Old Fitbit Models: Throwback To Clippers Era!

Past With Fitbit At Play

While it has been 16 years since Fitbit came into existence and become the leading health tracker manufacturer. In it’s early days things weren’t the same. Not many people are aware off it but Fitbit didn’t even have the product for 2 whole years after its creation. It wasn’t until 2009 that Fitbit released its first tracker to the public.

“Was it immediate success?”

I wouldn’t say it was, but it wasn’t exactly the flop either. For sure, it had its problem and with time Fitbit got the hang of it. What followed after it with each new iteration was improvement. There are also no doubts that it is where the Fitbit story started. That is where Fitbit wrote itself in the history books and began to shape in what we know now today.

Fitbit Classic – Simple Start

Released in 2009 Fitbit Classic was the first health tracker from the Fitbit company at the time. It took 2 years for it to come to fruition, Fitbit Classic was just as the name states: Classic.

You could track steps and sleep with it, but that was just about it. There weren’t exactly the revolutionary features in to it, even sleep tracking had its problems. Since at the time hardware capabilities were limited and technology was not ready Fitbit used to use movements to determine sleeping phases (whisper here is why sleep sensitivity was born). Of course that meant readings were hardly ever accurate.

Although, there was free access to website where portal could be accessed to enter information about the activity. It didn’t use to take into account the data you would provide, not like how it is today. But I won’t lie It was fun knowing you have a place to enter information of how much you swim (Fitbit Classic wasn’t water resistant) or lost weight. The thrill of going to a website and logging into your account and finding you walked 2443 steps on 27th December 2009 was very 2010 feeling.

One thing Fitbit haven’t changed over the years which I also feel make them recognizable is battery life. Even in 2009 Fitbit Classic had 7 day battery support. I vividly remember charging just for hour and not being worried about plugging back for a week.

Oh and it was clipper, not smartwatch, not health tracker, just a clipper.

Fitbit Ultra – Small Steps

Once Fitbit Classic had complete his 2 year tenure Fitbit came back with Fitbit Ultra. Released during the Fall of 2011 Fitbit Ultra was another clipper. A lightweight yet powerful enough innovation to tell you how many steps you ran, time you slept (with your help), and the numbers of stairs you climbed thanks to now usage of altimeter.

There was also addition of badges and rewards with each goal that was hit. Imagine you manage to run 5531 steps in a day and your Fitbit Ultra finally managed to count 5000 of them, you would be rewarded with little badge that would remain part of your ledger.

And that is not the only fun part that it came up with…

Fitbit had finally added watch to show time and small LED screen that would present small motivational messages like: BURN IT. AMAZING. HI DANE. The screen size was of course limited and if your name had many characters you would not be said HI it was still pinnacle of technology at the time.

Perhaps not enough for 100 dollars. Fitbit still managed to sell well. At least enough to keep going on.

Fitbit One – A Leap Of Faith

2012 was really the turning point for Fitbit. It was at this period when people began to associate Fitbit with health tracking. For sure, reputation at the time wasn’t grand enough as it is today, it was when Fitbit began to shape into household name.

Hence when Fitbit One was released in first half of 2012 it didn’t take long for it to land in million arms, ankle, or t-shirts. Even though it has been just a year since Fitbit Ultra has hit the market Fitbit One had many new ideas to share: While just like it’s predecessor it could measure steps, stairs climbed due to Altimeter, and count hours you spent in the bed. What was the changing point was smoother connection with smartphones.

Before One and during Ultra Fitbit had announced the mobile application for both iOS and Android, but it wasn’t until Fitbit One was released that idea of a mobile application and later it’s access became widespread.

Unlike website which at times happened to have rendering issues, especially on Android phones, the newly launched application opened the gates for smoother social sharing too. You could see your friends stats, how well they are doing, or how much they are eating. Which ultimately led to a sharp increase in numbers around Fitbit utopia.

There were still limitations, numbers were not accurate, there was no heart rate monitor to keep track of RHR, or sensors that would later become crowning jewel of Fitbit Sense or Versa. On its own Fitbit One was excellent step to keep track of basics with excellent battery life – almost 12 days. Just like Ultra there was also screen to show motivational messages as timer and watch remain up-top to continue shaping the aesthetics of the clipper.

At the time of its arrival Fitbit had priced the device with $100 tag. Which perhaps was little too much. With time and updates it became evident Fitbit One will always be remembered as the one that got away…

Fitbit Zip – To Variety And Beyond

Arrived during the Fitbit One phase and just after year of Fitbit Ultra release. Fitbit Zip was the first time Fitbit had released the entry-level device. It was first time Fitbit had began to believe itself as leading importer of tracking clippers.

Although, in contrast to other products in Fitbit portfolio at that time Zip was inferior in regards to functionality and looks. Simply put it was cheap. Which was need of the time. Because ever since Fitbit Classic, one criticism that company couldn’t shake off was its high-price tags. People had fully accepted the idea that Fitbit provides little value for what it’s cost.

So what followed up was birth of entry-level device that was clearly meant to ease the entry to Fitbit utopia.

Fitbit Zip had many things missing that were talking points of One and Ultra. However, it didn’t mean it wasn’t worth looking around. It could still keep track of steps and stairs climbed. Fitbit had taken away the sleep tracking and rightfully so, it wasn’t exactly accurate on One and others either. Heck, it is still not 100% accurate even on Fitbit Sense 2, you can easily get tainted data on just any metric, be it heart rate or calories burned.

There was also no way to charge Zip. It used to run on coin battery that could last 6 months. After which you would have to buy the pack. Which was not the problem, back in 2016 you can have pack of 10 just for $6 from Amazon.

You could also download Fitbit application on your phone and have your own dashboard. So there was no sign of partiality there, competing with friends and family was possible even if they were on another Fitbit device.

Throwback To Thursday Fitbit

By the end of 2012 Fitbit had firmly positioned itself as one to look out for in future.

So writing this in January of 2023 I’m glad to announce that they certainly didn’t disappoint. While 2012 marked the end of Fitbit’s first chapter and also the Clippers. What followed up for a decade was continued success and innovation in technology leading Fitbit to operate in 150 nations across the world.

Today it competes with industry giants Apple and Samsung, and since Google acquisition has now a strong backing hand of one of the most powerful organization on the face of planet.

To think it all started with $100 tracker that couldn’t even show the time…