Blaze review in WSJ

[bbarrera]

Wall Street Journal review:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/fitbit-blaze-review-a-fitness-smartwatch-in-need-of-more-smarts-and-styl...

The review's bottom line: if you have an iPhone, buy Apple Watch. If battery life and Fitbit app are priorities, go with the cheaper Charge HR.

[bbarrera]

and a couple of previews from CES:

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/wearables/fitbit-blaze-1312660/review

http://www.trustedreviews.com/fitbit-blaze-review

Looks like the Wall Street Journal got a jump on publishing a review.

[bbarrera]

moved above^

[matt9013]

What most people need to realize is the Blaze isn't supposed to be a smart watch in the sense of AW or Galaxy Gear. It's a fitness watch that can get a few notifications. No where near what a smart watch can do.

People comparing it to those are going to be disapointed. As a fitness watch it can't be beat but as a smart watch it's nothing compared to pebble, AW or Galaxy Gear but it's not trying to be.

It's a fitness watch with basic notifications and it does that job greatly from what I have seen/read.

[bbarrera]

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@matt9013 wrote:

What most people need to realize is the Blaze isn't supposed to be a smart watch in the sense of AW or Galaxy Gear. It's a fitness watch that can get a few notifications. No where near what a smart watch can do.

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Tell that to Fitbit marketing - the Blaze web page is titled "Fitbit Blaze Smart Fitness Watch" in my browser. And the opening sentence in the press release: "... today unveiled the Fitbit Blaze™ smart fitness watch, its smartest, most stylish, most motivating fitness tracker yet."

In their own words, this is Fitbit's Smart Fitness Watch, their smartest tracker yet. 

I have a cheap Arduino board that receives more iPhone notifications than Fitbit, and it didn't require an iPhone app. Both iOS and Android have notification centers that provide all the notifications, so the Blaze can see all those notifications, it was Fitbit's choice to ignore all notifications except texts, calls, and calendar. My Apple Watch even displays Fitbit notifications - just look at my avatar for one of many examples (yes, my Apple Watch gives me Fitbit updates about step competitions, how many steps left to hit step goal, etc, etc).

[Rich_Laue]

It's called a Smart Fitness Watch worn the emphases on fitness not on the watch.
It has Smart fitness wroth some smart watch features.

I like the way the reviewer complains about the connected GPS, but suggests buying the AW which also uses the connected GPS. The AW is a smart watch that also tries to be a fitness watch, the reviews i read state it does the fitness part rather poorly.

[SassyPants-21]

I didn't realize until I read the WSJ review. That the blaze is like strapping a nanotechnology to your waist. There quote not mine.

[bbarrera]

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@SassyPants-21 wrote:
I didn't realize until I read the WSJ review. That the blaze is like strapping a nanotechnology to your waist. There quote not mine.

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iPod nano, not nanotechnology:

"Too many times this week I looked down and thought: When did I strap an iPod Nano to my wrist? Fitbit pitches the Blaze as its first tracker for all occasions, yet I felt like hiding it under my sweatshirt and blazer—something I never do with an Apple Watch or Moto 360."

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder (I happen to agree with WSJ).