Mad at Fitbit

[explanade]

I wouldn't expect much out of Fitbit.

I think more people are going to end up going for watches and only one smart watch is selling in any significant numbers.

Fitbit introduced a smart watch recently but it wasn't their first. They're rolling out new devices every few months.

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/fit?ltr=1

 

[Mo Money]

Fitbit is a running joke in my crowd; we abandoned their junky, clunky, crappy devices a year and a half ago, when they almost universally failed to update properly. Their software was beyond horrible.

 

[misanman]

Wow, I've used Fitbit for five years and haven't really experienced any problems.

 

[FIYes]

I have had fitbit for several years. I started with the little fitbit zip and had two of them. I even accidentally soaked the first one but got it to work again with take battery out, put in rice to dry out and replace the battery. I lost the plastic thing to open the battery compartment with and ended up destroying the case opening it with a butter knife. The second zip I gave to my DH after i decided to go with the wristband style. The first wristband style did not have a replaceable band. After a few months the wristband broke and fitbit sent me an Alta as a replacement. I ended up needing to replace the wristband after about a year but the fitbit itself worked fine. I ended up losing the Alta while traveling. I have replaced it with the Charge and have been happy with it for the couple of months that I have had it.
I have been satisfied with the function of the fitbit. My only complaint has been the bands. I especially like that the Alta and Charge link to my cell phone and show me texts and caller ids. I do not have to be on the same floor in my house for this to work. I don’t have a smart watch so this works for me.

 

[Katsmeow]

DH and I have had multiple Fitbits with really no problem. I had one a few years ago that ran down the battery quickly but it was exchanged quickly so no issue.

As far smartwatches, I would in a way love to do an Apple Watch. But, it has one huge disadvantage compared to a Fitbit. I wear my Fitbit 24/7. It only has to be charged every few days. I like the sleep tracking I get with the Fitbit.

Also I have 2 Fitbits on my account so I can wear one while charging the other.

The Apple Watch doesn't have the battery life to allow that so most people charge at night so you can't do the sleep tracking. Also, I think it is still the case that the Apple Watch doesn't do continuous heart rate monitoring except during exercise.

Those are both deal breakers for.

 

[AlbaCrush]

My band on my Fitbit broke at the one year mark. I called Fitbit and was just outside the one year warranty mark so they wouldn't replace it.They did give me a discount code for being a loyal customer. The code gave me a reduced price on a new Fitbit which was just $10 cheaper than Best Buy. I passed and will not buy another one. My daughter's also broke at the band and charger area.

 

[bltkmt]

DH and I have had multiple Fitbits with really no problem. I had one a few years ago that ran down the battery quickly but it was exchanged quickly so no issue.

As far smartwatches, I would in a way love to do an Apple Watch. But, it has one huge disadvantage compared to a Fitbit. I wear my Fitbit 24/7. It only has to be charged every few days. I like the sleep tracking I get with the Fitbit.

Also I have 2 Fitbits on my account so I can wear one while charging the other.

The Apple Watch doesn't have the battery life to allow that so most people charge at night so you can't do the sleep tracking. Also, I think it is still the case that the Apple Watch doesn't do continuous heart rate monitoring except during exercise.

Those are both deal breakers for.

+1 on these points. I would likely prefer the Apple watch but the short battery life is a deal breaker for me.

 

[Dd852]

+1 on these points. I would likely prefer the Apple watch but the short battery life is a deal breaker for me.

I have the latest model Apple Watch - I use it heavily, including tracking sleep all night, tracking workouts and streaming music, and I find charging while I’m in the shower in the morning and while I’m getting ready for bed is enough. I’ve never run out of power or even come close. I’m not an Apple salesman - but just wanted to say battery life simply hasn’t been an issue for me. When power is below 80% full it charges at the rate of about 1% per minute; above 80% about 1% every two minutes. So it really is pretty fast and easy to top up if needed.

 

[bltkmt]

^^ Good to know, thanks.

 

[Bestwifeever]

We moved to Apple Watches a month ago when DH was repairing his FB Charge with tiny pieces of duct tape and it would no longer hold a charge. Fitbit had slready replaced it once.

I find my Apple Watch battery lasts a couple of days (but I’m not superactive and don’t use all the features on the watch); it only takes two hours for a full charge (article from Apple re the watch’s battery: https://www.apple.com/watch/battery.html). DH is a swimmer and he is in awe that his watch automatically tracks not just that he is swimming but what stroke he is doing. He used FB for a long time but he loves the Apple Watch.

I hope Fitbit gets its quality issues resolved—it was such a great little product and the customer service used to be amazing.

 

[audreyh1]

DH and I have had multiple Fitbits with really no problem. I had one a few years ago that ran down the battery quickly but it was exchanged quickly so no issue.

As far smartwatches, I would in a way love to do an Apple Watch. But, it has one huge disadvantage compared to a Fitbit. I wear my Fitbit 24/7. It only has to be charged every few days. I like the sleep tracking I get with the Fitbit.

Also I have 2 Fitbits on my account so I can wear one while charging the other.

The Apple Watch doesn't have the battery life to allow that so most people charge at night so you can't do the sleep tracking. Also, I think it is still the case that the Apple Watch doesn't do continuous heart rate monitoring except during exercise.

Those are both deal breakers for.

The Apple Watch does do continuous heart monitoring now. The battery lasts at least a couple of days. You could sleep with it if you wanted. Charging takes an hour - maybe quite a bit less - you don’t have to do it overnight.

Looks like Dd852 figured it out.

 

[kgtest]

I use a garmin phoenix hr, with a custom fitness app. Love the watch, love the functionality. It allows me to track alpine ski runs I do, tracking with both GPS and GLONASS. Keeps track of my hear rate, sleep patterns, body temperature. Its an incredible little watch. battery is holding up over a year of constant use.

I lift, I swim, I train for marathons, I do extreme alpine skiing from 14-15 footers, and it's held up in all conditions.

 

[explanade]

My band on my Fitbit broke at the one year mark. I called Fitbit and was just outside the one year warranty mark so they wouldn't replace it.They did give me a discount code for being a loyal customer. The code gave me a reduced price on a new Fitbit which was just $10 cheaper than Best Buy. I passed and will not buy another one. My daughter's also broke at the band and charger area.

Try searching for bands on Amazon.

You can get no-name bands for less than $10.

 

[Texas Proud]

Try searching for bands on Amazon.

You can get no-name bands for less than $10.

The older versions did not have replaceable bands... if they blew up you were SOL...

That is my problem... if I could buy a replacement for $10 I would... BTW, we did with DWs newer fitbit as the band did break... but, easy fix... the cracked bezel is another story...

 

[gettingthere]

I have had a Fitbit Charge 2 for about a year. No issues with the band, operation or battery life.

I like tracking my steps, it reminds me to get off my butt & move. I also like the sleep tracker. I developed some poor sleep habits in my w*king years (from stress, worry, and middle-of-the-night support calls), and I am trying to improve in that area now that I am retired.

It does have some quirks, though.

When I use the snowblower, it thinks I have been bicycling . For some reason it does not do this when I push a shopping cart,or push my Mom in a wheelchair. It somehow knows I am walking then.

The sleep tracker sometimes does not work - I think if the band slips down on my wrist and is not tight enough, it can't read my heart rate. So there is an occasional sleepless night recorded when I actually slept just fine. I went to see a movie in a theater a couple weeks back, and it recorded a two-hour nap during that time.

I stopped wearing a wristwatch years ago, and was afraid this would be uncomfortable, but it's not. And now when I look at my wrist to check the time, I actually see the time (I never quite lost the habit of looking at my wrist when I stopped wearing a watch).

It seems to record stairs most of the time correctly. I read somewhere that it looks for a 10 foot change in elevation. So if I remember to raise my arm up when I get to the top of the stairs, it usually works, although sometimes it works without my doing that. (My ceilings are 8 feet).

Mine is supposed to be water resistant, and so far has done OK if I forget and wear it into the shower - I've removed it and towel-dried it pretty quickly the few times that's happened.

When I have it off for charging or showering, I usually clean it with some rubbing alcohol. My only complaint about the band (the original silicone one) is that it's fussy to buckle and get that little bump on the underside of the slide to fit into one of the holes on the band.

I have a few minor scratches on the face apparently from hitting it against something, but it does not affect anything. <edit - the Fitbit's face, not my face>

My main complaint is I seem to have a (hopefully-not-permanent) divot in my arm from the underside of the unit.

 

[Texas Proud]

I am now up to 9 things broken on 5 fitbits!!!


My original has now ripped the band... it is not like when my daughters kinda exploded around the main part, but the holes where you put the clasp has a rip in it... so one side of the hole is ripped through and the other side is still there.. so will not hold on your wrist...


Not sure how to fix this... might be time to try and find something else...


I just do not think that a $150 to $300 fitness band is a throw away item... call me silly...


I have been without for a few weeks and miss the info a bit and also miss having the time available when I need it... might have to get my watches working again

 

[explanade]

I have a Fitbit One which has to be recharged every couple of days.

I like the way it presents data and how small and unobtrusive it is.

If it dies, that will be it, I'll just wear my Apple Watch more frequently.

No way are any of the Fitbits worth what they're asking for.

 

[Katsmeow]

Wow, Texas Proud! You have had a lot of bad luck. I haven't really had those problems with my Fitbits. I do tend to buy inexpensive third party bands so if they go bad it isn't much money involved....

 

[tomc5179]

I used to have a couple of fitbits and had mixed results. I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 cell phone and on a whim bought a refurbished Gear S3 Frontier smartwatch off of Amazon probably a year and a half ago and I love it! Not one problem so far.

Wireless charging so no cables to hook up, 3 day battery life, auto-detects my exercises (elliptical and cycling as well as steps) my wifi only model will still let me place & receive calls (with excellent clarity) as long as I'm within 20-30 feet of the phone, etc.

The part I like best, though, is the companion app for the phone (Samsung Health) allows you to challenge other users to 10-100k step challenges and allows you to text them small messages back and forth! Very motivating for me.