Is the Fitbit Hr and Fitbit Surge worth it?

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Kasymira
Kasymira Posts: 88 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am thinking of getting it and was wondering what everyone thought about the device. :)

Replies

  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
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    i have a garmin vivosmart and i like it. it helps me keep a better eye on what i can eat.
  • Sagetheplace
    Sagetheplace Posts: 74 Member
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    Love my fitbit chargeHr! I used to use a polar ft4 which I liked but it kept messing up after replacing it 2 times in a year I decided to try the fitbit chargeHr. I love that is does Heart rate without having to put a chest strap on...and seems mostly accurate compared to the numbers i was getting from my polar. I also find bc the fitbit it tracking my steps all the time It makes me want to do a little more all day and move more often :smile:
  • DaddieCat
    DaddieCat Posts: 3,646 Member
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    I have a surge. Personally, I love it, but I don't think there is much value that the hr won't provide. It's really up to how you intend to use it.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    I have the Surge and love it.
    If your just wanting a basic fitbit with a HRM go with the ChargeHR. I don't see any reason for anyone to pay an extra $100 for extra features they won't use.

    I love Fitbit's in general. I started with the Zip in 2013 (still works even after going through the wash once btw) and after about 9 months switched to the Flex. Then earlier this year I switched to the Surge. The other 2 models I had underestimated my daily calorie burn by 200 per day on average. The addition of the HRM is giving me a calorie burn that so far seems to line up with my actual TDEE.
    I love the GPS feature and use it frequently. I love the various workout modes and use those a lot as well.
    Being able to read my texts on my watch is nice when my phone isn't easily accessible, but I could honestly live without it.
    There was an update recently that added a timer I believe to the menu, but I haven't taken a look at it yet.
    Overall I love it.
  • sscarmack
    sscarmack Posts: 210 Member
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    I had both, surge and HR, while the surge was great and had a lot of cool features. I felt it was a little too big. The HR is perfect and still has plenty of features.
  • nyponbell
    nyponbell Posts: 379 Member
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    I have the Charge HR and I love it. It's a great tool and encouraging too -- it reminds me that I've not walked enough that particular day to warrant that bar of chocolate (not actually reminding me of course, but when I look at it, which I do, sometimes obsessively) and to get me out on a walk. And whenever I have a very active day it helps me make sure I'm eating more to make up for it. Usually my active days are just regular days with added walking, and I might not take that into account when I do my meal planning; so having a device tell me that I should be eating 1000 calories more today because I've already burned 3k is essential for me so I don't end up getting ill.

    So if you're worried about the cost; unless you are financially strapped and need to save up for it (and I personally would still think it was worth it, but you have to decide that for yourself) it's a one-time expense that you won't really "feel" more than hopefully once. But the benefits you will get from it will be daily.
  • Jessyd76
    Jessyd76 Posts: 539 Member
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    I upgraded from the flex to the Charge HR about 3 weeks ago. VERY happy with my decision. I wanted a more accurate estimate of my calorie burn for workouts as well as the motivation of the step challenges that I had from the flex.

    Not a big fan of how often I need to charge it - every 3 days. But that's the only negative in my mind.

    Even with that as a negative, I'm a big fan!
  • nyponbell
    nyponbell Posts: 379 Member
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    Jessyd76 wrote: »
    I upgraded from the flex to the Charge HR about 3 weeks ago. VERY happy with my decision. I wanted a more accurate estimate of my calorie burn for workouts as well as the motivation of the step challenges that I had from the flex.

    Not a big fan of how often I need to charge it - every 3 days. But that's the only negative in my mind.

    Even with that as a negative, I'm a big fan!

    I agree with the charging it; but I figure it's because I check it all the time and have the "track exercise" mode on two-three times a day (most days), which probably drains more battery. That said, my battery died over the summer when I was working away from home all day with no way to charge it; when I came home, it turns out that it had still counted my steps. I don't know how accurately it had done so that particular day (it might've been a point when it stopped) but at least there is a little bit of lee-way there, if you are unable to charge it right away when it dies.
  • DaddieCat
    DaddieCat Posts: 3,646 Member
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    nyponbell wrote: »
    Jessyd76 wrote: »
    I upgraded from the flex to the Charge HR about 3 weeks ago. VERY happy with my decision. I wanted a more accurate estimate of my calorie burn for workouts as well as the motivation of the step challenges that I had from the flex.

    Not a big fan of how often I need to charge it - every 3 days. But that's the only negative in my mind.

    Even with that as a negative, I'm a big fan!

    I agree with the charging it; but I figure it's because I check it all the time and have the "track exercise" mode on two-three times a day (most days), which probably drains more battery. That said, my battery died over the summer when I was working away from home all day with no way to charge it; when I came home, it turns out that it had still counted my steps. I don't know how accurately it had done so that particular day (it might've been a point when it stopped) but at least there is a little bit of lee-way there, if you are unable to charge it right away when it dies.

    It estimated based on your averages. That's been a feature for a while, actually.
  • revolucia78
    revolucia78 Posts: 196 Member
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    Look into the Polar a300 with HRM, I love mine. I had a Polar before this too. I had it for years and it never failed on me. The Polar Flow app syncs with MFP and it tracks steps, sleep, and all other activity. It syncs wirelessly with the app so you can see your progress throughout the day and it beeps and tells me when I've been sitting for too long and when I've reached my activity goal for the day. The HR part has different profiles so you can track activity separately, such as weight training versus running, etc. My boyfriend has a Fitbit and I feel like they WAY overestimate steps (I've heard that from others on MFP too).
  • DaddieCat
    DaddieCat Posts: 3,646 Member
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    MsMarvel27 wrote: »
    Look into the Polar a300 with HRM, I love mine. I had a Polar before this too. I had it for years and it never failed on me. The Polar Flow app syncs with MFP and it tracks steps, sleep, and all other activity. It syncs wirelessly with the app so you can see your progress throughout the day and it beeps and tells me when I've been sitting for too long and when I've reached my activity goal for the day. The HR part has different profiles so you can track activity separately, such as weight training versus running, etc. My boyfriend has a Fitbit and I feel like they WAY overestimate steps (I've heard that from others on MFP too).

    Different models of fitbit do different things and some models do all of these things that you mention. Some models are also notorious for overestimating, but it's usually older models and not the newer ones. The key to having accurate step counts in fitbit is to manually input your stride length. They added that feature to improve accuracy because your stride length may be very different than mine (32-34 inches) this can drastically change how many steps it reads.
  • Kasymira
    Kasymira Posts: 88 Member
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    Thank you everyone for your experience and advice. I've decided to go with the HR, since I don't need all those fancy features that the surge offers (:
  • nyponbell
    nyponbell Posts: 379 Member
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    BecomingBane wrote: »
    nyponbell wrote: »
    Jessyd76 wrote: »
    I upgraded from the flex to the Charge HR about 3 weeks ago. VERY happy with my decision. I wanted a more accurate estimate of my calorie burn for workouts as well as the motivation of the step challenges that I had from the flex.

    Not a big fan of how often I need to charge it - every 3 days. But that's the only negative in my mind.

    Even with that as a negative, I'm a big fan!

    I agree with the charging it; but I figure it's because I check it all the time and have the "track exercise" mode on two-three times a day (most days), which probably drains more battery. That said, my battery died over the summer when I was working away from home all day with no way to charge it; when I came home, it turns out that it had still counted my steps. I don't know how accurately it had done so that particular day (it might've been a point when it stopped) but at least there is a little bit of lee-way there, if you are unable to charge it right away when it dies.

    It estimated based on your averages. That's been a feature for a while, actually.

    I didn't know that. That day I walked a lot more than average (I had only had it for maybe three weeks at that time, so it didn't have "a lot" of data) and the count reflected that, even if it wasn't accurate.
  • revolucia78
    revolucia78 Posts: 196 Member
    edited October 2015
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    BecomingBane wrote: »
    MsMarvel27 wrote: »
    Look into the Polar a300 with HRM, I love mine. I had a Polar before this too. I had it for years and it never failed on me. The Polar Flow app syncs with MFP and it tracks steps, sleep, and all other activity. It syncs wirelessly with the app so you can see your progress throughout the day and it beeps and tells me when I've been sitting for too long and when I've reached my activity goal for the day. The HR part has different profiles so you can track activity separately, such as weight training versus running, etc. My boyfriend has a Fitbit and I feel like they WAY overestimate steps (I've heard that from others on MFP too).

    Different models of fitbit do different things and some models do all of these things that you mention. Some models are also notorious for overestimating, but it's usually older models and not the newer ones. The key to having accurate step counts in fitbit is to manually input your stride length. They added that feature to improve accuracy because your stride length may be very different than mine (32-34 inches) this can drastically change how many steps it reads.

    Thanks, good to know. I'm sure they do have FitBits that do the same - I'm just talking from my own experience. I love Polar so I was more-so telling the OP about other options out there. I'll let my boyfriend know about the stride length adjustment.
  • desweds
    desweds Posts: 126 Member
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    I love my Fitbit Surge.

    1) It tracks my steps with uncanny accuracy.
    2) It tracks my heart-rate (although I wish it had a "Your HR is too high!" warning buzzer).
    3) It syncs about as well with MFP as anything (there are a few tweaks but there's a whole forum on here for that).
    4) It's a perfectly functional wristwatch otherwise (date and Time with backlight)
    5) It tracks my sleep perfectly

    Now, everything I just described is also done on the next cheaper down Fitbit. but the one thing the surge does that the others do not is GPS. It tracks all my runs, cycling, etc. Which is worth the extra money for me. If you plan to run, walk or bike than I say go for the surge.

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    Mine is all beat up but still runs great. It only comes off when I'm in the shower. (It can handle the shower as well but that's when I charge it).

    mx5w49mw1w5e.jpg

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