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Is the Fitbit Alta Worth It?

Due to many incredible opportunities I've been way too lucky to be given the past few months, I decided it was time to step up my fitness and health and get into the best shape of my life (hopefully). So, last Sunday I ordered my first Fitbit, the Fitbit Alta. Thanks to Amazon, it was delivered right to my wrist two days later!

The overall price I paid for my Fitbit Alta (with tax) was only $140. I was actually surprised at how little of a price tag this was. The Fitbit Alta is the newest Fitbit in the collection (to my knowledge), along with the Fitbit Blaze.

I've been wanting a Fitbit for about a year now, but I didn't want one because of how big they were and my job didn't allow me to wear one until the past few months. During the holiday season, I almost caved and bought the Fitbit Flex because it was smaller but since it still wasn't exactly what I wanted, I held off. I'm really glad I did. The Fitbit Alta is about as wide as a Sharpie marker and I couldn't be happier. Part of me wishes it was smaller and more delicate, but it's probably better to have it a little bigger so I can clearly see all of the numbers and data. There are cute accessories and bands you can buy to put your Alta on instead of just the band it comes with, but I just have the normal black one right now and it's totally comfortable and goes with everything.

After I realized how little this Fitbit was, I was pretty much sold (I'm a total impulse buyer). However, I knew it was also important to do my "research" about the Alta before just buying it for the size (size matters, but so does the rest). Honestly, I'm not the most tech-y person in the world. I mean I understand technology and it fascinates me, but I don't research devices like crazy before I buy them. I just look for the things I want/need and glaze over the rest of the features before buying.

For those of you who are like me, there are a handful of things that matter when you're tracking health and fitness related things. For me, those things are: calories burned and sleep tracking. The Fitbit Alta does those things and more! It tracks your steps for the day (the auto-goal is 10,000 steps), gives you reminders to move, shows the time, shows text/calendar reminders/call alerts, and has a tap display.

I learned two very important lessons about my Fitbit during my first week of having it.

Lesson 1: You have to use the app to start the sleep tracking on your Fitbit. I thought it did it automatically and I was shocked Wednesday morning when I woke up and nothing was logged. I quickly realized that the Fitbit doesn't automatically know when I'm asleep (duh). It's really simple though. Before you go to bed, you launch the app, click "How did you sleep?, then click "Begin Sleep Now." When you wake up in the morning, you open the app again and click "I'm Awake." Your Fitbit will then show you things like how many hours you slept and how many you were restless for. I learned that I'm restless majority of the night and that I don't sleep very long at all. Now I know to get to bed earlier and try to not toss and turn as much as I can.

Lesson 2: Your phone's bluetooth has to be turned on (and in range) in order for your calls, texts, and calendar reminders to show up. This one is kind of obvious, but I honestly had to Google why my texts weren't showing up because I didn't understand. So if you want those things to show on your Fitbit, make sure your bluetooth is on and connected.

P.S. With the texts, you only get to see a preview of them and they only show up once on your Fitbit. You also can't reply on your Fitbit; only on your phone.

One more thing I want to mention is that the Alta holds battery really well too. I only had to charge in once within the first week I've had it. I charged it while I was in the shower because you're not supposed to shower or swim with it on (washing your hands is fine of course because it's splash proof).

Overall, I think the Fitbit Alta is totally worth it. It does exactly what I want and is very small. I've found the data to be quite accurate and it's cool to see how much activity you really do in a day.

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