Fuelband versus fitbit
Why do I prefer the Force?
REVIEW: The Nike FuelBand Versus The Fitbit Force
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For the past two weeks I’ve been testing out two wearable fitness-tracking devices, the Nike FuelBand SE, and the Fitbit Force.
Nike’s FuelBand SE is a follow-up to last year’s FuelBand. There aren’t major overhauls to the FuelBand this year. It added more sensors for better accuracy, and Bluetooth 4.0 for better connectivity.
The Fitbit Force is a new product from Fitbit. It has a small screen that tells you time, steps, calories burned, and a few other details. It can track your sleep, its app allows you to enter what you’re eating, and how much water you’re drinking. It’s a bit of a pain to enter those details, but if you’re really obsessed with tracking yourself, it’s quite useful.
The FuelBand is more limited but it can tell time, track steps taken, and calories burned.
Both devices sync with apps on the iPhone. Nike doesn’t have an Android app.
Where Nike differentiates itself is with Fuel points, a proprietary system that measures overall activity. Fuel points only serve one real purpose — to tell you if you’ve been a lump all day, or if you’re actually moving around.
Nike says the whole point of the FuelBand is to promote activity. (Presumably, activity leads to buying more Nike sneakers.)
I wore both of them on my left wrist as I’ve gone to work, traveled, played golf, rode a bike, and skateboarded around the city.
Both gadgets are highly flawed, and if I was paying with my own money I’m not sure I would buy either one. (I tested loaners from the companies.)
However, if I was going to get one, I would go with the FitBit Force.
Why do I prefer the Force?
It snaps onto my wrist more comfortably than the FuelBand. It feels lighter and less obtrusive than the Fuelband which is sort of like a bangle around the wrist.
The Force does more. Through the app, I can track all the water I drink. Two weeks ago I started to feel like I was getting a headache. I realized I didn’t drink much water during the day, started guzzling water and started to feel better.
It also tracks my sleep. Right before going to bed, I hold the button on the Force and it buzzes to let me know it’s started a timer. Then when I wake up, I hold it again and the Force tells me how long I slept. It also says if I was restless and when I woke up. It’s not perfect for tracking sleep, since I woke up a few times, but laid still, which wasn’t tracked, but it’s good for giving a sense of how long I was laying in bed for.
The Fuelband, on the other hand, only does one thing: It tracks whether or not I was active. This is somewhat helpful, but it largely reinforces what I already knew. During the work week I don’t move around very much. On the weekends, I move around more.
The Force also tracks my activity by monitoring my steps for the day.
However, the Force’s step monitor is not accurate. But neither is the FuelBand’s.
For instance, this morning, I walked 100 steps in our office wearing each gadget on my wrist. The Force counted 84 steps. The Fuelband counted 64 steps.
Last weekend I was on a plane, and I walked from my seat to the bathroom at the back of the plane. I counted 42 steps to get there and back. The Force counted 50 steps, and the FuelBand counted 14.
I was in a car on a bumpy ride last week and the Force gave me 29 steps even though I was sitting still. The FuelBand gave me 37 steps.
The disparities between the two devices add up. On Saturday, I played a round of golf. At the end of the day, the FuelBand had me at ~12,000 steps. The Force had me at ~19,000 steps. I have no idea which one is most accurate.
In this way, Nike’s Fuel points can be a blessing. Since they’re proprietary, and basically made up, they can’t be inaccurate. They’re just motivation to move around.
However, if you can break your mind from thinking about steps on the Force as being literal steps, and think of them as activity monitors that push you to move, then they do the same thing as Fuel points.
The flaws in both of these devices reminds me of the Kindle e-reader before the iPad. The Kindle was good for one thing — reading. The iPad did so much more. Likewise, these things are good for tracking movement, but nothing else. It seems like Apple, or someone else, is about to come out with a smart watch that does a lot more.
Until then, if you’re only looking for a reminder to do more stuff and you like the look and feel of the FuelBand, you should get it. If you’re looking for a device than can do a lot more, then go with the Force.
Get the latest Fitbit stock price here.
Fuelband versus fitbit
Fitness or activity trackers are devices or applications which can help you monitor and track your fitness-related metrics like how much distance you have walked, or how many calorie you have consumed, or even your heart rate while you are sleeping. So, buying the best fitness tracking device can give you accurate insights into your everyday sleep patterns, activities and help you lead a far healthier lifestyle. Incidentally, today no outfit appears to be complete without such a fitness tracker. These are available in vibrant colours and sleek designs and boast of the most updated technology in quantification. You can compare the features and advantages of two of the most popular fitness trackers Fitbit and Nike Fuel Band and decide which suits you best.
Fitbit Vs Nike Fuel Band:
Compactness: Fitbit has always been a popular manufacturer of trendy fitness trackers and its recent product the Fitbit Flex is compact and tiny, fitting on your wrist easily. Their products are comfortable and affordable, flexible and can be replaced easily. The Flex can also be worn on different parts of your body or even placed in your pocket. It gives real-time feedback that allows you to get your tracking results while you are working out. It can even track sleep accurately.
Tracking system: The Fitbit app can extract data from any Fitbit tracker that you may have. You can find out how many calories you burned, how many minutes you were active, how much distance you walked. The Nike Fuel Band will track the basic data and also uses an independent system of points that is known as the NikeFuel. This algorithm will combine the steps, calories and activities to give you a NikeFuel count. The FuelBand SE has been found to be very accurate where actual calorie tracking, step tracking or distance tracking is concerned. However, the Nike Fuel Band will not track sleep.
Features: Unlike the Fitbit, the Fuel Band has a limited screen although the prices are high. In terms of usability and design however, the Fuel Band scores quite high. The Fitbit and Fuel Band are both water resistant; they can be used during shower although you should ideally not use them while taking a swim. The Fitbit works smoothly with both Android and iOS platforms and lasts more than a week after charge. The Fuel Band lets you share your progress on different social media platforms and this can be seen as encouragement to you and people you wish to compete with. This makes your fitness journey more fun filled.
Costs: The Nike Fuel Band is more costly than the Fitbit products and perhaps comparatively less adaptable.
Battery Charge: The battery for the Fuel Band lasts for about four days after which it must be charged; however, unlike the Fitbit which needs proprietary cables for charging, the Fuel Band comes with cable-free USB slot which is built into the device.
When you are a competitive person by nature, you are likely to prefer the Nike Fuel Band device because it provides healthy competition amongst friends, working as a huge motivator for some.
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