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.

[skeg1960]

So, I should feel very lucky that my fitbit Charge HR lasted as long as it did - approx 2 years - before it stopped syncing. I wore it showering regularly and for the occasional swim! I always thought it was waterproof, not just water resistant....

When I asked the retailer yesterday why my fitbit had stopped syncing they said it had a manufacturing fault and had been recalled so I could choose another of equal value at no charge, even 2 years after purchase. Yay!  So my fitbit HR was faulty in another way not related to me not being so careful with water?

I now have a new fitbit Blaze which I will be more careful with. Its not just a fitness tracker for me, I like to track my sleep, my weight, and the fact I have to take it off a few times a day because its not waterproof isn't that convenient. ie. when you're swimming at the pool or the beach its convenent to know the time or your heart rate even if the fitbit can't track the distance. BUT as the other guy pointed out its really annoying that fitbits don't cater for water activities (unless you call walking in the rain a water activity!). Next watch/fitness device might have to be an Apple watch.... 🙂

[andreyk7]

I had my Fitbit blaze for almost a year and no problems yet. I rarely take
it off. Ocean, pool, you name it.

[MikeF]

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@andreyk7 wrote:
I had my Fitbit blaze for almost a year and no problems yet. I rarely take
it off. Ocean, pool, you name it.

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Lucky you. That doesn't Chang the Fitbit warranty position, however.

[Pryde777]

I went for a 130km ride in QLD the other day. It rained quite a bit. My Blaze is totally stuffed. I don't wear it swimming or showering. Now I am having issues getting warranty. Apart from that I have really enjoyed using it for the last few months.

[andreyk7]

Yes but the warranty expires next month anyways.

[adwedulti]

The Apple Watch 2 is usuable for swimming so there is that. 

[ChanningL]

To be honest, I wouldn't have spent $200 for the Blaze if I knew it wasn't water resistant for swimming. I can totally understand diving or deep sea. To have a fit monitoring system that you can't even purchase a band designed to encase to keep it dry in my opinion is a loss for a great product. It's swimming, not running up and down stairs. The altimeter isn't a factor for monitoring strokes or laps. 

[JustSmitty]

I'm probably not your average fitbit user.  I don't really use it for fitness.   My two main reasons are for telling time and the sleep monitoring.  Everything else is fluff.  With that said, I REALLY want to wear the watch in the shower and all things considered, I'm not worried about bacteria.  Taking into account that sealing the watch would affect the altimeter (which I don't really care if it works or not) could a person cover the opening with a small peice of tape or a peice of that plastic film that's used to protect phone screens?  Lets just say that what ever is used to cover the hole, are there any adverse effects besides the altimeter not working.  Would covering it cause a mechanical failure in some way.  For instance, is the hole also used for cooling and covering it would cause the Blaze to overheat?  I'm not asking you to condone covering the hole, just looking to find out the ramifications of doing so, if any? 

To me, it seems like a super simple solution to make the blaze wearable in the shower.  And if there are no mechanical reasons not to cover the hole, I'd suggest fitbit or (or someone else) making a removeable plug that could be removed when you do want to engage in an activity that uses the altimeter.  The best part, I'll only collect 5% royalties!  grin. 

Thanks in advance.

[Rich_Laue]

Could a person cover the hole? A person could do whatever they wanted, but would taking it into the shower void the warranty? 

This would be a question for fitbit to answer, it is beyond the scope of the awsome comunity of Fitbit users that help out here.

[virgogirl0920]

Hello there to add to the on and off debate about whether fitbit will make a tracker that is waterproof with its popular features....

The Garmin vivoactive HR is waterproof, tracks a multitude of activities, has built in GPS, weather notifications when within range of your phone, calender notifications, smart notifications, music controls and it tracks flights of stairs as well, tracks heart rate and you can pair external devices to. I like the fit bit mobile app better its more bright and colourful, and more motivating, but the vivoactive has way more features that you can wear 24/7.  I am in the process of experimenting with both... who knows I might keep both.  In the end its all a personal preference I think

[virgogirl0920]

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@EmersonFitbit wrote:

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. 

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How come the Garmion vivoactive HR can track flights of stairs, steps, HR and is waterproof, sorry fitbit not an excuse.  The Garmin can track swimming and autodetects pool length but HR monitoring is turned off on the device for swimming.

[Kramer]

Keep us posted.  Isn't the battery a lithium average 1yr life also?

[virgogirl0920]

You have to charge it every few days like the blaze.  I can't tell you how many days I get out of it yet.  I love both devices for different things!!

[JustSmitty]

This is an update to my previous post.  I didn't hear back from anyone at fitbit.  To recap, I wanted to know if there were any ramifications to covering up the hole the altimeter uses.  No replies so I tried it. After careful consideration of the options, I chose the simplest.  I cut a small square of scotch tape approx 1/8" x 1/8" and covered the hole.  I went with scotch tape vs electrical tape because when the scotch tape sticks, you can see it seal around the hole.  It gave me the visual confirmation that I had a good seal.  Then over the next few days, I showered, washed my hands and even went out in torcon 9 conditions (Tornado Condition 9 - high winds and driving rain) and no issues with water.  So far the only drawback is the altimeter has me climbing 139 floors a day.  Fitbit said the hole was needed for the altimeter to work.  Seeing how I don't track fitness, I turned off the floors climbed option.  The rest of the features seem to work normally.  So there you have it.  I intend to continue doing normal water related activities with the watch on and will post if anything negative happens. Cheap and easy.  Note:  I have gotten into the habit of checking the tape when I set the fitbit on the charger, because it is only scotch tape after all.  But so far, there is no sign of the tape peeling up.  The design of the watch and watchband seem to protect it to some degree.  Here is a picture of how it looks covered.

 

[virgogirl0920]

For me I like the flights of stairs climbed, always have and always will.  Its a goal of mine, thats why I am selling my alta.  I also have the apple watch series 1 which doesnt have stairs climbed option that I am aware of, its not waterproof, and I always have a hard time reaching my activity goals with the apple watch, they are preset for you I believe and I don't necessarily have active minutes every day since I am a permanent night shift worker.  I don't find the series 1 apple watch conducive for activities I rarely get my all my circles filled, but I am not getting rid of it since I paid over 500 for it!!!

[logan123383]

So I'm a CNA, I work at a nursing home. Would it be okay to wear my blaze while giving showers?

[andreyk7]

I say definitely

[MicahTC]

Make your own then 

[Ebonee34]

So I'm doing a 5 mile engineer challenge. It's basically like a spartan race with a lot of mud. I really want to track this run. Do you think I can wear it tomorrow for the race. Now I'm really upset I won't be able to wear it for the rugged maniac because you jump into water for that one. Is there a way to add miles to your Fitbit so it'll show on the leader board against your friends. Because that's what's important... I must win!!!!!!

[marvdu]

I am not an avid swimmer, but have a suggestion. ..Maybe a case/band could be made that would make it wearable while swimming?  Kind of like the otter box did for smart phones.    It would keep functionality for most features, deliver options to blaze wearers, and be cost effective for the company.  It's Just a thought....... .......