One of the most popular activity trackers on the market is the Fitbit Flex. This is an easy to wear, easy to use tracker that helps you track your activities and sleep. The only thing it doesn’t do well is surviving a dunk in water. That means people who want to track swimming as an activity are out of luck. Waterfi is one company who has come up with a solution to fully waterproof the device down to 210 feet.
They use a special technology to protect the interior of the device:
The first layer of our Dual Layer waterproofing technology applied is a thick, rubbery insulator that fills the entire interior of the device and forms a barrier around all of the sensitive electronic components. This barrier protects the device from exposure to water and other damaging elements.
underwater and comes with a 1 year warranty from Waterfi.The second layer of our Dual Layer waterproofing technology adds an extra internal barrier that enhances the waterproofing protection and guards the device from corrosion caused by threatening environmental elements such as salt water, chlorine, heat, and steam.
With a price tag of $199, the waterproofing comes at a premium. That’s $100 more than the price of the activity tracker. Is it worth paying that much for the ability to use the tracker while swimming, surfing, etc? I think Fitbit should be making their trackers waterproof in the first place… Let’s hear what you think in the comments.
For more info visit Waterfi. You can order directly through Waterfi or from Grand Central for $199.
Update: Apparently the Fitbit Flex is already rated for water resistance up to 10 meters… So unless you’re a deep sea diver, you don’t need this service.
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The Flex is rated to 10 meters. That should be plenty for swimming, surfing, etc.
https://www.fitbit.com/flex/specs
I swam with mine all the time last summer and never had any trouble.
@Ray interesting. I was under the impression that it was only splashproof and not waterproof. Looks like this service is a complete ripoff…
I don’t know that I’d call them a complete rip-off. It’s possible that their process makes the Flex more resistant to salt water (I only swim in freshwater). Also, they are increasing the Flex’s water resistance quite a bit (210 ft. vs. 32 ft.). However, I wouldn’t call it a good investment either.
Really the only time you’re going to be going past 30 feet is diving and I can’t imagine that the tracker is going to pick up much activity given the slow movements imposed on you by the resistance of the water. If I was going diving I’d save my $200 and leave my Flex on the boat.
This company is selling FUD.
I would rather have a Jawbone Up3. It is good for 10 meters out of the box.
The Flex is good to 10 meters too. Their trackers with the air pressure sensors (Charge, Surge, etc.) are the ones that are only “splashproof”.
I wore the Flex for two years and never had a bit of trouble swimming with it on. I rarely showered with it on since I took it off every night (wasn’t interested in sleep tracking) and put it on as I was getting dressed in the morning. If I wore it to the gym and showered I didn’t take it off and that was no problem either.
Jawbone Up3 has a heart rate monitor. The new Fitbit Charge HR also has a heart rate monitor but it is only splash proof.
This is sweet but bitter too. Fitbit collects too much data that isn’t always useful and even accurate. For exercising, a great one I use is Moov. It motivates you with a coach unlike the other wearables. Check it out here: http://moov.cc/getmoov/19D4F94BEC