Fitbit Ultra – Review

If your new years resolution is to be more active and sleep better, I have the perfect gadget for you.

The Fitbit Ultra is a tiny gadget (the size of my pinkie finger) that makes it easy to track your steps and sleep. But don’t be deceived by the Fitbit’s small form factor or simplistic description. What makes the Fitbit unique is it’s easy to follow web interface, that automatically syncs with the data gathered by the Fitbit.

Fitbit Ultra

The Fitbit Ultra clipped onto a pocket

The Fitbit Ultra Design

The makers of the Fitbit have done a fantastic job on the overall design of the Fitbit Ultra. The minimal design contains one button, which can be used to toggle through the real time data provided on the integrated Fitbit screen. The Fitbit clipped nicely on the waist of my pants and on the side of my pockets. The Fitbit Ultra also comes with a heavy duty clip, which can be used on thicker materials or belts. I continually forgot I was wearing the Fitbit as it is extremely lightweight.

Sleep Tracking

The Fitbit Ultra comes with a wristband which the Fitbit clips onto to track sleep. The wrist band is comfy and provides adjustment through its Velcro attachment method. Tracking sleep is really simple. Clip the Fitbit onto the provided wristband and hold down the button until the stopwatch icon appears. Then, in the morning, hold down the button again. The Fitbit tracks any movement during the night, which can be a great indicator on the quality of sleep.

Sleep Tracker

Find out the quality of your sleep through Fitbit sleep tracker.

Fitbit Website

The Fitbit website does a great job in displaying the data gathered by the device. You can easily switch between days and even set goals on how many steps you wish to do each day. The website can also connect you up with your Facebook friends within the Fitbit community. Unfortunately, I don’t have any friends on Fitbit to test out the connectivity. With the logging component of the website, you can log your diet which is a great feature for those calorie counting.

Fitbit Sync

The Fitbit comes with a USB docking station for charging. When the Fitbit is within 15 feet of the dock, the Fitbit can automatically sync data to the website. I had a few problems trying to get the Fitbit to sync at the beginning . The problem was resolved once I restarted my computer once having the Fitbit update software installed.

Fitbit VS Pedometer

I have used numerous pedometers over the years and the Fitbit is by far the best I have used. For the $99 tag, you are getting a lot more than just your steps tracked. The Fitbit connects any activity to the time, perfect for seeing patterns of when you are most active.

With the time built directly into the Fitbit, the device will automatically reset steps each day – most pedometers require you to reset the steps manually.

iPhone App in Australia

All the functions of the Fitbit work in Australia. You can even change from the imperial system to metric, with ease. The only thing that you can’t get here in Australia is the Fitbit iPhone application.

You can, however, setup a US iTunes account to buy the application, but even without the iPhone application, the Fitbit is a great purchase.

Buy a Fitbit in Australia

Trying to buy the Fitbit in Australia took a bit of research. The Fitbit website does not ship to Australia, as the Fitbit’s wireless element has not been approved in by the Australia regulators. I found a few people selling the Fitbit on Ebay, but at a drastically inflated price (nearly double the price).

I ended up buying my Fitbit from Amazon, which worked perfectly. Amazon ships the Fitbit to Australia, which means you can add it to your next order of books!

The Fitbit is the perfect device for those geeks interested in tracking their life!