Aria 2 issues with setup, what finally worked, and feedback

[mikeyvxt]

What finally worked for me:

• Downloaded the Fitbit app on my phone (Google Pixel 3). You must have Bluetooth enabled & turned on.
• When you turn the Aria 2 scale on or pull the tab out of the battery compartment, there's a message scrolling back and forth that says "www.fitbit.com/setup". This means the device is in search mode and is connectable.
• Logged into my account on the app, clicked on "Setup a Device". The app appears to freeze, but it just takes several minutes to load the options available for which device to set up.
• Your phone's app will automatically search and then find the device (via Bluetooth). It then asks you to input a 4-digit PIN that the scale displays.
• From there, it will ask to set up and connect to WiFi. The scale will only see and connect to 2.4GHz WiFi networks, not 5GHz.
• Once it's connected to WiFi, you're all good - you can uninstall the Fitbit app if you don't want to keep it on your phone.

Feedback & Comments

• For over $100/scale, your setup experience is unacceptably confusing and unreliable.
• The card instruction says to download the app, but then it also says "www.fitbit.com/setup". When you go to the setup web page and scroll down, you conveniently see "Aria WiFi Smart Scale". So what did I do? I clicked on that link and struggled for almost half an hour. How terribly convenient that your Aria and Aria 2 devices share the same brand name and essentially look identical, yet use completely different methods for setting up.
  • You need to specify clearly what instructions work for what device.
• Next, I use the Fitbit app on my Windows PC. So I go to "Setup a Device" on the PC and make it as far as trying to connect the Aria 2 to WiFi. Then, it fails with a message "Unable to connect to your device." What?! How does it lose connectivity mid-setup?! I don't buy that error message because if you erase the device and then re-connect it, it connects right away.
  • You need to test your devices cross-platform before releasing them??
• Finally, I get exasperated and resort to installing the Fitbit app on my phone again just to set up the scale. Then I get to the WiFi setup step and I don't see my network anywhere. Luckily for me, I've struggled with WiFi issues before, so I went into my settings to turn on the 2.4GHz radio, and finally got things working.
  • You don't mention anywhere in any setup instructions that your device doesn't support 5GHz WiFi.

What miserable experience! I'm poring through the forums and just reading the hundreds and hundreds of people complaining about issues setting up a freaking scale. There's either a serious lack of thoroughness or a complete lack of empathy for end users here.

Moderator edit: format

[JuanJoFitbit]

Hi @mikeyvxt, it's great to see you in our Fitbit Community. I'm sorry about the setup issues that your Aria 2 experienced. I totally understand how you feel about this and we appreciate your feedback and comments since this helps us to keep improving.

Don't hesitate to get back if more assistance is needed and I 'll be happy to follow up.

See you around.