Huawei P9 & Lite Compatibility

[srmellis]

I have a surge paired to a Huawei p8. I have tried all the different fixes listed in various forums. I have notification on in the all on my phone set to Huawei contacts. I have notifications on on my surge. I get absolutely nothing. Anyone with a P8 solved this problem. I have later Android and fitbit versions.

Moderator edit: edited title for compatibility

[Cd_fb123]

Welcome to the club! So frustrating. I recently returned my fitbit and got the Garmin vivosmart HR and it works with my p9 lite! Finally! I'm very happy with it and they are in and around the same price. Hope this helps.

[andredamian]

Great to hear!

The Huawei P9 lite isn't in their supported Android devices list though: http://static.garmincdn.com/gcm/BLE_Android.pdf

The Huawei P9 is. But it's definitely working for you?

[rsjo]

Excellent - might be worth making a post on a public forum so people know
not to bother.

The reviews for the vivosmart v charge are close as it is - and wearable.com
has a comment section.

Unless someone at fitbit would like to make an internal call and let us
know???

[jpcafe]

"Nowadays almost all mobile phones share some core specifications that make possible to work with the Fitbit app despite the device in question is not listed as compatible, although in these instances we cannot guarantee it will work flawlessly."

Give me a break! We are not talking about minor bugs, we are talking about incompatibilities with the given phone.

P9 Lite DOES NOT WORK with fitbit trackers.

I imagine it must be a real challenge to support most up-to-date Android devices!

I wonder how Garmin and other apps that use bluetooth are able to provide given compatibility!!

[rsjo]

So a Mod in another thread posted this link where people can vote for which phones get made compatible

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Feature-Suggestions/Huawei-P9-lite/idi-p/1565069

would be great if you could add that to your canned responses - it took me hours of trawling to find it!!

[nephtis76]

Hey Guys, I think I figured out what's the problem! 😮
The Bluetooth version of Huawei P9 Lite is v4.1.
I have found out, that FitBit Charge 2 ( and probably some other Fitbit
products also) works only under v4.0 (i've tried it on my old Samsung S4
Mini I9195I, and it works fine with it), and v4.2, but not under v4.1.
But why there's no info anywhere about this?????????????????

[Jan.S]

---

@nephtis76 wrote:
Hey Guys, I think I figured out what's the problem! 😮
The Bluetooth version of Huawei P9 Lite is v4.1.
I have found out, that FitBit Charge 2 ( and probably some other Fitbit
products also) works only under v4.0 (i've tried it on my old Samsung S4
Mini I9195I, and it works fine with it), and v4.2, but not under v4.1.
But why there's no info anywhere about this?????????????????

---

No, that's not the problem. Bluetooth is fully backwards compatible.

[nephtis76]

In my opinion the v4.1 Bluetooth is the problem.
You should read other forum posts from others. Fitbit Charge 2 doesn't work
with lates model of Huawei P8 Lite (it has v4.1), Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge
(it has v4.1), Samsung Galaxy S6 (it has v4.1), Huawei Honor 5C (it has v4.1). All of them has the same v4.1 Bluetooth!

[Jenny50]

I wish I'd read this post about the Huawei P8 Lite before. Just taken delivery of my Fitbit Alta and can't sync it with my phone. Hopefully I can return it. Very disappointed. 

[Jan.S]

---

@nephtis76 wrote:

Hi,

It won't work with it. I (and a LOT people here) have the same problem, just we don't see each others post. FitBit answered to us yesterday, that THEY DON'T EVEN PLAN TO MAKE ANY FITBIT WORK WITH HUAWEI P9 LITE!

But I've found the reason why. It took a whole day to figure out, and NOT from FitBit's website or forum, but I got it! The problem is the version of the bluetooth. FitBit products works the older under v4.0, and the newest v4.2 (this you have on your Huawei P9), but not under v4.1 (this we have on Huawei P9 Lite). That's a fact!!!! People with Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge had to face the same **ahem**, and a lot of other phones. And FitBit does not inform any of us, to not buy FitBit product, if your phone has v4.1 Bluetooh on it. 😕

But I don!t give a **ahem** about it anymore: I had a FitBit Charge 2 for 2 days, and and done with it. Took it back to the shop and bought a Garmin Vivoactive HR. It took 2 min to pair it with my Huawei P9 Lite. I love this from the first moment!!! So f.ck FitBit. 🙂

---

Sorry to say, but you're wrong. Like I said, Bluetooth is designed to be backwards compatible. It means newer version have all features of previos version and some new features. So there can't be a problem if phone have newer BT than Fitbit.

See:

https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-main-differences-between-Bluetooth-4-0-4-1-and-4-2-in-the-Layers-...

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/39719474/is-bluetooth-4-2-compatible-with-4-0

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth

https://superuser.com/questions/588186/is-bluetooth-4-0-backwards-compatible-with-bluetooth-2-0edr

[Emmieh]

Same here !

[Jan.S]

---

@nephtis76 wrote:
If I'm not right, somebody will tell here later. I put a lot energy to this
case to figure out the logic of this connection problem, and I'm pretty
sure I'm right. Sadly. I've tried a couple of phones with it before I took
it backto the store and it could be paired only with v4.0 and v4.2
Bluetooth. It's impossible with v4.1. [...]

---

For example iPhone 6s (BT 4.2) works fine with Fitbit. Someone mentioned that his Huawei P9 (NOT P9 Lite) works fine with Fitbit (despite P9 isn't on official compatibility list). Problem is bad Android app design, not the Bluetooth.

[jpcafe]

Thank you for contacting Fitbit support.

Regarding your question about the future compatibility of your Huawei P9 Lite, we want to inform you that we don't have any updates to make this mobile device compatible with our products. We invite you to click on this link where  you can find all of the compatible devices that you can use: https://www.fitbit.com/uk/devices

We're constantly striving to improve Fitbit products and services, and we very much appreciate all of the input we receive from our customers. The best place to make your voice heard is the Ideas board on our community (https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Feature-Requests/idb-p/features), which our product development teams consult regularly to ensure we're delivering on what our customers need and want. Please take a moment to visit and give us your feedback.

If you find that a similar suggestion has already been made by another member of the community, you can vote for their idea and add your comments. Our product team looks forward to reading and incorporating your suggestions into future versions of Fitbit trackers and apps.

If you need further assistance, do not hesitate in contacting us back.

[gregarding]

We know there are no updates to the device compatibility...

We are looking to find out whether the phone will ever be compatible. It appears to be a Bluetooth 4.1 issue. Will this protocol be written in or is it only going to be 4.0 and 4.2?

[rsjo]

---

@gregarding wrote:

We know there are no updates to the device compatibility...

We are looking to find out whether the phone will ever be compatible. It appears to be a Bluetooth 4.1 issue. Will this protocol be written in or is it only going to be 4.0 and 4.2?

---

^^ This

[HyltonWarburton]

Yup, same problem here. Only got the P9 lite two weeks ago, and got the Fitbit today. Super disappointed with the Fitbit software developers.

[ErickFitbit]

Fitbit Update 01/27/2017: The Huawei P9 Lite has all the hardware requirements (as well as an awesome looking phone) to be a supported device but is currently not on our list of supported devices. This means that our Android team has not yet tested it for compatibility and added it to the list. If the device supports BLE (AKA Bluetooth 4.0), I recommend giving the setup flow a try.

If setup does not work, I recommend setting up and syncing via a device listed as supported or using a computer. Our team is always working to test and add more Android devices to the supported devices list, so keep an eye open for updates!

In addition, I will be closing this thread from further discussion and recommend everyone go vote for this relevant existing idea within our Feature Suggestion board. Thank you everyone!

[rsjo]

Word on the street is that garmin supports the p9 and the p9 lite though I can't confirm this personally There are several posts in the Charge 2 thread from people who exchanged.

I have resigned myself to boxing up my Charge 2 and exchanging it for a vivosmart hr considering there has been no word on this from fitbit other than to pair with a supported device and check the compatibility list which I find unacceptable for all the reasons already listed in this thread.  I'm sure garmin has an equivalent to the alta.

I have been a loyal customer of fitbit since 2013 - I have only owned two devices personally but bought many as presents and convinced many friends and family to get them too.  If someone would just give a reasonable timeline as to when we could expect support for the P9 and the P9 Lite I wouldn't be going anywhere.

I only have a limited time to return the Charge 2 - I'm not spending all this money on something that I can't use the features on - so if fitbit can't say if and when the Huawei devices will be supported I've got no choice.  I imagine there are many more reading these threads in the same position.  Whether its enough for fitbit to feel it financially is another question.  

IThat said, I'm also going to send messages to the people who wrote the reviews I read - this compatibility issue for android users is a real dealbreaker, especially for the bands that act as smart watches!!  I read countless reviews and spent a long time deciding which device I wanted.  Not once did I read that I needed to check my device compatibility.  

[SunsetRunner]

Hi
I returned my Fitbit and confirm that the Garmin viviosmart does work with P 9 light.

[adamjerrard92]

first time trying to use fitbit and it's non compatible - pretty useless