Removing from band for charging - Anyone else question how many times?

[NiTRoX624]

Anyone else question how many times the Blaze watch face can be removed and inserted into the watch band again before the plastic wears down and it no longer fits snuggly?

I have had mine for two weeks and have already had to charge it 4 times during this time.  That adds up to 96 charges over the course of a year. 

I am guessing at some point the plastic wears down and it no longer fits in the watch face.

[SunsetRunner]

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@NiTRoX624 wrote:

Anyone else question how many times the Blaze watch face can be removed and inserted into the watch band again before the plastic wears down and it no longer fits snuggly?

I have had mine for two weeks and have already had to charge it 4 times during this time.  That adds up to 96 charges over the course of a year. 

I am guessing at some point the plastic wears down and it no longer fits in the watch face.

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I do have this question and believe it is just matter of time for it to happen. The plastic isn't that solid. The edge of my watch face has some markes already.

[Rich_Laue]

if your including your initial charge your math has been skewed.

If it is 4 times without counting your first charge then you'll need 110 charged to get through the year. But if it is 3 plus the first, then we're only talking about 79 charges.

I've been charging mine between 4-5 days, so I'm about 78 charges.

The way the frame is built, unless it gets bent, I'm not expecting problems.

[SunsetRunner]

Also charge about every 5 - 6 days.. the frame looks well build so it can cope with removing / inserting the tracker.. when needing to charge frequently..

[bbarrera]

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@NiTRoX624 wrote:

Anyone else question how many times the Blaze watch face can be removed and inserted into the watch band again before the plastic wears down and it no longer fits snuggly?

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After experiencing band failures with Flex and Force, I questioned the durability of Surge and that was a good call.

I'm expecting we will start seeing widespread reports of frame issues with Blaze in about 6 months, maybe 9 months.

[FelixFive]

@bbarrera Absolutely correct, just in time for owners to consider preordering whatever is announced pre-holiday season rather than dealing with a warranty issue.

[jaono]

People have too high an expectation for Fitbit products.  They are throw-away products designed to have a lifespan of 6 to 9 months, in general.  At that point they can be returned for replacement (which Fitbit is really good about).  But then the same problem will recur due to poor design and use of substandard quality materials.  They are not sending an improved product as a replacement so the issue you had before will inevitably replicate itself on the replacement device.  If you get a replacement immediately prior to the warranty deadline, you may get 18 months or so out of your device - tops.  

It's planned obsolescence.  Ideally, you should plan to buy a new Fitbit once every 12 to 18 months.  If that doesn't fit your budget, you need to buy from another manufacturer.  

[racertempo]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

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I do have this question and believe it is just matter of time for it to happen. The plastic isn't that solid. The edge of my watch face has some markes already.

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"plastic isn't that solid" ? Huh, plastic does not degrade/detoriate like some other metals that wear away over time.  Unless you take a chunk out of it a bit at a time it should not deteroriate at all.  I remove mine 1-2 times a day for daily charging when in the shower, and for switching bands.....so in 6 weeks owning mines I have probably removed it 200+ plus times and have seen no change.  It is a good question though for sure.

[racertempo]

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@jaono wrote:

People have too high an expectation for Fitbit products.  They are throw-away products designed to have a lifespan of 6 to 9 months, in general.   

It's planned obsolence.  Ideally, you should plan to buy a new Fitbit once every 12 to 18 months.  If that doesn't fit your budget, you need to buy from another manufacturer.  

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I do agree with this 100%.  They are designed to last just long enough until the new bigger and brighter product comes out, which is usually a year or a little more.  I agree Jaono, if people expect it to last for 5 years they are expecting too much for what they paid for.

[MikeS1971]

I've had my Blaze for about a month now, maybe a little longer and it's noticeably looser in the frame that it was when new.

[Yorkie10]

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@racertempo wrote:

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@jaono wrote:

People have too high an expectation for Fitbit products.  They are throw-away products designed to have a lifespan of 6 to 9 months, in general.   

It's planned obsolence.  Ideally, you should plan to buy a new Fitbit once every 12 to 18 months.  If that doesn't fit your budget, you need to buy from another manufacturer.  

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I do agree with this 100%.  They are designed to last just long enough until the new bigger and brighter product comes out, which is usually a year or a little more.  I agree Jaono, if people expect it to last for 5 years they are expecting too much for what they paid for.

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Well, at least the Blaze will last as long as the battery lifespan, typically 3 years. I do not like the design of removing the watch to charge but the Blaze is very light and comfortable to wear. I am sure, the watch can get loosed because It uses rubber to hold the watch in the frame. If the Blaze is only last for 12-15 months I am sure Fitbit will not have repeat customers, including myself.

[racertempo]

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@Yorkie10 wrote:

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@racertempo wrote:

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@jaono wrote:

People have too high an expectation for Fitbit products.  They are throw-away products designed to have a lifespan of 6 to 9 months, in general.   

It's planned obsolence.  Ideally, you should plan to buy a new Fitbit once every 12 to 18 months.  If that doesn't fit your budget, you need to buy from another manufacturer.  

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I do agree with this 100%.  They are designed to last just long enough until the new bigger and brighter product comes out, which is usually a year or a little more.  I agree Jaono, if people expect it to last for 5 years they are expecting too much for what they paid for.

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Well, at least the Blaze will last as long as the battery lifespan, typically 3 years. I do not like the design of removing the watch to charge but the Blaze is very light and comfortable to wear. I am sure, the watch can get loosed because It uses rubber to hold the watch in the frame. If the Blaze is only last for 12-15 months I am sure Fitbit will not have repeat customers, including myself.

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I agree only because the Blaze has changed band material.  The Flex and one pretty much were set to last as long as their battery since both had removable bands, but the Charge(HR) and Surge were doomed with that fixed band.....although I had mine for 15 months with 0 issues and have passed it on to a family member who uses it daily.

The Blaze I hope and expect to last for several years.  It solved the band problem and I don't mind removing it for charging since i remove it several times daily.  I already own 4 bands and do swap them out regularly.

[FelixFive]

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@jaono wrote:

People have too high an expectation for Fitbit products.  They are throw-away products designed to have a lifespan of 6 to 9 months, in general.  At that point they can be returned for replacement (which Fitbit is really good about).  But then the same problem will recur due to poor design and use of substandard quality materials.  They are not sending an improved product as a replacement so the issue you had before will inevitably replicate itself on the replacement device.  If you get a replacement immediately prior to the warranty deadline, you may get 18 months or so out of your device - tops.  

It's planned obsolescence.  Ideally, you should plan to buy a new Fitbit once every 12 to 18 months.  If that doesn't fit your budget, you need to buy from another manufacturer.  

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Planned obsolescence is absolutely not true for this company imho.  Fitbit has lofty but sincere goals to change how the average person views fitness and honorable intentions to produce quality products to support this.

What is true is unintended but unfortunately very prevalent product design issues (including material choices) and poor development processes which necessitate unexpected but seemingly high warranty replacement and/or accessory replacement purchase (even though the accessory revenue channel is planned more for secondary/optional accessory vs replacement purchase.)  Also, I believe their manufacturing is likely to design spec with industry acceptable/standard ppm rates.

I think the design intent would be 18-24mo longevity and for feature and functional uplifts in new products to be the encouragement to users to transition to the latest and greatest. Unfortunately, in addition to the aforementioned design/development issues, I think they've been hobbled with unintended but consequential product roadmap and product marketing misfires (duly noted in other posts).

As for expectations, I believe at the price point from this vendor a customer has every reason to believe they are buying a robustly designed, developed, and manufactured product that will last 2+ years.  If I consider the Xiaomi for $22, I would not have these expectatations and would buy 5 of them assuming a throw-away mentality (though I would hope to be pleasantly surprised).

[racertempo]

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@FelixFive wrote:

 What is true is unintended but unfortunately very prevalent product design issues (including material choices) and poor development processes which necessitate unexpected but seemingly high warranty replacement and/or accessory replacement purchase (even though the accessory revenue channel is planned more for secondary/optional accessory vs replacement purchase.)  Also, I believe their manufacturing is likely to design spec with industry acceptable/standard ppm rates.

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Do you know what their warranty rate is?  If not, basing it on feedback on a forum is not a valid metric.  I know that Lowe's, for instance, allows vendors 4% return for issues, any number above that a vendor needs to compensate and make necessary adjustments.  So unless you actually know their warranty number the argument cannot be had.  ALL products are made to break shortly after the warranty.  They are priced according to the material they are able to procure and a specific dollar value to hit sales at a specific dollar value.  If you want a lifetime-warranty tracker, the cost of the materials would be much higher and your end cost would go up as well.

The other side is to offer lifetime warranty, like a Rockwell tool Lion battery, knowing that very few people will use it in relation to the extra number of people who purchase simply because of that warranty as an option/selling point.

[FelixFive]

@racertempo   "ALL products are made to break shortly after the warranty"  

This just is not true for the companies for which I've worked nor true more generally for most reputable companies imho. As I find your posts often nonsensical and your online persona generaly disagreeable, I'll just leave it at that. 

[racertempo]

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@FelixFive wrote:

@racertempo   "ALL products are made to break shortly after the warranty"  

This just is not true for the companies for which I've worked nor true more generally for most reputable companies imho. As I find your posts often nonsensical and your online persona generaly disagreeable, I'll just leave it at that. 

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Maybe it is better to say, "all products should be expected to fail/break shortly after the warranty", as they are not "designed to break" at a certain period.

Good for you that the companies you deal with offer amazing products.  The bottom line is warranties are offered based on the quality of the product invovled.  Clothing washers are a great example, Whirlpool has lines with a 1 year warranty, a 4 year warranty, and a 10 year warranty.  Do you honestly believe that the internals of the three lines are the same, and all should last the same amount of time?  And does it make Whirlpool not a "reputible company" as you call it if their 1 year warranty washer has an average failure at 18 months?  It means their warranty and their product sourcing people are doing their job properly.

If so I have some greal real estate that I would like to discuss selling to you.

 And yes, my "online persona generaly disagreeable" is a good quote, I do disagree when people get on a forum and say that Fitbit has failed beacsue the Pop wach face is not functional, or because Fitbit failed to add a GPS in the Blaze when that person did not realize that until 5 weeks after purchase.  Darn right I disagree with them, or when someone complains that their Blaze stopped working after swimming laps with it.  

[racertempo]

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@FelixFive wrote:

What is true is unintended but unfortunately very prevalent product design issues (including material choices) and poor development processes which necessitate unexpected but seemingly high warranty replacement and/or accessory replacement purchase (even though the accessory revenue channel is planned more for secondary/optional accessory vs replacement purchase.)  Also, I believe their manufacturing is likely to design spec with industry acceptable/standard ppm rates.

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You make these massive generalizations without any metrics or data to back it up......I did ask, and you ignored the question, do you know the warranty or replacement rate?  Or the % of people having issues associated with the design.  Your direct quote above is "very prevalent product design issues".  Do you have numbers to back up such a strong generalization?  If not, and you are basing it on this forum, then that is not a valid metric, plain and simple.......don't generalize when you have no metrics to backup your negative comment about a company or its product.  

Show me their warranty and replacement rate and prove me wrong..........show that they are at 22%, then it would hold water.  You just come on here to spread generalized hate about the product, I try to find the facts in the data, and right now I don't see in any in your comment.

[Rich_Laue]

My thoughts are of Forgot intended that the product only last 6-9 months they never would have put out a 12-month warranty.

Many people still have their 5+ year old Ultra, also many are still using their 3+ year old Flex units.