This thing is on my wrist. Why did I put it there? What good is strapping an electronic tag to myself? After logging thousands of steps, I’m seriously considering wearing a smartwatch around the clock.
Is a Fitbit worth it—especially for a modest $150?
I bought a Charge 3 about two months ago. After a winter of poor exercise habits, I decided to go “all in” on fitness accountability. No more excuses. After some online research, I settled on the Charge 3.
Part of the push came from my wife. She wears a fancy Garmin that tracks everything—seriously, everything. For someone who’s hardcore about fitness, Garmin is perfect. If that kept her so engaged, I figured a similar device might work for me. Enter Fitbit.
Fitbit, based in San Francisco, has been around since 2007. There are studies that aren’t kind to wearables: some say they don’t help weight loss much compared to standard programs, and others show wrist devices can overestimate steps and calories. That’s not corporate fraud, but it frustrates fitness sticklers.
My wife, for example, trusts her Garmin and dismisses my numbers when we’re close on steps. And she’s right to be skeptical—just last week my Fitbit counted “steps” while I was driving home from happy hour. Apparently twisting the steering wheel earns rewards. (Yes, I had one beer. If I’d biked, I would’ve had two.)
Those quirks aside, Fitbit is doing well. It sells strongly behind Apple and has a global presence. They keep winning awards and releasing new products. I chose the Charge 3 because it finally came in a waterproof design, which means I don’t have to take it off in the shower. And hey, a few shower steps don’t hurt.
Here’s the deal: studies suggest wearables alone don’t change habits enough for many people. If you want to lose weight or get fitter, a tracker by itself probably won’t do the trick. But I’m married to the most competitive person I know, and that changes everything. For my Charge 3 to work, accountability matters. If I didn’t have someone to compete with, I’d likely wear the Fitbit like a fancy watch—and I already have an iPhone for that.
Because my wife pushes me, competing for steps is fun and motivating. It’s not easy when you sit in a cubicle all day, so I take advantage of a campus with long walking routes. I turn one-on-one meetings into walk-and-talks. Those beat sitting down every time.
After a few months I’ve almost averaged 10,000 steps a day. But if my Fitbit counts driving as steps, should I raise my goal to 11,000? How do you account for a device that adds steering-wheel wiggles and beer lifts to your totals? My approach: don’t get hung up on alleged inaccuracies—just set a higher goal. And hope the engineers keep improving the software.
Here’s what surprised me: my wrist barely moves when I cycle, but the Fitbit still picks up the activity. After a 10-mile bike ride into the office, it logged about 5,000 steps. I didn’t expect that and it was a pleasant surprise. There must be an algorithm using heart rate and motion to convert cycling into steps. I’ll take those extra steps.
Bluetooth notifications are handy—texts show up on the Fitbit while I’m biking or driving (or in a meeting where I don’t want to pull out my phone). That said, the connection to my iPhone 6 is hit or miss; sometimes messages arrive late or not at all.
Rowing has been inconsistent. At first the tracker gave me lots of steps for a ten-minute row; lately it barely credits anything. I suspect a software change reduced sensitivity to rowing motions. I’d love a dedicated “Rowing” exercise type—rowing is a great full-body workout, and a stroke should count for something.
Update 8/16/22: You can apparently sync Fitbit with a Peloton. I haven’t tried it because I’m now wearing a Withings watch.
Fitbit doesn’t fully align with the FIRE (financial independence, retire early) mindset. It’s another gadget, another electronic nag telling you to move. I’ll be relaxing on the couch and get a buzz: “You need 25 more steps to hit 250 for this hour.” Really? Leave me alone.
Also, Fitbits aren’t cheap. If $150 is a stretch, skip it. The novelty wears off for some people, especially if you don’t have a friend or partner to compete with. If you don’t want to buy a tracker, build small walking habits: park farther away, do walking meetings, ride your bike to work.
The FIRE community tends toward minimalism, so not everyone will get a wearable. Personally, I like how it looks on my wrist and how it pushes me to walk more.
One last thing: sleep tracking is both awesome and annoying. It’s really cool to see how much deep sleep I got—deep sleep matters, and for many middle-aged people one solid hour can be pretty restorative. The annoying part is when Fitbit thinks I’m asleep while I’m still watching TV on the couch before bed. Who knew an hour of late-night shows counted as sleep?
Overall, the device does a decent job, especially tracking deep sleep. It would be nice to get fixes for things like counting steps while driving, but on balance I’ve found the Charge 3 helpful—mainly because it gives me something to compete over and keeps me moving.