App of the Week: Fitness Tracking – Nike FuelBand vs Fitbit Force

Wearable fitness gadgets have emerged in recent years that track your activity and help you monitor your progress. Slap a simple, light bracelet on and it tracks everything from your activity throughout the day, calories you burned, and even your sleep quality. But how do you know which gadget is right for you?
Two stand out with their recently updated bands: Fitbit Force and Nike+ Fuelband. Both have their advantages and I’m not sure which one I like better. However, what I can say is that both will help you track those goals you set without much effort.

Fitbit Force

Let’s start with the Fitbit Force. With a sleek design, it sits lightly on your wrist with a small screen giving you the time and steps you’ve taken for the day. It can track activity level, calories burned, stairs climbed, and distance traveled all by the wristband and through the mobile app. The Force even vibrates to wake you up in the morning after tracking your sleep patterns for the whole night. The Fitbit Force is also water-resistant so you can forget about it and don’t have to worry about taking it off throughout the day even when washing your hands. According to Fitbit’s website, updates will soon bring call notifications as well to the Force – a huge advantage for Fitbit.

Nike+ Fuelband

Just like the Force, Nike+ Fuelband  tracks activity level, calories burned, steps taken, and sleep. The Fuelband is really known for its Fuel points. Fuel points aim to improve calories burned and allow you to compare your progress with other friends and create goals through the mobile app. What is nice with the Fuelband as well is the ability to log different types of workout sessions, whether it be yoga, pilates, or running.
Both wristbands have their advantages and disadvantages, but both will allow you to stick to your new year goals! Both the Nike+ Fuelband and Fitbit Force iOS apps are free through the App Store. However, if you are an Android fan, I might stick to the Fitbit Force, as they have a native Android app. Nike has yet to release an Android-specific Fuelband app and have not spoken on whether or not there may be one in the future.
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