Can you wear Fitbit Alta HR in shower?

Best Answer: No! While the Fitbit Alta HR is rain, sweat, and splash proof (specified directly on the Fitbit Store listing for Alta HR's specs, it is not shower or swim proof. While there are people who say that they have worn their Fitbit Alta HR in the shower, it's definitely not recommended to do so. Fitbit themselves state that if the Alta HR gets wet or if you sweat in it, then you should remove it and completely dry out the band before putting it back on.

Amazon: Fitbit Alta HR ($128)

But it's meant to be worn 24/7 isn't it? I want to track my stats even in the shower!

Yes, it is meant to be worn continuously, but remember, it still needs to get charged sometime. While the battery can last up to 7 days on a single charge, you shouldn't wait until it dies completely to charge it up. Because who knows? It may run out of juice while you're out and about, and there's no way for you to charge it until you get home.

A lot of people take the opportunity to charge up their Alta HR while they shower, since it's not recommended to be worn at that time anyway. So while you're getting clean, it's a good time to just take a break from it for a bit and top off that battery. This way, the Alta HR is always charged up and ready to go, so you don't have to worry about it dying and missing out on all of those steps and burned calorie tracking.

But what's the reasoning behind not making the Alta HR not waterproof enough to be in the shower or swimming?

We're not entirely certain, but it may have something to do with the PurePulse technology that Fitbit is using for the continuous heart rate monitoring in the Alta HR. Since this tech works by having green LED lights on the back of the device that flash and reflect off of your skin to detect changes in blood flow. This data is then used to determine your beats per second.

When you sweat, the sweat will get under these sensors and may give inaccurate results, since it may not be in direct contact with just your skin anymore. The same idea can be applied to when you swim or take it in the shower. It won't give you a 100 percent accurate reading of your heart rate at these times, so it's best to not take them with you, but put them on the charger instead.

What happens if I forgot to take off my Alta HR before I got in the shower?

Since some people do this anyways, your Alta HR may still function correctly if this happens. But it is recommended to take it off after the shower and completely dry the tracker and the band before wearing it again.

Some users may experience a rash if the Alta HR is worn for long periods of time with sweat, or if it gets wet, so it's important to let it dry off.

Our pick

Fitbit Alta HR

$128 at Amazon

Sleek and stylish fitness tracker

The Fitbit Alta HR is a slim and chic fitness tracker that supports continuous heart rate monitoring with PUrePulse technology. It tracks your steps, calories, flights of stairs, sleep, and heart rate, and you can change the bands to match your mood.