Charge 2 lower quality than Charge HR?

ParadiseLost91

Hi guys,

I have owned a Fitbit Charge HR since May this year. I decided to get the new Charge 2 as it looks pretty cool and I like the new features.

However, I just got it in the mail today, and at first I thought "did I buy this off a hoax site"? (I did by it on the official Fitbit site though).
I immediatly noticed that the material felt weird and NOT like the one I already have.

Now I get changing the material for something better when you release a new product. But this really feels like a downgrade.
The band on the Charge HR is nice and soft, very comfortable and easy to wear.
The band on the new Charge 2 feels extremely cheap, stiff and plastic-y. I feel like I'm wearing a crappy plastic bracelet from a discount shop!

I am just so disappointed and wanted to know if anyone else noticed this and feels the same. With a product this expensive (I'm a student), I just expect a quality that is nice to wear. The least they could have done was keep the same nice, soft quality band of the old Charge HR, instead of cutting expenses and now using a crappy stiff plastic band. It's not comfortable to wear at all. And it's not nice knowing you spent a lot of money, and then feel like you're walking around with a piece of crappy plastic on your arm. I want to feel good when I wear my Fitbit.

Ugh so gutted. I know you can buy leather straps and stuff, but that won't work for excersise.

What is your experience with the new Charge 2? Do you notice a downgrade in quality from the Charge HR?

lsny123

I just ordered mine. It should arrive Monday. I will let you know. I am wondering if they changed up the material of the band because they had many complaints of the band on the Charge HR peeling up and bubbling?

NancyN795

I'll get mine next week as well. If the band is that bad, I'll probably end up getting another band for it at some point - maybe from a 3rd party, once someone makes them. In the pictures on their web site, the material looks pretty similar - just a slightly different texture - but it's hard to tell much from pictures.

I'm a little worried about the sizing. I fit nicely into the middle of the range for the large on my Charge HR, but I'm right on the cusp of small/large for the Charge 2. I ordered a large because it said to size up if you're "between sizes". But now, I was just reading a review on Amazon and that person said to go smaller. Oh well, I guess I'll find out next week (Monday, I hope).

ParadiseLost91

Thanks for your thoughts.
It might be very possible that they changed it because of complaints. The new band is a bit harder/stiffer, maybe to prevent previous issues with the old Charge HR (I never had those issues though, but many people did).

Good idea to look put for 3rd party bands, I'm sure someone will start making them at one point.

About sizing.. I an in the smallest 2/3 of the Large band on my Charge HR (if that makes sense).
Therefore I ordered a Large again for my Charge 2, bbut the band seems bigger. I am actually in the innermost 3rd hole on this band. On my Charge HR I am further out. So I might actually agree with that Amazon rewiever, I am actually wondering if I should have ordered a small. Now I just have a huge flap of unused band haha.

NancyN795

ParadiseLost91 wrote: »

About sizing.. I an in the smallest 2/3 of the Large band on my Charge HR (if that makes sense).
Therefore I ordered a Large again for my Charge 2, bbut the band seems bigger. I am actually in the innermost 3rd hole on this band. On my Charge HR I am further out. So I might actually agree with that Amazon rewiever, I am actually wondering if I should have ordered a small. Now I just have a huge flap of unused band haha.

I'm on the innermost 4th hole on my Charge HR and I occasionally tighten it up to the 3rd hole. (When I got it, I used the 5th hole most of the time, but my wrist has shrunk a little.) My Charge 2 is supposed to arrive Tuesday - I hope it isn't hopelessly too large.

My Charge HR band has a small bubble on it, but not where it connects to the display, so it isn't a problem. I can see where it would be an issue if it bubbled right at the display and I can imagine that Fitbit needed to change the band material if the bubbling was inherent in the material.

lsny123

I received my new Charge 2 this weekend. I am happy with it and the band. I find that the band is just as soft if not softer than the band on my Charge HR. I ordered the Teal colored band.

TinaDiMarcoTX

I went from the ChargeHR to the Charge2 a few days ago. I don't find any issue with the band. It seems thinner a bit which I like because it is softer and more flexible.

NancyN795

Mine just arrived. I've set it up and it is charging. My initial impression is that the band material is pretty similar to the band on my Charge HR. The band size is okay, I'm on the second hole from the minimum size, so I guess I'd better hope my wrist doesn't shrink a lot more.

The design of the charging cable is so much better! That's what failed on my Charge HR - the back came off probably due to repeated plugging and unplugging of the cable. This one clips around the device, so it doesn't need to stress the tracker to plug it in or unplug it.

Naruya8

I've had my Charge 2 since saturday and I like it. I haven't had a Fitbit before so I can't really compare them, but from the other fitness bands I've tried the quality seems fine. It fits me really well and the band is soft enough that I don't notice it being on my wrist. I am thinking of buying a leather band for it so it'll look better when I'm at work etc. Does anyone have any experience with leather bands for Fitbits?

lsny123

The agree the charging cable is much better on the Charge 2. I had trouble keeping my Charge HR cable plugged into the tracker. It wanted to pop out.