Whats In The Box
Opening your Fitbit Alta box is reminiscent to opening an Apple product. Inside the box you will find your Fitbit Alta, a charging cradle, and a syncing dongle for your desktop. Keep in mind this Fitbit model does not include multiple band sizes, so you have to make sure you pick your appropriate size when your purchase yours. The wristband has a high quality soft touch feel to them that Fitbit is well known for. This wristband also features a diagonal textured pattern to it which gives it a good design ascetic.
Setting Up Your Fitbit Alta
Setting up your Fitbit Alta is super easy. If you previously had a Fitbit then set up will be even easier and faster. As always you'll down load the Fitbit App to your phone and follow along with the onscreen instructions. This will include a series of taps and a little waiting for the newest firmware to instal on your Fitbit. Once thats said and done you're all set to go.
First Impressions Using The Fitbit Alta
The Fitbit Alta features a slim high quality wristband that makes it easy to forget you're even wearing the thing. The Alta also has an easy to release mechanism to switch out wristbands. Unfortunately the Alta features the same clasping mechanism from the Fitbit Flex that will drive you mad every time you have to put it back on. The Alta itself is incased in metal and glass body which gives it a great look when you're wearing it at work. Unlike the Flex, this model has a mid resolution black and white screen that can show you the Time, Steps Taken, Distance Traveled, Calories Burned, Active Minutes, and Battery level. The Alta will start to automatically show you said information if you raise your arm to check the time or double tap it and then tap again to cycle through the options. Keep in mind the Alta does not utilize an actual touchscreen, instead it reacts to taps on the screen that the internal accelerometer registers. Unfortunately this method of interaction between the user and Alta can be inaccurate and frustrating at times.
The Fitbit App
Playing around with the Fitbit app is fun. You can play around with settings like Activity goals, Exercise goals, Nutrition and Body Goals, and Sleeping goals. In the Activity Goals tab you can set amount of steps taken in a day, distance walked or ran, Calories Burned, Active Minutes, and Hourly Activity Goals. In the Nutrition Tab you can change goals like water intake, caloric deficit goal. Finally in the Sleep tab you can change your Time Asleep Goal, Bedtime, and Wake Up Time. Your Fitbit will then wake you up by vibrating when it feels its the best time to wake you up with in a 30 minute window of your selected wake up time. We highly prefer this wake up alarm as opposed to your standard audio alarm. Just make sure you have a back up alarm if you're a heavy sleeper.
The Fitbit App also includes a food logging journal which is reminiscent to MyFitnessPal. It can help you track your caloric intake and will give you a good sense of calories consumed vs calories expended through exercise via graphs and charts. It gets the job done but it fails to give you detailed macro tracking like MyFitnessPal. If you're looking for a detailed breakdown of your daily macros we suggest you stick to using MyFitnessPal.
The Fitbit App does give you a detailed breakdown on your sleep. It tells you how many hours slept, and it'll also tell you how many times you wake up at night. Knowing the quality of your sleep can help you on your fitness journey and help you achieve your goals. If you know you're waking up multiple times at night then this might be a good call to action to analyze your diet, caffeine consumption, workout schedule, or any stress that you may be experiencing in your daily life.
The Final Verdict
The Fitbit Alta is an elegant mid level fitness tracker. The high quality materials, textured wristband, and slim design all come together to give the user a great experience. The Alta’s screen is well lit and preforms well in direct sunlight. The user is able to see important information about themselves at a glance. The Alta also connects with your phone to display incoming calls, texts, and calendar appointments. The Alta itself combined with the Fitbit App provide the end user with a premium experience. Unfortunately the this wristband is not perfect. Fitbit’s tap recognition software needs to be tweaked in order for it to be more accurate. The clasping mechanism employedhere is one the whole GYMCADDY™ is not fond of. And finally the battery life on this Fitbit is okay. You will find yourself charging your Fitbit every 4-5 days.
In conclusion, the Fitbit Alta is a great mid level fitness tracker. Its really well made and looks great while you're working out or while at work. The integrated screen shows the user vital information about themselves and the app helps keep you motived. It does have its minor flaws, but these flaws are dismissible. GYMCADDY™ will happily recommend the Fitbit Alta to anyone in the market for a great looking, and relatively inexpensive fitness tracker.
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