Blaze Water Resistance

[SunsetRunner]

Time and time again we have asked you people to make the device Water Proof.

Why can't you get it through your thick skulls that there are water sports/activities.

Can I wear my Blaze while swimming?

Fitbit Blaze is rain, sweat, and splash proof. We recommend that you do not swim or shower while wearing Blaze.

Moderator Edit: Edited post title for clarity.

[SunsetRunner]

@adamlowe think the V800 is a completely different market, and price, and needs a chest strap monitor for HR. But nice piece of kit.

[adamlowe]

Price point is definitely higher for the V800 but since Polar has added the pedometer when you are just wearing normally and it tracks sleep etc as well the feature sets are much closer. The fact that it has GPS and can sync with a chest strap and bike equipment are added bonuses. But for me it was worth it to pay the premium to have all those options and the daily activity tracking. I have had three fitbits from the original to the Surge plus the scale. They all show so much promise but the lack of water resistance is where they ultimately lost me for a fitness accessory.

[KLM117]

Friend of mine bought a Fitbit Surge because she liked that she did not have to wear a chest strap to get heart rate. Unfortunately brought back her Surge and got the Polar because she could wear it swimming. She was over my house for Superbowl and saw the commercial for the Blaze. She asked me if Blaze was waterproof and was shocked to learn it was not. I'm shocked too. Fitbit PLEASE listen to your customers!

[TSantaCruz]

Thanks for your reply. I will be buying the Polar if I can swim with it.

Sent from my iPhone

[adamlowe]

You definitely can.

[Rich_Laue]

Knowing that it can not be legally rated as water proof, I wonder what the water resistant rating of the Polar Strap is,  ie: how deep can it go without failing.

[ErickFitbit]

@SimplyAdventure Check out my response in regards to Alta and waterproofing here.

@KLM117@Cakebandit@JDtheVICE I will definitely make sure your feedback gets heard.

@Cakebandit Thanks for the heads up, looking into that now.

@SunsetRunner True, but Fitbit doesn't track swimming metrics so that would mean an increase in price, plus no added features to the tracker. Unless you count waterproofing as a feature.

@adamlowe Bike speed can be tracked with Surge and Blaze's "Bike" exercise mode. Check out mine below:

@TSantaCruz I recommend checking out our help article: "Can I swim or shower with my tracker?"

[Bojangles07]

Can't you just send to REPEL and have them waterproof it like they phones and other electronics???

[sarahm87]

That's a shame - I was about to preorder mine today - so glad I read this thread beforehand. I'm shocked any fitness wearable wouldn't be waterproof and swim friendly. How does that even make sense? Will be looking into the Suunto, Garmin & Polar alternatives.

[TSantaCruz]

Yeah I don't understand why anyone would spend their money on the Blaze when the competition had waterproof devices.

[KLM117]

@Erick Fitbit - hopefully Fitbit product team will put waterproof feature for Blaze on front burner. See comments above from @sarahm87 and @TSantaCruz

[EmersonFitbit]

For a bit of context, I'd like to point out what was mentioned before- "Waterproofing comes at the cost of altimeter function - air pressure is used to determine things like elevation change, and fully sealing the device prevents this from working. Since our trackers aren't designed to accurately track swimming, there's not much benefit to full waterproofing, especially at the cost of other features."

We appreciate all of the feedback, everyone! We're taking all of your sentiments into consideration. 

[KLM117]

@EmersonFitbit - I take my Fitbit on vacation with me and I think it's crazy that I have to take it off every time I want to go in the water. I think many of us would want the tracker to not be "water phobic". Garmin's new Vivosmart HR is waterproof and can track stairs. The Fitbit Community has been asking for a tracker that is not afraid of water since 2013. Check the discussion titled "Waterproof".

[ShawnG75]

The Garmin vivofit HR is water-resistant down to 50 meters. You might want to check that one out if you want to go swimming with it.

[TSantaCruz]

This is not true. You can track both elevation without the cost of being water phobic.

Sent from my iPhone

[SimplyAdventure]

@EmersonFitbit This is a nice sentiment, but how do your competitors provide water resistant trackers with altimeters? The Garmin, the Misfit, the Apple Watch, most of the various bands, etc all have altimeters AND some meaningful level of water resistance. In fact, non-smart watches have had waterproof altimeters for over a decade and can even provide barometric pressure, etc.

I don't think many people are asking for something truly waterproof... they want to be able to take a shower, wash their hands, get wet in a mountain spring while hiking or hang out in a hot tub... kind of normal low impact easily addressable every day things. 

This is what the Blaze should have been, and may actually be, won't know till people test it in the wild. The company's statements just make it a risky proposition to order it to find out since Fitbit may or may not replace it under warranty if damaged. 

Anyway, I think it's pretty obvious by now that the only answer Fitbit will provide in this forum is a repeat of the factually incorrect, coddled statements prepared by their lawyers... which basically makes participating here a useless exercise.

With that, I'll slide my Apple Watch back on and give Garmin and others another closer look. Will miss my little Fitbit competitions.

[bbarrera]

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@Rich_Laue wrote:

Knowing that it can not be legally rated as water proof, I wonder what the water resistant rating of the Polar Strap is,  ie: how deep can it go without failing.

---

Polar V800 is rated water resistant to 30m which Polar defines as suitable for bathing and swimming. And like other devices in this class, it has a barometric altimeter. 

[KLM117]

@SimplyAdventure @bbarera - I now tried posting our request to have a Fitbit ypu can get wet without worrying ypu will damage it on the Fitbit Facebook page. Maybe the people who monitor that page will get the message through. The just announced ANOTHER new product - Alta- that you still can't take in the water. I wish they would stop offering different configurations of the same tracker and give us something we WANT!!! Sigh!

[bbarrera]

Exactly!

[tenfeetofsteel]

Garmin and TomTom have fitness trackers you can swim in available.  They are in the same price range as the Surge.  It is not impossible!  And this feature doesn't have to be available on every fitbit model that comes out!