Are fitness tracking devices accurate?

Are fitness tracking devices accurate? Here is my Top 3 Free picks.

I personally use a Fitbit Charge,Walkmeter and also Map my Walk. I am a walking fanatic so I use them for many reasons. My top 3 picks are:

 Fitbit Charge

• Keeps track of your daily activities such as, Distance, Steps, Calories, Floors climbed and Sleep pattern.
• Watch display.
• Alarm.
• Caller ID.

It has wireless syncing, automatically syncing states to your mobile device or computer. I do not use the caller ID or Alarm feature. Have not taken the time to figure it out because it is not important to me.

Common questions?

• Is it comfortable? Yes. It comes in three sizes, Small (14cm-16.5cm)) Large (16.5cm-20cm) and X-Large (20cm-23cm). I chose a small. It has 7 notches and I wear it on the 5th notch during the day and at night notch 4 when I sleep. If you wear it too tight you may find it is irritating and get a rash. It is similar to wearing jewelry. The stainless steel clasp can cause irritation to some.
• Is it accurate?  No, although it is far more accurate than the clip devices from competitors. Fitbit is based on getting one to get up and encourage them to do 10,000 steps which are a good baseline to an active lifestyle. I do find the steps and mileage more accurate than phone devices.The floor count is hard to estimate.

  

In this app, you can log your Food,Activities, Weight, and Sleep.

The sleep mode is somewhat accurate. I am a restless sleeper and it shows when I toss and turn. Your actual sleep is not 100% as if you lay still say watching t.v or just lay awake it will show you as sleeping. If you get up and use the washroom it will show a solid red for that time. It really is interesting to see how your patterns change. I highly recommend the Fitbit. The Charge works well for my needs. I like to use it along with my phone apps.

I have had my Fitbit for 2 yrs now and it has held up very well. You can replace the strap as with constant use has the tendency to come apart. 

Mapmywalk

Mapmywalk is a Free app to add to your phone. It has a lot of tools to use in this app. It has coaching, music, live tracking (activity, routes, steps, calories, pace, distance, and duration)I like this app when it works. This app is experiencing some issues at the moment and is not accurate.It has been a month now with glitches.  I like the GPS on this app. I also like that it talks to you when you reach your mile marks and will update you on your pace,distance and time.I find this app easy to use. The final reading is simple all in one picture as shown in the photo. This has a simple share with Facebook if you like to share your results.

Walkmeter

Walkmeter is another free app I found for my phone. This one appears to be more accurate than Mapmywalk, although it is a little more complicated to navigate around the app site and to get started. The GPS works well. Results show separate as shown here. Unlike Mapmywalk, where it is free to share, Walkmeter to share you must pay to upgrade.

This app has worked well with no glitches as of yet, so it is the one i use at the moment.

I did an accuracy test on all three. I chose the same walk, give or take about 1/2 a block and the results vary.

Fitbit:

2.07 miles (3.219km)

738 Calories

4,937 Steps

Mapmywalk:

2.30 km

220 Calories

5507 Steps

Time 34:21

Walkameter:

3.99 km

467 calories

Steps not shown

Time 44.17

As you can see, the results are quite significant.  I believe the Fitbit to be the better of the three. Wearing the device may prove to display more accurate results, although I don’t believe it to be 100%. Carrying the phone in a pocket, in my opinion, has less accuracy. I will continue to use the Fitbit along with one of the phone apps and average out my results.

The NEW Fitbit Blaze has arrived.

• Pure pulse Heart Rate
• Connected to GPS
• On screen workouts
• All day activity
• Call,Text & Calendar alerts.

Price: $199.95  & Free Shipping on Amazon 

Is it worth the extra money? Well, there have been studies that devices worn for heart rate detection can be flawed. This may pose a significant risk to people with medical conditions who are required to stay within a certain range to prevent heart issues. These devices such as Fitbit Blaze that have Pure Pulse Heart Rate have been tested and have been known to be off by up to 20 beats per minute.

All these tracking devices to me are not to be taken as accurate but used as a base to give one a goal on average. Not to be used if a person has health conditions if basing it for a life-saving device.