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Fitbit Ace 2
AN EYE-CATCHING KID’S FITNESS ACCESSORY.2018’S FITBIT ACE may have been aimed at
kids, but it was actually based on the
company’s adult-oriented Fitbit Alta, so it
could hardly be claimed that it was built from
the ground-up with younger users in mind.
Fitbit has changed its approach this year,
and the Ace 2 is clearly designed with children
as its main focus; as a result, the age range has
dropped from 8+ to 6+.
While the original Ace had a metal body,
the Ace 2 is essentially a plastic pebble set
within a soft, rubber-like strap. This strap- which fully encases the unit and protects it
from bumps and drops – is entirely
interchangeable and comes in two different
color schemes: Watermelon/Teal and Night
Sky/Neon Yellow.
The straps look playful and appealing,
and the whole design is certainly a lot
more kiddie-friendly than the rather
austere original.
The downside is that if you’ve got a child
who is fast approaching their teenage years,
they may be a little self-conscious wearing this
unit. And at least with the original Ace, you
could swap out the strap for a larger one as
your child grew older.
The Ace uses a monochrome OLED screen to
display information such as the time, date,
total steps for the day and total active time.
The screen also displays notifications, so your
child is constantly being updated on their
progress; the little animations that play out
given them the incentive to keep active.
You can also use the Fitbit app to transfer a
special watch face to the unit; our personal
favorite is ‘Sprout’, which displays a plant pot
that contains a flower which slowly grows as
your child builds up their step count
throughout the day.
While the hardware has had a facelift, the
actual process of setting up the Fitbit Ace 2 has
remained largely the same – and once again,
getting things configured correctly can be a bit
of a nightmare for newcomers.
The Ace 2 automatically sets fitness goals for
your child, and you’ll get notifications when
they beat their goal for the day, as long as the
unit is within range of your phone so it can
sync the data.
It can track both steps and active minutes,
and seemed accurate in our tests, but with no
heart rate monitor or GPS it is certainly at the
basic end of the scale. Still, those features are
probably overkill for most young children.
You can even set alarms for them from the
app and monitor their sleeping patterns, which
sounds a little bit Orwellian to us; besides,your child can easily remove the Ace 2 –
which lacks a heart rate monitor, so it can’t
check for a pulse – when they go to bed,
robbing you of the ability to snoop on their
slumbering activities.
While the more colorful casing might make
this a hard sell for older kids, there’s no
denying that the Fitbit Ace 2 is a much better
fitness tracker for children than the original.
Mastering the smartphone app can be a bit
tricky, but all in all, this is the ideal way to
ensure your offspring lead as healthy and
active a lifestyle as possible without hovering
over them 24 hours a day.
[ DAMIEN MCFERRAN ]FITBIT ACE 2
$129
http://www.fitbit.com
CRITICAL SPECS
Classic wristband (one size); Charging cable; 3-axis
accelerometer; Vibration motor; Touchscreen, grayscale
OLED display; Lithium-polymer battery; Bluetooth 4.0.41 / 2WINNERED’sCHOICE
AWA RDRADAR