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An In-depth Review of Fitbit One, Fitbit Aria, and Fitbit Premium

20 points by acangiano 14y ago

simcop2387 14y ago
I suspect his repeatability problem with the scale is balance related. At 260 I haven't had that problem with the scale yet. Though if I don't dry my feet I can affect the fat % reading
- acangiano 14y ago
  Yes, as I mention in the review I suspect uneven distribution of the weight is at very least in part to blame. Great to hear that at 260 lbs you don't experience this problem. If you don't mind, would you comment as such in the comment section of my blog. I think it's useful information for those who are reading the review.
chollida1 14y ago
Wow, every link on that site appears to be an affiliate link and to make things worse, they don't appear to work. I get this link: http://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=301421&m=31379&u=412005&afftrack=&urllink=www%2Efitbit%2Ecom%2Fflex&lplid=1735 http://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=301421&m=31379&u=41200... directing to an empty page. Its' very, very hard to take this seriously as an honest review when it's so obvious it was written with the attempt to make money.
- acangiano 14y ago
  That's a very narrow-minded view of blogging. I wouldn't write a 5,000+ word review if my main interest was making money. It's just stupid from an economic standpoint. I could make way more money with a 700 word review of some popular tech book. Above all I outline several flaws in the ecosystem in what it's an, as honest as it gets, review. My point was sharing useful information. Will someone interested in Fitbit learn something about the product by reading this? I think they'll learn plenty. That's my goal, and if the affiliate links make me some extra money, great. I also disclaim my affiliation in my site (and in the post). Regarding links, they work for me. Anyone else having this issue?
  - j_s 14y ago
    Tested one, it worked. On another browser, Ghostery blocked it.
    - acangiano 14y ago
      Thank you. I figured it was some kind of plugin blocking it.
  - chollida1 14y ago
    Sure, I get your point. But I think you're trying as hard as possible to not see things from the readers perspective. We all know there is a continuum of sites on the internet from wikipedia who try to be neutral to sites that try to phish your information. When we visit sites we are forced to decide just how scuzzy a site is. Consider your site: When I first see it the entire right hand side has 3 advertisements, a follow me on twitter link and a buy my book link. Not terrible but also it starts raising the alarm bells a bit. Then onto the content, before I can even read the article we've got the scuzzy "share this story" links that are a pretty good indicator of a site that's trying to sell you something rather than inform you. I come to the first link, not only is it an affiliate link but it's intentionally obfuscated so the user can't tell where it leads to. If this isn't a warning sign then I'm not sure what is:) Having said that an affiliate link is perfectly fine. Since the link is obfuscated I look for another link so I can just get to the fitbit website, but all the links are intentionally obfuscated. At every turn you've lead the user to believe your site is trying to pull something over on them. What do you expect me to think about your site :)? I have no doubt you put alot of effort into your review, but I'd really drop the obfuscated links if you want to come across as an honest blogger to people who don't know you:)
- gwillen 14y ago
  I suspect you have adblocking software that's blocking the affiliate redirect. The links do work for me.
klausjensen 14y ago
Another very interesting product I would like to buy, am happy with the price - but they will not sell it to me because I am in Europe. And they have been in the market for 3-4 years now? Sigh...
- acangiano 14y ago
  Where are you located? Check your local Amazon or Apple site. They might have it if Fitbit won't ship to your country.
  - ecspike 14y ago
    I concur with this. I ordered my original Ultra from Fit bit but purchased the Aria from Amazon. There was a negligible difference in price.
- mahyarm 14y ago
  Withings is based in France and they've released/announced a fitbit style tracker & weight scale at CES recently. I'm excited about the basis band as a fitness tracker although.
- summerdown2 14y ago
  I bought a fitbit one from the UK amazon store. It works great, though I am a little concerned by the idea upthread that it can be lost so easily!
  - Hansi 14y ago
    Same here, I don't trust the clip it's flimsy. I opted for getting this to use while exercising instead: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008M6PA4A/ http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008M6PA4A/ For day to day I just leave it in my pocket. Haven't lost it in the last few months.
Yhippa 14y ago
I can echo what he's saying about the Aria. It's not that big of a deal to me. For the most part it's accurate and the tradeoff for wireless syncing is pretty awesome. My biggest problem is losing the Fitbit trackers themselves. I've lost two and just got the One which I almost lost playing ultimate frisbee this weekend. That's $300 lost. I like the Fitbit ecosystem enough to get the One and it's great so far.
- ecspike 14y ago
  Maybe you should get the Zip. Only $60 but less features than the One.
  - acangiano 14y ago
    I think the upcoming Flex might work best for him. It has to be pretty hard to lose a wrist band.
    - mcrider 14y ago
      I'll be waiting for this before I get a Fitbit. And excuse the imagery, but it seems you have to wear clothes in bed for the vibrate-to-wake feature to work with the existing versions ;)
      - acangiano 14y ago
        At night the tracker is within the sleep wrist band, so it vibrates near your wrist. So feel free to pull a Marilyn Monroe. :-P
      - alaithea 14y ago
        Actually, it comes with a wristband to clip it to for sleeping.
- mahyarm 14y ago
  I too had the same problems with the fitbit. I lost one during a hike and recently lost another one while I was snowboarding, even with a small clip tether. The things are too easy to lose. At this point I'm just waiting for my basis band to come in the mail, since I wont loose a watch in the same way. At this point I recommend if you have one right now you should tie the thing to your body with a lanyard to not lose the thing. Fitbit will usually replace lost trackers for free if you've lost one. You just have to contact support. That is how I got my second one.
rhokstar 14y ago
Mmm... MyBasis is much better.
- pinko 14y ago
  because...?
Harkins 14y ago
For the Quantified Self folks, note that even by paying for Premium you cannot download your minute-by-minute movement data.
- IheartApplesDix 14y ago
  Also, it's not really an In-depth review if they don't talk about the privacy policy.
prof_hobart 14y ago
>I found the clip on part to be less durable however, given that the bottom part came off after a week, though it is possible I received one that was defective and was just poorly glued on. I had exactly the same happen, although it took about 3 weeks. About a week later, the device fell out of my pocket somewhere never to be seen again. Apart from that, it's a great little device and I've bought a new one that still seems to be holding together at the moment.

20 points by acangiano 14y ago

I suspect his repeatability problem with the scale is balance related. At 260 I haven't had that problem with the scale yet. Though if I don't dry my feet I can affect the fat % reading

acangiano 14y ago
Yes, as I mention in the review I suspect uneven distribution of the weight is at very least in part to blame. Great to hear that at 260 lbs you don't experience this problem. If you don't mind, would you comment as such in the comment section of my blog. I think it's useful information for those who are reading the review.

chollida1 14y ago

Wow, every link on that site appears to be an affiliate link and to make things worse, they don't appear to work. I get this link: http://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=301421&m=31379&u=412005&afftrack=&urllink=www%2Efitbit%2Ecom%2Fflex&lplid=1735 http://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=301421&m=31379&u=41200... directing to an empty page. Its' very, very hard to take this seriously as an honest review when it's so obvious it was written with the attempt to make money.

acangiano 14y ago
That's a very narrow-minded view of blogging. I wouldn't write a 5,000+ word review if my main interest was making money. It's just stupid from an economic standpoint. I could make way more money with a 700 word review of some popular tech book. Above all I outline several flaws in the ecosystem in what it's an, as honest as it gets, review. My point was sharing useful information. Will someone interested in Fitbit learn something about the product by reading this? I think they'll learn plenty. That's my goal, and if the affiliate links make me some extra money, great. I also disclaim my affiliation in my site (and in the post). Regarding links, they work for me. Anyone else having this issue?
- j_s 14y ago
  Tested one, it worked. On another browser, Ghostery blocked it.
  - acangiano 14y ago
    Thank you. I figured it was some kind of plugin blocking it.
- chollida1 14y ago
  Sure, I get your point. But I think you're trying as hard as possible to not see things from the readers perspective. We all know there is a continuum of sites on the internet from wikipedia who try to be neutral to sites that try to phish your information. When we visit sites we are forced to decide just how scuzzy a site is. Consider your site: When I first see it the entire right hand side has 3 advertisements, a follow me on twitter link and a buy my book link. Not terrible but also it starts raising the alarm bells a bit. Then onto the content, before I can even read the article we've got the scuzzy "share this story" links that are a pretty good indicator of a site that's trying to sell you something rather than inform you. I come to the first link, not only is it an affiliate link but it's intentionally obfuscated so the user can't tell where it leads to. If this isn't a warning sign then I'm not sure what is:) Having said that an affiliate link is perfectly fine. Since the link is obfuscated I look for another link so I can just get to the fitbit website, but all the links are intentionally obfuscated. At every turn you've lead the user to believe your site is trying to pull something over on them. What do you expect me to think about your site :)? I have no doubt you put alot of effort into your review, but I'd really drop the obfuscated links if you want to come across as an honest blogger to people who don't know you:)
gwillen 14y ago
I suspect you have adblocking software that's blocking the affiliate redirect. The links do work for me.

klausjensen 14y ago

Another very interesting product I would like to buy, am happy with the price - but they will not sell it to me because I am in Europe. And they have been in the market for 3-4 years now? Sigh...

acangiano 14y ago
Where are you located? Check your local Amazon or Apple site. They might have it if Fitbit won't ship to your country.
- ecspike 14y ago
  I concur with this. I ordered my original Ultra from Fit bit but purchased the Aria from Amazon. There was a negligible difference in price.
mahyarm 14y ago
Withings is based in France and they've released/announced a fitbit style tracker & weight scale at CES recently. I'm excited about the basis band as a fitness tracker although.
summerdown2 14y ago
I bought a fitbit one from the UK amazon store. It works great, though I am a little concerned by the idea upthread that it can be lost so easily!
- Hansi 14y ago
  Same here, I don't trust the clip it's flimsy. I opted for getting this to use while exercising instead: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008M6PA4A/ http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008M6PA4A/ For day to day I just leave it in my pocket. Haven't lost it in the last few months.

Yhippa 14y ago

I can echo what he's saying about the Aria. It's not that big of a deal to me. For the most part it's accurate and the tradeoff for wireless syncing is pretty awesome. My biggest problem is losing the Fitbit trackers themselves. I've lost two and just got the One which I almost lost playing ultimate frisbee this weekend. That's $300 lost. I like the Fitbit ecosystem enough to get the One and it's great so far.

ecspike 14y ago
Maybe you should get the Zip. Only $60 but less features than the One.
- acangiano 14y ago
  I think the upcoming Flex might work best for him. It has to be pretty hard to lose a wrist band.
  - mcrider 14y ago
    I'll be waiting for this before I get a Fitbit. And excuse the imagery, but it seems you have to wear clothes in bed for the vibrate-to-wake feature to work with the existing versions ;)
    - acangiano 14y ago
      At night the tracker is within the sleep wrist band, so it vibrates near your wrist. So feel free to pull a Marilyn Monroe. :-P
    - alaithea 14y ago
      Actually, it comes with a wristband to clip it to for sleeping.
mahyarm 14y ago
I too had the same problems with the fitbit. I lost one during a hike and recently lost another one while I was snowboarding, even with a small clip tether. The things are too easy to lose. At this point I'm just waiting for my basis band to come in the mail, since I wont loose a watch in the same way. At this point I recommend if you have one right now you should tie the thing to your body with a lanyard to not lose the thing. Fitbit will usually replace lost trackers for free if you've lost one. You just have to contact support. That is how I got my second one.

rhokstar 14y ago

Mmm... MyBasis is much better.

pinko 14y ago
because...?

Harkins 14y ago

For the Quantified Self folks, note that even by paying for Premium you cannot download your minute-by-minute movement data.

IheartApplesDix 14y ago
Also, it's not really an In-depth review if they don't talk about the privacy policy.

prof_hobart 14y ago

>I found the clip on part to be less durable however, given that the bottom part came off after a week, though it is possible I received one that was defective and was just poorly glued on. I had exactly the same happen, although it took about 3 weeks. About a week later, the device fell out of my pocket somewhere never to be seen again. Apart from that, it's a great little device and I've bought a new one that still seems to be holding together at the moment.