Review: Vivofit Activity Tracker (JOIN THE MOVEMENT)

by theRobertaShow Wednesday, February 25, 2015

I received a new lifestyle “toy” for Christmas – a fitness band from my parents. A Vivofit Activity Tracker, how they knew what to buy me so eloquently I will never know. I am familiar with fitbits, exercise watches and fitness bands mostly through #instagram and the #fitfam that I follow there but I never thought to purchase one for myself, even though I was very interested. So naturally when I received this useful present the Tabb was elated. After a month straight of wearing it day in and day out, Allow me share my thoughts.

Style

Personally not for me. Except when in the gym. I wear (and LIKE) bracelets, usually bangles and I love to tastefully accessorize for work. The vivofit throws a wrench in my vintage-chic ideas every. single. time. Although you can buy different colored bands, this thick rubber (waterproof) active fit does not fit in to my everyday life. I did find that Jonathan Adler is creating some fabulous bracelets to hold the actual tracker unit in a few metal finishes and fancy modern casual patterns. I’ll hold out to see the cost, I don’t want to add a pretty penny for an accessory used during a dirty workout.

Usability

My favorite attribute about the vivofit is the ease of use. I simply put it on. At night I switch to sleep mode and when I want to sync I press a button within range of my computer where the sensor is plugged in. And just like that the info floats to my OS and is stored in my online profile. Also that online profile allows you to create challanges and join challanges with other vivofit users. I find this HIGHLY creative and effective for those looking to challenge themselves daily, without an actual group to interact with. I can also connect the Vivofit profile with my “MyFitnessPal” app, with this app (when i’m working toward a specific goal) I track my daily calorie intake. The two work together magically.

Accuracy

I do a fair amount of walking and for actual steps taken I think the Vivotfit is accurate. However for actual activity in the gym I find it undesirable, I can compare the steps on the stepper to the steps on the activity tracker and they don’t match up even when I watch it live, this isn’t a huge deal but to a fitness hound like me – I crave to know and beat myself each day – IF there is something to be tracked. Also – when im jumping around in the gym – my activity level is different than it would be if i’m just walking a half mile to the gym, but tracked the same or in some cases less.

Overall

I think the Vivofit Activity Tracker is great. Overall, people will use it for different reasons but I do believe those locked in fitness challenges or tangible goals will get the most use from the product. Although I like knowing how much activity I accomplish in a regular day – it’s not realistic that i’d be able to get up from my intense fashion, web design position to take a lap around the office each hour that i’m glued to photoshop to make the red move bars go away (this happens when you are inactive for an hour or more). LOL so they end up mocking me most of the day and remind me that I SHOULD be exercising. However I think this is an excellent feature for my overweight teenage niece and my father who is retired. It is terribly useful for a person who is beginning a healthy lifestyle path and those who aren’t sure where to begin. Seeing daily tangible results are as good as keeping a “diet diary” or food journal. Pairing the 2 can be a very powerful combination.

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