Charge 5 on swimming mode all it shows on the screen is the time

[FifiMS]

Very disappointed with the charge 5 and wondered if you could get a refund if something is not fit for purpose. 

Bought the Charge 5 solely for swimming but very disappointed to find that all it shows on the screen is the time. I can check the time I've been in the pool by looking at one of the 3 clocks on the poolside. 

I mean it doesn't show a single thing!! Not lengths, distance or anything??

So this device is utterly pointless for me for swimming with. I can't take my phone poolside to keep checking the app to see how many lengths I've done. 

I read that this could be an upcoming feature in an upgrade but if this isn't available soon I'd just sooner get a refund. 

Moderator edit: clarified subject.

[Talahthas]

Welcome back to the Fitbit community, @FifiMS!

If you've bought your Charge 5 directly from Fitbit, you have 45 days to return it:

Fitbit - Terms of Sale 

Otherwise you'll have to check for available options at the shop where you've purchased it.

[Surfista]

This has been an ongoing complaint from those of us who bought the Charge 5 to track swimming. I bought the Charge 5 because the manual says that it tracks laps. They somehow forgot to include that small detail that you couldn't see laps until you checked your phone after the swim.

There is a thread about this.

"Show swim laps, times and lengths on Charge 5"

It appears that Fitbit is not going to correct this deficiency.

My opinion as to why they don't display laps on the screen is that the lap count is not accurate.

If the lap count was on the screen, this would be immediately apparent.

I would not recommend 

[t.parker]

@FifiMS there have been some discussions on this topic in the past and possibly, the lack of a gyroscope is a reason why the watch can't show you laps on screen (users found out that devices with gyro could, without - couldn't do it). Of course, it's just a guess but that would indicate a limitation of hardware which means no update would solve it. Also, it looks like Fitbit is going in that direction when it comes to swimming and most recent devices are unable to show laps on screen (Sense could do it, but Sense 2 can't, and Pixel Watch is also very limited in that matter). The conclusion is that if you buy a watch for swimming, do not buy Fitbit.

[FifiMS]

Thank you. 

Will check for sure. 

I like it in all other ways but this was a big let down. 

[FifiMS]

Yes I totally agree. 

I feel very misled by the information that fails to omit that you'd need to check the app. It makes out like it would show on the screen for sure. Very naughty. 

[FifiMS]

Thank you. 

Great information that I wished I'd known about before. 

I wonder which none FB device would work best for swimming?

[t.parker · Accepted solution]

@FifiMS pretty much any watch tracks swimming better than Fitbit. Honestly, I can hardly say Fitbit supports swim tracking (it sounds like a lie to me considering how it's implemented). Fitbit offers probably the worst swim tracking feature in the market. Long ago, when swim tracking was a selling point of the Ionic watch, the swim tracking was a lot more sophisticated, closer to what competitors offered. You could see laps on the watch, then a better breakdown of workouts in the app where you could see more per-lap details - now all of it is gone. All you get is a lousy length and distance which you can't even verify because there's no detailed breakdown.

For swimming, you want your watch to track (in real-time) at least:

Must haves:

- total distance

- lap distance

- average pace

- lap average pace

- stroke rate (100m, per lap, per length)

- total strokes

- total lengths

- lap lengths

- heart rate (yes, other watches do support HR)

- timers (lap, total etc.)

- open water swimming (with GPS)

Nice to have:

- rest/swim time (how much time I rest, how much time I actually move)

- drill logging (for example, kickboard when the watch wouldn't recognize a swim style to track it)

- SWOLF (swimming efficiency)

- lap style (show style of the last lap on the watch)

- using external sensors for better HR tracking (Garmin, Polar)

Ionic used to support a few metrics from "must haves". Now, it's just a lousy timer on new watches. Garmin watches (most of them) support all features listed above. I tried my wife's Galaxy Watch 5 which surprised me as I didn't expect that sophisticated swim tracking (it has most of the features listed above). From Polar, I swam only with a standalone Polar Verity Sense HR sensor (it's a sensor mounted to your goggles) and even that sensor tracks more data than the Fitbit watch.

I made "open water swimming" in bold because I can't get my head around how come Fitbit never brought that in. It's a basic feature of swim tracking (pool/open water). For me, it is a "must-have".

For HR, most of the watches do support HR tracking (with a disclaimer of possible inaccuracies in the water). Some watches, like Garmin, will drain the battery slightly more if you use wrist HR because they will increase the brightness of LEDs and run more power-hungry algorithms in order to discard errors. Not perfect but the results are pretty good (compared to strap and Polar Verity Sense). Sports watches like Garmins and Polars can connect to external sensors (chest strap) and pull data out of them whenever a connection is available. Then, you get perfect HR accuracy. Since I use a Garmin watch to track my swimming (I stopped taking my Fitbit Sense 2 to the pool at all, what's the point? If it can't track swimming, then at least it won't get damaged by water) I got there strap (HR Swim) so the watch can access cached HR data. With sports watches, you can use any brand of chest straps but for swimming you want to be able to read cached HR when the BT connection is lost and that unfortunately will bind you to the HR sensor of a specific brand (Garmins will read cached HR from Garmin straps, Polars from Polar straps, Suunto from Suunto strap etc.). This is needed only if you really need that level of accuracy.

Before you decide to get a watch to track your swimming, think about what you need and check with other communities (it doesn't hurt to ask for recommendations) and read the manual BEFORE you buy. It's usually specified in the manual what and how a particular watch is tracking.

[FifiMS]

Thank you. That is great info. 

I looked at the Garmin I es but dayummm they are ugly haha. 

So did you rate the Galaxy watch 5 then? I could have gone with that one too. 

[Surfista]

Excellent post. I agree 100% with your evaluation of the Charge 5 as a swim tracker.

Coincidently, my Charge 5 battery failed yesterday. Just out of warranty and Fitbit said, "sorry, not sorry. No replacement for you." (I am paraphrasing) I ordered a Garmin Swim 2 last night. FifiMS, I am more concerned with how it works than how it looks. haha.

Someone posted that Garmin can download Fitbit data into their app.

If I don't get banned from the forum, I will report on how the Swim2 works out. 

[t.parker]

@FifiMS GW5 is a great tool but it isn't a sports watch but a smart watch. Not what I need but for casual swimming with some extra needs (metrics, HR, stroke detection etc.) it will be sufficient. I prefer Garmin (I swim with Fenix 7) because I can connect my chest strap to it and it does help me with training (I can upload structured workouts from apps like TrainingPeaks or MySwimPro and watch will guide me through). Also, the display customization plays a huge role. I noticed today that I miss last interval stroke rate (per 100m) and today plan was to work on my stroke rate. So I could pause workout, go to data screen configuration and just add it while being in the middle of activity. Another thing is that I half-rely on automatic length counting. I start/end interval manually. Then it counts my laps for that interval. Then, for example, after swimming 1x400m interval I hit lap button and go into rest mode. Then, while resting I can review last interval data on the watch.

One thing you really want from a swimming watch are buttons. Touch screen isn't suitable to be used in the water and both Garmin and GW5 have buttons (like Ionic had). With my Sense 2, I need to start swimming before showering (when my watch and hands are still dry), as from shower I go straight to the pool. It is nearly impossible to start/stop Swim tracking with wet hands! Buttons are a must-have on such watch.

GW5 is made more for a casual swimmer and its stroke detection leaves room for error (even imperfect freestyle will still be recognized as freestyle). My Garmin on the other hand was reporting wrong stroke until I made my technique a lot better. It may be frustrating for casual swimmers who just want to swim lengths but if you work on your stroke then it is a great indicator of your technique! Once, Fitbit used to be detecting stroke (and show it as a table) but it's been removed.

Like I said, read manuals of various wearables, speak to people who use them (skip reviews, usually majority are shallow and overly optimistic).

[FifiMS]

Yes please Surfista, I'd love to hear how you get on with your new device. 

Is it bad that I wished mine would be faulty so I can change it for something else I'm that disappointed. More so as it was bought for me as a gift and I darent tell my hubby how rubbish it is. 

I'm going to consider just buying an ugly swim one and just keep it in my bag for the pool. Not what I was planning on doing right after we just spent a bunch on this one. 

Good luck with your G****n

[FifiMS]

Thank you for your fab reply. 

I mean you sound a much more pro swimmer than I am but I really did think the charge 5 would at least show lengths. I hate it when I get out and I've done and odd number. I like to keep pushing till I get to something with a zero on the end ha. 

I did watch lots of reviews on YouTube and asked if it recorded laps. Some said yes but forgot to mention it was on the phone app only or never even replied. Now I think I know why. 

Even the free SWIMTAG device that my pool provides is better than this but I'm switching locations where that's no longer available, hence my purchase. 

Will keep wearing it as a step counter but that's definitely all it's really good for. 

[t.parker]

@FifiMS Not all Garmins are ugly (see Venu line) but all have sophisticated swim tracking.

[FifiMS]

Thank you. I'm going to get googling now. 

[t.parker]

@FifiMS I totally agree with @Surfing. I also prefer an ugly watch which does what I need rather than a pretty watch which doesn't. Here's example:

Today's morning swim, improvised workout (I made a structure on the go, recovery mode, slow, focused on technique):

"Ugly" watch gives me this (all of it can be seen on the watch during swim + more things):

This is lots of data. I can see when my form broke in interval 10 (I got distracted by a swimmer in the same lane). Then, there's a rest period included. If I use a kickboard or do non-swimming drills, I can log them as drills (the Swim Stroke will show Drill). The pace is based only on moving time (doesn't include rests).

Now, what "pretty" watch gives me:

The lengths are almost right. Zone minutes never show any number for Cardio&Peak. No heart rate. I can't see my laps, stroke, or anything more than mostly irrelevant for swimmer metrics (I don't care about AZM or calories). Pace includes rest times between intervals (which makes it useless in the context of the whole workout).

Pretty toy or ugly sports watch? The choice is a no-brainer for me 🙂

[FifiMS]

You've definitely sold it to me. Just need to get one and sneak it in my swim bag then. 

I do check my calories burnt and they drastically less than what it shows on my swim tag so now I don't know which one to believe. 

The data you get is amazing on the Garmin. But I'm more interested in what it shows on the screen. Anything would be better than the Fitbit for that. 

[Surfista]

My situation with my wife is even more uncomfortable. She had bought me a Garmin a couple of years ago as a gift and I told her I didn't need one that expensive and returned it. I have now admitted to her that she was right about the Garmin and that I should have listened to her then.

[FifiMS]

Haha seems we're all going to be in the doghouse in one way or another 🤣

[RCM60]

@ surfista, t.parker and FitMS:  Sooo unhappy with my Charge 5 and FitBit's lack of response to helping me.  I bought this as an upgrade to a Charge 2 HR.   Every other day, I swim 72 lengths in a 25 yard pool, roughly 38 minutes, freestyle, with no stopping.  The tracker NEVER counts the lengths correctly, and half the time presents me with the Pause/Finish option as if i stopped the workout myself.  The tracker reports a random number of lengths between 0 and 74 and never captures the correct workout time.

I have opened a case with FB support and am persistently expecting them to do the right thing, but they are wearing me down after almost 10 calls to their call center. 

After reading your Garmin review, I am quite tempted to leave FB after 10 years of loyalty to their brand.