Blaze design criticism

[NewBlazer]

Every complaint is the same, and nothing has changed, even from older products like the Charge and Flex. You've seen these complaints a thousand times, so why not add another post with my list...
- You made your tracker into a watch. DISPLAY THE FREAKING SCREEN! Your quick view feature works like 25% of the time, and you look like an idiot standing there flicking your wrists serveral times just to see the time or heart rate. Multiple that by the many times you need to view that info during a short workout and you realize you've spent half your workout trying to light up the **ahem** display. Has anyone NOT complained about this? Screw battery life, at least give us an option.

- Watch Faces: I know you don't offer a mini App Store like the Pebble or Garmin (what a shame), but you could at least offer more (and better) watch faces. You could easily allow users to create their own watch faces and uploaded them via the website and sync to their watches. Little development changes like that would go a long way.

Notifications: I feel like you almost need to stop advertising that you do notifications. First of all, when a notification comes in, the screen doesn't like up (see complaint number one), and so you really don't know you have a notification unless you hear your phone or can feel the very subtle vibration of the watch. Anyone that has had Apple Watch, Pebble, Garmin, know what real notifications are. And many times (like 50% of the time), the notifications don't appear on the device or are super delayed. I know your troubleshooting docs say the device could be syncing, blah, blah, blah. This thing does not "do notifications".
Along with notifications, it does not acknowledge notifications. If you swipe away a text message, the phone, doesn't know that you've already acknowledged it. Every other smart tracker that does notifications, including Microsofts Smart Band, does this.

The Fitbit platform isn't new anymore. You've had time to develop and mature. You need a new development team. You need to open up your devices and release some API support so others can develop since you guys clearly cannot. Obviously I knew this wasn't going to be the best tracker going into it (I test and analyze hardware and software), but this is just bat**ahem** crazy. A company's value tells a lot about its products, and the trend it's my looking great.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[cammcclellan]

Wow... It's a fitness watch, not an Apple Watch. It sounds like you're expecting a lot more out of Fitbit than fitness tracking... Maybe you should just stick with other gadgets? I've found that the notifications work perfectly and are nice. They're really for when you're working out and can't get to your phone easily, so why would a slight delay matter?

This is an amazing tracker. You didn't complain about one aspect of its "tracking" skills. I'm a firm believer that there's a Fitbit for everyone, but this probably wasn't the one for you. It's not actually a "smart watch", it's just the fitness watch.

[SunsetRunner]

Agreed, it's a smart "fitness watch", which it does well. I don't want an Apple or Pebble, though they excel at being smart watches, with a degree of "fitness" thrown in.

[bbarrera]

I get more "fitness" from AW than Fitbit Surge, and practically speaking I don't see any difference between Surge and Blaze. My reasons here -- https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Blaze/Blaze-First-Impressions/m-p/1220338#M5198

[Nolander]

I. Disagree with the OP. The Blaze does what it is advertised to do. All the notifications work fine. It is a fitness tracker first, and some smart watch features are included. Fitbit has done so well as a company because they stick with what they are good at, which is making trackers. Their trackers are evolving, but not being re-invented each time they come out with a new one.

[judorama]

I agree 100% with you. I'd like to add that the heart rate monitor is terrible. I'm returning the blaze and going back to the charge along with my polar heart rate monitor. I'd rather have an apple iWatch for the notifications. So disappointed with this device!!!!!

[voodoorat]

Disagree with the OP--I think the design is okay with a few minor complaints (the frame seems bigger than it needs to be which makes the watch appear even bigger than it is, there aren't enough watch faces and the ones that did make the cut aren't that great, and the physical buttons seem underused--you should be able to assign shortcuts to them a la Pebble).  My problem is with the reliability as mine's already not working properly and it's been about a week?

[NewBlazer]

As a follow up to my original post, there is a reason there was no criticizing the fitness tracking portion of this fitness"watch". The reason my review is critical on the watch aspect of it, as that is that is the space the Fitbit is trying play. I mean, I stopped at their booth at CES and Smart Watch was the buzz word of the day from Fitbit employees. They are starting to allow interchangeable bands which is currently popular in the smart watch space but very unique in "tracker only" space. So, yes, I believe my criticism holds ground in their attempts to launch a smart watch product and not being able to deliver.

I have a theory on why they won't allow us to have an always on display, even if it means charging battery more often. Judging by my current battery life, getting the 5 days they advertise is a BIG stretch. Throughout the day, I probably glance down at the watch 20x (After flicking my wrist 100x to to and activate the **ahem** thing). The light stays on for ~8 seconds after you end interaction. I tried to keep it active for one hour while watching a boring Netflix show the other night, and drained 20% battery in that one hr. This isn't scientific by any means, just an observation.

[Salpal23]

 @NewBlazer You sure you didnt get a faulty Blaze? Quick view works for me every time. In fact, I sometimes think mine might be too sensitive. Might be worth a shot to contact CS and see if you can get a new one, test that one, and see if it still doesnt suit you. Just a thought.

Other than that , I can kinda see where you are coming from. I dont mind the screen not turning on for notifications but I understand that some people might so them including the option to turn that on or off would be nice. There is a thread on a feature requests board talking about this very thing:

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Feature-Requests/Fitbit-blaze-screen-wake/idi-p/1215974

Might want to throw a vote in there and hopefully something will be done about it.

Regarding watch faces, I agree. Four faces at launch is extremely limited. Id love to see more ASAP. Customizable faces would be even better.

All that said, I like my Blaze better with each day I use it. Its comfy and light and uses some higher quality materials, which I really appreciate considering the work I do. I just hope some of these issues can be ironed out in a firmware update.

I think a lot of peoples minds would be put at ease if Fitbit would say "we are working on it!".

[Rich_Laue]

As for quick view, make shure your watch is closr to horizontal facing the sky, now twist the wrist towads you.

As for the AW that happens yo be 3xs the price, it is basically a remote display for the phone. 

The Blaze has a battery hungry display, do you really want to leave it on? The Surge has an LCD dosplay. 

[bbarrera]

Fitbit is really an activity tracker - if you follow my posts I've given constructive criticism of what is needed to make it a 'fitness' tracker or sports watch or multi-sport watch or whatever you want to call it. The features needed are obvious for anyone that has done any structured training and used TrainingPeaks and Garmin/Suuntu/Polar. The multi-sport features of Fitbit are focused on runners, and even then a lot is missing. No features to help plan workouts, do interval training, accurately track HR for threshold training, predict overtraining and recovery, or assess fitness level (e.g. HRV, VO2max, FTP, etc).

I welcome the interchangeable bands - the integrated bands of Flex, Force and Surge have proven fragile and prone to early failure (mine within 4 months).

Fitbit is really about stepping your way to a more healthy lifestyle. Its all good, this world needs $99 Fitbit One and Fitbit app to motivate people that know they should exercise regularly, but need motivation. The Alta and Blaze are nice steps up for some, but fundamentally are still activity trackers and not much different than One. 

[bbarrera]

---

@Rich_Laue wrote:

As for the AW that happens yo be 3xs the price, it is basically a remote display for the phone. 

---

No, try 1.75x or 2x -- Blaze $200, AW 38mm $350, AW 42mm $400. Why lie? Its getting really old seeing you put down a product that has higher build quality and far more fitness and productivity capabilities. 

Long time Fitbitter and fan, however I do more 'fitness tracking' with AW than with my Surge (or Blaze). Blaze is bigger than AW 42mm, Blaze has smaller display, and Blaze display is low resolution. AW has smartphone notifications from any app that I choose. Useful apps optimized for my wrist. And pay for things in seconds, much faster checking out at store versus waiting for new chip card readers to validate my credit card.

Blaze is nice upgrade for some Fitbitters, and a welcome addition to the lineup. 

[kschannen]

While I like the Blaze in general, I do see where the OP is coming from and I agree with the premise in the subject line. The Blaze is a product that doesn't know what it's supposed to be and this is why FitBit's price took a tumble right after it was announced.

Is it a SmartWatch, or a fitness tracker?  Well, Fitbit wants it to be both but it's implementation is lacking. As a device evaluated in a vacuum it's not bad, but as compared to the competition (and yes, it's obvious that the AW was targeted here) it falls well short. The technical issues presented by the OP are valid and I'm not going to rehash them here (except for the non-illuminting alerts, that bears repeating...I mean, WTH?) and it has the feel of a me too device rushed to market sort of half baked.  

Honestly, if I wasn't heavily invested (socially, etc) in the Fitbit universe I'd probably go a different direction. Fitbit is benefitting from being first to market in this category, but that won't last forever. I'm not an Apple Watch owner because it's not as capable an activity tracker as FitBit. But if the next gen is, well that might be it for me and Fitbit, and I've been around since the Ultra.

[judorama]

What am I missing here? The heart rate monitor is totally inaccurate for me! Is anyone else experiencing this??? I am returning this tomorrow! I hate this device. Totally underwhelmed.

[cammcclellan]

Mine works great. Maybe yours is defective? I've heard that some need to be
reset, have you tried that? I would contact Fitbit to see if they can help.

[kschannen]

Mine is generally OK at rest, but today I was walking on a treadmill and it showed a HR of 190+. Not a chance I was at 190+.  Maybe 120.

[AdamMSC]

There just has to be some defective devices... I mean seriously, there are reviews from some  reliable sources on youtube that tested the device and found it to be accurate, at least as accurate as other wrist-based monitors-- rizknows and techyagent are two that come to mind. I've also manually taken my pulse and checked it against the heart rate monitor, and it has been pretty darn accurate. Why don't you try that? Turn on workout mode and take your pulse for 15 seconds and multiply that number by four then compare. It shouldn't be off by much at all-- mine isn't/wasn't, even when I was jumping rope. It does have a delay here and there, but that is normal!

[bcalvanese]

---

@NewBlazer wrote:
Every complaint is the same, and nothing has changed, even from older products like the Charge and Flex. You've seen these complaints a thousand times, so why not add another post with my list...
- You made your tracker into a watch. DISPLAY THE FREAKING SCREEN! Your quick view feature works like 25% of the time, and you look like an idiot standing there flicking your wrists serveral times just to see the time or heart rate. Multiple that by the many times you need to view that info during a short workout and you realize you've spent half your workout trying to light up the **ahem** display. Has anyone NOT complained about this? Screw battery life, at least give us an option.

- Watch Faces: I know you don't offer a mini App Store like the Pebble or Garmin (what a shame), but you could at least offer more (and better) watch faces. You could easily allow users to create their own watch faces and uploaded them via the website and sync to their watches. Little development changes like that would go a long way.

Notifications: I feel like you almost need to stop advertising that you do notifications. First of all, when a notification comes in, the screen doesn't like up (see complaint number one), and so you really don't know you have a notification unless you hear your phone or can feel the very subtle vibration of the watch. Anyone that has had Apple Watch, Pebble, Garmin, know what real notifications are. And many times (like 50% of the time), the notifications don't appear on the device or are super delayed. I know your troubleshooting docs say the device could be syncing, blah, blah, blah. This thing does not "do notifications".
Along with notifications, it does not acknowledge notifications. If you swipe away a text message, the phone, doesn't know that you've already acknowledged it. Every other smart tracker that does notifications, including Microsofts Smart Band, does this.

The Fitbit platform isn't new anymore. You've had time to develop and mature. You need a new development team. You need to open up your devices and release some API support so others can develop since you guys clearly cannot. Obviously I knew this wasn't going to be the best tracker going into it (I test and analyze hardware and software), but this is just bat**ahem** crazy. A company's value tells a lot about its products, and the trend it's my looking great.

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Like Garmin?

Garmin devices are the buggiest devices on the planet. There servers go down for days at a time rendering millions of devices pretty much useless. They add a bunch of new features without fixing any bugs from the previous batch of junky features. They never update their manuals so all the new features you have to pretty much guess how to use them, and they are buggie too.

I have a fenix3 that just sits in my drawer, and every time a new firmware update comes out I install it hoping they have fixed the issues. Intead they just add new features that you have to guess what they are, and all the bugs just keep piling up. I could go on and on about Garmin junk.

The Blaze is a GREAT device, and I'm sure it will be even better as more updates come out.

I had an Apple Watch and returned it because I want a fitness tracker that I can get text and phone calls on (if even needed), not a smart watch with some fitness tracking features.

The Blaze fits the bill better than every fitness watch I have owned to date (and I have owned quite a few of them).

The fitbit app is also the best and most complete app I have ever used to date.

Maybe you should do a little research.

[bjanow]

There only needed to be a little more testing and bug fixing. A decent tracker but awful software and documentation. Dev support non existent. This is not a complete app by any means. It is buggy. Maybe on the iPhone it works for text and phone calls. Android not so much. Only one messaging app, no email? No emoji? You call that complete? Think about what you are saying and to whom you are saying it. No battery percent, no clock customizations? No GPS on watch? Shall I go on?

[Rich_Laue]

Emoji would be easy to add,  it simply would be to add those charectors to the Ascii typeset, and use more memory for a lot of small pictures seldom used.