Bluetooth issues with Galaxy S8

[ScottMan]

I recently purchased a Blaze, after downgrading from the Surge.

I can not for the life of me get my Samsung Galaxy S8 plus to connect with the Blaze to

be able to get notifications.  After spending almost 45 mins between the chat feature on Fitbits website and on the phone with a tech. They determined that the Blaze's notifications do NOT work with the Galaxy S8. Seems like a cop out, why didn't they tell me that in the first 3 mins of talking with them?

Any solution to this?  Anyone else have this issue, and resolved it?

thanks!

[bskon]

What I don't understand is that the Samsung s8+ is on the list of compatible smart phones and even shows notifications as an available feature. It would appear that FitBit did not actually do any testing of compatibility or we wouldn't all be screwed like we are. This amounts to false advertising regardless of whose side the problem exists on. We were all lead to believe we would have fully functional FitBits. Planning to return mine and get a Gear or 360. This is pathetic in this day in age.

[bskon]

So does this mean that with the Charge1 the issue between the Blaze and S8 didn't exist and this problem is unique to the Charge2? That's what it sounds like that you are saying.

[Steffa21]

I have a S8+ and I have gone through all of there troubleshooting including making sure that everything is enabled and always connected and it still will not work.  Apparently this is a problem that FitBit knows about and is on Samsung's end not theirs. While I still love the device I wish I had known that before purchasing.

[Steffa21]

I got mine on Friday and it has never sent me a notification, not once.  It is very frustrating!  I had a FitBit Charge 2 before and it worked just fine with my phone. I'm not understanding what could be so different about this one now.

[Steffa21]

I checked that list myself and agree totally. I've had a Samsung Gear before and ended up giving it to my daughter.  I use the FitBit app a lot and it was more user friendly than the Samsung app.  I really don't want to return the Blaze but the fact that I could also get notifications on it was one of the reasons I purchased it.

[Steffa21]

I had a Charge 2 and it worked fine with my S8+ phone.  There was never an issue getting notifications.

[DonBree]

I give up have 8+ nothing but Bluetooth rejected by blaze  have tried all the suggestions

[bskon]

@Steffa21 You are the only one that I have seen posting to these boards and on the internet in general that has had success. What did you do to make it work? This is a known issue in Samsung engineering. How old is your charge 2 and what version of firmware is running on it?

You may have the one and only holy grail.

[Steffa21]

@bskon I've had my Charge 2 since about the beginning of March and never had any issues with it connecting with my phone and giving me notifications. As far as the version of firmware that I have I'm really not sure.  I just let it update when it needed too. Sorry, I can't be of more help!!  That is why I am so stumped with the connection issue between the Blaze and my phone. I've never encountered a problem before and this is the third FitBit I've owned.

[amden]

I had EXACTLY the same issue.  Old blaze wasn't holding its charge but my S8 received notifications.  New blaze holds charge but no notifications.  Very frustrated.

[bpmohr]

I had a Surge I purchased in the spring. Worked great with my old Note 5. Then I got the S8+, had all the syncing issues and no notifications. I thought it was the Surge, so I bought a Blaze in September, same problems. Then it just magically started working in mid-October. But over the last week, it went back downhill, issues syncing and no notifications again.

So frustrating.

[Rosymc]

I got my blaze Sunday.  I did every trouble shooting thing I could find on these boards to get it to work with the galaxy 8+.  Nothing worked.  Then Tuesday it started receiving notification in the middle of the night.  It worked until about 2pm Wednesday.  It's back to no notifations again.  Also the blaze only holds a charge for a day.  Such a waste of time and money.

[Steffa21]

Well that's better than me.  I got mine on Saturday and it has never received any notifications and just as you have I went through ever troubleshooting idea they suggested.  That is when I found out that there seems to be an issue with the compatibility between the Blaze and the S8/s8+.  As far as the battery issue goes I know it said that you should be able to get 4 days out of it.  I've already charged mine twice since having it.  One of the things it tells you during the troubleshooting is to leave the 'always connected' on but that along with the all day sync on seems to wear your battery out faster.  I love the watch but it definitely isn't doing what they said it would.  Has anyone used it for exercise where you would be tracking using the GPS feature?

[UHarmon]

Which phone do you have Rich?

[lapriester]

You all should have read the other threads on this before buying your Blaze.  Contrary to what Fitbit says and advertises, the Blaze is not fully compatible with the S8.  It will not receive any notifications from your S8.  I gave up long ago once Fitbit started pushing the blame game to Samsung.  I mean, seriously?  Why would Samsung really care if a Fitbit worked with their phone.  What's in it for them?  I'll also bet Samsung is working hard and spending money and time addressing Fitbit's problem?  NOT! 

What I think is terribly bad is that Fitbit still isn't warning customers and is still listing the S8 as a compatible.  It appears that sales are more important than customer service.

My Blaze, which I got pretty cheap on eBay, will soon be going back on eBay.  I will, however, in contrast to Fitbit, warn any potential buyer that the watch doesn't function with an S8.

At least my Surge is still working and fully compatible with my S8.  A second new $20 band and it's just like new.

[DonBree]

I have a new blaze old one worked fine now keeps saying rejected by blaze


Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone

[DonBree]

I totally agree


Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone

[Main1988]

So I'm aware of the problems involving the battery drain of the Blaze and the S8/S8+, and notifications don't come through.

Do these same problems also include why I can't get the Blaze to connect to my phone's GPS for runs? It's very frustrating...and I'm starting to really regret the switch from the Charge 2. Everything I wanted to do with the Blaze, I can't, with a host of other problems.

[FerdinandFitbit]

Hey there @Main1988. Great to see you in the Community Forums! 🙂

I'm sorry you're having problems to get your GPS connected to your tracker 😕 I'd say this has to do with the known issues with the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ as GPS connects through Bluetooth and this is the issue that has been detected. It seems like we'll need to wait for Samsung to release an update to get this fixed. You can find more information on this on this thread.

Thanks for your comprehension and anything else I can help you with, let me know!

[tejaslakade]

S8, India - I can confirm that the latest update to the S8 has fixed the bluetooth issue. I updated my phone 3 days back and have it hooked up to my Blaze from the last 2 days.

The issues seem to have resolved now -

- Notifications have started appearing on the Blaze
- Normal battery drain from the Blaze

- Can start a GPS based activity directly from the Blaze - Earlier it threw the "Phone not found"/"Check Fitbit App" error

The build number for the update I have is: G950FXXU1AQK7

Note: Forgot to capture a screenshot from my phone. Found a screenshot of the S8+ online.