A Mommy Story

Thanks to Best Buy for providing the devices for this review!

I’ve shared in a few posts that I like using activity trackers to keep an eye on how many steps I take each day. I’ve tried several different trackers, and still go back and forth on which ones I use in a given week. This has left my collection open to a very curious Mira, of course, who has more than once asked me if she could wear one of them.

But my trackers aren’t really designed for a six year old. The bracelet style falls right off of her wrist. And the apps aren’t exactly all that exciting for her to look at.

Enter the ibitz by GeoPalz kid and adult wireless pedometers. These small clip-on devices track activity for adults and kids, and come with apps that help the device wirelessly sync to your iOS Bluetooth 4.0 phone or tablet. Different apps for adults and children gives each age group their own unique experience with a personalized approach.

The ibitz Unity for adults tracks steps, distance, weight (added manually), height, overall physical activity, and allows you to incorporate your family and friends. It also lets you form groups and post your progress on social media.

The ibitz for kids wireless pedometer syncs to a rewards platform app.  Parents can set goals and rewards such as play time, screen time, or an adventure with a parent.  You can earn coins and content on Disney’s Club Penguin, and they’ll soon be introducing Minecraft rewards. The app is a little space alien trying to power her rocket, with your child’s steps counting as fuel for the rocket. The more steps, the further the rocket goes.

Mira couldn’t wait to give hers a try. After I helped her create an account on the app, she picked out her spaceship and was ready to go. I’m pretty sure that first day she was more active than normal just to earn as many steps as possible to fuel her rocketship.

syncing the device, powering the spaceship

There’s a password protected parent area in the app that lets you set goals for your child’s activity. Each goal is shown as a planet that the rocket is trying to get to. So you could set a goal of 3500 steps, for example, and then add on a reward for reaching that goal. When the child meets the goal, the alien jumps around in celebration. (Mira loves to watch that part.)

goal-setting and reward screens

Over the weekend, we set a goal with a reward of going to see a movie. She easily cleared that goal and was thrilled to go see a movie on Saturday night. I think we’ll need to set smaller rewards or higher goals for this determined kid.

So far she loves her ibitz and has had it clipped on before I even noticed each morning. It’s motivating her to be more active, as she checks the app frequently to see how far her spaceship has traveled. I consider this product an absolute success for her.

The adult Unity ibitz works like many of the other activity trackers out there. It’s app isn’t nearly as exciting as the kid version, which after seeing the kid version myself, is a little disappointing.

view of the app

I almost wish it had fun graphics and goal setting like the kid version – I wouldn’t mind using my steps to power an animated character in a game! It does have the ability for you to create groups to support each other, but if your friends have different activity trackers, that isn’t as helpful.

I do like the ability to connect wirelessly. And the devices are powered with a 3V lithium battery, meaning no disappointment from forgetting to charge the device like other types of trackers.

Some features of the ibitz pedometer:

·         available in 7 kid-friendly colors

·         free iOS app* syncs device wirelessly

·         syncs via Bluetooth 4.0 (BLE)

·         tracks activity

·         set goals and rewards

·         water-resistant

·         durable clip for hip and shoe

·         stores 30 days of activity

·         earn parent directed rewards

·         earn coins and content on Disney’s Club Penguin

I’m not sure if the ibitz Unity will be the activity tracker I continue to use, but the ibitz for kids is definitely a hit in our house. Cordy is now asking when she can get one of her own, and starting to plan goals she wants to set for herself. If the ibitz can make exercise a little more fun for the kids, the hope is that they’ll form good habits to remain active, even after the novelty of powering alien spaceships has worn off.

You can find the ibitz adult and kid pedometers at Best Buy.

Disclosure: The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free. In this case, I received only the pedometers to review. All opinions expressed here are my own, including my idea of an activity-tracker-based game for adults. No really, it would be a big hit.