FIT Link Armband Weight Management System

I have been using this device for about a month now to help me figure out how active I really am, I have long suspected that I am underestimating this due to my need of always going to the next level in Myfitnesspal in order to lose weight. I was right! This has seriously helped me figure things out. At first, I was skeptical it was tracking well, since my more intense workouts do seem to be under measure, but I think it is pretty accurate on the 24 hour basis. Long term is tough to say, but I do think it is worth the price and subscription as it has been rather eye opening. I got EXCELLENT customer service when I called with a question and really helped me understand the product better without being deceptive (he freely admitted that it is not the best for people who want to have more precise measurements for the actual workout, but for more of a 24 hour count). Connection to handheld: For those who concerned about the device losing connection, I have very little trouble. I am using a Samsung Galaxy Note with Android 4.1. I can continue to use my headset with it connected as well. Only time it seems to lose connection is when the phone goes to a more deep sleep mode, and I cannot fault the device for that, but my phone. Pros: Usually don't even feel it. Links in seconds for up to the minute counts. Links to MyFitnessPal and other food logging apps for a more complete food list. Gives credit for working harder to make sure you do not under eat. I have seen nothing to suggest that this is not quite accurate despite extensive research. Most complaints I see involve price and subscription. (when I called in he told me that they occasionally offer and annual subscription price for less and to watch the notifications in the system). Helps push yourself on days you are more sedentary. Those can sneak up on you! Cons: Tweeking to myfitnesspal can take some time. The calorie counts will not be perfect, but I found that when I set my FitnessPal to the same as the settings in BodyMedia, I was given too many extra calories. The best way I have found around this is to set your my fitnesspal to SEDENTARY and whatever rate you want to lose. Smaller people may have to adjust calorie amount down like I did to 960. I know this sounds scary, but trust me, it gets better. The bodymedia then kicks in and bumps you up to the amount you should be eating after a few hours to a more accurate count of what you should be that day, in my opinion. I am not going to lose sleep over 50 calories +/- difference as long as you are close; I don't think you should not either. It is still going to be way more accurate than guessing. One thing I would like to say is that the additional number can vary sometimes through out the day since it is estimating what your end of day will be. This may be most important if you workout hard in AM but are sedentary the rest of the day, so make sure you track as you go and by nightfall you will probably be more stable. It sounds annoying, but it really has not been for me. You must remove the device for at least 1 hour a day. I get this, but you want to choose your time wisely. You still get credit for time removed but as sedentary, so try to do it when driving or watching a movie. You can adjust the time not worn though so if you mess up, you can tell it you did something else. Not water proof. Not a huge deal, but worth mentioning.

I've had the BodyMedia LINK armband for about a month now and I've been using it everyday. The armband was super easy to set up and get registered with the Activity Manager online web application and get synced up with the app available for Android/iPhones. After registering and setting my weight loss goals the band immediately started recording data. The app works great and is super easy to sync with the armband. Sometimes it takes a few times to connect the band through bluetooth but I've had no major issues. Once connected, your data can be easily uploaded to the bodymedia servers to see your data on the online Activity Manager web application. To log my calorie consumption I've still opted to use MyFitnessPal because they have a much better food database and allow you to scan product barcodes to easily import the nutrition information for popular foods. The only reason I would have gave the armband 4 stars instead of 5 is because of the relatively poor food logging options. The BodyMedia app does have a food logger but its just a little limited. In any case, BodyMedia syncs very easily with MyFitnessPal and seamlessly updates the BodyMedia app with food you've logged in MyFitnessPal and also lists your excerise calories burned in the MyFitnessPal app. Still it would be nice to ditch the MyFitnessPal app altogether and just use the BodyMedia app. Exercises are easily logged when in exercise mode and number of steps taken are very accurate. I've cross referenced this with the Accupedo app on my phone and the number of steps logged on the exercise machine. BodyMedia is accurate within about 25 steps which is really impressive. Calories burned seem to be a tiny bit off. The gym machine I use has a heart rate monitor and the armband seems to be a little off with its results. I noticed once your heart rate is up and you are about 15 minutes into your exercise the armband keeps the same pace as the exercise machine. It's those first 15 minutes that seem to take the armband a little while to catch up. The menus with the app offer a wealth of information about your health. Turn your smartphone sideways and you can see a full daily calorie breakdown of everything you are eating, including pie charts of carbs/fats/protein distribution. The calories burned menu when turned sideways lists a full minute by minute breakdown of when you were burning the most calories and is extremely accurate. I never thought to use the sleep feature but its also extremely accurate and when turned sideways gives you a full minute by minute breakdown of your sleep statistics while monitoring your overall "restlessness". The app uses these statistics to list how many minutes you were both lying down and presumably asleep. I have sleep apnea so this is beneficial to me to see how many times I wake up to adjust my cpap machine. For people without sleep problems, the data is still interesting to look at. The online, web based Activity Manager is where the product really shines. Unfortunately it doesnt load that well on my Kindle Fire tablet but works just fine from a proper laptop or desktop based PC. Everything described above is available through Activity Manager and allows you to set/redefine goals, see your personal bests and sync with third party apps that transmit your BodyMedia data to be used elsewhere. At first I was a little disappointed that the app cost $6-7 a month after the initial free, three month trial period, but after seeing the 'Reports' section of the Activity Manager I now know where my money is going. The Reporting tools from the Activity Manager are incredible. Your daily or weekly data can be exported in pdf or Excel format and you can look at an extremely detailed snapshot of your weekly burn/consume calorie consumption. Maybe a little overkill for the average user, I happen to love the pages of reports to better define and achieve my weight loss goals. Overall, obviously the product is not going to magically take the weight off. I strictly followed the Atkins diet for 2 months prior to buying the armband and still managed to lose 20 lbs. I DO wish I had bought this right from the start to see how many calories I'm burning on average by sleeping, sitting at my desk, weight training, walking etc... I would have been able to better define my daily calorie goals and stay even more motivated. After buying the armband I've been parking a little further from the store, taking the stairs and doing a lot more walking in general because its fun and challenging to beat your personal bests and watch your calories burned go up with each armband/app sync. *Edit* The activity manager website application now loads just fine on my Kindle tablet.

Rarely do I feel the need to take time away from a busy day to write something negative about a company and/or product. In this case, I feel it is warranted to share my experience with others; hopefully to save them from wasting money and time on this product. Conceptually, this is a great idea and there are many companies trying to bring this type of product to market. The demand for activity tracking devices is high and the market is ripe for someone to take the lead. After spending quite a bit of time researching several products, I found the BodyMedia FIT to have more of the features I was looking for; primarily, a central place to store data on caloric intake, caloric burn and sleep efficiency. When I opened the box, I was a bit surprised at the size of the product. It is somewhat bulky and would be hard to wear in many social settings. In my case, I have a home based business so it was easy for me to wear this unit 20+ hours on most days. The first setback occurred on the 2nd day of using the device. I purchased the BW version specifically for the bluetooth capability as I planned on using it in conjunction the the Android app...............BIG MISTAKE !!! The app is worthless. I could only get this thing to sync with my phone, at MOST, 5% of the time. The app also caused my DroidX to randomly stall and restart. Upon removing the BodyMedia FIT app, I no longer experienced this issue. So..........then the horror starts. I call technical support and was on hold for 15 minutes before it finally sent me to a voice mail system. I left them a message telling them of the issues and asking for a call back. Five hours later, NOTHING. I called them back the next morning and was on hold for 10 minutes before randomly being disconnected. I called once again and instead of pressing "3" for technical support, I pressed "1" for sales and viola.............instant human being. Funny how a company can rush to sell you something that does not work but fails to answer the phone to support the product. NEVER have I received such horrible support on a $200 product !!! When I reached the sales person, I told them of my problem and asked them if the failure to sync via bluetooth was a "known issue". Their response was........"I am sorry sir but we are not equipped to answer that question, I am going to have to refer you to technical support" REALLY? YOU ARE KIDDING RIGHT? You mean the technical support that kept me on hold for a total of 25 minutes, randomly disconnected me and then never did call me back? That technical support? Long story short, at least I was smart enough to take the 3-month "free" trial of their website instead of prepaying for 12 months an a reduced monthly rate. I put this thing back in the box and returned it to Amazon after a week. Thank God I purchased it through Amazon instead of the BodyMedia website. I can only imagine what a nightmare it would be to try and get your money back. In closing, I would only ask one simple question. What happened to good, honest business and "world class" customer support? All they would have had to do is tell me there are some technical issues they are working through and ask me to bear with them. I would have gladly asked for a couple months of free use of their web app and been patient while they worked through the issues. Instead, they treat you like they could care less and instead of sales being honest, they tell you they are not equipped to answer a simple question. Don't waste your money on this product. Maybe in six to nine months, a dip in sales and a spike in returns, they will get the message and turn things around

I've been using the BodyMedia FIT BW for about a week and a half now and I feel some ambivalence towards the unit but am overall impressed with it. I would say the strongest benefit of using the Fit is that the website encourages a person to monitor every calorie they consume; with a large selection of foods in its database it is easy to see all of the nutritional information of your daily consumption. However, if you get lazy (like I have) and stop inputting info this benefit quickly disappears. If you stick with it, though, it is difficult to ignore what you eat what with the hard numbers and a little colorful graph staring you in the face with your total carb/protein/fat intake. Most of my ambivalence stems from the fact that this device won't pair with the app on my smartphone. The BodyMedia Fit app is a good little tool for inputting food and seeing one's progress on the go (when the app works) but it won't sync with my Fit. It is my own fault, I suppose, as my HTC Evo isn't one of the approved phones but I still fail to see how it can work with some, approved, Android phones but not with all of them. My Evo links to the device but the app won't sync. That aside, the Fit measures a good amount of my activity during the 23 hours I'm wearing it. Syncing the device to the website is beyond easy and the information is interesting. Using this along with the Adidas MiCoach Pacer and the CarioTrainer app on my smartphone has greatly increased my motivation to workout. A couple of issues I have noticed: It is supposed to start up within ten minutes of being placed on the arm but I regularly notice mine taking in excess of twenty minutes to start recording activity. I have also noticed that it does seem to measure time traveling in a car as physical activity (bad) but it doesn't add it to my total step count (good). All-in-all, I would recommend purchasing the regular Fit unit, without the bluetooth technology, even if you have one of the few approved phones: it can hold fourteen days worth of data before even needing to be synced. I sync mine with my desktop once per day, in the morning.

First, let me say that I like the BodyMedia FIT Armband BW. However, the company and the support and the application writers for both the website and the Android Application are Creatons! 1. BodyMedia will not allow you access to more than 28 days of data at a time. You cannot create any summary report of longer than 28 days, even if you have been paying them for their monthly subscription for 2 years! 2. BodyMedia has no backup system to restore your data, unless everyone's data is lost. When their system allowed 6 months of my step counts to be overwritten with empty data, they refused to restore my data from their backups, stating that to do so would jeopardize the data of all their users! Their restoral system is only in place for a hard drive crash or loss of their entire database. They cannot restore an individual's data from their backups. 3. BodyMedia refuses to do an "advance ship" of any replacement under warranty, even if you offer to pay full price on a credit card to do so, so, when your device develops cracks around the sensors, as mine did within 3 months, you'll have to send in your unit to them, losing access to any unit during that time period, and when they receive your unit, after they get around to it (they sat on my unit sitting in their facility for four days, before a supervisor finally approved sending out the replacement), they'll send out a replacement by ground shipping. You will not have access to any device during this exchange process, which in my case took TWO WEEKS! 4. Apparently, they use 3rd graders to create the Android widgets and the interface used on the Android system. When they updated the Android Application 6 months ago, they failed to fix the bugs reported here (adding food to your Breakfast meal will not subtotal the accumulation of calories as you do so, unlike every other meal, although the total will ultimately be recorded, so to get the subtotal accumulation, you'll need to use Mid Morning Snack instead), and added a huge Calendar Page which covers up the Dashboard View of the daily summary for each day for approximately 5 seconds before the data is displayed for every swipe to change the date. The only thing this Calendar Page added was the day of the week, as the month and calendar date are ALREADY displayed in the title bar at the top of the dash board. They have turned what used to be a wonderfully fast and useful Dashboard summary by swiping between days left to right with your finger, into a clumsy, ugly, and annoying interface, which prevents tracking one entry from day to day as you swipe forwards and backwards (such as calorie deficit) because you will lose your place on the screen and the number you were remembering during the 5 second Calendar Page display ON EVERY SWIPE! The widgets that go along with the Android App are the ONLY widgets I have ever seen that are NOT resizeable, and each one of them takes up HALF of an Android Home Page, and if you put two of these Widgets on the the same Home Page, you cannot put any other shortcut or widget on the same screen! The widgets themselves look like they were designed for children: a huge sheep for your sleep, an icon of a food portion for nutrition, and the others are no better. You might as well have the Dashboard Page open or the Workout Screen showing. 5. You cannot drill down into the minutia of the Dashboard in the Android App, which is fine, so why do they now take 5 seconds to populate each day's data summary, while keeping the ugly calendar page on the screen? Previously, with the original version of the Android App, a simple swipe from left to right on the screen would immediately display the previous day's Dashboard Summary with NO DELAY, and a month's worth of Dashboard Summaries should be instantaneously available because it is just simple numeric data in a table. However you cannot get a similar display of just the Dashboard summary without first downloading ALL the minutia on the Website. The website delay in switching between days is approximately 5 to 10 seconds or longer, as it first downloads ALL the data detail, whether you wanted it or not. From a web design and data traffic perspective, this is foolish. You only serve up the information when it is requested. You don't deliver the whole menu to the user, when they only want to see a summary or only one detail. 6. BodyMedia is completely unresponsive to any user input. They don't give a darn what the users want, as long as their 8 year old programmers like the program they created, with its ugly unresizeable widgets and ugly calendar dates that hide the Dashboard for an annoying 5 seconds! 7. 95% of BodyMedia's business comes from Jenny Craig customers and the FIT Armband customers are the black sheep of the family, grandfathered and still hanging around, but not to be serviced. 8. At least twice in the last 6 months, BodyMedia lost everyone's data over a 24 hour period of time and promised to extend everyone's subscription by 1 month to compensate, but then never applied the credit to anyone's account, unless they complained when their subscriptions expired before the extension! 9. If like me, you have an old original non BW Armband from your upgrade to the BW Armband, do not try and use it during the two week exchange for a warranty repair of your BW Armband, as doing so can over write ALL your data from when you last used the OLD armband through now, and BodyMedia CANNOT recover this data because they refuse to. There are ways to make sure this does not happen, but good luck with getting BodyMedia to tell you about it BEFORE it happens! 10. Support simply sucks. The email support is canned and not helpful. When you call for telephone support, you have to do so before 2pm PST, as they have no support hours after 5pm EST. When you finally get someone on the phone, you get the feeling that there are only two or three people working from home at their kitchen table, while telling you that you are not important, and your concerns are not their concerns, and that they have plenty of business from Jenny Craig customers so they don't need to pay any attention to the FIT Armband users who are the black sheep of the BodyMedia Family. The programmers do what they want and user input is irrelevant to both the Android App and the website interface. They simply don't give a damn. 11. BodyMedia appears to be phasing out the FIT Armband BW units altogether, as they are now selling them for $129 on their website. Hating the company that makes a product while liking the product makes for an unhappy marriage, which is why I only gave it two stars, as eventually, you will have to deal with the company, and that will make you regret your purchase. I like the device. It is unobtrusive. It allows me to track my sleep (but not in the Android App until I have first synced with the website), my calorie burn, and my step counts for every day, and my nutrition, if I take the time to input it. I bought the device to replace the Fitlinxx program that my gym cancelled, which led me to switch gyms from YMCA to 24 Hour Fitness under a CostCo promotion that lowered the monthly cost from $43 to $13. I didn't buy it to lose weight per se, but to monitor my activity and my calorie consumption while maintaining my current weight. It has worked well for that purpose with the limitations imposed by the above problems. I became aware of the device through CostCo and 24 Hour Fitness. The 24 Hour Fitness Body Bugg is very similar but not compatible. The BodyMedia FIT Armband BW offers the sleep tracking which Body Bugg does NOT, so that was reason for buying the BodyMedia FIT Armband BW instead of the Body Bugg system. I initially had the watch display, but when it was worn anywhere other than on the armband strap itself, it wouldn't stay paired with the armband. Eventually, the display watch snagged on something when getting in or out of my car, came off without my noticing, and was lost. I initially bought the display watch from 24 Hour Fitness as they told me theirs would work with my CostCo purchased BodyMedia unit, and if it didn't that I could get my money back. It didn't, and they refused to give me money back, offering me a training credit instead. I eventually got my money back, but not without raising a stink with their managers. So beware: the watch display devices are NOT compatible between BodyMedia and BodyBugg even though BodyMedia makes both. The BodyMedia FIT Armband BT seemed like a good upgrade to use my Droid X smartphone instead of buying another watch display, only to eventually lose it, too. It was a good upgrade initially, but the changes in the Android App have since made me regret my purchase, although I haven't found anything better yet.

I've had my BodyMedia LINK armband since 2011. In 2011, I used it for several months and lost weight consistently, but then stopped for whatever reason. Last June (2013) I started using it again. I've lost over 80 pounds since then. What the armband does is give you data, lots of it. It tells you how many calories you burn in a day, how many steps you take, your various levels of activity, etc. All of this information is great for helping you lose weight, but it's not going to lose the weight for you. It's a tool, plain and simple. If you really want to lose weight, you have to eat less than you burn, period. There is nothing else to it. This tells you how much you burn, which tells you how much you can eat. I've found that having this data at hand has been absolutely pivotal in my recent weight loss success. Even though there are a lot of calculators that provide estimates for your calorie burn, they are just that, estimates. My bodymedia armband gives me a much more accurate reading. I know it is accurate (mostly) because when I use it I lose the weight I am expecting to lose. All that said, the device isn't perfect. As an armband I find it far too uncomfortable. It cuts into my arm and after a while I get sharp pains shooting into my armpit. To get past that, I had to relocate the armband. I either wear it on the outside of my calf, just below the knee, or I tuck it into my bra. I did experiments wearing it each way and found the accuracy to be the same no matter how I wore it, so that's ultimately not a huge problem. Another issue is that the BodyMedia food log is terrible. The good news is they have partnered with MyFitnessPal and you can use the MFP log and the data automatically syncs to the BMF site. It's a workable solution, but this is still my number one complaint about the band. If I am paying $6.95 a month for the service, I want the service to be good. I shouldn't have to go to an outside source to get an acceptable food logging experience, imo. There are some cases where the BMF armband is not as accurate. In particular cross-training, HIIT and similar types of workouts that use a lot of resistance training. The BMF relies a lot on motion, so workouts that don't involve a lot of motion end up showing a lower calorie burn on the BMF software than you really get. I use an HRM as a supplement to deal with this. I do DDP Yoga and thr BMF data tends to show about a 30% - 50% lower calorie burn than my HRM. The BMF software allows me to sync my HRM data with my BMF dashboard, but it doesn't use that data to calibrate the BMF data, which I think is unfortunate. It would be nice if BMF allowed me to manually adjust a workout to be more inline with the HRM, but it doesn't. So, I have to just keep it in mind as I view the data in my dashboard. The bluetooth syncing works, but it can be really persnickety. I frequently have to hold in the button and put the armband back into sync mode to get my phone to pick it up. By frequently, I mean I have to do this at least once a day, sometimes more. As a result of having to do this so frequently, the plastic around the button has worn down and now has a hole in it. I figure it is only a matter of time before moisture seeps into the delicate electronics and the things dies on me. I've had the armband for three years. I don't know how much life is left in it. Given the above mentioned issue with the button, I am thinking maybe another 6 - 8 months, if I'm lucky. I am holding out buying a new one hoping that the Core II will come out eventually, but that project seems to have been scrapped, so who knows. If it dies before the Core II comes out, I will absolutely buy another LINK. It has it's problems, but it is still the best I have found. Despite whatever issues it may have, I would still recommend it without hesitation to anyone who wants to lose weight (or build muscle). It's not magic and it's not your mom. It won't wag a finger at you if you make bad eating choices. What it will do is give you the knowledge you need to make better eating choices. It's still up to you to make those choices.

I purchased the BodyMedia Fit Link Armband about a month ago and I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT! In an attempt to share the love with others here is my review: -The unit: it easy to wear. I am a big girl (5' 9" and topping the scale a few weeks ago at 291 pounds.) The medium band that came with the product fits me fine. I ordered two extra bands a week after receiving the product simply because I like to wear it all the time but want to be able to wash the bands after a sweaty workout! I have sensitive skin and have never had an issue with the unit- sometimes it leaves a mark on my arm when I wake up in the morning but it is no different than a pillow crease on one's face :) You can even program the unit to beep at different times of the day as a reminder to do something. I turned it on because I was curious but don't plan on using the function regularly. The Link Feature: I LOVE that the product links to my Droid phone. It does so VERY easily and I love being able to check in through out the day and see what my life has been like :) The one down fall is that you have to hard-sync it to your computer to get all of the data updated but the information you can gather through the phone is still very beneficial. (i.e. when I open my phone it tells me how many calories I have burned, consumed, where my caloric deficit/surplus is, how much moderate and vigorous activity I have completed, and how many steps I have taken. When I hard sync to my computer it will give me detailed information on all of these categories, tips (the one I get all the time is about my sodium intake...) and it will show me a detailed report of my sleep.) The reports- you can run reports from your computer that show you what you've accomplished (or what you wanted to accomplish) and they are amazing! I love looking back and seeing what I have done, and what I have yet to do. It really brings a new accountability to my life- not only do I have a band on my arm (and although it is discreet- I know it is there) to remind me of what I am working towards, but I can't fool myself into thinking that I have done more than I actually have. The meal tracker- is good, not great. I have used Livestrong-my Plate in the past and LOVED it. BodyMedias tracker doesn't have as many foods listed but they are easy to "create" on the computer. (You can't create a food on your phone). The foods that you input are then saved under "my foods" which is nice. I suppose not having tons of foods listed isn't a huge deal as it makes me google things and check labels more carefully so I can input the information myself. On the computer you can run a food report as well which is totally great. For example- Friday I was reallly craving a burger and I had done well with my caloric intake that day. I thought that Wednesday and Thursday had been "good" days for me as well but when I looked back at my food log I saw that Wednesday was not as good as I had remembered :) The sleep report- is creepy accurate. For example- two nights ago I received a phone call at 3AM from a family member who was in the hospital. On my report you can see where I woke up, when I went downstairs to inform another family member, how long I talked with them, when I went back to my room, laid down and when I fell asleep. (White is awake, grey is laying down and black is asleep). I've noticed this before as well- if I get up to use the restroom in the middle of the night there will be a white line indicating on my sleep chart that shows when I was awake. The Calorie Expenditure Report- is valuable. I work in two different locations and I was able to have the graph show me at which location (based on time) that I burned more calories. This specific example is not pertinent but interesting! The downfalls- I love to swim. I swim a few times a week and my arm band has to sit in my locker. I would love for it to work in the pool as well but I understand the complications This review makes me sound a little obsessive- and I will be honest in saying that is the case. But- BodyMedia really helps me keep my willpower and holds me accountable. I have really tried to watch what I eat and have been exercising much more regularly. I have lost 10 pounds in 22 days and I am really good with that, although I have a LONG road ahead. I have information with a few of my close friends and two have ordered their BodyMedia bands as well :) Buy it. It is worth the cost.

[updated from 4 to 5 stars, see 12/12 update below] Only had this a couple of days so just really starting out. First thing you need to do is watch the youtube video on how to remove the device from the armband (google it). The explanation in the manual made zero sense. You have to see how to do it. Some of the good points. 1. Don't really notice it on your arm. 2. Fits well under a long sleeve shirt. 3. Software is pretty neat. The graphs it generates really helps visualize the days' activities. 4. Imports the heart rate information from my Garmin! That is nice. Though makes me feel like a walking cyborg with now 4 devices on me (FIT, Garmin watch, Garmin HRM, Garmin foot pod!). 5. The sleep information is just so nice to have. I often wondered how well I slept and it was at 90% efficiency last night. 6. MET tracking through all activities. Really nice to see how vigorous (or not!) my activity was. 7. Works with my Mac and Firefox. Some of the bad points. 1. Bluetooth. I have a Skyrocket Android v4.0.2. Initial pairing failed. Then after numerous attempts and even deleting all my paired devices and repairing still some weirdness. Every time I fire up the Android application it wants me to type in the 0000 PIN. Then after I close the app it'll ping me for about 5 mins to retype in the PIN. Obviously they don't understand how to write a bluetooth app. Don't know why this is so hard because plenty of other BT devices work without any problems. Note: if you can't get the BT working then you can't see the live data. You'll have to hook it up to the computer before you'll see any updates. 2. As people mention the food database is surprisingly sparse. I'm really surprised at how many food items are not on their list. I guess once I get through adding my food items in it should be okay and less of a hassle. But expect when you're starting out that you will need some time to input a lot of grocery items into the system. 3. Armband is a little tight so if you're a person of size this might be a little uncomfortable (I'm probably just at the border where it isn't too noticeable). Don't understand why the armband doesn't come in either multiple sizes or one really long one. This device is supposed to be geared to overweight people so they can lose weight, right? Conclusion Not a lot of bad points for this unit. Certainly a lot more data than what I got from just having my Garmin. This is a keeper. I just hope they can fix their Android app. There just should not be so much hassle for a BT connection. And certainly a more comprehensive food database is a must. But don't let that deter you from getting this and getting on the path of losing weight. It is a minor hassle for the benefit this looks like it will deliver. I'll check back in 6 months and update this post. 6 day update: The food database is limited. Although other suggestions like myfitnesspal or nutritiondata are not much better. I checked the other Web sites out for nutrition data and some items had 6 different entries and not one matched the nutrition label on the item in my hand. So it seems regardless of the Web site you do have to plan to input your food and recipes. Though it doesn't take me 30 minutes like other people have mentioned (unless they're on a slow internet connection?). Maybe a couple of minutes tops. That said after collecting all the nutrition information I found my biggest challenge was sodium and not fat or calories like I thought it would be. With the help of the food diary I've been able to alter my diet so my sodium hits below 1500mg a day now. It took me 4 days to achieve that. 9 day update: The reports the Web site generates are not flexible. You can't select what you want on it. And it excludes data like Potassium. If you're trying to see how you're balancing the K v. Na levels it won't be on the reports. There are no Sodium or Potassium levels in the food log report. Tried CVS exporting the data and you get even less data than the PDF reports. Pretty frustrating that the Web application is so limited in its reporting capabilities. And the CVS data is not all of the raw data. You can set up the Web app to show the Na and K levels but you can only see it for that day. I guess I could try copy/paste from the browser to the spreadsheet and build up my data that way but for the monthly fee I should be able to download all the raw data. Also, as someone pointed out, you can order a larger armband. Total with shipping was over $26. Update Dec 12 (exactly 3 months after starting the arm band): Despite all of the short comings of the Web site, reporting, etc. I can report here exactly 3 months of armband use I have lost 12.5lbs. Not shabby at all considering I've also been on a lot of business travel the last 8 weeks. Therein lies a problem that if you travel a lot it is impossible to input food data as eating out makes tracking impossible (especially when in really foreign places like Seoul where half the time I didn't know what I was eating). But the results are indisputable for me. I learned I was consuming far too much sodium and was able to bring that under control. I also started eliminating wheat from my diet (see Wheat Belly book). And understanding my sleep patterns has been useful (but didn't work too well when I was in Asia as there was no way to set the Web site to a different time zone).