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I agree with many of the others. I know there may not appear to be enough users requesting the bluetooth LE off functionality for fitbit to consider it, but I also know of several hundred, Yes Really, who would consider it, fitbit devices, at my location alone. There are 8,000 military and 12,000 civilians affected by the bluetooth rules at my location alone. I traded a fitbit flex for a first generation jawbone with my son-in-law for that reason. I love the Surge and want one, but I can't justify it if I can't turn the LE radio off while I am at work.
Please don't just consider, but make this an option. You will get a number, Most Likely thousands more at $249 a pop, of new customers with this functionality. Most people I speak with on the military base I work at love the look and function of your products, but won't buy them because they cannot disable the bluetooth. They get written up in sensitive electronic areas for active bluetooth devices and could potentially lose jobs.
One older gentleman specifically stated he came home and threw the device in a drawer because he was written up for a violation at work. He loves the device, but can't afford to lose his job. Thanks for implementing this as soon as possible.
Moderator Edit: Edited title for clarity and word choice
Now unless your syncing, the Bluetooth is in standby mode and only listening, not transmitting. The battery drain is negligible compared to the screen or the heart monitor.
About EMF if you carry a cell phone or live in a house with electricity, im not going to comment. There is a reason why boats use twisted wireing, to limit the EMF on the compass
Hi Rich, Still i feel that battery luife could be extended even if the "listening" bluetooth signal was off. why hasn't someone just install a command into the software and allow the user to turn the bluetooth on and off? there is already a switch on the watch I'm sure it could be that difficult for the programers.
@LARunner- The power consumption of the Bluetooth chip when it is in standby mode is so negligible that turning it off would be an exercise in futility. And, in most devices the Bluetooth is part of another chip, not a stand alone chip, so turning off the Bluetooth would disable something else at the same time. Even when Bluetooth is in use, the power draw is very small - it is just a very simple RF transmitter/receiver and does very little work. The 2.4GHz short-range RF of Bluetooth is not known to cause any EMF issues since it is very low power and very short range.
If there was an option to turn off Bluetooth, these forums would be overloaded with posts about trackers not syncing because phone or desktop could not find the tracker.
I'm on day 5 since i charged the Charge 2, Fitbit so says I'm above 30% of battery life . i really don't think turning BT off is going to matter much.
What i did notice on my Fitbit One is, if i only synced 2-3 times a day i got 3 weeks. When i set the computer up to sync every 4 hours, with, with Linux you can, the battery only lasted 7-8 days.
There is a huge market being missed by FitBit because of this feature. There are tons of military members that cannot wear this device because it has an active bluetooth radio signal in certain work environments. The ability to turn this off would allow them to wear this. I know of mean who are on the fence about purchasing this product because the majority of their week....it's pretty much useless to them. I think you would see greater sales if you were to add an airplane mode. Just my 2 cents.
Seriously how hard is it to update the firmware for paranoid users? I would imagine it might break the clean UX on the tracker since all the settings are controlled via the mobile app.
I see two additional benefits for this option:
+ Extend the battery life
+ Fitbit listens to the customers who love the product and care their health
Also looking for this option to turn off bluetooth on the Charge HR 2. I just bought this but will be returning it due to the fact that bluetooth is always on. I don't want to be exposed to unnecessary radiation.
Please make this an option to turn off all radios in the device, otherwise I will no longer be a customer.
Why can this just be added to the Blaze? There is already a setting to turn off notification bluetooth, so it cant be that hard to disable it entirely? It would take maybe a few days to add in this feature and there is not harm in not adding it, you would get SO many more people who live in areas where bluetooth isn't allowed. I'm getting the blaze, and I want this feature.
You say that the bluetooth type you use isn't dangerous, but to make people feel better, JUST ADD IT! i've submitted the idea multiple times, and you still haven't added it. Just add it. please. it wouldn't take long at all to implement it into the blaze, or Charge 2 at all.
If you still dont add it, then please make the code open source on GitHub so we can atleast try to help you add these features.
I assume this has still not been implemented? Surely this is a no brainer? Fitbit please implement this feature, which imo should be something very simple.
1) extend battery life
2) alleviate peoples concerns over an unregulated area
3) allow people to utilize the device in places where no radio frequency/signals are allowed etc!!!
Wanted to add my vote - almost returned my new Fitbit Alta gift for this very reason. I still might - because the close exposure to waves makes me concerned. I'm going to try it out for a couple weeks. There's no reason Bluetooth needs to be on all day when I only want to sync it 1-2 times. Love that I can sync wirelessly, but after I sync, I want to turn it off.
I'm returning my Flex 2 I just got for Christmas for this reason. This can't be that difficult. Please add this feature. If you are concerned about this adding complexity to the user experience, just leave the current behavior of always transmitting as the default and make it a "hidden" option to disable/enable transmitting for those of us that need it.
Fitbit considering this request has been ongoing for over a year and a half please provide an update and outline plan/timeframe for implementation. I think you are starting to see a high demand for this feature over a growing concern for our health and flexibility of a device we all enjoy!
Can someone from Fitbit please explain why I cannot turn off the Bluetooth function on my Alta, as I only want to sync once or twice a day. I love the tracker and I am wearing it all the time, also when I am sleeping. I am concerned about the radiation and wish to switch it off. This should not be too difficult. For now I have decided not to wear the tracker when I am sleeping until this feature is settled. Thanks.
I'm afraid Fitbit won't react until they get bad press because of this issue. Fitbit does not need a "Bluetooth Gate" scandal right now (its shares are not performing well) but it looks like they have decided to wait for it before reacting. Something tells me that they won't have to wait for much longer though.
I have also heard rumours according to which the European Commission will very soon require manufacturers of fitness trackers to allow the user to turn the bluetooth off. It seems that many people at the Commission are pissed off with the fact that they can't turn the bluetooth off in their Fitbit. So, after all, Fitbit and other manufacturers might have to implement the feature on very short notice or risk not being able to sell its trackers in Europe. Besides, once the European Commission comes out with that new rule a lot of current and potential Fitbit users who simply don't care about RF will get alarmed. If the Commission says the user should be able to turn the RF transmitter off, RF might not be so safe after all. I feel as if Fitbit is causing itself (and potentially the whole industry) a whole lot of trouble by trying to avoid some minor technical incovenience.
I am very concerned about having the bluetooth on all the time. The radiation is strong enough to allow my Charge 2 to sync to my iphone in another room. I bought the Charge 2 today but will return it if I cannot turn off the bluetooth. I am a software engineer. This should be so simple for fitbit to implement.
I am very concerned about having the bluetooth on all the time. The radiation is strong enough to allow my Charge 2 to sync to my iphone in another room. I bought the Charge 2 today but will return it if I cannot turn off the bluetooth. I am a software engineer. This should be so simple for fitbit to implement. I will also return Fitbit Alta that I bought for my daughter for Christmas.
Yes, it would be easy for Fitbit to implement this feature. Several of Fitbit's competitors offer it, and their products are still priced competitively with Fitbit's products.
I've been following this thread for about a year. After it became clear that Fitbit was not going to take any action to address this issue, I switched to a Garmin Vivosmart HR, which I've been very happy with. With Bluetooth turned off, I only have to charge the device once a week. I still use the Fitbit interface, which I was already accustomed to, in many of the same ways I did before (entering in food, weight, and some activities, for example). I don't like the Garmin interface quite as much as I do the Fitbit intreface, but the Garmin software is fine, syncing is easy, and I get the information I need. For me, the tradeoff was easy. I won't wear a Fitbit device, which, after all, is always in contact with the body, so long as it emits radiation or radio frequency 24 hours a day. I'm not willing to take that risk, and there is no need, when there are other options out there.
I probably will unsuscribe to this thread now, but I wish everyone luck with their own choices.
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