Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

So I just got the Alta today from Amazon. I have to say that it does remind me of the Flex, size wise. It’s pretty thin (not that wide) when looking at it head one. As for thickness, to me it’s about the same thickness as Fitbit Charge (which I had worn for about a week previously). The band itself is very similar to the Charge HR band. There’s a textured pattern on the outside and soft rubber on the inside. Feels nice on the skin. Since I just received it, I can’t say if it’s going to give me a rash or anything. Although I did not have any issues wearing the Charge HR. The bands are easily replaceable. There’s a small lever/hook underneath each band that you use to take the band off. I’m definitely interested in trying out the leather bands and see how they hold up to daily wear. As for the buckle, this is one of my cons for the Alta. You have to snap it on just like the Flex. I actually wished they had just gone with the same buckle as the Charge HR here. The tracker itself is made of stainless steel and it’s not very heavy. In fact I barely notice the Alta on my wrist except when I need to see the time. Getting the display to turn on does require some patience. A double tap shows the time and then single tap takes you through the various data points - steps, miles, calories, active minutes, and alarms. You can also turn on gesture control so that you can see the time when you flick your wrist. Charging the Alta. This is a huge improvement over the Flex. The charger is this claw looking thing that grasps the sensor on the back when you line up the 3 modules. My only complain is that it’s a very short wire. But I will just charge it on my nightstand when I shower or at my work desk when I don’t have to get up for a while. Some new features: 1) notifications on your wrist. It does calls, texts, and calendar notifications. I’d say that this is useful as you can see these notifications on your wrist, but you can’t interact with them via the Alta like you would if you had a dedicated smartwatch. 2) move reminders. The Alta will vibrate and tell you to move if it has noticed that you haven’t taken at least 250 steps within the hour. You can set up the times that move reminders should be on. Some of the things it is missing are: 1) heart rate monitoring - if this is important to you then you’re better off getting the Charge HR or Surge, 2) altimeter - the Alta doesn’t track stairs and if you want this feature get the Charge HR, 3) waterproofing - don’t take it for a swim or shower. Besides you can charge the Alta while you’re taking a shower if you’re worried that the 5 day battery life is not sufficient for you. The App - I believe that the fitbit app is what makes fitbit wearables shine. It’s the social aspect of the app - friendly competitions, step challenges, earning badges - make using any of the fitbit wearables great. The app is intuitive and easy to use. I do wish their food database was just as robust as MyFitnessPal, but it’s pretty comprehensive where you can pretty much find any type of food on there. I had the Misfit Shine before and the app pales in comparison to the Fitbit app. Plus the fact that many of my friends are using Fitbit and not Misfit made me want to switch. Overall, I like what I have seen so far in the Alta. It’s sleek and lightweight and works with their app. I would definitely get this over the Flex or Charge. But I’m not sure if it’s worth $130 though.