10-06-2018
14:23
- last edited on
11-17-2020
15:47
by
MatthewFitbit
10-06-2018
14:23
- last edited on
11-17-2020
15:47
by
MatthewFitbit
Got my pre-order Friday pm and wearing it since an hour after.
Haptic vibration is easily felt, stronger than on my Ionic... on both devices, the Normal and Strong settings feel the same. The Charge 3 alarm awoke me without any problem (the Ionic did too, but this one is notably stonger.
Screen...the larger and touch face screen is a good addition, and while I like the Ionic color screen a lot, the B&W Charge 3 screen has a good resolution with all data easy to read. The brightness settings are distinctly different and allow you to set it to auto-bright or set it to a constant brightness level.
Clock faces...ok...they need some work here, as the choices are limited and none of the choices have what I want. What do I want? ... Time (including choice of 24hr time), date, battery level, steps, stairs, heart rate. When available, O2 sat. Don't care if I have to swipe to see calories or distance. IDEALLY...all faces would show date and time in user's format selection, then let us select which 5 or 6 stats we want to see at a glance.
Strap...acceptable as a backup...have already ordered it's replacement...like that they included small and large straps so everyone will get a correct size without guessing...especially important for those on the cusp between sizes.
Oh...wore it on the exercise bike last night...yes, it worked wells and kept accurate count on my ankle...HR worked about the same (on inside of ankle) as cycling with it on my wrist (when it counted no steps).
I have Ionic for built-in GPS but Charge 3 will connect to phone GPS, so am covered with either.
Overall, very pleased...just waiting (still) for O2 activation and need better clock faces (they will come).
UPDATE: 23 Oct 2018
It was with great sadness that I returned the Charge 3 today. As much as I loved the hardware, I equally hated the poor software. The worst problems were that it had no useful clock faces and that you couldn't set the alarm from the device. So unfortunate...great hardware submarined by ho-hum software.
10-06-2018 14:37
10-06-2018 14:37
Great to hear good reviews thank you!!!
10-06-2018 15:00
10-06-2018 15:00
Thanks, happy to read this!
10-07-2018 01:43
10-07-2018 01:43
@Viello wrote:
Overall, very pleased...just waiting (still) for O2 activation and need better clock faces (they will come).
Oh it's active all right. They've been collecting the O2 data since the first oxygen sensors came out years ago. It's just that we can't use it yet.
10-07-2018 03:21
10-07-2018 03:21
Thanks for the review!! So can we have the Ionic AND charge three connected to our account/iPhone at the same time, or do we have to choose?
10-07-2018 05:32
10-07-2018 05:32
Yes, you can have multiple devices on your account and use any of them.
Currently I have a Zip, Ionic and Charge 3 all connected.
(Have a One which I can't find but it registered as having no battery power, so is somewhere in the house... grin.)
10-07-2018 05:40
10-07-2018 05:40
Cheers! Was checking as you can't have Versa and Ionic at the same time. Good to know!
10-07-2018 05:48
10-07-2018 05:48
Apparently Fitbit decided you can't have 2 "smartwatch" devices on one account...both Ionic and Versa are designated as smartwatches. But you can have multiple Trackers (everything else) or one Smartwatch plus multiple Trackers on one account.
10-07-2018 10:51
10-07-2018 10:51
So I'm cheating because I'm not 24 hours in...but I have some first impressions.
For starters, and a big deal to me...text notifications...the sender name is a very dull white/gray and the message is very bright white/gray. At the absolute very least I would want it the other way...sender dark and message light. I would also like the option to turn OFF the message altogether on the device (changing this setting via web is fine, just like the Charge 2), but in return I'd like the sender name to be larger print. I've got 50 year old eyes now and so I have cheaters all over the darn place, but I don't need them for distance, just up close stuff (i.e. reading). So "glancing" at the Charge 3, most of the time, is frustrating...I could get by on the Charge 2.
So that leads to a general statement...I'd love to see an "old fart" option where I can opt into larger fonts and brightness of text. I personally would be willing to give up having 2 stats per screen, or 2 anything per screen, in lieu of one per screen with a larger font.
The auto pause feature does not recognize walking or hiking as exercises that are available for auto pause. In fact nothing I set up in my shortcuts are recognized. I believe this is probably just a "bug fix".
I'd like the ability to turn off the relax function...don't use it, don't need it, don't want to see it.
Timers...set increments only. I can certainly get by with it, but I was hoping for being able to set specific stuff...I would like to use it for when I'm cooking, for example. But I realize this is a very nit picky thing. I use my phone now and am fine continuing to do so, and I haven't checked out if the Charge 3 will be able to alert if an alarm goes off on the phone...if so then problem solved for me.
The vibration does indeed feel stronger than the Charge 2.
MORE CLOCK FACES for sure! I miss the one I was using on the Charge 2 already! I was using the large font w date. So with that said, I would like to add that a clock face with large font time, date and weather would be nice.
I haven't had any incoming calls so can't speak to that, but while it was a little inconvenient to see the alerts scroll (including text in that statement), I actually think, for me, it works better because the font is larger overall.
All-in-all I like it but I'm missing some things from the Charge 2. But I also had an adjustment moving from Alta HR to Charge 2 so I know some of this will be just getting used to things. But FitBit, hear me now...PLEASE help us folks with older eyes out by making larger font options. I'd be willing to have to flick through more screens if needed, but for the sake of everyone else, I really think the best approach on that would be to allow an option to turn on/off multi stats on screen and then the font "dynamically" is larger. Or just a general larger font on/off and formatted screens however it needs to be done to make it work on your end. At least that would give an option.
10-07-2018 11:23 - edited 10-08-2018 06:47
10-07-2018 11:23 - edited 10-08-2018 06:47
Charge 3 with rose gold Milanese band
Looks much nicer with a mesh band.
10-07-2018 11:29
10-07-2018 11:29
To me, being in hidden data collecting mode for Fitbit is not the same as being Active Use For Consumer mode in which we can see our own data...imagine if they collected your Steps data but didn't display it on your Fitbit or app.
10-07-2018 11:47
10-07-2018 11:47
Do the bands for the Charge 2 fit the Charge 3 as well? I don't see a mesh band for the 3 on their store page. Where did you find it? It's super cute.
10-07-2018 12:02
10-07-2018 12:02
No, Charge 2 and Charge 3 bands are different.
Do a search on Amazon for "Oitom Charge 3 mesh band" ... it shows a silver one, but if you click on it, you then select color and size. I wanted a Strapco band, but they only have one in Silver, so will wait until they do one in rose gold. Meanwhile the Oitom band, which arrived today, is nice...time will tell about longevity.
10-07-2018 12:07
10-07-2018 12:07
Where can one purchase a band like this?
10-07-2018 12:22
10-07-2018 12:22
Thanks! This is very helpful. Will you post a follow-up review, after some passes, to review the durability?
10-07-2018 12:22
10-07-2018 12:22
After some time passes*
Sorry, forgot a word!
10-07-2018 16:03
10-07-2018 16:03
Does the charge 2 charger work on the charge 3?
10-07-2018 16:08
10-07-2018 16:08
Handed down my Charge 2 so just have the Charge 3... but if I had both, I wouldn't mix chargers. At the very least, the 2 devices are different widths.
10-08-2018 09:35
10-08-2018 09:35
The Charge 2 charger does not work with the Charge 3 and vice versa.
10-08-2018 09:55
10-08-2018 09:55
Charge 2 bands are not compatible with Charge 3. I've ordered my milanese strap for my Charge 3 from Amazon. Got my Charge 2 straps from there too.