Fitbit Flex is currently retailing for S$129. It was launched in Singapore last year on the 29th May 2013.
Fitbit Flex is a wireless activity tracker that tracks steps, distance, and calories burned. It is also able to track your sleep quality (how long/well you sleep, how many times you wake up). It also has a silent wake alarm that gently vibrates to wake you at your desired time.
The Fitbit Flex is the third fitness band that I owned. I have the Jawbone UP (S$189.90) and Nike FuelBand (US$149 = S$190) as well.
Among the 3 fitness bands, the Fitbit Flex is very similar to Jawbone UP in terms of features and the lack of a display and hence I have switched to using my Fitbit Flex instead of the Jawbone UP. I thought of wearing 3 fitness bands, but it looks way too weird.
Personally, I prefer the Fitbit Flex instead of the Jawbone UP, partly because I own the Fitbit Aria weighing scale and I want to consolidate my fitness data into a single ecosystem.
The default packaging includes the Flex tracker, 2 wristbands (small and large), wireless sync dongle and charging cable.
One advantage that the Fitbit Flex has over the Jawbone UP is that it can sync wirelessly via Bluetooth (Bluetooth 4.0) and it saves you the hassle of taking off the band, plugging it to your phone to sync and wearing it back again.
You can also sync wirelessly to your PC/Mac using the wireless sync dongle that is included in the package. For Jawbone UP, you can only sync via your phone and for Nike FuelBand you can also sync with your PC/Mac using the provided USB cable.
Since the Fitbit Flex doesn’t have any buttons, to activate the sleep tracking mode, you just have to tap on it rapidly for 2 seconds and your Fitbit Flex will vibrate and display two slowly dimming LED indicator lights (first and last LED).
If you want to switch back to the activities tracking mode, you do the same and your Fitbit Flex will vibrate and flash all five LED indicator lights three times and then display a spinning light pattern.
There are five white LED indicator lights on the Fitbit Flex to let you know the process towards your daily goal. Each light represents 20% of your goal. To see the process, just tap twice on it.
I tried to take a picture of the LED indicator lights but I couldn’t because it goes off very fast.
When choosing a Fitbit Flex, you do not need to worry about sizes because the packaging comes with both small and large wristbands with adjustable buckle. The Fitbit Flex’s wristband is slightly more difficult to wear as compared to the Jawbone UP or Nike FuelBand because of the buckle.
Setting Up
Setting up the Fitbit Flex is pretty straightforward, I got it and and running within 10 minutes!
Fitbit App
Similar to Jawbone UP, the Fibit app is available on both iOS and Android.
A nice touch by Fitbit that I personally like is the push notification that will be sent to your phone at night telling you how many steps you have left to reach your daily goal. My daily goal is 10,000 steps. Also once you reached your goal, your Fitbit Flex will vibrate letting you know you have done it!
The Fitbit App does include the ability to record our daily food intake but it is kinda useless to us (Singapore) because the food database is limited to the United States.
Fitbit.com
In terms of web interfaces, Nike+ has the best looking web interface (no surprise here). Fitbit has a pretty decent web interface while Jawbone doesn’t even have a web interface for it’s UP.
Conclusion
The Fitbit Flex is extremely lightweight (13g) when you compared it with Jawbone UP (23g) or the Nike FuelBand (32g). Because it is lightweight and less bulky when compared to the rest, it is extremely comfortable to wear it to sleep.
I tried wearing the Jawbone UP to sleep but it is just too uncomfortable for me because of the weight and the design of the wristband and hence I only tried it once.
The official battery life on the FitBit Flex is stated as 5 days, but I managed to get 7 days of battery life maybe because I sync it with my iPhone once a day only. The Fitbit Flex is able to store about 30 days of data on the device itself, so you need to sync it at least once a month.
If I have to choose just one fitness band out of Fitbit Flex, Jawbone UP and Nike Fuelband, I would choose the Fitbit Flex!
Tempting!
Get it! If you can wait, the Fitbit Force will be out in Singapore on March 2014
add me!
done=)
Lester, have you tried to wear altogether and see the result. My fitbit force looks not so accurate, when swing my hand like walking, at count as step although it is not.
It detects based on hand movement, so I guess there is still some margin of errors.
if im not wrong challenger got 10% for member. Also might need to be gentle with the fitbit band. i had one which broke off near the lcd screen at the back. there no way u can get it replace in SG at the moment if im not wrong. fitbit dun ship to Sg also, but luckily i manage to get it shipped to Canada for a friend to bring it back. hopefully our retailer with bring in more colored bands soon .
Yeap, Challenger has 10% discount, I just saw it today at Plaza Singapura Branch!
If you need help getting it replace, drop me an email, I will forward it to the PR agency for Fitbit in Singapore to see what they can do. They do have a presence in Singapore just that I am not too sure whether is their warranty international =)
haha gotten my band replaced 6mths back. Perhaps u can jok jok the pr agency to bring in the color bands. black and slate getting abit boring haha 🙂
I doubt they will bring it to Singapore because in US, I can’t find it in stores as well. Only can order it online from Fitbit.com.
I just got my fitbit and wanted to set it up on my laptop that runs on windows RT. But I got the prompt that it can’t run. Any idea what’s the problem?
The problem is with Windows RT, you can’t install any software that is not from the windows store.
I see. Thanks for the prompt reply.
That means I have to set it up on a different laptop that can support the software.
Thanks again!! 🙂
I am running a team event and would like to buy 25 units of FitBit Flex in Singapore. Any suggestions of the best way to procure these with some possible discount given the numbers. Thanx
I dropped the PR an email, I will refer them to your comment here
Thank you
Hey Raj! I’m Keri from Text100, Fitbit’s PR agency. Thanks for your interest in the Flex! We’ve spoken with the distributor regarding your request and unfortunately due to limitations on their end, they are unable to offer discounts for bulk orders of less than 50 units. However, you can still find the Flex at Challenger or Apple stores! If there’s anything else we can help you with, please feel free to drop us a line at sgfitbit@text100.com 🙂
Hi Raj, you can get your fitbit flex from http://www.facebook.com/theopensurface
hello! Please let me know if there is any chance to buy charging cable for fitbit flex in singapore-as i noticed you know everything about this device 🙂 so maybe you could help me! I lost my cable yesterday 🙁
Cheers
Aga
Hey Aga,
Unfortunately, I have not see the charging cable being sold in Singapore. I have ask the PR and will get back to you
thank you very much for your reply. Keri from text100 helped me a lot. I’ve ordered the charging cable for 20 Sgd. Thanks to your review/comments i found Keri-so you helped me a lot 🙂
Awesome! Glad it works out for you and thanks for sharing the price!
Hi. I lost my charger too. Couldn’t find it anywhere on their website. Where did you buy yours? Thanks for sharing.
Hi Brian, if you are from Singapore try dropping sgfitbit@text100.com an email
Hey Lester, thanks for the suggestion. will send the email now.
Hi Brian
i ordered the charging cable via magmarvel Sales .
according to them the cable should have been delivered on Thu-today is Fri-and so far -no cable 🙁
hi… i lost my Fitbit Flex charging cable do you know whr i can get one in singapore.?
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