Will Blaze work with a dead smart phone?

[shoegal245]

I like all the features and the price point of Blaze, but the reason I want to upgrade to a new tracker is to get away from using my phone to track my runs. It's a problem in the winter time as my iPhone gets too cold and then shuts down when I take it out to stop the recording. If the Blaze simply needs to connect with my phone by bluetooth and I don't need to be accessing any apps on the phone to start and stop the run, hopefully this will solve my problem.

[EmersonFitbit · Accepted solution]

@shoegal245 Hey there, welcome to the forums!

I can confirm this later on, but normally, you don't have to take your phone out to begin/end your Connected GPS exercise!

I'll get back to you once I'm 100% sure. PS- How cold does it get where you live, my goodness!

[bbarrera]

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@shoegal245 wrote:

It's a problem in the winter time as my iPhone gets too cold and then shuts down when I take it out to stop the recording.

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@shoegal245 thats really weird, I've been snow skiing in temps down to 0 degrees Fahrenheit and pull out my iPhone 5s while riding up the chairlift to review my run. Never had it shutoff. I've seen a variety of phones shutoff if left out in the hot sun, but never from cold. How cold is it when you run?

[Rich_Laue]

What i think @shoegal245 is describing is typical of a battery that is on its last legs, with internal damaged caused by excess heat.

It gets cold and the battery is unable to give the required amps to run the additional apps.

[bbarrera]

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@Rich_Laue wrote:

What i think @shoegal245 is describing is typical of a battery that is on its last legs, with internal damaged caused by excess heat.

It gets cold and the battery is unable to give the required amps to run the additional apps.

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sure, like a bad car battery in the cold.

[shoegal245]

Well, I hate to bring out Canadian stereotypes, but we can get pretty cold
where I live on the Canadian prairies. For about a 3 week period I was
having trouble with my phone shutting down because it would be -27/-29 C
(which is -16F), plus a nasty cold windchill factor. We were colder than
Mars. I realize this is an issue with my phone, and yes, probably one that
is seeing the end of it's life at nearly 2 years old. I'm just trying to
understand if the Blaze is a good alternative for me. It sounds like it
could be, since the phone dying typically only happens when I take it out
at the end of the run to access the app. Hopefully the Blaze functions in
the extreme cold too. Most runners use Garmins, which are extremely
reliable and don't need to use my phone data, but I like the FItbit world
so I hope we can continue our relationship.

[bbarrera]

Yes, I've been in Canada east of the rockies and it can be very cold.

Blaze specs:

Environmental Requirements

• Operating temperature: 14° to 140° F
• Maximum operating altitude: 28,000 feet

There are many reasons that most runners use Garmin, as they are best in class (water resistant, incredible depth of features, apps, etc). 

This guy does an incredible job reviewing fitness devices, very detailed reviews. Checkout his latest buyers guide:

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2015/11/winter-sports-gadget-recommendations.html