Fitbit or Apple watch?

[ET iPhone Home]

'Surge' Wireless Fitness Watch $249.00

A sleek, sporty watch motivates you to achieve your fitness goals by calculating GPS distance, calories burned, elevation climbed and steps taken throughout the day and features a low-profile touchscreen display to indicate your real-time progress. The Surge wirelessly syncs your stats to your computer or smartphone, then measures hours and quality of sleep before silently waking you with a vibrating alarm in the morning. PurePulse heart rate monitoring keeps a continuous tab on your heart rate and offers simplified rate zones for easy tracking. The included mobile app lets you track your food intake, graph your progress and watch for important trends across time, helping you achieve your training, sleep and fitness goals. The band displays syncs with your smartphone to display caller ID, text messages and allow control of your mobile playlists.

1 1/2" band width.
Compatible with iOS, Android and Windows.
Rubber.
By Fitbit; imported.

According to this general information on Fitbit, its stated, that it syncs and is compatible to iOS and displays caller ID and text messages, but does anyone here recommend this particular model? Would I be able to text from the watch display or does it just act as a notification?

I'm not sure if I want to spend more money on an Apple watch if I won't utilize the watch to its capacity and was wondering if this is a decent alternative for use as a fitness watch only? Does anyone have this and would recommend it?

 

[leeingham]

Ive had the Jawbone Up v2, the Up24 and the Fuelband and the Fuelband SE

I was going to get the Surge but heard not that fantastic reviews about it

 

[ParishYoung]

Had a Jabone for over a year. All fitness trackers are great at getting you started with monitoring your activity. The issues is (in my opinion) is that you quickly exhaust the features and want for more things and within 6 months you'll probably want the extra features of the Apple Watch.

FitBit doesn't play nice with Health app either.

Check here for further discussion:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1883575/

 

[brittany0613]

My husband and I both had Fitbit Surges and we wore them off and on for about a month to six weeks and bailed on them. They are horribly ugly, clunky devices that are not comfortable to wear at all. We sold them in preparation for the Apple Watch. The only thing the Surge has that I wish the Apple Watch had is sleep tracking, but I am confident there will be sleep tracking integrated into the watch at some point.

Also to answer your question about texting, you cannot text from the Surge. It is simply a notification.

 

[taff2003]

I owned a Fitbit Charge HR prior to owning the Apple Watch. (Not a Surge, I know, but I suspect the HR technology is similar...)

After months of use in the gym, I found the Fitbit heart rate monitor struggled to keep track of my heart beat, especially when doing interval training where your heart beat would rise quickly.

My brief experimentation with the AW in the gym (especially when you discover the right way for you to wear the band during exercise) is more accurate by a decent margin.

 

[starbot]

From what I've seen the Surge is much chunkier/uglier on wrist than in pics.

Otherwise, if you have an iPhone, and do not mind that the AW does not have GPS built-in, I think you're far better-off with the AW.

If you're already spending $249 for a premium fitness device, I'd throw another $100 in and get a significantly more attractive, more useful device. Again, unless built-in GPS is really a killer feature for you.

Regarding HR, I found the AW horrible until I move it up my wrist an inch. I'd never wear it day-to-day like this, just for workouts.

 

[PharmD]

I had a Surge and used it since January until my watch came this week. Overall it is a good device. GPS accuracy was hit and miss but usually accurate. It is notification only for text and calls. I didn't think it was clunky until I put on my AW next to it and was amazed at the difference. In the end I returned it. Although it is a nice product if you are in the fitbit family, it cannot compete with the AW functionality. FB not playing nice with Healthkit was a major turnoff.

 

[susan12369]

From what I've seen the Surge is much chunkier/uglier on wrist than in pics.

Otherwise, if you have an iPhone, and do not mind that the AW does not have GPS built-in, I think you're far better-off with the AW.

If you're already spending $249 for a premium fitness device, I'd throw another $100 in and get a significantly more attractive, more useful device. Again, unless built-in GPS is really a killer feature for you.

Regarding HR, I found the AW horrible until I move it up my wrist an inch. I'd never wear it day-to-day like this, just for workouts.

For me, it came down to getting a watch that I would wear every day because I liked the way it looked and felt. I don't like the look of Fitbit, so I wouldn't be inclined to wear it every day. I love the look of the Apple watch, so I don't have to think twice about wearing it every day. Worth the extra money for me to get something I want to wear instead of something I feel like I should wear.

 

[Newtons Apple]

Been using the Surge for months now.

Likes:
time display all the time - no pushing a button
cheap
GPS locates in only a few seconds and is accurate for me.

dislikes:
GPS eats the battery fast
iPhone notifications a hit or miss for me.
It is ugly

Prefer the Apple watch but I am STILL WAITING!

 

[pragmatous]

I had the jawbone up 24 but it kept breaking. I had it replaced once. Second time it doesn't work right. The rubber wears out. So I benched it and waited for the iwatch. I like the iwatch a lot better. It has everything I need in a fitness band plus it does everything else. If you already have an iphone the iwatch is a no brainer. Otherwise you may want to just get one of those fitness bands.

 

[ET iPhone Home]

Glad I asked - THANK YOU ALL!. I had no idea Fitbit would receive a generally negative user experience response over the Apple watch. Well, Apple watch here I come.

 

[PedCrossing]

I almost got a Fitbit last year, but the fact that they won't make their app compatible with HealthKit turned me away(Yes I know you could do it with third party apps). Jawbones break all the time so it's not an option but I really liked the stand up notifications. After reading a report saying the Microsoft band will be compatible with HealthKit I went for it, but HealthKit compatibility never came and it was unbelievably uncomfortable. I'm happy I have my apple watch now.

 

[dthmtlgod]

I almost got a Fitbit last year, but the fact that they won't make their app compatible with HealthKit turned me away(Yes I know you could do it with third party apps). Jawbones break all the time so it's not an option but I really liked the stand up notifications. After reading a report saying the Microsoft band will be compatible with HealthKit I went for it, but HealthKit compatibility never came and it was unbelievably uncomfortable. I'm happy I have my apple watch now.

Microsoft Band +1 - the latest upgrade is great. Love mines, but i admit i will probably get an AW too on an impulse buy when they are available in the store.

 

[iluvgadgets]

I have just the regular Fitbit and the apple watch. I've been comparing the two fir my activity monitoring. I basically like the Fitbit for the different challenges I can do with my friends, keeps me motivated . We have a group that does the workweek challenge. I use my apple watch to remind me to move and challenge myself with the activity rings.
I am starting to respond to texts on it and other things.

 

[Mac 128]

Considering how many more things the Watch does over the Surge, I'd spend the extra $100 and get the Watch. If you were only going to get the $100 Flex or the Charge, I'd say get the Fitbit, because your needs were different, as $250 is substantially more. But I definitely see the justification for the extra $100 between the Surge and Watch.

 

[papbot]

Glad I asked - THANK YOU ALL!. I had no idea Fitbit would receive a generally negative user experience response over the Apple watch. Well, Apple watch here I come.

I think it depends heavily on what your primary interest in the device is. I have no interest in a Fitbit or any of the other similar devices. Prior to the Apple Watch rumors I had considered the possibility of getting a Pebble because I could envision the convenience of its communication abilities. When the A watch became a reality I knew that's what I wanted - something very nice looking ( I have a Rolex I would be wearing otherwise )and something that would offer me the convenience of not having to always dig my phone out of a jacket, pocket or bag.

The activity and HR functions were just extras for me that have proved quite useful. However if that was my only interest I don't think I'd spend this kind of money, and would wind up looking at a Fibit.

 

[JnDRader]

My wife wanted a fitbit but I convinced her the extra $100 for the AW would be worth it for her. She always gets calls and texts and an AW should allow her to check those much easier than digging out her phone. The trick will still be getting her to realize she can text someone back 15 min's later after we're done going for our walk than stopping and typing a book for a reply lol!

 

[Planepics]

Ive been using a fitbit for about a year. There is no comparison with the watch. This thing is amazing, for me. Does all the stuff the fitbit does, except monitor sleep patterns, but it then does so much more. Best decision i made in a long time. Fitbit going to son tomorrow!

 

[malochico1]

hopefully there will be an app soon for sleep pattern. maybe sleep cycle will do an update for apple watch! that would be perfect!

 

[OneMike]

Depends what you want. My wife uses the fit bit and loves it. To me the Apple watch is a better choice

 

[Planepics]

Depends what you want. My wife uses the fit bit and loves it. To me the Apple watch is a better choice

Me too, by far.

 

[acctman]

Fitbit the company is still pissed at Apple and is anti-Health App. You'll have to get a third party app to port the info over. Price wise you're probably going to spend about 100$ more for the AW vs Fitbit. I'd going with the AW Sport more bang for your buck. You won't be limited to just the Fitbit App, although a lot of the more popular fitness app have some basic Fitbit stats importing.

 

[Crazy Matt]

Microsoft Band +1 - the latest upgrade is great. Love mines, but i admit i will probably get an AW too on an impulse buy when they are available in the store.

I really love my Microsoft Band also. I've limited its use to sleep tracking now that I have the AW. But it is a great piece of tech, however, I wish it integrated with the iPhone a little better and I wish they'd go ahead and bring Cortana to iOS!

 

[ET iPhone Home]

hopefully there will be an app soon for sleep pattern. maybe sleep cycle will do an update for apple watch! that would be perfect!

I thought the AW had a sleep app. That's one of the apps I'd used most of. I have bad sleep patterns.