22 Fitbit Flex 2

At last, there's a Fitbit that's swim-proof! - Fitbit Flex 2 THE GOOD The Flex 2 is slim and swim-proof, can track basic fitness data and supports a variety of accessories, including pendants. THE BAD It lacks a display and the more advanced features of other Fitbit trackers. Lacks heart rate tracking. The LED lights can be confusing; battery life should be better. THE BOTTOM LINE The Fitbit Flex 2 doesn't have all of the bells and whistles of other trackers, but it's finally swim-proof, and it does the basics and it does them well. But in exchange for that long-overdue swim-friendliness, other features are lost. There's no heart rate tracking, and it doesn't have a display. Are you OK with that compromise? The Flex 2 looks, in many ways, like the perfect slim tracker from Fitbit that we...

It's all about accessories - Fitbit Flex 2 The Flex 2 is 30 percent smaller than its predecessor, the Fitbit Flex. It's slim and discreet, which is what appeals to me, and it could even be worn next to a traditional watch (if you have the wrist room). My only complaint is with the strap. It's secure and never fell off my wrist, but you have to swap out the two-prong connector when switching to a new strap, which was actually pretty difficult. Besides the two different-sized bands in the box, there are a variety of accessory straps in multiple colors and designs. There are rubber ones, leather ones (coming in 2017 from the designer collections), and gold and silver bangles and pendants. The accessories start at $15 (£10, AU$20) for rubber straps, all the way to $100 (£75, AU$130) for the gold bangle. The Fitbit Flex 2 tracker and necklace (left) and Misfit Shine tracker and ...

It does the basics (and a little more) - Fitbit Flex 2 The Flex 2 tracks steps, distance, calories burned, active minutes and sleep. There's no heart rate sensor, and it doesn't measure floors climbed. There's also no display. Instead of a clock or a screen, the Flex 2 uses vibration and five tiny LED lights to show you how close you are to reaching your daily step goal and alert you to incoming calls and texts. The Flex 2 can serve up get-up-and move reminders just like the Fitbit Alta, the Charge 2 and the Blaze, which makes you walk 250 steps to "win" the hour, but on the Flex 2 these reminders become buzzes and cryptic flashing colored lights. End result: not as motivating, somehow. Sarah Tew/CNET The different LED colors were confusing. The bracelet buzzes and flashes blue. Should I get up and move? Oh wait, now it's blinking red. Does that mean I have a text message, or ...

Battery life could be better - Fitbit Flex 2 I got about four and a half days of battery life on a full charge when wearing a Flex 2, which isn't great. At Day 3, the app gave me a low battery warning. It died the next day, but I didn't know for almost an hour. There was no vibration, or final warning. I went to sync and nothing happened. That's an easy way to miss out on steps, which is frustrating. Sarah Tew/CNET Fitbit claims you should get five days of battery life, which would be fine for a more advanced device, but it should really last longer. There's no display or optical heart-rate sensor, two features that put considerable drain on a battery. And considering how the Flex 2 just drops out without warning on low battery, I'd want to charge mine the moment I got a low battery warning, and not risk it. I expected the Flex 2 to last a full week or longer. The Jawbone Up2, which...

The Fitbit app is still one of the best - Fitbit Flex 2 There are a lot of fitness trackers out there, some of which are cheaper than the Flex 2, but one of the reasons you buy a Fitbit is for the software. The Fitbit app remains one of our favorites. It's easy to use and is compatible with a lot of third-party apps, such as food-tracking app MyFitnessPal. If one of your friends owns a fitness tracker, there's a good chance it's a Fitbit. The Fitbit app has the largest social base and lets you compete with friends and family members, which helps keep you motivated and more likely to complete your daily step goal. Sarah Tew/CNET https://www.cnet.com/

Fitbit Flex 2 price and release date Image 1 of 3 ...

Design Fitbit Flex2 Slim, slight and comfortable A wide range of colors and straps are available The Fitbit Flex 2 is a skinny, slight, water resistant fitness tracker, small enough that you can wear a watch alongside it without looking like you’re wearing two timepieces. Its band is about a centimeter wide, and the width is more-or-less the same across the whole tracker. As Fitbit says, it’s about 30% smaller than the last Fitbit Flex. The make-up of the Fitbit Flex 2 is the same as before, though. Its brain is a little nugget of plastic that fits into the rubber strap, and can be popped out to charge. The main benefit of this style is that you can replace the band, and get versions that look a lot jazzier than the black rubbery one Fitbit sent us. Buy direct from Fitbit and you can pick from four colors: black, lavender, magenta and navy blue. Fitbit offers packs of other stra...

Fitness Tracker Fitbit Flex2 Very basic tracking skills Auto-recognition of different exercises No screen, just LEDs Let’s deal with what the Flex actually does apart from sitting on your wrist. There are five little LEDs on the brain of the Flex 2, that tell you how close you are to your daily steps goal, and light up when you get certain notifications. One of them is a color LED that changes depending on the message relayed. Reminders to move are purple, calls fire up yellow and it’s blue for WhatsApp or SMS messages. One of the Flex 2’s issues is that it doesn’t make this clear anywhere apart from the in-app Flex 2 guide that few people will read. The other main feature is a vibration motor that buzzes when you get these notifications, or to wake you up using the Silent Alarm feature. Fitbit Flex 2 (Silver) at Amazon for $69.99 In the Fitbit app, you c...

The app Fitbit Flex2 Packed full of challenges and achievements Makes fitness fun Lacks statistical depth The useful auto-tracking described above is all thanks to Fitbit’s app, which has benefited from years of development tweaks at this point. It’s a great little app that’s a pleasure to jump into several times a day, putting all the data you want to see in front of your eyeballs. There’s nothing like the statistical depth of the Garmin Connect system, which is geared towards improving your performance and letting you see, for example, the variation of pace in your 10km runs. But Fitbit’s app has another kind of depth, one based on motivation. The Fitbit app is packed with challenges and achievements, similar to the sort of techniques free-to-play games use to keep you hooked. You can challenge other Fitbit-owning friends to face-offs, and there are ‘single ...

Battery life Fitbit Flex2 Roughly four days of life Slow and awkward to charge If this is your bag, there’s just one other thing to consider - the Fitbit Flex 2’s battery life is not that good for such a low-functionality tracker. Fitbit says it’ll last five days between charges, but we only managed four when the phone notifications were switched from SMS messages to WhatsApp ones (you can switch between SMS, WhatsApp and Hangouts), which we tend to receive much more often. It seems likely Fitbit had to use a tiny battery in order to make the module as small as it is, and that the vibrate function uses a decent amount of charge when firing off frequently. Switch notifications off altogether and the Fitbit Flex 2 may last over a week, but if all you want is a pedometer, the price seems quite high. Charging is not very quick either, it takes a few hours, and involves removing the Flex 2 module and pluggi...

Compatibility Fitbit Flex2 Compatible with a wide range of devices Has issues with some Android models The Fitbit Flex 2 is compatible with iOS, Android and Windows devices. We tried it with both an iPhone 7 Plus and a Motorola Moto Z Play, and both sync’d without any initial problems. However, it took a couple of days before any Android notifications were sent to the band, even after turning on a ‘widget’ aid meant to help matters. There was no magic fix: they weren’t working, it was quite annoying, and then the next day they were. Go figure. Some patience may be needed to get through a few teething problems, but this is likely to vary between Android models. Verdict The Fitbit Flex 2 is the kind of fitness tracker you can put on and forget you’re wearing. It can survive the bath or shower and is comfortable enough to wear 24/7 without even noticing it’s there. Its fitness tracking h...