At the end of 2015 Automattic hooked up employees up with a free Fitbit ( awesome ). I opted for the Fitbit Charge HR.
It has been a month and I can confidently say that I like it. Quantifying some of the activity I do each day is a good reminder to pay attention to how much ( or how little ) I’m doing.
The HR device itself is a bit more awkward than wearing a traditional watch, because of the longer flat section. Having a single button is a good approach, even my kids like to push the button to see how many steps I’ve taken that day.
There are a few things about the HR that I think could be improved.
Packaging
It was physically painful to open the box. After finally getting it open lets just say that it did not look pretty.
People like to make fun of others who go crazy over opening Apple packages. The unboxing videos can get out of hand. But it isn’t until you try to open a difficult box that you appreciate how nice it is to open a well thought out box.
In the mean time: cut the box open with a knife/scissors, don’t bother trying to do with your bare hands.
Battery UI
When you plugin in the HR the display shows you battery percentage, which is great. The problem is that the battery percentage UI is only displayed when plugged in. The obvious fix would be to include the battery percentage UI in the rotating display when you push the button.
The iPhone App for Fitbit does claim to display the battery percentage. I’ve found it to not be very accurate. Instead what I’ve started doing is to wear the HR until it runs out of juice completely, then plug in.
In the mean time: buy an extra charging cable, stick it in your back pack.