Blaze Firmware Update - 17.8.200.3 [Closed]

[AndrewFitbit]

Update 5/6/16:

Hey all,

I've been keeping a close eye on this thread, and I wanted to give a quick update.

For reports of Blaze steps and/or distance being inaccurate, I think this is definitely something worth looking into. I've passed on all the feedback to our team so they can investigate. As a friendly reminder, remember that accuracy depends on many factors.

Here's a couple things being worked on:

• Excess Calendar Notifications
• 'Auto' brightness setting is too dim or adjusts slowly

For 'Auto' setting being too dim, you can switch to 'Normal' as a workaround in the meantime. Please note switching to 'Normal' will have a slight impact on battery life.

I'll provide updates when I can. Thanks everyone. 🙂

Update 4/27/16:

The firmware update should now be available to everyone. Update your Blaze and let me know how it goes! You can read the release notes for version 17.8.200.3 in the lead post or check them out on our help site. 🙂

Update 4/23/16:

Sorry for the wait, here's the release notes!

"The Simplified Chinese, Japanese, and Korean languages are now available on Blaze. Note that Blaze is only available for pre-order from fitbit.com in China, Japan, and Korea.

This release also resolves a couple issues:

• Some customers were unable to resume a paused FitStar workout.
• Some customers reported problems with the Blaze screen (display)."

You can find these release notes for this update (17.8.200.3) on our help site.

4/21/16:

Hey everybody,

Some of you may have noticed there's a new firmware update for Blaze! We just started pushing this update out yesterday, and just like any other update, we'll be rolling it out in waves. This update focuses on a few bug fixes. Release notes will be posted here soon.

Thanks!

[wardrich]

What is the problem everyone is having? Is it the missing steps thing?

[bmiller1969]

and they are still selling them knowing there is a problem!

[dilshannn]

No updates orbug fixes in months! faith in fitbit has been completely lost.

I hope at least the commercial team is looking at this forum and seeing the consumer frustration.

[dlorenze]

We;ve given up and will at least try to sell ours on Ebay (we bought 2 for me & my Wife) to get some of our money back.

We went to another "active" tracker watch already had 2 updates since having it for 2 weeks, syncs beautifully, no hassle notifications from our cells, many watch faces avail, apps and widgets.

We got tired of waiting for fitbit to be serious about the Blaze as part of their product line.

-Archer

[jb262004]

What watch did you choose im in the market for something better. I need a
good heart rate sensor.

[dlorenze]

well they will probably sweep this off as they remove any posts with competing products named but we went to the Garmin VivoActive HR not as pretty but it works well in all aspects!

[jb262004]

Me and my wife had those she still does but i liked the fitbit so i gave
the garmin to my stepdaughter. now im wishing i would have just kept it.

[picasso66]

My husband had a vivofit but it died once it got wet...and it's waterproof. We both have the Blaze and while it has some issues, overall we are pleased with the purchases.

Patricia
Sent from my iPhone

[dlorenze]

We have the VivoActive HR they are their newest release item and its night and day better.

[wardrich]

2 updates on 2 weeks sounds crappy too. Excessive updates is just as bad as no updates. Why didn't they just roll out both updates in one release? Or did they screw up the first one?

[picasso66]

To clarify my husband had the vivofit active HR and it got wet and died. They replaced it twice and all 3 died. It wasn't any better than what we have.

Patricia
Sent from my iPhone

[MikeS1971]

@wardrich An update a week is not a big deal. Usually just simple bug fixes and stability improvements. I wish FitBit was on top of things just a well. Users wouldn't be jumping ship.

I've also switched from the Blaze to the Vivoactive HR and it's a night and day difference when it comes to accuracy. No comparison. 

[JohnH59]

I tried that watch. I really liked the device. But, the Garmin app was
telling me I could eat nearly 3,500 calories and still maintain my weight.
That's not even close. I gave it a try for a couple of weeks. No, I didn't
eat 3,500 calories). I wanted to see if it learned my activity routines.
After two weeks nothing changed. It was giving me way to high of calorie
burn. I had to go back to my Fitbit.

--
John Holman

[Pruttinyllet]

I got myself a Garmin Forerunner 235 instead of the Blaze. Looks much better (much more like a regular watch) and performs well! No problems so far – it simply does the job without any annoyances. I still hope Fitbit updates Blaze in the future though, so we can get some competition. Currently it feels like Garmin is winning the highend segment with a landslide.

[DLFrank]

We've been having a lot of issues with ours. First it wasn't tracking heart rate, then the steps were off, my phone went completely bonkers and decided to live in a different time zone, so the clock was off by a couple hours, then it would die after less than 24 hours after an overnight charge! We switched to these because we had Charges before, but the second you try to wipe off the band to clean it if you accidentally straighten it out, you bust the band! The band and the face completely fell apart on mine and my wife's had hers replaced 3 times and still, you can't get more than a few months out of them! We went with the Blaze specifically because of the band, the heart rate monitor was a welcome step up that we, and when I say we I mean I, had been wanting. Wife got the Blazes for us as a gift for our birthdays to replace the Charges her mother had given us only a year prior for Christmas, even though, my wife complains, she is crippled and doesn't do walking, running or any "foot on ground" exercises due to her disability, though, fingers crossed, her next surgery will be successful enough to at least get her walking again. The wife and daughter have Samsung phones and are planning an update, which comes with a free watch thing. If she likes it, I might use this for target practice and get my own!

[Holidaze318]

I purchased my Blaze in June and only had 1 update!!! I bought this instead of the Apple Watch. The steps are off and the heart rate is off. I now go days without wearing it! Please update the interface and allow the Blaze to alert us when we are lazy!!!

[Godzy89]

Well all this is worrying

I bought my Blaze yesterday and after having no end of trouble getting it to update (and then only doing so with the help of CS via livechat) i now go into the Blaze forums and see nothing but bad posts about this new firmware update

I have bought the Blaze to initially replace my pedometer for steps but also to help in the healthy side of life too

I am taking part in a walk 1000 miles in a year challenge and need it to be accurate but if the steps are way off then surely the mile counter will be too

I was also a little concerned when i finally got the app to sync after the update that it said i had already done over 3000 steps!!

Do i take it back now for a refund and go for a different brand or wait for Fitbit to bother to start contemplating whether or not to care about their customers

[Houstonnick]

If you are waiting for Fitbit to fix it, it will be a long wait. However,
you can get around some of the problems. For example, I reversed
engineered my steps by multiplying my Treadmill mileage by 63360 (inches in
mile) and then dividing that by the number of steps per the Blaze. I then
adjusted my stride length in the settings (in my case to 3'1" which isn't
accurate but it works). It won't fix your past steps/mileage but it will
work from then forward.

--
Sinerely,

Nick

[meresydotes]

Also:

1) Disable the auto-workouts.

2) Manually start the type of workout you're doing.

3) Don't swing your arms too much.

4) Don't rely on the GPS.

5) Be prepared to manually adjust the sleep every morning.

[gfindley]

I agree, I have spoken to customer service several times and they sent me a new blaze but still having the same issue of inaccuracy.  I have a fitbit flex and I wear them both to compare and the blzae is ALWAYS way off.