Blaze replacement for the Surge.

[AtkPilot34]

I am writing to express my displeasure with Fitbit. I have been using my Fitbit Surge for one year as of today, and I am very happy with all of the features, gps, fitness tracking etc. During this past year I have had my Fitbit Surge replaced twice, due to band failures. Although this was an inconvenience, customer service made the entire process very easy. The last time I needed a replacement was seven days prior to the end of my warranty. Now after my warranty has expired I see that Fitbit has a new fitness tracker, the Blaze, that does everything a surge can and has replaceable bands. You can only imagine my disappointment that I was never offer a Blaze As a replacement for my damaged Fitbit Surge( after all the Fitbit Surge band issue is well known problem). Once again Fitbit has put corporate profits ahead of customer satisfaction. Once my Fitbit Surge band fails again, and it will, I will be looking into other Fitness trackers as a replacement.

[Rich_Laue]

1. Outside of the Blaze
2. connecting to Fitstar, which none of the other trackers do
3. several functions that have been moved off the app and onto the watch
4. More types of exercises the Blaze can handle
5. color screen.
6. Im sure i missed some

Then no there isn't anything new to the Blaze.

I'm not sure where people got the idea that the Blaze is a replacement for, or a step up from the Blaze. To me it seems to be going after a market that the other Fitbits do not fulfill. While it might not be as much of a smart watch as some might like, it is obvious that Fitbit is more concerned with tracking of activity first. No matter what the reason this is a decision F8tbit made, as for being right or wrong, since it has not been released the answer is still unclear. Time will tell, the Blaze however does have several added features that current Fitbit users have been requesting.

[bbarrera]

Up until now, Fitbit appears to be targeting "new to fitness" market and as a result Surge is really weak on features. Fitbit still seems focused on defining fitness as 10,000 steps, which is fine if you lead a sedantary lifestyle and want motivation to move. Unfortunately that means Fitbit is consciously ignoring those of us that are fit and train to improve performance, or just go hard when working out. It also means Fitbit focuses on the wrong metric, instead of promoting the CDC recommendations. That's ok, Garmin and Suuntu and Polar and others have excellent devices and prices are dropping. 

[matt9013]

@Rich_Laue

Wow, Fitstar is something I love most about the Blaze and I completly blanked on it. I didn't know about the more exercises part as I thought everything the Surge had the Blaze had and nothing more. Color screen I count more as a design change than a feature though.

Is there a full list of features other than what Fitbit has on the blaze page? I maybe missing a lot of features. I know GPS is on the Blaze now but not sure what other functions have been moved from app to Blaze.

I know it's not a Surge replacement but maybe I was hoping for more common features. Changing color of background and keeping watch on 24/7 if you wanted to just to name a few.

[bbarrera]

I used to do Fitstar workouts before graduating to free weights. Was disappointed to see that integration is limited:

"At launch, Blaze will have 3 workouts by default- a Warm Up, a 7 Minute Workout, and 10 Minute Abs. These are fairly general, but nothing too high-intensity."

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Blaze/Fitstar-integration/m-p/1118277

Echoing others, really need custom workouts including machine and free weights. Fitstar bodyweight exercises are fine, but why not support guided workouts in the gym?

[matt9013]

@bbarrera

They said they are working at giving us more options after launch so let's hope they do.

[bbarrera]

I didn't read that, instead I read that the Fitbit mods hope more are added. Pretty rare for Fitbit to publicly commit to new features.

[matt9013]

@bbarrera

I worded it wrong as you are right, they said they hope more are added but didn't actually say they were working on it.

[Rich_Laue]

They said they hope more will be added,  because they plan to watch the feature request board to see what the users would like added.  This is the way they did it wroth the Surge, Charge, amd Charhr HR. 

[EmersonFitbit]

@matt9013 @bbarrera I'm hopeful for a larger list of on-device Fitstar activities! Like @Rich_Laue mentioned, this is one of the areas where idea implementation comes in to play is Feature Requests. We know that the interest is out there, and always welcome customer input when considering new features to add to new or existing devices. 

Y'all are the best, thanks for continuing the conversation!

[lakerunner]

I agree, I just posted that i want to swap my surge but i change my mind bec blaze doesnt have GPS,plus  i dont carry my smart phone everytime and even though you have cell ph, if its not smart phone then no gps

[Rich_Laue]

The Blaze is not made to be a replcement for Surge, it is designed to be between the Charge HR and the Surge.
As they say, different stokes for different folks

[bbarrera]

---

@Racerx67 wrote:

I think personally the Blaze is a watch pitched below the Surge to give them time to sell remaining stock of those watches before being superseded by a Blaze with GPS. It has a better display, more options and connectivity and the option of straps which are known to not be an issue with both leather and steel being offered. 

---

Speaking of hope, a lot of hope that Surge will be replaced by something like "Blaze with GPS" ^^^

A lot of hope around here:

Hope for movement reminders on all the existing trackers (not just the new Blaze and Alta)

Hope for swim proof Fitbit

Hope for seconds display on clock face

Hope for full smartphone notification

Hope for iOS Health integration

Hope for real training support

Hope for working elevation charts

Hope Fitbit ditches all of the integrated band models (Flex, Charge, ChargeHR, Surge) due to early band failure - go look at Amazon review for Flex and marvel at the 1000+ comments on poor band design. Do the same for other models and again a large number of comments on poor band quality. I've had band failure with Flex, Force, and Surge. 

Hope for etc, etc, etc.

If you like Fitbit, and it motivates you to move, then buy based on what it does today. Don't hope it will do something in the future. I've got a Surge that still can't correctly report elevation on web dashboard and while the community reports it, the Fitbit moderators keep asking for info and never acknowledge the issue. Its been over a year. It took 6+ months for the Surge to get a timer. Surge watch face still doesn't report seconds. The top requested feature is move alert, a 2+ year old request, and the Fitbit mods marked it "implemented" because its *coming* on the not yet available Blaze and Alta, but its not scheduled for Surge, Charge or Charge HR and all the other models it was requested on. Shameful.

Just be careful with the integrated band trackers as there are thousands of comments on Amazon about poor fit and quality. 

[bbarrera]

I like Fitbit, it really helped motivate me to start moving at 50 yrs old and become fit. A lot of people enjoy step competitions, and it motivates them to move. Its all good.

Having been around Fitbits for years, I've seen Fitbit is very slow to add features. And popular requests are ignored for months/years. Thats why I firmly believe you should buy on features available today, and not hope for something down the road.

[chatrbox424]

So are they not making the surge anymore? I was under the impression both would still be part of the Fitbit lineup??

[Julia_G]

@chatrbox424 , yes, they are definitely still making the Surge. It is Fitbit's "performance" tracker and definitely still part of the family.

[chatrbox424]

That's what I thought so the majority of this thread confused me lol

[chatrbox424]

You can set your step goal for as much as you like it isn't 10k set in stone though so I don't understand why you'd think that's their definition. It's a minimum goal for those that don't move as much, yes, but you can individualize for your own needs/motivation. For me that's the beauty of it, it doesn't cater to those of any certain group beginner or advanced athlete...you get to decide and set what's right for you. I may be misunderstanding what you mean in which case just ignore me lol

[xct87]

 

I understand your disappointment with the band, I had purchased a SURGE and wore a few days but did not like the bulky shape. I returned it as I was informed the BLAZE would soon be out and did everything minus the GPS. Purchased my BLAZE yesterday and disappointed to find that it falls short in more ways than just the GPS

[Julia_G]

Hi, @xct87 , can the Community help with any issues you are having with the Blaze?  Except for built in GPS it does have most of the features of the Surge -- and a few extra ones.  But not all the features are obvious at first glance.

[xct87]

Primarily I am disappointed with the 'WORKOUT' options.  SURGE had a much wider assortment and more applicable for me personnaly.  Also disappointed with the timer option


Sent from Yahoo Mail