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Fitbit Now Shipping Charge HR and Surge Fitness Bands
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a shame FitBit is so greedy w/ my data....no HealthKit support, no buy.
im aware of hacks to work-around the problem, but thats not for me or my family members id need to support. i want turn-key and i want it natively.
i sent my family to the Jawbone device line.
im aware of hacks to work-around the problem, but thats not for me or my family members id need to support. i want turn-key and i want it natively.
i sent my family to the Jawbone device line.
I'm probably going to get one.
I've been disappointed with my MS band. Its nice, but I've had issues with the GPS taking a long time to lock on a signal. I basically bring the watch outside now to start the run, then I go in and stretch, once I'm done, the watch is has a signal. I tried the keep running while it search for a GPS signal never works, I've done complete runs w/o it finding a GPS, but if I wait 2 minutes, before the run, it locks on
I've been disappointed with my MS band. Its nice, but I've had issues with the GPS taking a long time to lock on a signal. I basically bring the watch outside now to start the run, then I go in and stretch, once I'm done, the watch is has a signal. I tried the keep running while it search for a GPS signal never works, I've done complete runs w/o it finding a GPS, but if I wait 2 minutes, before the run, it locks on
Urgh. I really, really want the Charge HR, because it's looking like the best smart wearable on the market. But Fitbit still don't support HealthKit, which significantly reduces value for me.
I want a wearable with heart rate tracking, a display big enough to show the time, and a battery that lasts more than a day - oh, and HealthKit support. I hope Fitbit adds this last puzzle piece soon.
I want a wearable with heart rate tracking, a display big enough to show the time, and a battery that lasts more than a day - oh, and HealthKit support. I hope Fitbit adds this last puzzle piece soon.
Mine has been dead on when I'm using the HR monitor on my gym's elliptical machine. I've heard that the Surge has been losing connectivity when your HR goes above 170 though. I have yet to see this, but I don't usually take my heart rate up that high either. I use the Surge.
I saw a video on youtube comparing the Surge and the Charge HR and the Surge is more accurate in real time but the Charge HR catches up and the average is the same in the end. Not sure if that matters to you.
I went with the Surge over the Charge HR cause A. Charge HR sold out at Best Buy first and B. I like new tech and didn't want to wear both a Pebble and a Fitbit Charge HR at the same time, which I would have to do to get the functionality of the Surge and I'd still lose out on activity logging from the watch (which is a lot more useful than you'd think) and GPS. Also I know I'm in the minority here but I think the Surge is a decent looking watch, at very least compared to my Pebble.
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To be fair they said it's not something they're pursuing at the moment and may revisit it later. Not making excuses for them but maybe they felt like they have better things to do than go in and write code to share their data with a still unproven platform (reputation not withstanding) with no benefit to themselves. They also "sell" the more detailed data to you for $50 a year and that "could" eat into their profits.
They still might share the data in the future. But honestly I don't think it's even necessary. Fitbit's app is currently far superior to Healthkit, in both usability and user friendliness. Health app is currently uninviting and boring. Fitbit looks good keeps you competing with your friends and has very friendly icons and encouragement to keep working out.
I feel the same way about Nike Move+ app until recently. It's buggy as all hell since iOS8 and often times doesn't count my activities. Nike's best feature is "winning the hour" by moving for 5 minutes, you're supposed to win 7 a day. Today, it ignored a few of the hours that I know I had won.
Still not waterproof and thus no support for us swimmers. Biking and running and elliptical aren't the only forms of exercise. And since many experts say swimming is one of the best forms of I'm shocked that after all this time it's still not waterproof.
Deal breaker
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Fistly, it makes comparing steps, weight, and diet far easier. Second, the utter arrogance of FitBit in dealing with its customers, all you got back from them was PR spin, just turned me right off.
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it can't even display kilojoules!
I would recommend the Surge
I was fortunate enough to get my hands on the Surge almost a month ago, as part of their early release program. As a so called "fitness" buff," I wasn't even considering an iWatch. The iWatch lacks GPS and so it essentially requires you to have your iPhone with you at all time while running. I was comparing the surge more to other gps watches. The reason I chose Surge is because it automatically sinks via bluetooth to your computer or smartphone or tablet. I never have to dock it so I can instantly review runs and see steps, calories, heart rate on my phone. People made a big deal of Fitbit not integrating with apple's health kit, but their app is pretty good. A number of third party apps have popped up to remedy this, but I have no need for them because I don't have any other data that I am trying to aggregate with my fitbit data. Reported rumors on the iWatch also say it will needed to be charged almost nightly, which means it won't track sleep which is a huge negative for me.
Constant heart rate that I don't have to wear a chest strap for, gps, and great battery life made this the watch for me. The text and call notifications is very good too!
I honestly felt like I get MORE for $100 LESS.
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Works great with iOS 8... just download the fitbit app. Tracker automatically syncs data to app on the phone! What you probably meant was health kit integration... there are 3rd party apps for that already.
Additionally, any fitness buff would have to ask themselves, why buy the Surge, if for 100 bucks more you could have theWatch with it's ecosystem and no doubt zillions of Apps that are sure to follow.
I was fortunate enough to get my hands on the Surge almost a month ago, as part of their early release program. As a so called "fitness" buff," I wasn't even considering an iWatch. The iWatch lacks GPS and so it essentially requires you to have your iPhone with you at all time while running. I was comparing the surge more to other gps watches. The reason I chose Surge is because it automatically sinks via bluetooth to your computer or smartphone or tablet. I never have to dock it so I can instantly review runs and see steps, calories, heart rate on my phone. People made a big deal of Fitbit not integrating with apple's health kit, but their app is pretty good. A number of third party apps have popped up to remedy this, but I have no need for them because I don't have any other data that I am trying to aggregate with my fitbit data. Reported rumors on the iWatch also say it will needed to be charged almost nightly, which means it won't track sleep which is a huge negative for me.
Constant heart rate that I don't have to wear a chest strap for, gps, and great battery life made this the watch for me. The text and call notifications is very good too!
I honestly felt like I get MORE for $100 LESS.
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Works great with iOS 8... just download the fitbit app. Tracker automatically syncs data to app on the phone! What you probably meant was health kit integration... there are 3rd party apps for that already.
The Garmin FR220 is even being beat by the new Garmin Vivoactive. http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2015/01/vivoactive-smartwatch-vivofit2.html
The vivoactive with existing proven accurate HR monitors or even a 24/7 solution like the AmpStrip would be awesome.
How exactly are you judging or compparing the HR accuracey? Running a seperate HR stap at the same time maybe?
Most optical HR units are horrible with anything other than resting HR. Numerous reviews of numerous devices over the past two years show this.
Re:
The watch strap is fairly flexible rubber material and I find it to be very comfortable. Fitbit recommends you wear it a little looser throughout the day and then you can tighten it a notch or so when performing strenuous exercise. As far as sleeping goes I hardly notice it. I guess I am used to sleeping with watches on and the strap / face isn't much larger than a full sized men's athletic watch. Though it is listed as water resistant I take it off to shower and try to remember to take it off while doing dishes (though I sometime forget). Haven't had any issues when it has gotten wet.
The watch strap is fairly flexible rubber material and I find it to be very comfortable. Fitbit recommends you wear it a little looser throughout the day and then you can tighten it a notch or so when performing strenuous exercise. As far as sleeping goes I hardly notice it. I guess I am used to sleeping with watches on and the strap / face isn't much larger than a full sized men's athletic watch. Though it is listed as water resistant I take it off to shower and try to remember to take it off while doing dishes (though I sometime forget). Haven't had any issues when it has gotten wet.
The Elliptical machines at my gym have HR monitors on the handles. I wear my watch and I hold the handles. I look at my watch and look at the status on the machine... The results are 100% the same.
Now you can argue that the HR monitor on the elliptical isn't working but the odds of getting the exact same results on both my surge and the one built into the $4000 elliptical is pretty slim.
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A lot more comfortable than my Pebble. Actually it the most comfortable watch I've ever worn. The strap is soft. But it's so soft I'm afraid it could wear fast.
Well that settles it then. I am not getting either one. I like the flex that I have precisely because it is waterproof. It is limited in what it does, but steps, calories, and sleep time tracking is fine by me. I just wish it had longer battery life. I have to charge every 4-5 days.
Can't wait fir the Withings watch to become widely available. Waterproof and 8 months battery life and looks like a regular watch.
I received a Surge in early December as part of an early adopter program. It does show caller id and the first line of text and email messages (you can tap to see the rest). You can also control your iTunes while you exercise but I haven't really taken advantage of those features. The battery life has exceeded the 5 day estimates except when using the GPS heavily. Heart rate, activity, and sync happen all day long so you don't have to remember any of it. It starts recording your sleep without having to put it into a special mode like I did with my jawbone up band. It's completely replaced my Garmin 800 and heart rate band for my cycling, which is really great because I'd often forget to put the chest strap on until ten miles out. If anyone has specific questions I'd be glad to answer them.