Cannot setup the Blaze with windows or android.

[AdrianB-UK]

I recent purchased a blaze due to a promotion through work thinking it would be a fairly trouble free experience.  Everyone raves about the fitbits, but this has been nothing but issues.

My first unit out of the box would not detect on any of my devices.   I tried every possible combination I could think of:

Windows 10 PC + Fitbit Connect + usb cable

Windows 10 Laptop + Fitbit Connect + usb cable

Windows 10 Laptop + Fitbit Connect + bluetooth

Windows 10 Laptop + Win 10 App + usb cable

Windows 10 Laptop + Win 10 App + bluetooth

Samsung S3 Mini + Fitbit App + Bluetooth

Samsung S4 + Fitbit App + Bluetooth

None of these options would detect the Blaze or activate the product, despite following all the instructions about resetting bluetooth, and the blaze.  

Reading these forums I noted that some people had success with the Fitbit dongle.  My mum has one of the earlier products so I took the blaze around to her and tried connecting to her laptop.  This was windows 7 with fitbit connect and the usb dongle.  Initially it still didnt detect.  Then it did, and failed doing the initial update.  Lastly i tried putting the blaze right on top of the fitbit dongle, and it finally activated and updated.... SLOWLY. 

The fitbit connect app says 5-10 minutes for the update.  This took about 45 minutes.

Once the blaze was activated i was hoping that would be the problem solved, however it STILL wouldnt connect to any of my devices.  PC, Laptop, or either phone.

Due to the short range requirement for the usb dongle i surmised that it might be a faulty bluetooth antenna, so i returned the product and got a replacement.

Unfortunately the brand new replacement is exhibiting exactly the same issue.  I now have a fresh Fitbit Blaze that is telling me to go to fitbit.com/setup and its unusable because NOTHING works.

This website claims that the Samsung S3 and S4 are compatible phones, so i have no idea what the issue is with them.  And everything i can see suggests the laptop and pc should be compatible too, but there is no clear-cut guide to activation compatibility that i can find.

I have followed the instructions to restart both the fitbit AND the bluetooth on both of the phones and the laptop.

It is ludicrous if you need a usb dongle *THAT ISNT SUPPLIED WITH THE PRODUCT* to activate it.

My next step will be phoning FitBit support... (phone line is closed now)  but if their support is anything like their software or their product I am not going to hold my breath...   

Can anyone here help?

[PureEvil]

Hello @AdrianB-UK,

Welcome to the community!

Fitbits are bluetooth devices that basically communicate with anyone (or in this case any device) that will try to chat with them.  Unfortunately, they, like humans, cannot carry multiple conversations very well without getting confused.

I would try the following:

1. Pick one device that you'd like to sync with, say your Windows 10 laptop (using bluetooth).
2. Turn off bluetooth on all your other devices (or turn them off entirely).
3. Try to sync with your Windows 10 laptop.

And no, you don't need the dongle to sync the Blaze.  I do it on my phone and my Surface Pro 3 (sans dongle) and they both work fine.

I hope this helps.

[AdrianB-UK]

Hi Pure, appreciate the response but this isnt my first rodeo.  I do tech support for a living.

My initial test was using my phone (Samsung Galaxy S4), in my car, on the way home from the shop.  As far away from all other sources of bluetooth as i could get.  No dice, despite rebooting both the phone and the device numerous times.

So for each other step listed above I attempted to synch both while the other devices were disabled, and while they were not.  I even tried several other peoples phones to make sure i wasnt going mad.

Regardless of that, it really shouldnt be this difficult to get two devices to talk to each other.

There are also two things that really arent made clear in any of the documentation.

1) Does the Blaze require a specific version or type of bluetooth in order to work?  BT 3 or 4 or Low Energy?   I know the device itself uses BT LE to communicate but I dont know if this is backwards compatible or what.    Theres no mention of this on the Win 10 app, just "install the app and it will work" but says nothing like "your machine must have Bluetooth 4.0 or better", at least not that i could find.  A massive over simplication on Fitbits part i feel.

2) Does the USB charger cable also work as a sync / data cable?  There seems to be disagreement about this on this very forum.  If not, this is also a huge failure on Fitbits part as this would eliminate the issues I am having.  Assuming every devices I have is incompatible I would still be able to sync while it charges.

[MarkFarm33]

Hi

Did you ever get your blaze to work?  I am having the same problems and cannot get it to work

I have windows 10 and an iphone

I did a 21 mile cycle ride and it recorded nothing! 

what dod you do in the end??

kathy

[AngelaMa]

Hello @AdrianB-UK and @MarkFarm33 welcome to the Fitbit Community! Thanks for the great advise @PureEvil! 🙂 I would like to share this post from @SunsetRunner where you can find troubleshooting steps if you are having issues with the set up process. If you already tried all this steps and you are having issues with the process, my advise is to contact our support team for assistance. They will be happy to help! @MarkFarm33 I would like to ask if your tracker is set up to your account? If it is not set up to your account it will not record your activity. 

Keep me posted! 

[AdrianB-UK]

Hi Mark

Just noticed your reply (4 years later, lol, sorry).  I did finally get it working but only after upgrading my phone to a Samsung S5.  From then on it works fine... most of the itme. I stopped trying to sync it to windows.

It quite often loses the pairing and i have to manually restart the watch, and phones bluetooth in order for it to sync again.  As a casual pulse / step tracker, and occasional workout tracker its fine, but if i was going to use it more seriously i would probably look at upgrading it to something more reliable.