So my job will reimburse half, up to $30, for one of these things. Which means I still need to pay something like $30-70 if I want one. Mostly I lift weights and run, with some swimming, hiking etc. thrown in occasionally for good measure. Worth it? Which one?

no, they really aren't worth it

they are interesting, but not really useful
once you've tracked  yourself for a week or so, you'll find it doesn't really change much, that's what you do

At the end, they are just really expensive pedometers.

For $30 you're better off buying a jump rope and spending the rest on burritos.

I know some people love those things, I just wouldn't find it very useful.

The only reason I have one is because my work provided them, and we can use them to get lower health insurance. I would have never bought one on my own though.

They provided the Zip, and a lot of people have either washed them or lost them out of the holder. I hear the ones for your wrist are nice except when you are doing anything where there is movement but your hands are static i.e. pushing a grocery cart, mowing the lawn, etc...

Not worth it.

Just use paper or a fancy word doc.

This might be the first time Arfcom has saved me money. Was thinking about one.

They're... inaccurate. By a lot.

Sounds like the consensus is not worth it. Good to know, thanks.

They have their uses, but as others have said, not 100% accurate.  The calorie counter requires that you log in and update your weight and BF%, then it calculates your calories burned based on that, plus your steps.  If you are 6' 250lbs and have 30% body fat, you're going to burn close to 3k calories just sitting in a chair all day.  Reading 4k calories on your fitbit after adding in a good bit of walking around isn't abnormal, but don't think you exercised 4k calories.

I'm a tech junkie, and obsessively log my food into MyFitnessPal, so the fitbit is just another thing to help me out.  If you have cash to burn on another gadget, I'd recommend it.  If you don't, it isn't worth prioritizing.

If you get one, the wrist strap ones look nice, but the instruction manual still says wear it on your torso for more accurate results, which defeats the purpose of the wrist strap.  I would recommend the Zip, has a nice belt clip and so far so good on keeping up with it for me.  If you want to see the value and have an iphone, there is also an app that will work and do pretty much the same thing, give it a try and see if it is something you actually care about looking at.

Pardon me bringing this back to life from 2 months ago, but I find the same to be true.

While comparing it to counting (in my head) and looking at the S-Health App on my Samsung S5, it's usually a good 5-10% off (lower).
However, there is some seriously accurate voodoo happening with that S-Health App...

It is nice that should I forget my phone on my desk, I still have the Zip on my belt that keeps a decent approximation (better than counting in my head for a few hundred steps).
I concur with the convenience of being able to sync with MyFitnessPal.

I don't think they are worth it...just another gadget and other than the novelty of it, I am really not even sure how useful the information they gather is...

You can add HRM to that also...

65 lbs lost in the past 14-16 months without the help of gadgets....

After using mine for a few months, I can say that it has lost its luster.  Cool for hiking or out of the normal activities, but after a couple of weeks, you will notice the trend in your activity, and the monitors become sort of useless.  For those that do intentional cardio, they are useful, but outside of that, I wouldn't buy it again.

My wife has one.  I think the only benefit from one is that it keeps you motivated and focused.  Other than that I think it's an inaccurate toy.