Fitbit (and other!) activity monitor track-all

Interesting. Definitely a small step backwards in overall functionality from the Surge, but the changeable bands is a pretty huge feature considering that the band is a common point of failure on the Surge.

Probably not for me since it looks like the new one is pretty strongly designed around you being someone who carries your phone around at all times and I never run with mine.

Still, replaceable bands.... if my Surge fails again once it's out of warranty then I might have to consider it assuming nothing better has appeared on the market in the meanwhile.

I might switch over after seeing some reviews. I like the hardware on my Basis Peak, but I regret not having access to the Fitbit social website aspects.

The Blaze has been acquired. I'm digging it so far. It's much slimmer and lighter than the Surge. I picked it up after the gym, so I haven't given it the exercise test and it'll be a few days before a run due to my foot being a pain in several parts of my body...

Screen is very nice and easy to see. Takes a little effort to get the unit out of the band. Same amount of effort is required to get it back in and made me a little concerned I might break it. It's got a different charger setup, so no re-using previous charger accessories. This one is a cradle and the tracker is locked into it to charge.

Text notification work well and are easy to read. It's tied to my work cell, so I'll see more meeting and call notices tomorrow. I imagine they'll work just as well.

Audio control seems easier than the Surge, just swipe down.

I did keep my Surge for the times when I don't run with my phone (generally on half marathons) or when I'm traveling out of country and want GPS run info. Hey, who doesn't like seeing a map of a run from somewhere you've only been once in your life?

Band size is comparable to the Surge. If you're a large there, the large will fit you on the Blaze. I was mildly concerned and wondered if I needed the XL, but that didn't prove to be the case. The outside of the package has a bar to compare you wrist to in order to give you and idea on which band is the right size for your wrist.

I'll post later once I've done a run and some exercises and see how accuracy and battery life are. Heart rate seems accurate (compared to Surge) so far.

I haven't been keeping track of this thread lately, since I got an Apple Watch at the end of last year. I'm going to try Sync solver, though, to see how well that works in synching Apple Watch data to FitBit.

You can Pre-Order the Charge 2 on Amazon right now For $115 instead of it's MSRP of $150! Awesome deal.

I'll be upgrading from a FitBit Flex, so this is perfect.

Ooh.. tempting. I've got a Basis Peak, but I'm not really crazy about it - the hardware's good, but the software is pretty godawful.

Tanglebones wrote:

Ooh.. tempting. I've got a Basis Peak, but I'm not really crazy about it - the hardware's good, but the software is pretty godawful.

I looked into that a couple of months ago and decided not to get it after looking at a video of the software.

Looks like the Large/Black band is already at $145

TempestBlayze wrote:

Looks like the Large/Black band is already at $145

In before the lock! I got it for the $115 rate. Also, apparently the Peak is being recalled for an overheat issue with a full refund, so I'll be getting $234 back from that

Tanglebones wrote:
TempestBlayze wrote:

Looks like the Large/Black band is already at $145

In before the lock! I got it for the $115 rate. Also, apparently the Peak is being recalled for an overheat issue with a full refund, so I'll be getting $234 back from that

Nice! I accidentally ordered the small, tried to cancel and order large and saw that it was at $145

So I ended up getting the Blue Large instead.

Edit:
Yay for Amazon CS! They were able to give me the Black version at $115 by adjusting the price.

They are all up to 150 now. When is this supposed to ship?

karmajay wrote:

They are all up to 150 now. When is this supposed to ship?

Sometime next month I believe.

I want the Flex 2, because it's swim-proof. However, I just replaced my One in June. *sigh*

Been playing around with the new Charge 2 all morning. Overall I really like it and it's a big upgrade from the original Flex. I haven't done a run with it yet but it was finally nice to see my heart rate when I was weightlifting. The actual OLED screen is a bit smaller than I thought it would be since it has a bezel around it but it's still very easy to read the information at a quick glance. It's nice to see my text messages on the screen as well. The only problem is that it has a character limit so you only see about one sentence. I hope they fix this in a future update.

The feel is nice and it not too heavy or thick. I was a little disappointed to find out that I shouldn't shower with it. I'm so used to leaving my Flex on all the time aside from swimming.

I think that if you have a Flex or something similar this is a great upgrade. If you already have a Charge 1, I don't think it has much new for you aside from a bigger screen.

Mine's out for delivery now

Does the Flex 2 have a proprietary charger? I was hoping they'd eventually go micro usb.

Arise thread!

I've been using an UP24 for the last few months, just to see if a fitness tracker would be helpful. Overall, it's been awesome. However, it just died.

The 24 is obsolete and besides, I would like a few more features on the next one. But reviews on the Jawbone devices are showing the newer models of this thing are even more prone to the problem that killed mine. Uh.... no.

So I'm out hunting for a new thing.

What's the new hotness? What have you guys been using that's stood the test of time?

Depending on what you are looking for Garmin and Fitbit have good hardware track records. You might want to take a look at there lines and see what fits your needs.

I have my Fitbit Charge 2 for around 5 months now and i really like it. But i am a casual scrub!
One thing, my band has gotten the notorious bubble (As has one of my friends), but it was a very easy process to get a free replacement from them.

In the "test of time" department, I've had my Fitbit One for a little over three years now.

I'm on my fourth clip, and there have been a couple of times in the last few months when it spontaneously shut itself off and had to be rebooted. But it's still counting steps long after its makers expected that I'd either upgrade or stick the thing at the back of a drawer and forget about it.

I got a Fitbit Charge 2 a month ago mainly for two reasons:

1. The hourly reminders if I haven't taken 250 steps in that hour. I want to avoid long periods of sitting. It's working pretty well for this, but I tend to miss some reminders unless I'm paying attention. I'm not sure if they aren't firing every time or I just don't feel the small vibration on the wrist.

2. The sleep monitor. I want to improve the quality and length of my sleep. The sleep monitoring works better than I expected, although you can fool it if you're not careful.

I'm happy with the purchase.

In a perfect world, the Charge 2 would be waterproof so I could swim with it. The waterproof units I looked at were bigger than I wanted to wear on my wrist.

Yep, GPS, heartrate, and even waterproofing will add some bulk. I use the Garmin Vivoactive which has GPS and waterproof. It is thin but I don't love the wide square design. Changing the bands helped quite a bit but there is definitely some room for improvement in the looks department. On the other hand it is a phenomenal activity tracker. The GPS gives me significantly more accurate results for my runs, bike rides, walks and hikes and also maps the routes & stats for viewing later.

Thanks, gang. I got the Fitbit Charge HR 2. It'll be here tomorrow. I'm kind of excited.

I gave my Blaze to my wife and went Apple Watch series 2. Warmer weather, I like to swim laps and having a single device with the added features (minus sleep tracking) was enough of an enticement to switch.

I have had my fitbit for years. No idea which one it is but it is still going strong.

I've had a FitBit Charge HR for almost a year and the band is separating from the timepiece. It looks very much like this:

IMAGE(https://xmnuz23762.i.lithium.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/40815i9C4B702D44232CA3?v=1.0)

I just got off the phone with FitBit and since it's within the one-year warranty I have two options:

  • Get a replacement FitBit Charge HR, with a common defect pattern and so almost certainly to do the same thing by this time next year.
  • Get 50% off a different, new FitBit model.

I'm leaning to the discount but now I'm back to figuring out what to get. I started looking at the Surge to get something a little more significant (never mind my slim wrists) but it's not terribly appealing. I think I'm ready for an Apple Watch but not sure why; I'm not as active as I'd like so its activity-tracker functionality is ambitious for my use case(s), especially for the expense.

The Alta HR seems like their new hotness but honestly I'd like something a little more substantial. And it seems, according to a review I only skimmed, the notifications are a bit hard to read. Which, eh, I guess that's fine. The bands are attached quite differently it seems and are, well, swappable, so at least that design problem is mitigated and perhaps solved.

Maybe the Fitbit Blaze is more your style? Quite a bit more functionality than the Charge/Alta, with style approaching that of an Apple Watch, yet without spending on stuff you might not need (like the built-in GPS that the Surge has). And it's on sale for only $150 right now.

I have a Fitibit Blaze and it works great. Has a lot of features I have not dived into also.

karmajay wrote:

I have a Fitibit Blaze and it works great. Has a lot of features I have not dived into also.

I'll second the Blaze. I have a first gen Apple Watch but the short battery life was driving me nuts. I really like the Blaze, I think it looks nice, gives me all the functionality I need.

For serious runners who don't like taking their phone the lack GPS may be an issue but I always take my phone along anyways. Also I really prefer the Fitbit app.

I also had a Surge (it died) which was also nice but I prefer the Blaze.

FWIW -- The Charge HR 2 has a replaceable band. I got a leather band for it so it breathes better than the silicon one it comes with.

I've had mine for a little over three months, and I'm really happy with it. It doesn't have the horrible synch problems that made me give up on my Jawbone, and I don't get a rash from the band (I had problems with the plug/charger pin cover so badly I had to rig a sort of carrier band to wear it).

The basics are solid, and I'm slowly learning about it's more advanced features and integrating it with my other tracking stuff, but so far I haven't had any problems at all, which is already a hundred times better than the last one.