Fitbit

Tool Infobox
Related topics	Dates and Times, Activity tracking, Sleep tracking, Body temperature tracking, Heart rate tracking
Linked pages on this wiki	Projects (44), People (2)

Fitbit is an a manufacturer of wearable devices and provider of fitness/wellness related services. Since 2009 they have released a large variety of different activity trackers and smart watches with different form factors and sensors, as well as a range of smart scales. Many have been used and validated in research. In 2019, Fitbit introduced a subscription model called Fitbit Premium for which the company charges ~10 USD/month for access to particular metrics, such as advanced body temperature details or stress.

Data collected by Fitbits

Given the large variety of different models and series of Fitbit devices (see table below), details between models change. But virtually all recent Fitbit devices record at least the following:

• Activity tracking
  • Steps taken
  • Floors climbed
  • Heart rate metrics (Heart rate throughout day, resting heart rate, heart rate variability, recording of workouts)
• Sleep tracking
  • Time slept
  • Sleep phases throughout the night

Additionally, more recent Fitbits also record additional metrics, such as

• Skin Temperature
• ECG
• Stress tracking

Exporting Fitbit data

Fitbit allows the export of up to 31 days of data – aggregated into daily statistics – through their website. Additionally, Fitbit provides an API that allows users to authorize third parties to export their own data. This integration does not have a limit for how much historic data can be exported. By default this API is also limited to daily aggregate values, but a personal API is available, which does provide access to intra-day resolution data.

Data export through Fitbit API

The Fitbit web API allows you to register your own app, which means that you can create the necessary authentications to access your full data through third-party tools or your own scripts. For some programming languages, such as Python and R, there are ready-made libraries that one can use to access data from Fitbit.

Exporting with a Python library

The python-fitbit library provides access to most data that your Fitbit collects. A recent guide on how to set it up can be found on Towards Data Science.

Exporting with an R library

Fitbitr is a library for the R programming language that provides the same functionality as the Python modules outlined above. The README of the package gives a good getting-started guide.

Exporting through Open Humans

Open Humans provides two different integrations that enable the export of all historic Fitbit data into a user's private storage with low effort. The regular Fitbit API integration does not require any complicated setup on the user end, but is limited to daily aggregate data. The more detailed Fitbit Intraday Connection requires setting up a personal Fitbit API app, but requires no coding of data export functions after this setup.

Personal Science projects that used Fitbits

This is to be considered a living and non-exhaustive list:

• Bastian Greshake Tzovaras used Fitbit trackers and scales to explore
  • how the final writing period for his PhD thesis changed his physical activity and weight
  • how sleeping alone vs. sleeping with someone else in the same bed effects his sleep patterns
• Jakob Eg Larsen compared sleep and heart rate data from two Fitbit devices, an Oura Ring, and a Basis Smartwatch

Overview of fitness tracker / smartwatches

The table below is taken from Wikipedia. It does not include the smart scales.

Model	Type	Released	Steps	Floors	Heart rate	Oxygen	Skin Temp	Sleep	Sleep stages	Clock	Swim	GPS	Stress Tracking	ECG	Fitbit OS	Water resistance	Battery life	AOD	Customizable appearance
Classic	Clip	2009	✔	❌	❌	❌	❌	✔	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	Resistant	7 days	❌	❌
Ultra	Clip	2011	✔	✔	❌	❌	❌	✔	❌	✔	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	Resistant	7 days	❌	❌
One	Clip	2012	✔	✔	❌	❌	❌	✔	❌	✔	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	Resistant	10–14 days	❌	✔
Zip	Clip	2012	✔	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	✔	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	Resistant	4–6 months	❌	✔
Flex	Wristband	2013	✔	❌	❌	❌	❌	✔	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	Resistant	5 days	❌	✔
Force	Wristband	2013	✔	✔	❌	❌	❌	✔	❌	✔	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	Resistant	7–10 days	❌	❌
Charge	Wristband	2014	✔	✔	❌	❌	❌	✔	❌	✔	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	Resistant	7–10 days	❌	❌
Charge HR	Wristband	2015	✔	✔	✔	❌	❌	✔	❌	✔	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	Resistant	5 days	❌	✔
Surge	Smart watch	2015	✔	✔	✔	❌	❌	✔	❌	✔	❌	✔	❌	❌	❌	Resistant	7 days	❌	❌
Blaze	Smart watch	2016	✔	✔	✔	❌	❌	✔	✔	✔	❌	✔	❌	❌	❌	Resistant	5 days	❌	✔
Alta	Wristband	2016	✔	❌	❌	❌	❌	✔	❌	✔	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	Resistant	5 days	❌	✔
Charge 2	Wristband	2016	✔	✔	✔	❌	❌	✔	✔	✔	❌	✔	❌	❌	❌	Resistant	5 days	❌	✔
Flex 2	Wristband	2017	✔	❌	❌	❌	❌	✔	✔	❌	✔	❌	❌	❌	❌	Waterproof	5 days	❌	✔
Alta HR	Wristband	2017	✔	❌	✔	❌	❌	✔	✔	✔	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	Resistant	7 days	❌	✔
Ionic	Smart watch	2017	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	❌	❌	✔	Waterproof	5 days	❌	✔
Versa	Smart watch	2018	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	❌	❌	✔	Waterproof	4 days	❌	✔
Ace	Wristband	2018	✔	✔	❌	❌	❌	✔	❌	✔	❌	✔	❌	❌	❌	Resistant	5 days	❌	✔
Charge 3	Wristband	2018	✔	✔	✔	✔	❌	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	❌	❌	❌	Waterproof, 50 meters	7 days	❌	✔
Inspire	Wristband	2019	✔	❌	❌	❌	❌	✔	❌	✔	✔	✔	❌	❌	❌	Waterproof	5 days	❌	✔
Inspire HR	Wristband	2019	✔	❌	✔	❌	❌	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	❌	❌	❌	Waterproof, 50 meters	5 days	❌	✔
Versa 2	Smart watch	2019	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	❌	❌	✔	Waterproof	4 days	❌	✔
Versa Lite Edition	Smart watch	2019	✔	❌	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	❌	❌	✔	Waterproof	4 days	❌	✔
Charge 4	Wristband	2020	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	❌	❌	✔	Waterproof, 50 meters	3 hours (GPS) 7 days (advertised)	❌	✔
Versa 3	Smart watch	2020	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	❌	❌	✔	Waterproof, 50 meters	TBD (GPS) 6 days (advertised) Fast charge one extra day in 12 minutes	❌	✔
Sense	Smart watch	2020	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	Waterproof, 50 meters	TBD (GPS) 6+ days (advertised) Fast charge one extra day in 12 minutes Full charge in 1-2 hours (manufacturer's claim)	❌	✔
Inspire 2	Wristband or clip	2020	✔	❌	✔	❌	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	❌	❌	✔	Waterproof, 50 meters	10 days	❌	✔
Luxe	Wristband	2021	✔	❌	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	❌	❌	✔	Waterproof, 50 meters	5 days	✔	✔
Charge 5	Wristband	2021	✔	❌	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	Waterproof, 50 meters	7 days	✔	✔