Living the Gray Life

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FitBit Charge HR Review


FitBit Charge HR Review

I love my FitBit Charge HR. I raved about it in my July favorites, and I was really close to including it in my August favorites. I figured that including it in two back to back monthly favorites would be a bit much, but that’s how much I love it! In this post I’m going to cover what I love and dislike about it as well as a brief overview as to what it does!

There are several different versions of the FitBit, all varying in price and functions. The cheapest wristband is the Flex. It will cost you about $100 and tracks steps, sleep, and active minutes. Personally, I wanted to be able to track my heart rate. In order to have that function, I had to go with the Charge HR. It costs about $150, but watch out for sales. That’s when I got mine and it made it way more affordable.

I LOVE my FitBit. The Charge HR tracks heart rate, sleep, steps, stairs climbed, distance, and calories. I find that this is all that I need in order to track my everyday fitness and health. I do find that the distance function isn’t completely accurate. A 3.4 mile workout will be recorded at around 2.8. I use My Fitness Pal or a GPS tracker to more accurately track my distance.

LOVE

  • Ease of use. It’s super easy to use and to charge. Just put it on your wrist and it tracks everything for you. You don’t have to do anything. Charging is another super easy thing. I just plug it into my computer when I’m sitting at my desk, and it charges while I’m doing homework.
  • Ability to keep track of everything. This thing does everything. And that’s all I have to say.
  • Silent alarm function. I’m in love with this function. I find this really helpful when living with a roommate. I get up between 6:30 and 7 during the week, and instead of my alarm on my phone blasting in the early hours of the morning, this wakes me up without making any noise.
  • Size. I got the small wristband, and it fits perfectly! When I ordered it, I thought it might be to big and bulky, especially because I’m a small person (I’m 5’2″). But this thing fits great and isn’t too bulky! It’s the perfect size.
  • Sleek design. I love the design of this thing. It looks so modern, and I feel that the design does not take away from the functionality.

DISLIKES

  • Screen easily scratches. I don’t know about you, but if I’m investing in something like this, want it to be able to withstand everyday wear and tear. I love the band. I love the clasp. But the screen. It scratches really easily, and I would highly recommend getting a screen protector.
  • Battery life. Now, the battery life on this isn’t bad–probably like 3 or 4 days–but it’s a pain to remember to charge it two or three times a week. If it had a battery life of 7 days, that would be amazing.
  • Slides around when working out. When I workout, I sweat a lot. So, I may just have sweaty arms, but I have to make sure to tighten it at least two notches when I work out.
  • HR tracker doesn’t always work when sweating. I don’t know if it has to do with the fact that I, again, sweat a lot, but sometimes the heart rate monitor stops working for a short time. It’s not that big of a deal when you don’t constantly need to check your heart rate. Sometimes I get a little carried away and want to constantly know what it is, haha.

Although there are some downsides to this, I would 100% recommend it to anyone. The benefits totally counteract whatever isn’t perfect about this device. Since owning this, I find that I’m a lot more conscious about my health and fitness. I choose to take the stairs to try and get my step count up. It’s one of my daily goals to meet my 10,000 step goal.

What are your fitness goals? Do you own a fitness tracker? I love to hear from you all. It truly makes my day!

UPDATE 1/14/16: I still use my FitBit everyday and am still absolutely obsessed with it. I left my FitBit in my dorm during winter break, and when I came back, I noticed that part of the rubber was starting to peel up near the screen. Immediately I contacted FitBit. This is not some horrible customer service update. In fact, the customer service is AMAZING. My FitBit has a 1 year warrant and since I was within that one year, they shipped me a brand new replacement with minimal questions. I included a picture in my initial report, they got back to me within two day, asked for my address, and a new one is on it’s way. That’s super rare in this day and age. Again, HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

-Abigail T.