Fitbit Blaze, worth buying?

Hybrice

Hi guys, I've always had fitbit devices, right back from the flex, charge, charge HR now I'm eying up the Blaze with extreme interest.

From anyone who has one, how would you rate it? It it good to use day to day? What's the battery life like? Is the screen nice and fast or is it slow like a cheap tablet?

many thanks,
Matt

Azercord

I've had mine for a week and I'm loving it (this is my first fitbit device). The screen is fast and responsive, it stayed linked to my phone even at a distance (I had my watch buzz in a meeting at about 100' and through 3 walls), and I just charge it every other day during my shower since I take it off anyways and have never seen anything below half battery.

I can't compare it to past models but I like it so far.

vaporhockey83

I had the Surge and One. I love the Blaze. It's basically the Surge without GPS (you can track GPS, but the watch uses your phone's GPS...so you have to have your phone handy to use GPS tracking...edit...) but with a colored screen. You can also control music (I'm guessing via your phone...haven't tested it out yet) through the touch screen. The screen itself is beautiful and it enhances a "watch" feeling. Toss in the fact that you can purchase a new band to fit your style (leather, stainless steel), I like the idea of making it fancier if you like. You can pop the tracker out of the band easily (which is how it charges....it's different than any of the previous charging options...the face sits inside a cradle). Aside from not having the GPS, it really is a lot like the Surge just with the color screen. I like it so far. It has a "FitStar" option which is something Fitbit acquired. It's like a small on screen trainer, but it really isn't anything special. I'm babbling...anyway...yes I love it. I would recommend it. Especially if you don't want to spend an additional $50 for the Surge for GPS and a much less attractive (IMO) band/watch.

NemEhes

I absolutely love my Blaze. I had a flex and charge HR before this. It doesn't feel cheap and the battery lasts slightly more than 3 days for me.

FitPhillygirl

I didn't like the Blaze and returned it. The first one I bought was a large when I should have waited for a small to come in stock. This resulted in inaccurate HR reporting (so I thought). Bought a small in order to give it a fair trial, however, it ended up doing the same things. Miles recorded were off by almost a mile even though I had my correct stride in Fitbits website. I have the same stride listed in Garmin Connect and the miles are spot on. Even using the Blaze Dirrect connect feature resulted in my walks being off by as much as a half a mile. I thought the first one was ok until I tested that same route using Mapmyfitness and my iPhones HealthKit app. Fitbits forums are reporting this as a bug that "might" be corrected with a software update.
The HR sensor is another thing that was off on both the first and second one. I gave it a pass as far as using it for HIIT workouts since that is something that most optical HR sensors have issues with. The second one I had was having trouble with my resting HR too, though. While sitting in a chair my HR sits between 48 to 56. The Blaze said it was as high as 68 to 72 which is never the case for me given how active I am.
Exercising with the Blaze was another annoyance the minute I began sweating as it kept sliding back down to my hand no matter how tight I had the band. This resulted in the HR sensor failing to pick up my HR until I pushed it back up my arm again. I had to do this several times during my speed walks and HIIT workouts with the Blaze.
The Blaze is also very hard to read in direct sunlight which made it very hard to see my stats while working out outdoors.
Negatives aside, I did think the band was comfortable to wear all day. The touchscreen was very responsive and durable. I banged it around a few times at work and it never got a scratch on it so I think this is a plus for Fitbits use of Gorilla Glass for the screen. Overall I think the Blaze will be good for moderately active person. But very active people may want to look at other fitness trackers.. I'm going to try the Alta just for my sleep and step counting and keep using my Polar with chest strap for my workouts.

GBO323

Worth a re-post here. I posted this in it's own thread....

Ok, a little less than a week, but I've had my first battery cycle and want to post my First Impression here. On a history note, I've used FitBits starting with the Zip, One, Force, Surge, and now the Blaze. It's linked with MyFitnessPal and is an important part of my Health Universe.

Received it on Monday afternoon along with the accessory Leather Watch Band. FitBit's original bands rash out my skin. I converted steps already taken for the day from S2 Smartwatch into the FitBit. Yes, there is a way to manually report steps.

Slight ding for lack of simplified instruction manual. Went to website, loaded up my Windows10 Fitbit app and connected it up. Initial firmware download took about 20 minutes. No issues. Went back to work. Placed on charger to get through rest of day while at my desk.

Set up the Call/Text/Calendar notifications. Default Samsung Text app only gave me Text notification. Switching to Google Messenger/SMS now gives me Notification and Text message. I did not opt for Classic Bluetooth connection for music since I want to save battery and work the music on my phone. I don't care for a full smartwatch experience, so not speaking commands to it or seeing weather, etc is bonus for me.

Turned off the Heart Rate Monitor. My experience with the Surge was that I got almost twice the calories burned back vs not using it. And, I want to save battery. Too many posts from others with same experience.

Set display to Max. Hard to see it otherwise outside or in bright lights.

Leather band is quite comfortable. 6 days on and no rash.

Battery. I'm impressed. Placed it on charger all night Monday and put it on wrist Tuesday morning, 7am. Got an "Empty Battery" icon on Saturday morning at 10:30a. That is 4 days and 3 hours of battery life. While I have HR turned off and no classic Bluetooth used, I do utilize all of the notifications and max brightness. My hope was 4 days and Fitbit nailed it.

I use original clock face and tap it to always see steps. A feature the Surge is sorely missing. Hope more watch faces are coming...or better yet, a watchface creator.

The screen is easy to read. Liking the touch screen function vs messing with the side buttons at times.

Step count seems to be accurate when I've checked it.

The ConnectedGPS feature is easier to use then people make it out to be. I like being able to sort the exercises on the FitBit app so I can get right to my Bike verses scrolling to find. Once I pick it, it's easy to start the GPS exercise. Once done, I see it on the App map and FitBit Activity Log.

Vibrations are just enough to get my attention.

Reaching Goal vibrates the Watch and blows up colors. Nice touch.

I'm glad to have gotten 4 days of battery. Having to take the watch off and pop the unit out of the band and placing it into the cheap feeling boxee charging station is a strange way to have designed this process. And for now, replacement chargers aren't available. Hopeful that the FitBit unit will handle being popped in and out regularly. Glad it isn't nightly. Still better than the Surge charging cable that always popped out.

Overall, I am pleased with the Blaze. It's the right mix of functional and battery life. With a few tweaks, FitBit will continue to reign supreme on the Fitness Tracker market.