Fitbit Alta Review – Your Ultimate Fitness Partner

At a Glance: Quick Ratings

Where To Get It

A Deep Dive Into The Fitbit Alta

The Fitbit Alta is a stylish activity tracker designed to keep you active throughout the day, as well as connected to your smartphone for email, text and calendar alerts and also monitor the duration and quality of your sleep.

I awarded the Alta a 3.5/5 star review and not higher as I found the display quite hard to see in bright outdoor sun conditions.

This criticism is not exclusive to Fitbit, any units with these OLED displays suffers in the same way.

I also found the FLICK method of changing screen a little hit and miss .. although i did get used to it over time. It’s a solid, competent fitness tracker if not a little over priced. The Fitbit Alta activity tracker has been reviewed by Tristan Haskins aka CardioCritic

NEWS > In March 2021 Fitbit released the Alta HR with off the wrist heart rate monitor

Main Features and Functions

Photos from the Review

The Alta calculates your daily calorie burn using it’s clever algorithm in conjunction with your daily activity and personal settings (height, weight etc)

Inside the Fitbit Alta is an accelerometer, a sensitive movement sensor, that will track your daily distance walked fairly accurately. If you want more accurate distance feedback from runs etc, then you might want to consider the Charge 2 which shares your phone’s GPS or the Garmin Vivosmart HR+ with built-in GPS.

This image above shows your current STEPS walked. The 10 dots on the bottom will illuminate as you move towards your daily target.

Movement Reminders

Reminders to Move keep you moving throughout the day. Many of us spend too long sitting at our desks, staring at our computer. In the past, it was considered a good thing to have a desk job.

Now that we realise the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle, the Alta is here to help you make subtle, but dramatic changes to your daily routine. Moving for a few minutes every hour can help you keep your metabolism up and help reduce the negative impacts of sitting.

The Alta attempts (default setting) to get you to move for 250 steps per hour. A quick walk around the office will achieve this. If you want to turn OFF the movement reminders, that’s fine, just pop the Alta in to DO NOT DISTURB mode.

Automatic Exercise Recognition

SmartTrack is a clever feature also found on the Surge and Blaze. Your activity tracker will automatically recognise when you are exercising and what exercise you are performing. Moving for a continuous 15 minutes tells the Alta that you are exercising, even if YOU do not realise you are. It could be something as casual as walking the dog, or it could be an adhoc game of football in the park with the kids. It’s ALL exercise and it’s ALL good. The Alta sees everything and records it automatically.

Weekly Goals to Keep you motivated

Weekly exercise goals can be found in the free to use Fitbit APP. This APP is one of the best we’ve worked with and it really does help to motivate you throughout the days and weeks to maintain a consistent activity / fitness routine. Setting GOALS is one of the tricks of the trade that all personal trainers use to help clients achieve the targets.

The Fitbit APP and your Alta works in the same way. You chose your fitness goals. They are then tracked and displayed in the app on a daily basis. Your weekly goal is precisely that, it is YOUR goal. You can personalise it to fit in with your lifestyle. Setting a realistic and achievable goal is essential. The APP also allows you to set how many of your SmartTrack activities to include in your goal count.

All-day activity and automatic sleep tracking give you the foundational real-time health and fitness stats you need to track your progress, stay motivated and keep informed to reach your goals. View your step count, distance, calories burned, active minutes and the time on the easy-to-read OLED tap display (struggles in bright sunlight) and use the Fitbit app to learn how long and how well you’re sleeping, plus set silent, vibrating alarms.

Top Alternatives

Closest Competitors

The nearest product in functionality and price to the Alta are the Vivofit 3 and the Vivosmart HR. A short while ago it would have been the original Vivosmart, but the newer Vivosmart HR is a very similar price to the Alta and has the added benefit of off the wrist heart rate.

Garmin Vivofit 3 much clearer display

Garmin Vivosmart HR clearer display and built-in HR like Charge 2

There is also the innovative Mio Slice. The Mio Slice is the world’s first fitness band to incorporate PAI (Personal Activity Intelligence). More advanced than simply counting daily steps the Slice wants to see elevated heart rates for extended periods throughout the day.

Mio Slice the world’s first fitness band with PAI score

Comparison – Alta + Flex 2 + Charge 2

We have added a comparison table below to help you to select the Fitbit product that best meets your requirements. This table compares the top level features of the Alta with the Flex 2 and Charge 2.

The main differences between the Alta and the Flex 2 is that the Alta provides Time of Day. The Charge 2 is an all together more advanced fitness band with with built-in heart rate sensor.

The Alta is an activity tracker featuring smartphone connectivity but no GPS and no HR. The Alta is more focused on activity tracking and motivation throughout the week, more similar to the Garmin Vivofit 3

Review Summary

I enjoyed testing the Fitbit Alta however it’s not the fitness tracker that I would wear 24/7.

If I had to choose a Fitbit fitness tracker I would either select either the Flex 2 and keep my regular watch on the other wrist, or the Charge 2 with it’s larger and clearer display. Or … dare I say it, from the other side of the fence … the Garmin Vivofit 3. 

However, there is no doubting it’s a solid performer, well made and functionally competent which is why I have awarded it a rating of 3.5/5 stars