Honest Review of a FitBit Charge 3

[Fuksi85]

I have had the Charge 3 for a few weeks now and I have been a FitBit customer for a few years.

The short version: Yet another unimpressive piece of kit. It doesn't feel innovative, it doesn't feel premium, it surely is not a stylish item, rather something I need to hide under a shirt sleeve.

The long version: I purchased the FitBit Charge 3 after all the noise and marketing campaigns that announced its release. Once I unboxed it the first impression was very underwhelming. Regardless the technicalities around the materials, the rubber band feels just like that: rubber. The screen also feels very rushed and, if you look carefully, it have a massive bezel all around.

This is just the beginning, after charging the device and waiting, out of the box, for 30 minutes or more to complete the first upgrade I was left with a device that displays all but what I need. Shure, you can change the clock face but either nobody at FitBit feels like listening to feedback, or they have never went out and compared other products with their own. There is a third option: people just got used to subsequent releases of underwhelming products that by now anything looks like innovation.

The software on this device is so poor that I would not even know from where to start the description.

The gestures are not intuitive and the menus are so layered that it is virtually impossible to navigate them. It does not help that the haptic button is difficult to reach and not very sensitive and needs to be pressed multiple times just to get back to the beginning.

To log an exercise I need to tap/double tap (so many gestures), slide right, (clear notifications that might pop up in the meanwhile), tap on "Exercise", select the exercise *treadmill", click start, click start again. We're logging! Now let's stop it. Twisting the wrist does not always wake the screen (which is a problem also when simply wanting to check the time). So.. double tap. Press the haptic button on the left (with my thumb as I wear a watch on the left wrist). The exercise is paused. Let's stop it. Haptic button again. Click on "Finish". Oh.. not on the clock face yet. Haptic button again. And again. Oh here it is. I'm back after tens of click. How was this UI/UX designed? Last minute much?

Some might say that it is just a matter of getting used to it.. it is not. A carefully thought out and researched UI should be intuitive. Unfortunately we are getting used to many UIs being utterly terrible. 

The clock faces themselves look dated. What I want to see is a big set of digits telling me the time and underneath it the date. I don't need to be constantly reminded of the number of steps or my heartbeat. This is just so stressful!

To conclude... just another inexpressive piece of kit that feels cheap, looks cheap, and it is difficult to operate. This will be the last device I buy from FitBit. I won't even begin to comment on the Social side of FitBit that also seems rushed with a complex UI, nonexistent UX, and messaging system form the last century. 

[z984c3321]

I have had two Fitbits and both went bad after the warranty period was over. I do not trust this organization to make a durable product.

[RustyG026]

Short review: Glad I didnt buy it but I wish I had the receipt so I could take it back.

Long review: After using it for a couple of days I now know why my mate gave it to me, it's pretty much useless! The main issue is that it logs steps and floors and auto starts workouts when I drive, when I brush my teeth, even when I'm laying in bed watching youtube! Not good for a product that's sole purpose is to track your activities! Apparently you can manually change workouts to driving, which is great if it auto starts a workout, unfortunately I cant work out how to change the step/floor count if a workout hasn't been detected. Ive read the older models dont have this problem so it would seem Fitbit have taken a step backwards with the charge 3. For the money they charge I dont think its unreasonable to expect it to be able to differentiate between walking and brushing my teeth, ffs I've had cheapo ebay trackers that work better!

It keeps having problems synching to my note 8 and it really does not like the fact that I will not allow it permission to mess with my notifications, every day I have two or three pop ups telling me I need to give it access to my notification settings.

The auto brightness does not work, its constantly on bright as you like, and surely in this day and age the app could allow you to fully customise the display to how you want it, not force you to use one of the very limited pre set choices.

All in all I am not impressed, I'm glad I didnt pay for it and I can safely say that unless the next firmware update sorts these issues out I wont be buying a fitbit in the future.

[z984c3321]

Thanks for the heads-up. I have had two Fitbits and both died after the warranty ended. I’ll be sure not to get the 3.

Moderator edit: personal info removed

[faikfaikfaik]

Got mine for free with a broadband deal - coming at it as a curious newcomer to the fitness tracker game I had no complaints - but do feel I would feel at least a little buyers remorse had I paid full whack. 

All that has been somewhat undermined by recent syncing issues leading to a now completely inoperable tracker (even the time is wrong). Won't sync via bluetooth, can't sync via cable (that feature was removed with the Charge 3 it seems). Now, even as someone who paid nothing, I'm still disappointed!

[Martyn_B]

I must be the lucky one.  Apart from the syncing issues I've always had with Fitbits (including my Charge 2), I've been a happy bunny. It does what I want, when I want and having used it for over a year I don't have any issue with the UI either.  I use it with an Samsung phone app downloaded from the Google Store and that works just fine.

It did go wrong - with less than 24 hours left on the warranty (THANK YOU!!!) the screen greyed out but I've been sent a new one through the post within 48 hours.

I'm normally a hyper-critical reviewer but I have to be honest, I love the **ahem**ed thing!

[JudyCr69]

I love mine too. It has worked beautifully and it’s helped me stay on track. Couldn’t be happier.

Sent from my iPad

[Joedisatisfied]

Had a fitbit charge 2 - it died two months past warranty. They gave me a discount coupon to get a fitbit charge 3 - paid the same as any retail outlet with this discount. The Fitbit charge 3 doesn't keep time and is difficult to reset or sync. I wouldn't buy it.

[Joedisatisfied]

I agree - only bought fitbit charge 3 because the charge 2 which worked great quit after 14 months....2 months past warranty.

[Crestensgirl]

I agree with the short review. I almost returned it a couple days after I bought it, but by the time I realized it could not fulfill a single need I have (other than to count daily steps) it was too late to return it. It was an impulse buy and next impulse will to be to buy something other than FitBit products. 

Long Review, I have the opposite problem. When I am running, it counts 1 step for every 3 I actually take. It has never auto-logged a workout for me. Which is fine, but weird since I do things that I don't log and it never sees it as an activity. When I driver, it does log as if I am taking steps. I was surprised that I hit my 250 step goal 2 hours straight while driving. I haven't had a problem with it logging steps in my sleep, maybe 30-40 steps are showing when I first wake up, but for all I know I went to the bathroom or got a drink of water and forgot about it. I have a problem with it not syncing to my phone for notifications. And this is probably the only reason I kept it, I had a baby when I first got it (she's a toddler now) and it was really nice to put my phone on silent and then rely on my watch to vibrate when someone called or texted and not wake the baby up with an annoying phone ring. Also, I have a small hearing problem and don't always hear the ringer when it's on. But the charge 3 often just stops notifying me of calls and I have to unpair and repair way too often. I can't tell much difference in the brightness. 

My biggest issue is that it doesn't actually allow you to customize your workout plan. I want a daily step goal and for the reminders to move to remind me to move when I haven't reached enough steps each hour to reach my daily goal. Or even one I can set for activity per hour, calories per hour, etc. I keep getting feedback that the reminder to move is just to get me started. But it rarely reminds me to move because the 250 steps only takes a couple minutes and I get that making coffee and changing the baby's diaper in the morning. I want something that is going to encourage me to workout MORE. I can literally sit all day and only get up to go to the bathroom, get food, or change a diaper and fitbit will tell me I have reached my step goal while I was being a couch potato. FitFail. 

[Tupelo]

What a disappointment. Not just in my failing product but in the "customer support". I've had my Charge 3 for over a year. I was happy to begin and it functioned as promised for a while. About 7months ago it stopped sending text and phone notifications from my phone. This is on of the primary features that appealed to me. 

Customer support has not offered any help. They repeatedly tell me it's because of the latest iPhone iOS update but it's been about 5 updates and yet still no functionality. I've wasted much of my time following the useless "Troubleshooting" directions and even more time with live chat and still don't have a fully functioning watch. 

Time to by an apple watch......

[Joedisatisfied]

I fully agree - my charge 3 worked fantastically for about 6 months and
then for no apparent reason - stopped keeping time. I have been sent about
a dozen+++ options but none fix it. How can it operate perfectly and then
not when nothing has changed? I agree with a buying something else. At
least my charge 2 lasted 14 months before it died.

--

Moderator edit: personal info removed

[z984c3321]

I already bought one.

Sent from my iPhone

[Albert8296]

Good Luck!!!

[Albert8296]

Lucky You...............

[JR888]

I rate Charge 3 as a C+. Does the job, but I have had at least 4 issues I had to call in. Additionally, each of the side bands is made out of very weak material. The two broke 4 months apart; the second one 5 weeks after warranty expired, so you would have to pay $30 for both. At this rate, it will be $30 each year. Nice profit for FitBit! despite a lousy product.

[shihaye]

I think fitbit charge 3 is good for 1 year use only. Mine just stopped working after 1 year. During the first few months of use, the screen would occasionally stop working and I'll just change the clock face to make it work again. When it's nearly about 1 year in use, it needs to be restarted using the 15 seconds method to make it work. Now it just wont charge and if the screen would finally turn on it's just a corrupted display. I tried contacting fitbit support but they just told me to restart and all those methods which I've already done. I would l never buy any fitbit device again.

[Martyn_B]

Fascinating! 👍

[Albert8296]

Lucky you that you got a full year from your Fitbit Charg3 - I got 6 months. At least my Fitbit Charge 2 lasted 14 months before packing it in. If you try to talk with Fitbit they give you the runaround until you just give up and throw it in the junk drawer.

[Albert8296]

Syncing is a real issue. My Charge 3 worked fabulously for 6 months then would not sync no matter what I tried - same tablet....WTF

[Albert8296]

Exactly word for word with my experience with Charge 3................