GPS vs Connected GPS

[kurtisscott1]

I did a comparison on the Blaze and the Surge it pretty much had (in the chart) everything the surge had except GPS route tracking, but in the video and the feature of the Blaze it said it does have GPS route tracking.

Moderator Edit: Title For Clarity

[Jlachapelle]

I want to purchase the fit bit blaze but before I do so, I want to be sure I'm not missing out on any usefull features for me.

I always have my phone on me, so using the phone gps instead of the fitbit gps is not an issue for me

Is there any differences between the two for the following monitoring?

Heart Rate

Walk

Run

Cycling

Eliptical training

Moderator Edit: Title For Clarity

[Michael]

The only real thing I can tell is that the battery life is 2 days shorter, and no in-built GPS.

[Nolander]

And the display is not always on, if that matters.

[SunsetRunner]

On the other side, it's the first tracker which has colours.

[Michael]

@Nolander Yep, I totally forgot about that...

[DerrickS]

Hi @Jlachapelle,

As you mentioned, the biggest difference between the Surge and Blaze is that the Surge has built in GPS, while the Blaze can use your phone's GPS. To answer some of your questions in more depth:

1. Both trackers use the same PurePulse technology.

2. Both have exercise shortcuts for: Walk, Run, Cycling, and Elliptical.  What's important to keep in mind is that the Surge can use it's on-device GPS for Walk, Run, and Cycling; while the Blaze depends on your phone's GPS to map out these workouts.

Some of the less apparent differences that I really like about the Blaze include:

-Calendar notifications.

-Call/text notifications and music control only require a single Bluetooth bond (Surge requires a separate bond for each).

-On-device FitStar workouts.

-The Blaze can control music volume.

Hope this helps you out!

[dpeete]

If GPS is actually of interest, and your phone is always along for the run/ride/etc, the Blaze could likely have better battery life. The Surge's 7 days is without GPS... turn on GPS and you are looking at more like 10hrs. The Blaze's battery life won't vary much due to run/ride/etc tracking since it is using the phone's GPS.

[Therev1953]

The Surge is bulky enough though much better looking and a stand alone tracker - and you say you always have your phone -but that Bluetooth sucks up your battery-so the GPS is a non issue anyway.
I truly believe after reading the comparison to both the Surge AND the Apple Watch (posted on Twitter ) unless you are dying for a color face- the Surge is proven tried and true. Honestly, the best most discreetly sleek product is the CHARGE HR, but you can't have 2 of the same model on an account so I bought a Surge as my second piece (which has now become my primary tracker.)

[dpeete]

Comparing Bluetooth power usage to GPS isn't reasonable. The Surge lasts 3+ days with Bluetooth only, less than 10hrs with GPS on.

[Michael]

The Surge lasts up to 7 days without GPS usage, which is 2 days longer than the Blaze. But you should be able to use connected GPS in the 5 days on the Blaze without a significant impact to the battery life. (The battery life will be impacted on your phone, but you already charge it every day and it has a bigger battery to start with.)

[Michael]

The Blaze doesn't have GPS, but if you have a compatible phone, the Blaze can use "connected GPS" which allows it to connect to and use the GPS on your phone to track the route. But the Surge has built-in GPS which doesn't require a compatible phone be with you. That is the difference as I understand it.

[Rich_Laue]

Personally i feel the origanal question about, "Is there a drawback (pros vscons) to the Blaze vs the Surge", is a very subjected question and is based on the users needs. At best we can point out the differences and similarities, with our personal thoghts. Im happy to see that this thread meets up to my expectations of a constructive conversation. 

My thoughts with GPS on the watch versus the phone, it will mean that the phone will need to be charged more often. I do this anyway while traveling, and while in the house i top the phone up before leaving.  As for the Surge i rarely use the the GPS for more than 3 hours, one time i went out with a battery low notifacation, and still was able to go on a  3.5 hour walk with GPS enabled.

@Therev1953 Fitbit now allows multiple trackers to be connected to the same account, but only one should be worn at a time. I find the Charge HR and Surge are the best combo.

[ErickFitbit · Accepted solution]

@kurtisscott1To add to @Michael's excellent response, Connected GPS will connect Blaze with the GPS on your phone to map your routes and see run stats like pace and duration on the Blaze display in real-time. Additionally, as the GPS is being used from your phone it keeps a longer battery life while running a GPS activity.

[ErickFitbit]

@dpeeteWell said. As Blaze will be using our new Connected GPS feature to share your phone's GPS to track your routes, it is not expected to see a significant drain in battery life while tracking GPS routes. The main difference between Surge and Blaze is that with Blaze you will need to carry your phone for GPS mapping, while Surge has it's own built-in standalone GPS chip in the tracker.

@Therev1953As @Rich_Laue said above, "drawbacks" are subjective, but this is why we have multiple types of trackers for multiple lifestyles. More flavors for everyone. In order to compare trackers and find your fit, check out our comparison page here. See ya around! 

[SunsetRunner]

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@ErickFitbit wrote:

@kurtisscott1To add to @Michael's excellent response, Connected GPS will connect Blaze with the GPS on your phone to map your routes and see run stats like pace and duration on the Blaze display in real-time. Additionally, as the GPS is being used from your phone it keeps a longer battery life while running a GPS activity.

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and the smartphone will have a lesser battery life 

iPhone 4s GPS on : around 2h30min

[IsmeneP]

So, just to clarify: when I purchase the Blaze and use its connected GPS, I will connect with 'what?' on my phone?  I appreciate that I will carry my phone with me (I would do that anyway).

When I synchronize the Blaze data on the dashboard, and view my activity details will I be able to view th 4 streams of data:  map of the route I travelled, the heart rate zone, the actual heart rate and thge calorie burn?  I really like viewing the data when using the Surge, because of the ability to view the above 4 streams of data.  Will the FitBit Dashboard show the activity data from the Blaze in a similar manner?

Will I have to run a GPS exercise application (like Runkeeper, MapMyRun etc) to track my route?  If not what GPS tool will I have to use on my phone?

thank you in advance.

[EmersonFitbit]

@IsmeneP When you throw your device into a GPS-able activity (say Run, for example), your device will immediately begin to search for your phone to use as a point of reference for GPS (no fiddling around with the app needed). On the Blaze, you'll see a few key stats during the activity. After the fact, it'll look similar to any GPS activity tracked through Fitbit- all of you key stats plus a GPS map for that activity. 

[Darrelhart]

I can second the GPS issues.

[IsmeneP]

My surge never lasted 7 days .... it was more like 5 days without ant GPS usage.