Which Fitbit is right for you?
Find the perfect fitness tracker and kick-start your healthy lifestyle.
Christmas is over for another year and if you’re anything like us you’re probably sick of the sight of turkey sandwiches and mince pies and are already thinking about how to lose those Christmas calories.
Whether you’re planning on doing a Parkrun, joining the gym or just exercising at home, there’s no better way to keep track of your workouts than with a brand new Fitbit. And to make sure you choose the right fitness tracker for you, we’ve put together this quick and simple guide.
Fitbit Ace: For the kids
Key Features
- Family account feature to allow parental controls
- Challenge and compare stats with friends
- Tracks steps, active minutes and sleep
The Fitbit Ace is designed for children aged 8 and over and is a great way of motivating kids to do more exercise, whilst at the same time making it fun and enjoyable.
The Ace measures steps, distance and active time and includes basic sleep monitoring, however Fitbit have removed the calorie counting feature that you get on adult trackers. There are friendly Reminders to Move that encourage kids to stay active and reach a goal of at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day, plus they’ll receive celebration messages and virtual badges when they reach big milestones.
Fitbit have also tried to bring the family closer together by encouraging some friendly competition, where family members can compete against each other in fun challenges including a step challenge to win a virtual trophy.
Fitbit’s new family account feature allows parents to stay in control with two views, one for the child and the other for the parents. You can control who your children connect with, keep track of their activity and even set customisable daily goals.
The Ace has a decent five-day battery life and is somewhat ‘water resistant’ but is not fully waterproof. It’s available in two colours: Electric Blue and Power Purple and comes with 10 fun clock faces to choose from.
Summary: The Fitbit Ace is the perfect child-friendly fitness tracker designed to get kids moving. It tracks steps, daily activity and sleep, plus the new family account feature means parents can keep an eye on their child’s activity, set customisable daily goals and even go head-to-head in step challenges.
Fitbit Charge 3: Fitbit’s most advanced tracker ever
Key Features
- Monitor your health with 24/7 heart rate sensors, and female health tracking
- Connect to your Smartphone to receive text, email and calendar alerts
- Track more than just steps, from cardio fitness to how well you are sleeping
The Charge 3 is Fitbit’s latest and most advanced fitness tracker to date designed to track steps, distance, calories burned, heart rate, sleep and more, as well as giving you some other great features such as Fitbit Pay and text notifications.
With Auto Exercise Recognition the Charge 3 automatically recognises when you’re working out and will also stop and start itself if you have to pause for a breather half way through. You can also pre-select your chosen activity from the exercise modes available, including running, cycling, swimming etc. to ensure it tracks your exercise more accurately. A new feature to the Charge 3 is the ability to set goals. You can select a target time, calories or distance for your workout setting your own personal challenge.
And you can now use the Charge 3 to monitor your quality of sleep. Sleep Stages records important data throughout the night, allowing you to see your time spent in light, deep and REM sleep.
With the Charge 3 you also get some other useful features when you sync it with your Smartphone. View your unread notifications including texts, WhatsApp, email and more, plus you can check on the weather or set reminders.
Fitbit claim that their latest fitness tracker has a 7-day battery life, which is vital if you plan on keeping it on overnight. It is fully waterproof up to 50m and is available in a range of colours and strap styles.
Summary: The Charge 3 is a fantastic fitness tracker with tons of great features. It tracks everything you need it to and includes some extra cool features such as sleep monitoring, guided breathing sessions and Fitbit Pay. If you’re just starting out on your journey to healthier lifestyle then this is the one for you.
Fitbit Ionic: Everything you need from a smartwatch
Key Features
- Personalised coaching and exercise guidance
- Store and play over 300 songs to motivate you through your workout
- Built-in GPS meaning you don’t need to carry your Smartphone on your run
The Fitbit Ionic is more than just a fitness tracker and whilst there is still a strong health and fitness focus, it also offers some advanced features that push it into the smartwatch marketplace.
The Ionic tracks everything you’d expect from a Fitbit, including steps, distance, calories, activity, sleep and more, but one of the more impressive features is the Fitbit Coach, which offers personalised guided workouts. Choose from 40 on-board workouts, anything from 7 minutes up to an hour and follow the on-screen instructions that guide you through every move.
With built-in GPS you can now see your pace, distance, elevation and a map of your route with needing to carry your phone. And don’t worry if forget to start your workout, your watch will automatically recognise your exercise and record it for you.
On top of all the health and fitness features, the Ionic also comes with 2.5GB of storage so you can have your favourite songs, playlists or podcasts right on your wrist. You also get notifications for incoming calls, texts, emails and now even Facebook. Plus, similarly to the Apple Watch you can use Fitbit Pay to make contactless payments.
The Ionic is lightweight, comfortable and slimmer than most smartwatches, with a durable gorilla glass 1.4-inch LCD touchscreen and impressive five-day battery life. There’s also a range of different bands and colours available so you can make your watch your own.
Summary: The Ionic is perfect for the serious exercise enthusiast looking for a top of the range fitness tracker but with the benefits of a smartwatch. It includes a host of fantastic features including guided workouts, sleep monitoring and built-in GPS, but if this seems a little bit out of your price range the Fitbit Versa is a smaller, more affordable alternative that packs in just as much.
Now that we’ve helped you decide which Fitbit is right for you, you’ll probably want to know where to go to get one? Check out your Employee Technology Benefit scheme for the latest range of fitness trackers. Not only can you spread the cost with affordable payments direct from your salary over a set period, but there’s no upfront costs and you’ll also enjoy savings of up to 12% on National Insurance. Keep your eyes peeled for details of your next order window.
