The mere thought of becoming more active isn’t a tough one to grasp, but for millions of everyday people, making fitness a reality is easier said than done. Falling in love with the journey to better health doesn’t begin with a longstanding commitment to eat better, exercise more, and meditate more often. It begins with the very next step you take, and Fitbit’s innovative line of trackers will be there to capture it. In a world obsessed with convergence, Fitbit’s mantra has been making the best activity tracking tools on the planet.
From its inception in 2007, Fitbit has remained supremely simple: comprised of products that track the fitness areas that you care about with sensors previously reserved for labs and training rooms, coupled with beautiful apps and software that give you meaningful advice. That’s a feat today, but remember, in 2007 the iPhone — as in, the original one — had only just been announced, leaving Fitbit to lend a hand in making technology more personal than ever before. These weren’t just nascent days for wearables; these were nascent days for mobile. The chore of securing shelf space in Best Buy stores was brutally tough in a world where portable technology was still dwarfed by computers that sat on a desk, but the Fitbit team — which has grown from just two initial employees to nearly 200 today — managed to expand their footprint to over 20,000 locations in just three years.
Fitbit took nearly two years to launch its initial wearable and complimentary software platform. Convincing retailers and consumers that connected fitness was a market primed to explode was no small task, and it didn’t take long before rivals sprung up in a bid to secure share in a fledgling market. As it continued to define a sector it helped create, Fitbit saw its fair share of setbacks, amongst them a product recall that taught the company just how tough it is to develop an intelligent, sensor-laden band that’s designed not just to be worn, but lived with. Through it all, they’ve thrived: Fitbit’s name is found on nearly three in every four fitness wearables that ship today.
From the outset, co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman realized that people became more active when encouraged. It’s great to partake in a weekly yoga session with your besties, but you’ve got 167 (or so) hours left in any given week to account for. Fitbit’s line of trackers was designed to provide exactly the kind of encouragement you need, while giving you honest feedback on progress, along with the real data that drives real change in your health. From tracking your steps, counting your calories burned and monitoring the quality of your sleep, there’s an entire backend that’s tailored specifically to body, your activity and your progress.
Tracking your health sounds like a daunting task, but Fitbit’s array of wearables captures statistics on steps, distance, calories burned, floors climbed, hours slept, times woken and sleep efficiency, all without interrupting your day. While rivals focus on little more than calories and steps, Fitbit’s approach is far more holistic; by capturing various inputs related to both movement and sleep, it’s able to provide a complete look at how you’re living and what changes would be wise to make.
In an app-driven universe, Fitbit recognizes that engaging software is on equal footing with hardware. The most advanced sensors in the world are only as useful as the software that accompanies them, and far too many fitness companies still haven’t adjusted to this reality. CEO James Park has confessed that around two-thirds of Fitbit’s engineers work in software, not hardware, which enables the company to maintain a competitive edge with far fewer resources than the goliaths that surround it.
To boot, a one-size-fits-all approach to fitness isn’t one that Fitbit is interested in pursuing. Its client base is built from people with wildly varied lifestyles, working hours, geographic conditions and access to facilities. There’s room for multiple trackers that hit multiple price points, but Fitbit is committed to delivering an unmatched software platform to every piece of hardware it sells.
Zip
Launched: September 2012
Original Price: $59.95
How You Wear It: Clip-on
What It Tracks: Roughly the size of a quarter, the Zip tracks steps taken, distance travelled, and calories burned, while syncing data wirelessly to supported handsets.
Aria
Launched: April 2012
Original Price: $129.95
How You Wear It: Go ahead, step on it!
What It Tracks/Does: It’s a wirelessly connected scale that tracks your weight, body fat percentage, and BMI. It wirelessly syncs your stats with online graph and mobile tools, enabling you to see how you’re progressing over days, weeks, and months.
One
Launched: September 2012
Price: $99.95
How You Wear It: Clip-on
What It Tracks/Does: Boasting a vivid OLED display for those who enjoy reading their stats in real time, the One tracks steps, distance, calories burned, floors climbed, sleep efficiency, hours slept and number of times woken. It’s sweat-, rain-, and splash-proof, and syncs to both mobile and desktop machines without the assistance of a cord.
Flex
Launched: May 2013
Price: $99.95
How You Wear It: On the wrist
What It Tracks/Does: Designed to be worn 24 hours per day (including while swimming and showering), the Flex tracks steps, distance, calories burned, floors climbed, sleep efficiency, hours slept, and number of times woken. The battery’s good for an entire week, and it can be recharged in just one to two hours. Plus, it’ll vibrate when you’ve reached your step goal for the day.
Charge
Launched: October 2014
Price: $129.95
How You Wear It: On the wrist
What It Tracks/Does: Fitbit’s most advanced sleep and activity tracker yet, the Charge is capable of tracking steps, distance, calories burned, floors climbed and active minutes. Entire workouts can be recorded in Exercise Mode, and the embedded display showcases stats, the current time and even caller ID details passed along from your smartphone. There’s a silent vibrating alarm that’ll alert you once you’ve reached your daily step goal, or it’ll wake you when it’s time to take on the day.
Regardless of whether you’re looking to monitor your progress via the web or on a mobile device, Fitbit’s software prowess enables the slickest, most detailed, and most comprehendible charts in the market. You’re able to set daily goals for steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned and more, and you can easily track each stat on a singular dashboard. There’s inbuilt motivation, too, with push notifications signaling when you’re nearing a goal or have just accomplished one. Instead of having to reach into a separate app to keep tabs on your food intake, Fitbit’s app has a vast database baked right in. Not only can you monitor historical progress of caloric intake, but it’ll suggest a plan for you that tweaks itself based on how active you are throughout the day. By default, all of this remains private, but for those with a competitive spirit, Fitbit’s tools have integrated social sharing triggers that enable users to compare progress with friends and family.
We’re surrounded by fad diets, grandiose promises, and plenty of confusion on how to get started on the road to a healthier you. Fitbit has cut through the noise to deliver useful, elegant fitness trackers that keep you focused on being active — regardless of what moves you.
