Confused about pairing to tablets

[Julysea]

Hi all,

I am very confused about pairing and syncing a Fitbit to a tablet. I recently lost my old Fitbit One and replaced it with a Charge 2. The new Charge 2 will not pair with my laptop (Lenovo, running Windows 8.1) using the Fitbit dongle, for reasons I can't work out. My phone is way too old to sync with it and I don't want to replace the phone. I have been thinking of buying a tablet for a while, but I really need it to be compatible with my Charge 2. But, from what I can see, there are only a very few makes and models which are supported by Fitbit? Is that really true? I'm having a lot of trouble tracking down hard and fast information on which tablets will definitely be compatible before I spend another lot of money. Anyone any help or experience or suggestions or info? Thanks in advance. 

[RobertoME · Accepted solution]

Hello @Julysea, good to see you one more time in the Fitbit Community! I'm really sorry to hear you good old Fitbit One tracker was lost. 

About using Windows 8.1 note that since beginning on April 28, 2016 the Fitbit app for Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 were no longer available to download and neither support our new trackers such as Fitbit Charge 2 and most recent models. Have you reviewed if is not possible to upgrade your computer to Windows 10?  It would be one option to use our redesigned and enhanced Fitbit app for Windows 10 to sync your tracker.

Now about your query regarding to buy a tablet. My recommendation is to make sure the model you are going to obtain is listed as compatible. There are many devices out there that despite are not supported are able to sync and support the features of the Fitbit app. The difference with these devices is we cannot guarantee the behavior of the tablet in relation to your tracker and app functionality. So the models you have seen in the list of compatible devices are the one that has being fully tested to guarantee its compatibility.

Now as a personal experience from consumer that I am, the best tablets to try and are compatible with Fitbit are the models from Apple like the iPad. Recently I tested a Fire HD 8 out of curiosity. Since these tablets are not running Android, but custom OS built with base of Android, being one of the main reasons why these devices officially are not compatible at all with Fitbit; but after a few tweaks I was able to sync my Ionic, although it was a bit intermittently an not reliable. I'm not telling you to buy this tablet, but is just for you to keep in mind at the moment to buy your device to keep in mind it has to met all the hardware requirements for your tracker is able to connect and sync. Same reason it is very important the model you choose is listed as compatible.

I know it's hard since the amount of compatible devices are limited, but hope you find the best option. 

Keep me posted if you have additonal questions. I'll be around.