Fitbit
Tool Infobox ![]() | |
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Related topics | Dates and Times, Activity tracking, Sleep tracking, Body temperature tracking, Heart rate tracking |
Linked pages on this wiki | Projects (44), |
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.[1] 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[edit | edit source]
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[edit | edit source]
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[edit | edit source]
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[edit | edit source]
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[edit | edit source]
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[edit | edit source]
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[edit | edit source]
This is to be considered a living and non-exhaustive list:
- Bastian Greshake Tzovaras used Fitbit trackers and scales to explore
- 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[edit | edit source]
The table below is taken from Wikipedia. It does not include the smart scales.
Model | Type | Released | Steps | Floors | Heart rate | Oxygen [2] | Skin Temp[3] | Sleep | Sleep stages | Clock | Swim | GPS | Stress Tracking | ECG[4] | Fitbit OS | Water resistance | Battery life | AOD[5] | 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 | ✔ | ✔ |
- ↑ https://www.fitabase.com/research-library/?searchString=&category=Validation
- ↑ https://www.tizenhelp.com/spo2-on-fitbit-charge
- ↑ https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/2458.htm
- ↑ https://mobilesyrup.com/2020/09/16/fitbit-sense-ecg-feature-available-launch-not-canada/
- ↑ Always On Display