Feedback about firmware update process

[Crinkle]

I have received a new Inspire HR tracker, obviously with the first time setup you need to update the firmware. I was quite surprised to find that the setup process said the process was going to take "at least" 30 minutes.

This is a ridiculous period of time, and from looking at the responses others have had to this question, many people think this is related to a user's internet connection. It isn't. The app has been updating now for over 10 minutes and is less than 10 percent done. Meaning the whole update will take 1.5-2hours which is clearly unacceptable.

My phone can download up to 2MB (Megabytes) per second. 120MB in a minute. 7,200MB per hour. Inspire HR contains a bluetooth 4 receiver meaning it can download up to 25 MegaBITS (Mb) per second, 3.125MB.

It does not, therefore, hold water that the speeds, at which either my phone downloads data, or sends it to the tracker have any meaningful impact on the speed of the tracker update. The problem is therefore in one of two areas, which only fitbit can (if they so choose) correct:

1) Upgrade delivery servers. The only data-rate related bottleneck which can be occurring to slow down the process, is that the fitbit's update servers will only send data at a certain speed per second. It may be that such speed settings were deemed OK 8 years ago, now clearly they present a problem.

Maybe also this is a problem over Christmas, as lots of people open up and switch on their new devices and a deluge of update requests overload the servers. I fail to see how this would be a problem though. Fitbit has been going long enough and is popular enough to know when such high-demand periods are, and should be taking steps to increase the amount of data they can send, at such times.

2) Improve update installation. If 1) is not a problem, then the issue is how the update is installed. I don't expect these trackers have a great deal of processing power to install updates fast, and it's not really economic to get every fitbit owner to return their products for a newer version which installs updates faster. If the hardware cannot be changed, the software and how it is installed must be.

I hope they figure out these issues and stop trying to blame user's phones or internet connections (even a patchy wifi signal will be able to download data at reasonable speed) which are likely irrelevant in most cases, and definitely so in mine.

Moderator edit: Subject for clarity

[RicardoFitbit]

Hi @Crinkle, it's nice to see you again participating here in the Community Forums, welcome back!

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and personal experience with your Fitbit device, I understand your situation and how frustrating this matter can be for you. I'd like to let you know that we are always striving to improve the Fitbit experience with our products and services, therefore, the feedback that's shared here in the Community Forums is always appreciated and really helpful for us to evaluate our procedures and make sure that we are delivering what our users want and need.

Don't hesitate to contact me back if you need anything else.

[AllanSyd]

I would have to agree with this.  It took 4 hours to get the update to complete on my Fitbit Inspire.  Was it due to issues with the phone locking after 2 minutes and the process restarting, was it the active CovidSafe app running in the background, or something else.  Initially I started the process with 41% battery and was told that the battery was low and I needed to charge it before continuing as part of the update error message.  I even tried to do the update while device was charging - no luck.  I then uninstalled the COVIDSafe app, changed the screen saver timing and lots of other settings and finally finished updating.  Not sure why this process is so painfully slow but it needs work.