Blaze Users-Your Thoughts: How does Fitbit value?

[dlorenze]

First let me say the device is a decent tracker but for some reasons I have listed below we (we own 2 blazes) have considered going back to using our fitbit Ones owned prior.

I think the thing about the Blaze is it doesnt seem to grow, offer new fuctionality and fix defects fast enough for what is considered (seemingly only by the consumers not fitbit) as one of their top of the line trackers.

Since its launch:

• There have been no new watch faces?
• There has been no additional of value features (like Reminder to Move, ability/personalize owners name on device, better integration into rising tech like Amazon Alexa) some of these are Fitbit technology already present in other devices.  I clearly understand that software needs to be adapted from device to device (manage Software Dev teams) but why does it seem so stagnant in growth and evolution as a device?  To most who own it they feel that fitbit sees the device as just another money maker versus a serious focal device in its product line.
• There is not shared with users any future plans/roadmap of features/dev for the device shared with its owners so users are left to wonder if they will ever get features.  I have seen a lot of feedback that even high % voted feature requests never get even a response on forums by fitbit. This makes most feel like they understaffed or are under water just keeping the device "major" defects controlled.
• The current software continues to seem to the most part unreliable as a Apple Watch competitor.  I cant remember how many times I have had to reset up my phone notifications functionality (Android) and even when functional its does reliability result in text messages and call notifications showing.

Again I like the device but FitBit needs to show it user community more evidence of product line value, committment and attention to make it perceived an evolving and top line choice in the market.

[SunsetRunner]

I really liked the potential of the Blaze, bought it as soon as it was available, put up with its idiosyncrasies for a while and then sold it and bought an AW. Shame, as I liked the Fitbit world of everything linked together (I have the Aria scales and previously had a Charge HR) and the community.

Unfortunately the Blaze fell short of its promise (in my mind).

[jim_80]

My observation with Fitbit is that it has settled into something like a 6-month release cadence for device updates. For a product like Blaze, that's just not enough and they haven't quite realised that yet. Even if they just started rolling out monthly bug-fix firmwares, with the big features sticking to their twice-a-year schedule, that would be a huge improvement in winning over the community.

My personal experience of the Blaze is mostly OK from a usability and feature perspective, but there are just some quirks that are quite annoying, either from bugs or from the interface just not being thought through. I get the feeling that it wasn't quite ready. Which is a (tragically) normal thing in hi-tech consumer products these days, but the rapid post-release update cycles usually make up for it.

Anyway, despite all that I can genuinely say that I've been quite happy with the functionality and general feel of the device. My main problem at the moment is that I'm just not sure about the build quality that Fitbit aim for. When you have fluid leaking out of the battery on the second charge cycle, that's a really bad sign. I'm really torn at the moment over whether I should give them another shot, or return it and get something else.