Blaze vs Mi Band 1s or How To Get Dissapointed In The Product In Just 1 Day

[crazyb0y91]

Hey there. I'd like to share my dissapointment in Fitbit Blaze with you.

I got it yesterday and today's the first full day I was wearing it and I guess it will be the last one. I've got my Xiaomi Mi Band 1s for like 9 months and I wanted to compare them side by side so I just put them together on the same arm for a day.

SO here are the final stats after the whole day wearing both devices:

I've heard that Fitbits have The best pedometer in their products on the market. But how can you call it the best when it shows even more steps than Xiaomi Mi Band 1s that costs $15 compared to the 230-euros Blaze, which actually thinks that almost every wave of the hand is a few steps?! Or and those 18 floors I took today... (actually not, even not the half of it)

Let's move on. How about a sleeping tracking? Let's look into it:

Don't get me wrong but I'd trust Mi Band's charts. Blaze's charts just look and feel wrong.

At the end of the day I went to the phone's battery stats to see why the battery was draining too fast than usually. And what I saw shocked me: the Fitbit app's battery usage was almost 1/4 of all the apps running on my phone!? How can this be normal at all?? For example Mi Band's app is not even on the list bacause it just doesn't waste the battery compared to this:

It's... just... ughhh.

And finally. Fitbit doesn't support Cyrillics. At all. I even took a part in the moaning on the Cyrillic's support feature request  which is by the way 21 months old now and still no one in Fitbit cares about it.

That's it. I'm very dissapointed in Fitbit Blaze. It has all the fancy charts and datasheets but who actually can be serious on it if all the data is wrong? I'd like to hear from you other guys who use it. Thanks.

[bbarrera]

If you can get past Cyrillic issue, try again putting on different wrists, not saying it will change things but not a good idea to have both on same arm. Then switch arms. Fitbit has a setting for dominant vs non-dominant, that can make a difference. So really if you want to give it a fair chance I'd say:

- day 1: Blaze on left side (dominant setting), Mi band on other side

- day 2: Blaze on left side (non-dominant setting), Mi band on other side

- day 3: Blaze on right side (dominant setting), Mi band on other side

- day 4: Blaze on right side (non-dominant setting), Mi band on other side

Blaze is definitely known to give extra steps if moving arms or driving, and give fewer steps if your arms aren't moving (pushing a shopping cart) or swinging arms in a "power walk" style. The earlier Flex and Force were better about arm movement/driving/power-walking, but still gave me issues with pushing a shopping cart. I *suspect* that multi-sport and auto-track features introduced with Surge, then implemented in Blaze and Charge 2, are the root causes for what I've seen as an increase in issues with step counting accuracy. But that is just a guess. 

I ignore fluff reviews and focus on the deep technical reviews. In those reviews the sleep function was viewed positively. The restng HR is good, if it matters to you. The workout HR is hit or miss, its usually good with average HR but misses peaks and valleys if it matters to you (e.g. you do interval workouts). Anything that bends wrists, like weight lifting, makes it really difficult for HR to accurately track (Fitbit's advice is to stop and let it 'catch up' but that ignores the fact it didn't track accurately during the actual  lifting of dumbbells or barbells).  

"the best pedometer" status goes to the Fitbit One, which is worn on belt or in pocket.

Because of step counting issues, and what I want on my wrist (notifications including reply), I use my iPhone as Fitbit step tracker (in front or back pants pocket). Works great and I don't get extra steps from moving arms or driving, and I get full steps while pushing a cart. And one less device to think about, as I always have my phone with me.

[Rich_Laue]

Have you ever done an accuracy test of either trackee?
On my phone the display is the thing that pulls about 30-40% of the power.

[bbarrera]

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@Rich_Laue wrote:
Have you ever done an accuracy test of either trackee?

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Well if '1000 step' accuracy test is good, it doesn't really answer the overall daily step count accuracy question.

After thinking about accuracy again, it strikes me the whole Fitbit tracking system seems to be focused on the wrong metric - steps, regardless of their value to improving your health.

If fitness is the goal then I submit you shouldn't get confused by the "myth of 10,000 daily steps" which evolved from the name of a 1960s Japanese pedometer.

Why the focus on daily steps? I get a lot of junk steps pacing around my office on conference calls, or puttering around the yard. Some days I get 5000-8000 steps just from puttering around. 

The CDC minimum weekly recommendations for physical activity are at least:

- 2.5 hours (150 minutes) of moderate aerobic activities (brisk walking, cycling, swimming, rowing, etc)

- 2 or more days of (full body) muscle strengthening activities

The CDC recommendations are ok with "at least 10 minutes at a time."

Lets break it down. When I'm out brisk walking, I get about 8,000 - 10,000 steps an hour, depending on terrain and if the dog keeps stopping to smell the roses 🙂 Lets be conservative and use 10,000 steps per hour.

Following the CDC recommendations what I *really* care about is getting at least 25,000 (10,000/hour * 2.5 hours) "moderately aerobic" steps a week. Alternatively what I *really* care about is getting at least 2.5 hours (150 minutes) of moderate (3x MET) cycling, swimming, rowing or other cardio (e.g. elliptical).

Daily? Thats only 3571 brisk walking steps a day, or just under 22 minutes a day of cycling/swimming/running.

>>> 3571 brisk steps everyday on average, or 25,000 brisk steps a week <<<

So if fitness is the goal, why don't we have a prominent goal for "fitness steps" (steps in moderate aerobic zone) on the dashboard?

Thats something that can be implemented regardless of Fitbit tracker. I guess you can say active minutes is suppose to be the metric for "fitness" but then why do we have step challenges? Shouldn't those be active minute challenges? Why not dump steps and focus on active minutes as a goal? And what about a dashboard goal for full body muscle strengthening? 

[crazyb0y91]

Guys, you're just looking for an excuse to the fact that the device does not work as it should.

No I will not put it on the other hand because I'm a right-handler and wear the watches and the bracelets on the non-dominant left hand and so it is in the apps preferences.

Haven't heard about a 1000 steps test - don't know what's the point in this if I can't change the length of a step in the app (or can I? haven't found it).

And the battery usage of the app absolutely killed me, it is just ridiculous, and I even didn't get any notification of the phone call, a message or kinda. I can't imagine how you can use it this way.

So yet again - I'm very disappointed with Fitbit Blaze. The product of such a poor quality can't costs so much in comparison with a cheap Mi Band 1s.

Anyway I didn't put it on today and tomorrow I'm going to return it back to the shop.

[Rich_Laue]

@crazyb0y91 it doesn't have to be 1000 steps but i would make it at least 200. Take a walk, count every left foot step, stop at 100. You've just walked 200 steps, is that what the tracker says? 

Sure setting the stride is nice but it has nothing to do with steps countsed. 

[Lightbringer1]

Try to reboor your phone.. i had similar battery drain issue when i connected blaze for the first time.. it was just some kind of bug.. after rebooting phone, it is working just fine.. i dont have even fitbit app icon in the battery usage menu 🙂

[bbarrera]

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@crazyb0y91 wrote:

Guys, you're just looking for an excuse to the fact that the device does not work as it should.

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No. I told you about the step counting accuracy problems I've seen. In fact I don't bother wearing any band to track steps, I just use my phone as step counter - its always in my pocket and does a great job counting steps. The phone gives step count to Fitbit and other apps.

[crazyb0y91]

The problem is not just with the stepcounting, I know that I take at least 8000 steps per day. There are problems with almost everything this device do.

[jim_80]

Just to add, I had a similar battery drain issue at first and found that it was completely resolved when I turned off the "all day sync" option in the Fitbit app. I think they've made the automatic syncing a bit overzealous on the Blaze. Most trackers (including the Mi Bands actually) only sync when you fire up the app, so I've never felt that I've been missing anything by disabling that.

I'm not saying the Blaze is perfect, but I hope that small tip is useful.

[AlejandraFitbit]

Hello all, I hope you are doing fine!  Thanks for the feedback and screenshot provided. If your Blaze trackers are not being accurate, I recommend checking the Things you can do to make the Blaze more accurate post where @bcalvanese is providing really good steps to follow. If you keep having accuracy or battery inconveniences, feel free to contact our support team, since they have the proper tools to see the information that your tracker is registering.

Catch you later.