thanks @spush and @japkoo i'll have to check them out and compare. the zip is such a cute little thing lol. but i think i want one that tracks the sleep patterns, though i'm not sure how that all actually works. I've bought too many tax return gifts to myself lately lol, but this one is for health so it's different

Joined the fitbit group. I tend to ignore the food log on my dashboard, and have had troubles in the past with the app not updating. I ended up turning off the update to MFP for cals and now just eat to the same amount on MFP daily--1450 cals, ignoring exercise. I originally got the fitbit One so I could figure out my TDEE, and that is on average about 1850 cals. This appears to be a deficit, but I am not losing anymore, just maintaining.

edit: I just checked online on fitbit.com, and found that once again, it reset my birthday! for some strange reason, every time the app gets updated, my birthday is set to 1970. So I am minus 13 years... I reset it manually in the app, and then the website follows that.

thanks i think i might order one today

We looked at the Charge (not the Charge HR) in JB Hifi a couple of days ago and they had them in black, dark grey or a kind of dark but silver blue. We didn't look at the HR though.

Stbarber1 wrote: »

thanks @spush and @japkoo i'll have to check them out and compare. the zip is such a cute little thing lol. but i think i want one that tracks the sleep patterns, though i'm not sure how that all actually works. I've bought too many tax return gifts to myself lately lol, but this one is for health so it's different

I had the Zip and upgraded to the One.

Couple reasons: Chargeable vs battery swapping, tracks stairs and lets me track sleep. Also, I can clip it on or slip it in my pocket. Was not interested in a wrist band style.

If you're not bothered about stair count get a zip. Otherwise Charge is good and alerts you if your mobile rings.

I was actually just watching YouTube videos trying to figure out which one to buy. The charge hr seems more slender and girl like but the ratings say the heart rate monitor is better on the surge... the surge (at least in the videos) looks more bulky like a man watch. Any feedback between the two?

winninglosing43 wrote: »

I was actually just watching YouTube videos trying to figure out which one to buy. The charge hr seems more slender and girl like but the ratings say the heart rate monitor is better on the surge... the surge (at least in the videos) looks more bulky like a man watch. Any feedback between the two?

I haven't seen any differences in the accuracy of the HRM between the two devices, and I've taken my resting heart rate manually and my Charge is pretty close to my count. I don't really see how the HRM on the two devices could differ by very much, given they're the same generation of the same technology. Odds are, wrist placement and tightness of the band are going to cause more variances than the devices.

I wrote a response to a similar question in the Fitbit Users group. I'll repost it here, too:

In my opinion? Not really worth the price difference. My husband has the Surge, and I have the Charge HR.

The Surge is basically a smart watch. It's also huge. Seriously, if you have small wrists, it will likely look weird. It's very much a "men's size" device at about twice the width of the Charge.

Functionally, the only real benefit over the Charge HR is that you don't need to wake it up to get the time, and maybe that it has a touch screen (I say maybe, because there's no brightness control to my knowledge; touch that thing accidentally once after going to bed and you'll likely regret it; it's definitely a double-edged sword).

The GPS feature on the Surge kills the battery. We're talking 7 days without GPS on, 5 hours with it on (suffice to say, it's not meant to be doing GPS stuff all the time).

I can't speak to the other stuff, but frankly, if you're going to use most of that stuff, you need your smartphone with you anyway, and if you have your phone with you, you might as well use the Fitbit app and your phone for the things the Fitbit device lacks. It's a marginal convenience upgrade for the most part to not have to dig out your phone to do something like change the song or volume.

That said, if you're a gadget nerd and like the idea of a smart watch, the Surge will likely ultimately save you money (no need for a separate smart watch). Likewise, it may be a bit of a headache saver if you tend to bury your phone in a backpack or other kind of bag when out and about.