Blaze - First Impressions

[SunsetRunner]

Very excited as I just received my Blaze yesterday.    Thought I would share my first impressions.  While its good overall, it's not great - and there are a number of quirks and "why did they do that" moments I've quickly discovered with the new tracker.

First - the negatives/quirks - 

• I'm not a fan of the cumbersome method of having to change the device. I'm not sure what the benefit is of having to remove the tracker itself from the band - just to charge it.  Why couldn't you use the same cable concept that was used for the Charge  and Charge HR?  Infact, why can't you standardize on a single cable to charge all of your latest trackers?  I feel that having to remove the tracker from the band just puts extra wear and tear on the components than really necessary.   Now I have to travel with yet another charge cable for my Fitbits.
• I'm somewhat dissapointed in terms of the over all size of the device - seems like there is alot of wasted space, that otherwise could have been used to reduce the size of the device.  It doesn't feel big, but it looks big.  The Applewatch does alot more, and is smaller than the Blaze.  
• I find it more difficult to quickly find the status of my goal - in this case steps.  I like the simplistic view of the Zone clock, (and it looks the most professional) but it only shows me my heart rate.    Why can't it be customizable to allow me to display my primary goal?? ie: steps?
• The other clock faces are equally as confusing.    Keep it simple, but informative. 
• Text Message Notifications - Real nice feature, and seems to be implemented well.  Altho - the inability for it to display emoji's is very dissapointing.
• Would be be great if I can customize the overall interface - choose what I want displayed and in what order.  Fitstar - while it's nice, I have zero interested in it.  Be great to just disable it.  Clean things up. Since I can't disable it, to me it's considered constant advertisement for the paid service.
• No quick way to view my other goal status.  Why can't one of the buttons be configurable to quickly display the "Today" screen data?  
• It would be great if the Blaze would be able to display things such as "Calories Left" for the day.
• Why did you not implement the  "Reminder to Move" feature in the Blaze that the Alta has?
• Would be great if I could hold down one of the buttons (left for example) to enable the activity stopwatch like I could do with my Charge HR.  

What I Like:

• The screen appears to be sharp and crisp.  Altho I haven't had a chance to try it out in direct sunlight.
• I do like the fact that I CAN remove the tracker from the band.  This makes it easier to keep it with you in if you are in situations where you can't wear a watch or you don't want to risk damaging it.    But again - this shouldn't be a requirement to charge it.
• Notifications - text messages and calendars is really why I decided to purchase the tracker.  I really wanted some of those "business"  features that my coworkers have with their AppleWatches.  
• Business/Professional look and feel to it.   It doesn't look like I'm wearing a black rubberband on my wrist.    Altho, my earlier comment on the overall size still remains. 
• Nice to see the sync speed is considerably faster than what the Charge HR can do.  

In summary - I'm glad that Fitbit has a 45 day return policy.  

The jury is still out if I'm going to keep the Blaze, or simply return it and go with the AppleWatch.  I'm going to give it a few more weeks of use and go from there.  My entire family and large circle of friends are all part of the Fitbit ecosystem.    If fitbit would just open up and support the Apple Health Kit environment - or I probably would by the Applewatch for my workweek tracker, and continue to use my Fitbit Charge HR for my workouts and weeekend tracker.  But we all know that won't happen.  😞

Hopefully others find this post informative, and Fitbit uses this to improve on their product.  

[Cmu93]

I've used my Blaze for about 24 hours now and I'm sorry to say, I don't like it.

I went from Flex, to Charge to Charge HR, and now this.  I'll be going back to the Charge HR.  The Blaze to me, immediatley just looked really cheap.  I don't like the band, I hate the metal frame, and the display, while nice and crisp, is about 60% of the face.  I understand all the reasons this isn't a full screen, top of the line materials, but still, I don't care for it.

I've had 4 co-workers ask me if it was just plastic today, and I agree, it's just not a good looking device while actually on my wrist.  I'll just keep the HR on and wait for the inevitable Surge 2.  I will hope that one is the more sporty, tough, updated color screen Surge 1, and I'll be happy.  If not, I'll be looking into the new VIvoactive HR, that to me, looks fanstasic, and my wife loves her Vivofit band, which I've tried, and I do like the Garmin stuff too.

To each his own, I hope you guys/gals love yours, but I was not impressed.

[MikeS1971]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

• Would be great if I could hold down one of the buttons (left for example) to enable the activity stopwatch like I could do with my Charge HR.   

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Really. The Blaze is unable to do this? Before every walk or run, I long press the side button of my Charge HR to manually track that paticular exercise. You cant do this with the Blaze?

[EmersonFitbit]

@MikeS1971 This is correct. Exercise mode on the Charge HR is limited in comparison to Surge and Blaze, since there isn't a way to perform a specific activity. Blaze does have specific exercise shortcuts on the device itself, which you can access in the exercise tile. 

There is a stopwatch on the device itself as well!

[SunsetRunner]

The Blaze has multiple pre-configured exercises to choose from which are designed specifically for each available exercise. Which need to be selected from a exercise list but it can be configured which exercises wanting to appear on the tracker.. if only doing yoga and walking.. then it's possible to only display those activities.. 

It can also track certain exercises automatically like walking, running, aerobic workouts, sports.. which can be disabled from auto tracking or choosing the minimum duration of doing the exercise before being picked up by the tracker.

[Jamaicangirl81]

I received my Blaze last night, so I have not had not even a full 24 hours with it.

First Impressions and Initial Setup (Red - I don't like. Green - I like)

• Packaging (i like a good presentation when i'm buying something)
• Took a long time to set up. Advice: Make sure your old fitbit is synced. Reboot your phone, the update went quicker after I did that.
• Screen is good, vibrant and clear. Easy to see. (Haven't been in direct sunlight yet to see how it is there yet) However, i do wish the options would cycle through... (meaning, if i keep swiping, it will start over the list) Clock faces are limited, still havent found one i love, but i;m using the flare? 
• Screen is small compared to the unit itself... big bezel.
• I bought a large band. (i had a large with the Charge HR as it was more comfortable) My goodness it's LARGE! I have only one more slot left to the end. So there's a whole lot of band under my wrist. I would love to switch this band out to get the small band but would i have to send the whole thing back??
• Continuing with the band... because of how the frame is, it juts out so it's not flush on my wrist. I really dont like it for this! However, I don't know if this is a deal breaker as yet.

Still have a LOT more playing around with the Blaze to see how i like it or don't.

[SunsetRunner]

Hi @jamaicangirl81 

Feel free to contact the support team to ask it's possible to exchange the band for a smaller one.

http://contact.fitbit.com

[Jamaicangirl81]

Thank you @SunsetRunner I will!

[Gshock]

@Jamaicangirl81 - Nice presentation on your thoughts!

[SunsetRunner]

After using the Blaze for a number of days - I decided I'm going to just return it for a refund.  In my opinion it doesn't offer any significant features over what my Charge HR currently does that's worth paying for.                       

While I like the text and calendar notifications, I only find myself wishing the device could do more.    With that being said, I'm going to go purchase an Apple Watch - and look at using one of those HealthKit <-> Fitbit sync utilities, or just wear two devices.  

In doing a little more research, it's silly that Fitbit made changes to the API that would prevent me from participating in any challenges, or 7 day step count when using a 3rd party sync app.  

Fortunately, I use MFP to do the calorie tracking - which does integrate with AppleWatch.  So, the only thing I'm out by going with a single device is the inability to participate in challenges.  

Don't get me wrong, I'm still a Fitbit fan - and I own several of their trackers, as well as their scale.  I owe the sucess of losing 50+ lbs to my Fitbit.   However, the Blaze seems a bit rushed to market. 

[bbarrera]

Blaze is definitely a big step in the right direction, hoping to see swim-proof, GPS, full notifications, and ANT+ sensor support in next iteration of 'watch with replaceable bands' style tracker (aka "Surge 2.0").

@SunsetRunner I use my phone as Fitbit tracker, to continue participating in step challenges. Still a fan and still waiting to replace my Force with a Fitbit tracker. 

[Gshock]

@SunsetRunner - I have the AW and I've been considering the Blaze. I can certainly see your point of view w regards to wanting the Blaze to do more and have more smart watch capabilities and advanced notifications. To add, I think AW is a VERY capable device that can do nearly everything the Blaze can do l which leads to the question on why I'd want to the Blaze.

The simple answer is the Fitbit app. If Fitbit allowed the AW to sync w the app, I would stick w the AW. All of the fitness tracking, calorie consumption, expended calories, etc., is a coordinated and consistent effort in one organized place. While AW has a ton of third party developers and a ton of app options, I find the entire fitness aspect to be VERY fragmented. I'm in and out of apps trying to look at information which makes the experience disjointed. And if you're going to rely on the Apple HealthKit to provide a one stop location and summary, I'd reconsider that notion. I just find the HealthKit data to be dumbed down to line graphs that don't tell you specific information- just a trend. Sure you can go into each metric and get line by line data but it's a cumbersome way to look at the data IMO. I like to see that hit my exact goals In a nice and clean numeric presentation.

At this point, I don't think there is any one device that will check all the boxes as there are just too many boxes out there to check such as battery life, GPS, music player, notifications, water proof and the actual fitness app just to name a few.

[bbarrera]

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@Gshock wrote:

...

To add, I think AW is a VERY capable device that can do nearly everything the Blaze can do l which leads to the question on why I'd want to the Blaze.

...
I like to see that hit my exact goals In a nice and clean numeric presentation.

...

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While I also like Fitbit and the Fitbit app, honestly the Apple Watch does more than Blaze. In addition, my goals these days are aligned with CDC recommendations (150+ min vigorous cardio, 2+ strength training sessions).

Daily Goals

- 30+ active minutes a day

- 700+ exercise calories burned per day

Weekly Goals

- 2-3 strength training sessions

- 4-5 cycling rides for a weekly total of 100 miles / 3750' climbing 

All of that maps on my Apple Watch activity rings and Strava glance and Fitlist weight training app. Active minutes and exercise calories, just look at the circle icon on watch face. Nice and clean, and if I want numbers then tap the icon and see how many calories or active minutes are left. Riding goals? Swipe up and Strava glance shows me miles ridden each day of the week, plus weekly total miles, time, and feet climbing. Weight lifting routine? Fitlist app is guided workout set list (barbell bench press, overhead press, etc) with easy logging of reps/weight. Fitbit step competitions? My phone is my Fitbit tracker.

Looking forward to seeing full Fitstar integration with the Blaze, I was a paid Fitstar member before graduating to free weights and the 'real' Fitstar workouts need to arrive on the Blaze sooner rather than later.

[SunsetRunner]

Absolutely agree - the Blaze is definately a step in the right direction for Fitbit, and a great addition to their line.  It just needs to do more for me to upgrade from my Charge HR.  Perhaps I'm not the right consumer group that it's marketed for.   Maybe it's targeted more for the Fitbit One or Flex owners that are looking for 3+ new main features?    (ie: HR, Floor Tracking, notifications, etc). 

The other problem I see (and I'll have the same issue wtih the Apple Watch) - is it's durability when used in a gym with free weights.   I'm always accidently banging my Charge HR against the equipment.    For this reason alone, I don't see myself wearing anything other than my Charge HR while in the gym.  

Life would be so much easier - if Fitbit would allow their customers to also track with the Apple Watch.  🙂 If they are worried about users just downloading their free app - and usig the AW, they could easily make it a requirement that in other to unlock the AW support they have to have an actual Fitbit tracker activated and added onto their account.  Or make it a one time in-app purchase.  

The problem I have (and why I ended up buying a fitbit in the first place) in using my phone as the tracker is i don't always keep my phone on me - especially during the weekends when I'm working around the house, yard work, etc..  

...and final comment - Fitbit really, really needs to consolidate their charging cable situation.  It seems each and every tracker has their own unique charging cable.  That's just insane.   I know it's not due to sloppy engineering and design - it's on purpose so they can sell more cables.  On this vacation trip alone, I had to travel with 3 different charging  cables (Flex, Charge HR and the Blaze).  

[bbarrera]

No issues with durability in 9 months, I wear AW in gym at least twice a week lifting with free weights. It does get banged up a bit when working with dumbbells, no scratches on glass. Just started using Fitlist watch app to log my sets/reps/weight, pretty nice.

Fitbit charging cable situation is insane. So nice to see Fitbit dump the Surge/Charge/Force integrated band design and rollout Blaze with replaceable bands. 

[mcrmama]

@Jamaicangirl81, the leather band hinge swings down so that it doesn't jut out like the original band. May not be what you want but thought I would let you know.

[RocketAngel]

Just wondering wat do think of the battery life on the Apple watch?

[Jamaicangirl81]

@mcrmama

Thanks for that info. maybe getting a leather strap might be the way to go

i'm gonna give the strap a little time to get "worn in", perhaps because the rubber is new it's a bit stiff.

waiting on my new, smaller strap.

[mcrmama]

I am liking the leather strap. It does not have the grip the original strap does so I do think the original strap is better for working out and I don't mind the look myself. Wearing both at different times.

[bbarrera]

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@RocketAngel wrote:

Just wondering wat do think of the battery life on the Apple watch?

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I charge both my phone and watch everyday, not a problem at all.

[shoegal245]

I took my Blaze out for a long Sunday morning run yesterday. #FitbitFail. It was a sunny day so the screen was impossible to read. I couldn't check my heart rate to see how I was doing in my zone training. I also couldn't see that the connection with my phone was lost so my run was no longer being tracked. When I got back home I saw that the run was recorded in spots, thanks to Blaze automatically detecting activity, but not completely. This really doesn't help me eliminate the need for multiple and back up gadgets to track my activity and makes me wonder if I should have just got a Garmin.

My other issue is with the heart rate zones. I've tried adjusting according to what I believe are my actual zones, but Fitbit still tells me I am in the Fat Buring zone when my heart rate is still pretty low and I'm basically just standing. From my understanding of heart rate zones, this doesn't seem accurate.

Overall, I still like the Blaze, but would like to figure out a fix for not being able to see the screen in the sun.