For those not familiar with the FuelBand, it's a bracelet similar in style to those rubber bands you may see people wearing (i.e. yellow Livestrong bracelets) that tracks your activity throughout the day. (See picture below)
As you can see, it's almost 5:30pm and I've barely made a dent in my Fuel goal. Eek.
Along with measuring your calories burned and steps, it also measures in what Nike calls Fuel. How Nike Fuel is actually calculated I have no idea, but that's not really important. When you first set up your Fuelband, you create a Nike account on Nike.com, enter in some specific info about yourself, and then pick a daily Nike Fuel goal. It gives you a goal example to get you started by asking if you about your typical day. (Are you an athlete, do you have a desk job, etc.) which you can stick with or input your own custom goal. And that's pretty much it to the setup. Slap it on your wrist and go.
Hardware
As you can see from the photo, it's a fairly small device unlike other activity monitors like the MotoACTV by Motorola. It's very light and the only time I really notice that it's there is when typing because I rest my wrists on the table. It's obviously thicker than rubber bracelets, but it's not thick by any means. It has a rubbery feel to it on the outside, but smooth plastic on the inside, so it doesn't pull your arm hairs. It's rated as being water-resistant to handle sweat and light splashes, but I wouldn't recommend wearing it into the shower or pool.
Also included in the box are two extra pieces for adjusting the size. Unlike a watch with adjustable holes, the FuelBand needs to be customized a little, and Nike provides incremental adjustment pieces to get it just right.
Battery life seems to be great, as I consistently get 4 to 5 days between recharges and charge time is fairly quick at about an hour. When it's time for a recharge, it plugs into a standard USB port and also comes with the cable and wall charger if your not around your computer. I prefer to charge it via computer because it also uploads all of your data (Nike Fuel earned per day, days in a row hitting goal, etc.) to your Nike account, which you can then post to Facebook if you would like your friends to give you some encouragement.
It has just one button on it and the interface is very simple. With a touch of the button the all black face lights up to tell you the time, calories burned, steps, and of course your Nike Fuel. (The steps and calories burned can also be turned off via the desktop software, but the time and Fuel will always remain) It also has red, orange, and green lights underneath the display that give you a quick glimpse at how far you are from your daily goal. So even if you are looking at the time, (which is usually my default setting) you have a quick progress bar to look at, as well, which is very important when it comes to motivation.
It's overall looks usually grab someones attention on a daily basis. I usually get 3 to 4 people a week that will ask what it is or they will see me check the time on it and become immediately drawn to it when they see black band come to life. Nerds like myself will enjoy the attention it gets, as we all like to talk about our gadgets.
It has a built in pedometer and accelerometer for measuring movement, but does not contain any type of GPS, so there's no way to track your run distance. Having a limited way of measuring activity does have its drawbacks, which I'll get into in a little bit.
Nike Fuel
So this is the the big draw to the Nike FuelBand. Fuel is what's going to get you motivated to that little extra workout during the day or when you get home in the evening. Every little thing you do during the day earns Nike Fuel bringing you closer to your set goal for the day.
I use my FuelBand as my main watch for the day, so the Fuel meter is always in my face. I can tell it's been a particularly inactive day when I look down at noon and my meter is still in the red. This is where the motivation comes in. When your Fuel is that low, you immediately start to find ways to get it to fill up faster, whether it's taking the stairs instead of the escalator, going for a walk at lunch, or getting in a run or a workout before you plop down on the couch for the night.
There are some drawbacks to the way the FuelBand measure Fuel though. As I mentioned before, it only uses the pedometer and accelerometer to measure activity. I've found that when doing workouts at home (currently on week 2 of P90X) it doesn't measure push-ups, pull-ups, or some weight lifting very well. It also calculates running uphill the same as if you were running on a level surface. And the couple of times I've worn it while biking, it barely adds to my Fuel score since my wrists are generally not moving much.
I also noticed that when riding my motorcycle, the vibration caused the FuelBand to think I was running, I guess, and it would make me hit my goal very quickly. I look like a stud when you look at my daily graphs.
iOS App (Android Coming Soon)
If you happen to own an iOS device (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad) you can download the Free Nike Fuel app. (Nike claims the Android app is coming soon, but that's been the case for about 3 months now) The Fuelband can then communicate with the app via bluetooth and you can upload your data on the go. I use my iPod Touch and the overall app looks very nice, but my biggest complaint is when uploading data. If you go a few days between uploads, it takes FOOOORRREEEEVVVVEEEERRRR. I'm not sure where the hold up is exactly, as bluetooth should be able to transfer fairly quickly, and I'm using my home wifi connection, which is well over 20Mbps. I mean we're talking 20 to 30 minutes to transfer about 3 or 4 days worth of data which may not seem like too much time, but it can drain the battery on your phone or iPod fairly rapidly. That's why I prefer to upload it via computer. Nike may release an update that rectifies this, though.
Outside of the slow transfer speed, the app is well built. You can view graphs of your past Fuel scores by day. You also get a strange little character that will celebrate with you when you hit certain achievements such as 3 day goal streaks, earning 100k Nike Fuel, etc. which you can then post to Facebook.
In the Box
The box is pretty fancy, as you can see in the pictures below, but there is not a whole lot in it, and there doesn't really need to be. You'll get a charging cable which is basically a USB extension cord, a little black stand that holds the band upgright while charging so you can easily see the battery indicator, two different extensions for adjusting the size of the band for the perfect fit, and of course the FuelBand and instruction booklet.
Verdict
The Nike FuelBand has it's pros and cons. In my opinion, the FuelBand looks cool and does just what I need it for. It gives me that extra kick of motivation throughout the day. Since it is a sleek device that doubles as a watch, it's always in your face and provides your progress for the day everytime you check the time.
If your someone who wants to know all the data about your last run (Distance, time, elevation, etc.) then you would be better off getting the FitBit or the MotoACTV, or use the FuelBand in conjunction with a smartphone app that will track that other data. Nike does have plans to release more Nike+ products that will work together with the FuelBand though, so we may not be that far off from seeing more features added to it.
Summary
+Sleek design
+Good battery life (about 4 to 5 days)
+Great motivator
+Nike.com and the Nike Fuel app are well designed
+Compatible with future Nike+ devices
-No GPS for tracking distance
-High price tag (about $150)
-Not always accurate as car and motorcycle rides can falsely add Fuel points
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