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Can the firmware and app be updated to have an auto pause feature for when you stop to cross a road or tie a lace during workout and walk and run etc. That would be fab.
This would be perfect for those times you forget to unpause the activity as well. Lost about 1km today and with current performance, that's a bit chunk of the activity!
I agree that fitbit needs to find a way to incorporate an auto-start feature. I typically pause my ride at stoplights and often forget to unpause it. Having an auto-start feature would help eliminate the missed out activity after a paused workout.
To counter having an auto-start feature however, remember that your fitbit tracks your workout via your phone connection. I realized that although my fitbit wasnt tracking my ride, my phone in fact was resulting in my workout actually being tracked, although not as accurately I'd reckon.
While out hiking somewhere new it's nice to stop and take pictures. At the moment it completely distorts the average pace as the time stopped is not taken into consideration.
Seeing as this has been open for 2 years and the feature hasn't been put in, I'm going to say the "official" workaround is to use Strava, connect it to Fitbit. Then all your GPS tracked Strava activities will show up in Fitbit. This gives you access to auto pause (and in my case GPS that actually works).
Cons: you lose the ability to look at your watch and see stats and you can't start and stop from Fitbit watch.
It's great that we can pause exercise by pressing the button on the Charge 2. But I often forget to do that and often forget to tell the Charge 2 that I've finished an exercise.
So it would be nice if the device detected a pause in activity and paused the clock automatically. For example, it can detect when I'm walking by counting steps, so when doing a Walk, if the step count ceases for 10 seconds or so the device can assume the wearer has stopped and can stop the clock. If the exercise does not resume after a couple of minutes it can assume it has ceased. Or maybe it asks the wearer if the exercise is done.
This could be made optional for each exercise mode.
I'm sure the details can be worked out. It would be a nice enhancement.
After all this time I'm still feeling bad that the auto pause option still isn't available. While my mobile phone with Samsung health is using GPS tracking to auto pause my walking or cycling... It's an easy and very useful add..
I always forget to pause or turn off my tracker when having a walk or having a short bike ride. Than 10 minutes later I remember it's drill running. So all data is useless after that.
I can't understand this haven't implemented yet and for such an easy option I don't think they will ever add it. Otherwise it would have been there already... So tbh I'm not sure if I would ever buy a fitbit after this one. Because I really miss this feature and bought it so I don't have to use my phone to start tracking.
Also the GPS tracking using my phone is a joke. If I walk around town it just shows a straight line from a to b. If I use my s health app it's way more accurate and it auto pause.
It's synced with the fitbit app. So I guess I'm gonna start using that again to track my runs and rides.
My MS Band 2 quit working for the 4th time in 1.5 years. The MS store usually just gave me a replacement, but they no longer make them. Their policy is now to issue a $175 store credit, because the Band 2 battery life was problematic from the beginning. I have been eyeing up the Vivoactive HR, but the MS store only carries Fitbit products, so I picked up a Fitbit Surge in exchange for the store credit the MS store issues.
The Surge and the Vivoactive HR are both the same price. The Vivoactive HR does everything the Surge does plus it has auto-pause and it is water-proof to 50 meters!
I'm really not so upset about the swimming factor as I am about auto-pause since my main activities are running and biking.
My Forerunner 305 circa March 2006 has auto-pause. Auto-pause is now a standard feature of a true fitness-tracking device. It is 2017?!
C'mon Fitbit?! Look at where the majority of fitness wearable companies are now (non-existent!). Garmin has been around forever because they have been able to respond to customer needs.
I got my Surge yesterday, but am tempted to put this thing on craigslist today, use my 305 in the interim and get something that has everything I need and more in the Vivoactive HR after I sell the Surge. Seriously, it looks like enough people have requested this over the years!? What gives? I will keep this watch if there is some sort of response. I absolutely don't understand the lack of response to this subject. All of the sensors necessary for this functionality are already in place on the Surge, correct?
The Vivoactive HR is an infinitely better device than the Blaze (and may be even Surge). The GPS has never failed me, the battery life is nearly 13 hours with GPS on (11 hour hike here: https://www.strava.com/activities/1121093128). There is only one reason to still use Fitbit, their social network is far superior to Garmin.
It's so funny. I never thought a GPS-enabled wearable would be sold without auto-pause as a standard feature.
When you are really pushing your limits on a bike ride and fatigued, even things like remembering to get out of your pedal (clipless) at a stop are things that become less automatic. Adding pause and un-pause steps to the mix is just a convenience I've had for over a decade.
It's like if I bought a new car and didn't specifically ask for automatic window controls. I assume any car I'm in the market for at a certain price-point is not going to be sold to me with manual window controls!? The fact that we know this can be added and just isn't added is disappointing.
The mistake we all do / did is approaching the Fitbits as fitness devices. They are not. They are pedometers which tap into a great app and a social network that is excellent. It is primarily a gaming device with basic fitness in it. That's what their primary target audience is. That is why Fitbit is doing a smart watch, they are not doing a device to compete with the Garmin Fenix 5s.
Garmin is a fitness company, their app sucks and their social network is laughable, but their devices rock, if your focus is fitness. Once I started to pay attention, I see garmin fenix 3s and 5s everywhere, these are people who generally use a garmin bike computer as well. They are spending $600 on the Fenixes, so much so that the WSJ noticed.
I really think it is not Fitbit's fault, it is ours :), we should really compare the high end fitbits to apple watches of the world and see what they do.
With that challenge in mind, I had a Fitbit Surge...the swipe screen quit working after 18 months of use. It was not under warranty and Fitbit would only give me 20% of a replacement Surge with no auto pause! Instead, I bought an Apple Watch Series 2 five months ago and could not be happier. The third party apps (like Motifit) are as good or better than the Fitbit apps and the watch has built-in GPS and AUTO PAUSE! Plus it's an Apple Watch that syncs and works seamlessly with my iPhone. And I can answer my phone and text from my watch! In addition, the screen is super bright! I will never buy a Garmin or a Fitbit again.
Sure. If you're ok charging your watch every night and don't care about sleep tracking (typically when you charge) or don't need GPS tracking for say, 10 hours, apple watch FTW.
True, the recharging can be a challenge...I charge my Apple Watch between dinner and bed when I'm least active...usually takes about an hour or so...I have a great sleep app that is as good as the Fitbit tracker...better in some ways. As for extended GPS time...I'm not a an extreme runner or cyclist, so it works well for me, for my lifestyle....but like most things, it's not for everyone...bottom line, I will trade one hour, once-a-day charging for auto pause any day!
@prairiedoug vigorous agreement with you here. I can't wait to see what Apple does to Apple watch 3. The Garmin Fenix series is amazing, but they get in the way for gym workouts (hard to lift weights with a 5" diameter watch on your wrist).
Ha! A Flavor Flav wrist watch! The one thing Apple can improve upon is the pause/end control for a running or exercise app is 3 swipes away! When you are running and want to instantly or stop, it is extremely cumbersome. Why can't it be on a button!?
Ha! A Flavor Flav wrist watch! The one thing Apple can improve upon is the pause/end control for a running or exercise app is 3 swipes away! When you are running and want to instantly or stop, it is extremely cumbersome. Why can't it be on a button!?
But that is where Garmin starts to shine, the Apple watch is an all purpose smart watch without dedicated buttons. The Garmins (and fitbits) OTOH, have buttons all around the dial just for this. The Vivoactive HR only has two buttons - I thought touch is a nice feature, but the more I use it, I realize that the Fenix watches have all those buttons for a reason.
I used my Surge for the first time on a bike ride and found the GPS (distance/speed calculations) to be as accurate as any other device I've used. I'm satisfied with that aspect.
On the other hand, I found the heart rate (used in calorie calculations) to be under by about 20 BPM. I wore the Surge traditional-watch style for the ride (face outside of wrist).
Someone suggested I wear the Surge with the face on the inside of my wrist for a more accurate reading. I'll try that with today's run.
Just to stay on topic here though, I never thought to pause my watch the entire ride at road crossings because I'm used to the auto-pause functionality of every other FITNESS device I've ever used since the year 2006. This means a lot of zeros averaged into my speed.
Auto-pause is darned-near a safety feature in this day and age as well. Here is the extra step you have to consider with Fitbit that doesn't have to happen with the competition:
MANUAL PAUSE.
When you approach a road crossing:
1) Get out of the appropriate pedal (clipless).
2) Brake.
3) Look for cross traffic.
4) And... Oh yeah... Hit the pause button.
And then... When all is safe... Don't forget to unpause (which you haven't had to do in the last decade of wearing FITNESS watches) after crossing.
The problem here is without auto-pause, it takes your focus off the ride or run. That is not good for a FITNESS device.
All it would take is this one change to this device to make this truly competitive with other FITNESS devices on the market.
To me, Fitbit is in no way a competitor with Apple in this space. If they set their sights on that, I think they'll go by the way of all the other step-counter companies. Conversely, if they set their sights on competing with the likes of Garmin, they are ALMOST there!
C'mon Fitbit?! You can do it!
---- Update ---
Heart rate monitoring is, in fact, more accurate with the watch face on the inside of your wrist/forearm. I like the watch, I just need the auto-pause.
---- Update ----
I manually paused the watch at a traffic light/cross-walk. The light took a little longer than a minute. The Surge finalized and summarized my workout without me touching the finish/flag button or anything.
Also, does it take anyone else 2-3 presses of each button before the device responds? Or do I have a bum unit?
---- Last Update ----
I won't be using the Surge again. To top off my first and only week I will use this device, the Surge GPS shorted a running course I've run numerous times in the past with both an MS Band 2 and Garmin 305 that is 3.0 miles by 0.3 miles? The watch told me it had a lock on the satellite though I knew something was wrong right away when the watch was immediately reading my average speed 1:40 slower (10:10/mile) than the speed I felt I was moving at. When I got back, I took the total run time (the timer works fabulously on the Surge! Nice going Fitbit!) and divided it by 3 to get an 8:34/mile.
The premium features on this watch are janky at best. The side buttons aren't even very responsive.
If I want a stopwatch, I can get one for under $10 from any discount store.
I need consistent, reliable performance. Fitbit products are definitely not for me.
---- Really Last Update ----
Fitbit is no longer selling Surge. Wonder why? Good luck competing with Apple with the new Ionic!
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