About ten years ago, I had a Fitbit Flex. Used it for years – I think it finally died circa 2019? Used it for steps and sleep tracking. Steps, I’m not good at, because my job requires me to sit on my backside all day, but the sleep tracking was very useful. Now I’m entering another stage of life, my sleep patterns are changing, my physical activity is scattered and my hydration is imperfect. So I went to look for a new tracking band. I have an Apple Watch 2, but its battery life sucks and I’m not sleeping with it on. Also: I wear a watch on my left wrist, and the Flex went on my right wrist. It looked like a black band. I do not want to look like I’m wearing two watches.
I am, broadly speaking, shit out of luck. And am disappointed to see that the technology and product development has not moved much over ten years.
The Fitbit Charge 5 would seem to be the new standard. And, because it’s 2023, you need to buy a subscription product on top of the device’s cost for the device to work properly. (There’s also a thing called the Whoop which is notionally “free” but doesn’t work at all without the purchase of a £200+/year subscription, which is a shame because it’s got the unobtrusive form factor I would want.) It is, however, basically a watch. There’s the Oura Ring, but those are bloody expensive and have to be shipped from the US.
Also curious: all the new fitness bands have dropped altimeter functions that track stairs climbed.
Also also: I have so many questions about this one:
When did the bottom fall out of this market? Are people really wearing their Apple Watches to bed?
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