The Latest Fitness Gadgets

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In the last post I talked about how technology is changing the way we approach to fitness and how it can help measuring and achieving our fitness goals. The wide range of fitness apps available out there makes it easier because we can use them on our smartphones and IPods, however a new generation of high tech wearable gadgets is now breaking into the fit-tech world. Products like the FitBit and the Nike Fuelband are becoming extremely popular and allow to track movement, monitor performance, count steps and even track the quality of sleep.  

Here let's have a look at some of the latest hits in terms of wearable fitness technology, many of which were presented at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show in January in Las Vegas.

Nike + Fuelband SE

Nike + Fuelband SE - £129

This gadget offered by Nike measures not only how much, but also how often and how intensely you move, and can be used for all types of activities form workout to a big night out. NikeFuel is designed to measure whole-body movement and through Bluetooth 4.0 allows to sync the data from the band to your phone and receive instant feedback on your activity. The Nike Fuelband is also very useful to give you motivation and simply have fun: through the app you can sync your information to social media and check how many 'Nike Fuel' points you have compared to your friends (Nike Inc, 2014). Nike+ Fuelband SE is available in Volt, Pink Foil, Total Crimson and Black.

Misfit shine 

 

 

 

 

Misfit Shine $ 119

Misfit shine is an elegant wearable activity monitor that due to its small size and stylish shape can be used as a fashion accessory every day. This gadget can be worn as a bracelet, necklace, or even as a pin. Misfit can track steps, calories burned, and distance covered and is great to measure your sport progress and your daily goals. Thanks to the matching app you can sync all the data collected into your smartphone and have an overview of your week performance. Misfit can also help you to monitor the quality of your sleep and is a great gadget to help you maintaining a healthy lifestyle (Misfit Wearables, 2014).

Fitbit Flex 

 

 

 

 

Fitbit Flex £ 79.99

Fitbit flex is one of the four tracker devices offered by Fitbit, and is a sleek wristband that monitors steps, distance, and calories burned. At night, it tracks your sleep quality and wakes you silently in the morning with a gentle vibration. This gadget is very useful to see real time progress, but also to monitor your personal goal in the long run. With Bluetooth 4.0 Fitbit Flex syncs all the data automatically to your computer or phone giving you access to all the stats on your Fitbit dashboard. As other many of these fitness gadgets, Fitbit allows you to share information with your friends and challenge each other during the day. A nice feature is that it works well with other popular fitness apps as well (other than Fitbit). The wristbands are available in different colours (Fitbit Inc, 2014).

 

Jawbone Up24

 

 

Jawbone Up24 - $ 149.99

Jawbone Up24 is a recently launched gadget from Jawbone and is a wristband tracks your movement and sleep in the background. UP24 is always connected, providing real-time feedback and notifications that help you understand your progress throughout the day. While the wristband doesn't have a display that data are wirelessly synced to your computer or phone through the app so you can check on the dashboard the overall progress. As for the other gadgets, Jawbone Up24 allows to connect with your friends and see what they are up to (Jawbone, 2014).

Sony Smart Band 

 

 

Sony Smart Band - from £ 79.99

This new gadget was introduced by Sony at the CES 2014 and it goes way beyond the simple fitness tracking. Thanks to a very powerful microchip, Sony Smart Band records your physical, social, and entertainment activities. You can check how active you were during the day, where you went, what pictures you took, and record everything is a Life Bookmark. The Lifelog app can also see if you've been walking, running, cycling, traveling by train, and how well you've slept. Basically this gadget is a real life-tracker (Sony Mobile Communication AB, 2014).

All these gadgets can be a valuable support to a healthy lifestyle and can help you to keep motivated while monitoring your fitness and eating habits. The ones I listed above are just a few of the most popular fitness ‘accessories’, but many more are available on the market. Please comment if you have tried any of them, I would like to hear your opinion and perhaps comparison and reviews.

Stay fit!

Stefania