeps a log of their weight and body fat composition on fitbit.com, with graphs of your progress. If you chose to, you can also share this information via Facebook or Twitter too. It would be perfect for small offices, households, or any small group of people who want to keep each other motivated to lose weight. There's even a few different ways you can challenge your friends and compete with them directly.
The Fitbit Android app can also be used to track your meals and water intake. However, water is kinda unnecessary (just remember to drink enough water every day), and there are better apps available for tracking your diet. E.g. Calorie Counter from My Fitness Pal, which has a bigger database of foods and a barcode scanner for quicker entries. You can also add entries easily via myfitnesspal.com. You can now link Fitbit with myfitnesspal, and with other trackers like Endomomdo, so that you can use each app to its strengths and easily draw a more complete picture of your health. I tried this out, and it worked really well; meals I entered on myfitnesspal.com appeared almost instantly in the Fitbit app.
You can also set a weight loss goal, and Fitbit will come up with some sensible suggestions with different levels of difficulty. You then need to track your exercises and calorie intake each day to try and meet that goal. Just like old-style diet journals, the very act of making a note of what you eat and when you exercise motivates you to make healthier choices.
Currently Fitbit for Android doesn't have the capability to track activities with your phone's GPS, but this feature is coming soon, and is available already in the iOS app. You can anyway do this with other tracker apps, and link your accounts together. Like I say, the wristband trackers may be good for motivation, with the daily LED indicators; and might be worth the cost if you really want to track your sleeping and swimming. For most of us though, tracking activity with our phones still makes more sense. But the Fitbit WiFi scale, with an ability to effortlessly track weight and body fat composition as it falls and rises over time; that's the real USP of this app. You could use it to get real insight, like how much your weight increases in the winter, how much damage your holiday eating did, and how long it usually takes to get yourself back within a healthy range.
Final ratings
Usefulness 8/10
Usability 8/10
Originality 10/10
Design 8/10