Question from a person thinking of the Charge 6 and HR display

[OlMud]

Hi all,

I'm thinking of purchasing the Charge 6 and have a questions about HR display.  If I'm tracking my HR on my bike ride is there a way to display that on my phone so I can monitor it throughout the ride (this may be an app question more than a Charge 6).  I know some watches have a zone target but I hate all that beeping in and out of zone (and like to see it).  Also is the size easily readable/customizable or is it a small tile?

Thanks for any help.

[Rich_Laue]

I would have said yes, but I can not find this option in the current android app version. 

[Moimoi2801]

Honest answer, I wouldn’t bother, I upgraded to a charge 6 at the beginning of November, couldn’t use my normal email address had to open a gmail account, by December product had started to play up February could not use the product for its purpose contacted them and was told to return for a replacement which I did, received replacement and within 3 days exactly the same problem occurred, I have now been asked to return the replacement for yet another replacement but they cannot guarantee the same problem won’t happen again, to be perfectly honest I am not sure if it a problem with the product or the Fitbit app now that google have taken over, I have used Fitbit since 2010 having several different models which all worked perfectly until now. Save yourself the frustration and go for a different make

[DPinOz]

Hi

I ride and take note of heart rate too. The Charge 6 does not beep but subtly vibrates on your wrist for active zone monitoring. I set the watch as follows: select bike exercise, scroll down on the Charge 6 watch face to the settings section, turn Heart Zone Notification on, and Always On Display to On. (These settings are then remembered for the next ride. Start the ride, tap the watch face till the Heart Rate shows on the watch. You can look at if at any time or feel which zone you are in, one vibrate for Light, two quick vibrations for Moderate and three quick vibrations for Heavy. It's pretty unobtrusive for me.

My only issues with All the Fitbits (Charge 4, 5 and 6) is GPS. As it often disconnects mid ride. So I use a phone app to measure distance or speed statistics, I find the Google Fit App quite good for this. GPS problems have plagued all the Charge watches and can cause significant battery drain, especially when it does not turn off, so it's easier and less frustrating to use your phone for GPS. If you use the Google Fit App it still records the ride in Fitbit and borrows Fitbits Heart Rate data. Turn the GPS to phone only under the settings menu on the watch and reset the watch before you charge it (This ensures the Charges GPS is not on).

My main complaint is that the Charge series of watches just don't last. I am yet to get 2 years out of a Fitbit Charge. Not really an issue for me though, because Australia has reasonable consumer protection laws and forces all companies to replace devices under warranty. Just buy it from a store where they don't have a problem with returns, and buy that store's extended warranty (you don't want any arguments). Then when the screen dies, or the Charge leaks in the pool, or it fails to charge or any other issues, take it back to the store and swap it for the latest model and thank Google for the upgrade. The watch becomes Googles issue to sort out not mine. I figure the more returns may lead to better build quality. I did notice on my last return that Google were increasing the number of tests performed in store before replacement, but I would be happy if the shop assistant who has less knowledge of Fitbit can breathe life back into my dead device. Good