The no-frills Fitbug Orb fitness tracker only costs $50 (hands-on)
Get motivated to move with Fitbug Orb, the cheapest fitness tracker we've seen.
On Wednesday, Fitbug unveiled its latest fitness tracker, the Orb. We first saw the a prototype of the device at CES in January, but it wasn't ready for the masses.
At $50, the Orb is one of the cheapest fitness trackers available, beating the recently announced $150 Nike FuelBand SE, the $130 Jawbone Up, and even Fitbit's cheapest tracker, the Zip, which retails for $60. It's worth mentioning here that Fitbug is currently engaged in a trademark infringement suit with Fitbit.
With its lower-priced Orb, Fitbug is hoping to entice a new wave of people who've wanted to get a fitness gadget, but have been scared off by cost.
A pebbled-size tracker
The Orb is small, plastic, pebblelike device, not much wider than a quarter and about as thick as two stacked bottle caps, that counts your steps, distance, and sleep. It comes in three colors, pink, black, and white, and includes a matching wristband and belt hook.
To keep costs low, the Orb has a simple design with only an indicator light and a small control button on the front. There's no LED display to show the time or your activity stats. It runs on a single CR2023 cell battery that's supposed to last between four and six months, depending on how active you are. The battery keeps the Orb's price down as well (rechargeable batteries are more expensive) and, according to Fitbug, also removes the friction of needing to charge yet another device. As someone who frequently let her Fitbit Ultra die instead of dealing with the tedious charging process, I understand the appeal.
You can wear the device one of three ways. First, it will slip into the aforementioned wristband that, thankfully, has enough notches to fit even my tiny wrists, though the wristband is a bit bulky. You can attach it to the included belt hook, which is less obtrusive.
Lastly, you can buy a $10 underwear clip (sold separately) that looks just like the belt hook but uses a magnetic clip to attach the Orb to your underwear waistband or bra. It was designed to be worn with dresses or any outfit that doesn't have pockets or a waistband. We didn't get to test the underwear clip, but given the Orb's size, we imagine that it would feel bulky underneath your clothes, and unless you're wearing a loose-fitting dress the device would likely show through. Fitbug also sells extra belt clips and wristbands on its Web site for $10 each.
Tracking your activity
When you purchase an Orb, you also gain access to Kik, Fitbug's digital coaching service, which parses all the data collected by the device to give you a rundown of your daily steps, distance, and sleep quality. Kik also tracks your daily and long-term fitness and dietary goals, and connects you with a community of other Fitbug device owners. You can access Kik online and with the Fitbug mobile app on Android and iOS.
The data that the Orb gathers every day makes its way to Kik via Bluetooth. It can only sync with devices that have Bluetooth 4.0, which include the iPhone 5S, iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, third- and fourth-generation iPad, iPad Mini, and fifth-generation iPod Touch. On Android, it can sync with the Samsung Galaxy S4, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, and the Samsung Galaxy Note 8. If you don't have any of those devices, you can buy a Bluetooth dongle for your PC for $15.
Unlike other fitness trackers, most of which ask you to set fitness goals up front, the Orb monitors your normal activity for one week to get a baseline and then starts to set incremental goals that you can easily work up to. For example, if you only walk an average of 2,000 steps per day (10,000 is a common recommended goal), Kik might set a goal for you to walk 2,100 steps per day. As you hit your goals, you'll keep getting new ones that steadily add more activity without going too fast for your activity level. The hope is that you'll slowly work up to a more active lifestyle without getting discouraged in the beginning.
Throughout the day, you can head over to the Kik Web site or look at Fitbug's mobile app to see your progress. Both will tell you how many steps you've taken, the total distance you've walked in miles (or kilometers), and your number of aerobic steps. Aerobic steps are registered when you're moving constantly for 10 minutes or longer, whether you're just on a long walk or exercising. If you're not moving enough, you'll get nudges to get up and walk around.
For a deeper assessment of your health, you can keep a food diary on Kik, which will tailor your goals based on your calorie intake and exercise levels. Kik syncs with MyFitnessPal, with Lose It coming online in the fall of 2013, and you can use those services in tandem with the Orb to track weight loss goals or record your meals. Fitbug also has plans to connect with other fitness services, like RunKeeper.
Lastly, you can track your sleep quality with the Orb and Kik. When you're ready to fall asleep, you turn on sleep mode by pressing the button on the Orb three times. The device will track how many times you move during the night to tell you how long you slept and how often you woke up. To cancel sleep mode, you either press and hold the button or walk 50 steps.
Outlook
Like nearly all fitness trackers, the Fitbug Orb is essentially a pedometer with sync capabilities. The Orb stands out from its competition thanks to its $50 price tag, but that low cost also means there are fewer features than, say, a Nike FuelBand or Fitbit Force has. In functionality, it most closely matches the Fitbit Flex and the Jawbone Up.
The problem with the Orb, and other gadgets like it, is that it's hard to get people to continue to use them. I'll have a chance to give the Orb a full review soon to see how well it records my daily activity and test if it can keep me motivated to use it long enough to get any results.
You can purchase the Fitbug Orb starting today on Amazon, Fitbug's Web site, and Walmart.com, and in Walmart stores.