Fitbit and BodyMedia Release New, Competing Fitness and Sleep Trackers

Tracking your activity on the go is easy thanks to fitness and calorie tracking bands like Fitbit. The young company released its first two products in 2024: The Fitbit Zip, which is worn as a clip and tracks your steps, distance and calories burned and syncs the stats to your computer or smartphone.  And the Fitbit One, which is also worn as a clip and tracks your steps, distance, calories burned and stairs climbed. It also measures your sleep cycle and wakes you up in the morning in an effort to help you get better rest.

Fitbit’s latest product released this week is the Flex, which is the company’s first wristband. The Flex comes in slate, black, teal and tangerine and can be worn day and night to track all of your activity. It also features a Bluetooth 4.0 radio and an LED light strip that shows the progress you’ve made on your daily goals. Four lights out of five means you’ve achieved 80 percent of your daily goal, making it a hands-off, easy approach to tracking your health.

The Flex tracks your stats in real time, including steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned, overall active minutes, hours slept and quality of sleep. The band is also water resistant and features a silent wake alarm. Another benefit? It boasts a longer battery life – lasting up to 5-7 days on a single charge.

All Fitbit products encourage its users to interact with other Fitbit members to spur and cheer each other on in setting and achieving goals. Fitbit trackers can even earn badges and connect with friends to share and even compete for ongoing motivation.

The Fitbit Flex may seem like an upgrade in some ways, but it takes a few steps back in other areas compared to its other two products. The Fitbit One and Zip both feature keys you can press to enter into sleep mode, but the Flex lacks these buttons meaning sleep has to be logged manually either on the Fitbit app or website.

The Flex is available for pre-order today and costs $99.95. Shipments can be expected in the spring.

Another addition to the fitness tracker lineup is the Core 2 fitness tracker from BodyMedia. The new product is similar to the company’s previous tracker, the LINK, which featured sensors that measure your temperature, heat flux, and galvanic skin response. A 3-axis accelerometer also helped the band captured every motion users make, from steps taken to quality of sleep. According to Gizmodo, these capabilities gave the LINK a leg up on competitor products like the Nike Fuelband, Jawbone Up, and Fitbit One.

The Core 2 only differs from the LINK in that it’s much smaller in size and is easier on the eyes, featuring interchangeable face plates so the band is more customizable. It also features a 4.0 Smart Ready radio, allowing for instant data sharing with smart phones and computers.

Users can also record meals on the band’s app to ensure real-time information on calorie consumed and burned. Both the Core 2 and LINK are worn as a band on the upper arm, so although they boast more metrics they may not be ideal for everyone.

Information on price and availability has yet to be released.

Also Read:

A True Weight Loss Story With BodyMedia and Jillian Michaels  

FitBit Zip Review

Get Paid for Working Out with Earnd It

source: engagdet | images via BodyMedia and Fitbit

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