Samsung Gear Fit vs Fitbit Flex

Introduction

If you haven’t noticed it yet, wearable fitness trackers are increasingly becoming essential companion devices to our smartphones . With the availability of these gadgets, they’re ushering in this new found resurgence in personal fitness management – ensuring that we’re constantly informed about our habits. Two popular options that are right now, the Samsung Gear Fit and Fitbit Flex, have proven themselves to almost be invaluable to the fitness minded individual. However, the more pressing matter here is which one should earn that prized spot on your wrist.

Design

In true fashion, these two fitness trackers undeniably help to gain some attention on our wrist. The more we look at the two, the more we begin to realize their differences. First, let’s talk about the stylish element, which the Samsung Gear Fit undoubtedly has more of with its premium nature. Partly due to its curved Super AMOLED display, the Gear Fit’s overall design is elevated beyond its rival – one that greatly gets our attention especially in the dark, where the glow of its display dazzles our eyes. At first glance, it appears as though Sammy’s offering is bulkier in size, but it seems only marginally wider than the Fitbit Flex.

Opting to go with a more reserved tone with its design, the Fitbit Flex stands out mostly for the colorful wrist bands that are available with the fitness tracker. In fact, the intent here with the design of the Fitbit Flex is to mimic the fashionable looks popularized by things like the Livestrong wrist band. To tell you the truth, the execution is done properly, as the colorful options help to accentuate the overall look of the fitness tracker. Yes, there are color options available with the wrist band of the Gear Fit too, but there isn’t as much variety – nor is it uniform. Finally, the Fitbit Flex might not come off as futuristic like the Gear Fit, but nevertheless, the reserved design of the Flex is still a welcomed one that doesn’t compromise its ability to intrigue people from afar.

Having one less thing to worry about, these two trackers are actually water-resistant – though, there’s more protection with Fitbit’s offering. Specifically, the Samsung Gear Fit is protected for up to 3 feet under water for 30 minutes – whereas the Fitbit Flex has a deeper protection of 10 meters. We’ve washed our hands and even showered with them on, but we’re less inclined to expose the Gear Fit through those kinds of scenarios.

Display

Bound to mesmerize strangers more, the Samsung Gear Fit’s 1.84-inch 432 x 128 Super AMOLED curved display proves it usefulness over the Fitbit Flex’s mere 5-LED indicator lights. Aside from how the Gear Fit’s curved display contours our wrist properly, it’s a fully functioning touchscreen that permits us to interact with the device. For example, we can instantly view all of our relevant data directly on the Gear Fit – independent from any smartphone. It also has that smartwatch-like functionality, allowing us to see notifications, messages and emails for example. On the flip side, the Fitbit Flex can only light up the corresponding LEDs to indicate our progress. In order to view the relevant data it compiles throughout the day, we’re required to check it out on a smartphone.

Features

Okay, we all know that these two act as pedometers, where they track the amount of steps we take. However, they go beyond that, seeing they pack on some additional features to expend their worth. For example, they can also monitor our sleep too, but the Samsung Gear Fit simply has more to offer on paper. To be more exact, it packs along a heart rate sensor on its underside and smartwatch-like functions. With the former, it’s nice we can measure our heart rate, but in all honesty, it doesn’t prove to be all that useful in the greater scheme. However, thanks to its various smartwatch-like features, the Gear Fit presents us with additional functionality we don’t find with the Fitbit Flex – like having notifications and media controls on board.

As for the Fitbit Flex, it’s obviously outgunned in the features department, but you’ll be surprised where it’s able to surpass its rival.

Mobile Apps

Enter the Fitbit ecosystem, which is far more comprehensive than what Samsung currently offers with its S Health app. Before diving into the nitty gritty, we need to mention that we truly adore how the Fitbit Flex is compatible to work with more devices – both Android and iOS ones to be exact. In contrast, the Samsung Gear Fit is only compatible to work with select Samsung Galaxy smartphones, but not all of them.

Considering that Fitbit has been in the fitness tracking game for a longer period of time, it doesn’t surprise us that its ecosystem is more diverse. Taking all of the data gathered by the Flex, the Fitbit app presents it in a more meaningful manner on our smartphone. Better yet, Fitbit’s web portal goes a step further by really giving us a great overview of our achievements, producing various graphs that break down our results, showing us our sleeping statistics, and a social aspect where we can compete against friends.


Sammy’s S Health app offers us all of the basics on our smartphone, but the app itself isn’t as intuitive – coming off more as complicated than anything else. Nonetheless, the only area where it proves to be more valuable is in how we can visualize on a map the route of our exercise, which it gets from the GPS on our smartphone. However, if we’re to leave the phone at home and use the Gear Fit independently, that information won’t be accessible. At the end of the day, Samsung’s S Health app might not be as intuitive or useful that Fitbit’s ecosystem, but it’s steadily making improvements to make it more a well-rounded experience.

Performance

Strangely enough, both devices register short waving movements by our hand as actual steps taken, which adds some discrepancies to our actual totals. Strapping on the two onto our non-dominant hand, we notice this strange occurrence as we’re stationary. Day in, day out, the Samsung Gear Fit registers more steps – based on our usage through the course of a month. Looking at how many steps we’ve taken through their respective apps, the Gear Fit consistently tends to register 500 more steps than the Fitbit Flex.

Battery

During our time using the two, the Fitbit Flex is the one to consistently churn out longer battery life. In fact, a fully charged battery generally gives us between 5 to 6 days of usage, which is considerably better than the 2 to 3 days we normally get from the Samsung Gear Fit. The results, of course, aren’t all that surprising to us, seeing that the Gear Fit packs a large touchscreen that requires more juice to power.

Conclusion:The Fitbit Flex benefits from having a lower price point – something that’s sure to entice buyers who have a strict budget. Sporting a cost of $100 at the moment, the Fitbit Flex undeniably easier on the pockets than the $200 cost attached to the Samsung Gear Fit. However, the dramatic price difference is warranted, since the Gear Fit just simply packing more hardware and features than its competition. Ultimately, the true fitness road warrior here is the Fitbit Flex, which is able to draw us into its rich ecosystem – one that’s able to encompass us with more relevant data. Oppositely, if cost isn’t a problem for you, the Samsung Gear Fit is still an alternative to think about. For all of its cool features and oh-so beautiful good looks, its limited device support and its terse statistical data information won’t make it a prize tool for hardcore fitness buffs, but it’s a good start.