Feedback about features on Sense 2

[--Smeagol--]

Seeing as my original post was buried in the Google assistant thread, even though its unrelated. I've decided to post it again.

I purchased the Sense 2 for my wife. We were aware that Google assistant would likely be missing (this is not our complaint), and she was ok with that (although I thought differently). 

To our surprise as you can imagine, we were shocked to learn that Google assistant isn't the only downgrade. Let me list the downgrades so that other users can save themselves some time. 

• No Google assistant.
• No WiFi (means software updates will take forever). 
• No Fitbit app gallery or access to 3rd party apps (this means no Deezer, Spotify or the likes).
• No music controls. That's right, there is no ability to even control the music playing on your phone. 
• No on wrist Bluetooth calling. 
• No Google wallet or Google apps out of the box (we did know about this before the purchase). 
• Inability to rearrange exercise shortcuts.
• No snore detection 

I'm sorry but to me (and my non techie wife) this is an outright downgrade to the Versa 3 my wife was currently using. That's right the Sense 2 is a downgrade even on the Versa 3. Fitbit should be ashamed of themselves, they are acting no differently to a scam artist and will not be getting a dime more out of me.

Good luck and think twice before parting with your money.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[Guy_]

@t.parker- on a Versa 4, didn't experience the same behaviour.

It auto detected a walk [without GPS] and the Exercise app opened and stayed open.

Is it possible that the Sense 2 and Versa 4 are not sharing the same platform, like the Sense and Versa 3 did, even though released at the same time?

The Versa 4 does not have Developer bridge in it's menu for example..

[t.parker]

@Guy_ you misunderstood. I'm talking about launching Exercise app manually and waiting on this screen:

If you don't tap to start run within some time limit, the Exercise app quits. That was and is the case on original Sense. The problem is that time limit which is significantly shorter than on Sense. One of FW updates increases that limit for Sense and the app stays on long enough so runner can prepare and make sure GPS connected. Sense 2 after a few seconds just quits.

[Robgillingwater]

The problem is Google like other large corporates have a habit of taking over successful companies - taking the technology and then ruining the product - I can think of a number of car companies that swallowed other brands.

Google will just drop, Fitbit and not continue to develop the technology.  Of course then the Pixel watch will not meet targets e.g. Stadia and then cancel that too.

I have really enjoyed Fitbit products - I just hope they realise the huge loss and change their strategy

[Guy_]

@t.parker  - try setting the display timeout to a minute.

The issue may be when the screen is blank and you push the button to wake it, it also ends the non active run. That is probably a bug.

I had exercise display remain over a minute without a button press, by using motion to wake the screen.

There used to be an app  2 minute inactivity timeout which may still be true.

[t.parker]

@Guy_ I think you may be right about the screen going blank. The timeout may be shorter when the display goes blank and just terminates it. This however doesn't happen on Sense. Yet, the last thing I want to do before running is to focus on whether your watch quit on me 😄 

[Lacee824]

I agree whole heartedly. I thought I was getting an upgrade but got a newer expensive downgrade. What is the point of the microphone and speaker if you take all the related capabilities away.

[slepr]

I got a firmware update on Thanksgiving that added call capabilities. I haven't noticed anything else with the update. They need to keep sending firmware updates to fix the missing capabilities : wifi, snoring report, music controls etc

[Crankybeaver]

I tend to not use a ton of third party apps and the ones that are dumbed down ie: couch to 5k, don’t tend to work very well. 
But I do like the option to have accessibility to apps and it would be nice to be able to download a running playlist so I could leave the phone at home. 
I’ve owned Fitbit since they were just a clip, if a three hundred dollar smart watch isn’t putting enough money into googles pockets to warrant premium features then I’m thinking this will be the last Fitbit product I own. 

[Denitra]

I liked Fitbit because it was much more fitness tracker oriented rather than smart watch oriented.  And their customer service was beyond exceptional. . They aren’t even in the top 5 for either anymore and their customer service is in the toilet. I am leaning heavily toward an Apple Watch now. If I can’t have a great Fitness tracker, at least it will be more compatible with my phone. 

[Crankybeaver]

I’d buy an Apple Watch in a heartbeat if they could ever cure the curse of the battery. Unfortunately with everything they do there will just never be a battery with enough power to run it more than a day or two on idle, less if you are using all the features. I’m ok with limited function to get longer battery life but a few simple apps would be appreciated

Then I have to be done with the brand after this. There are two reasons only why I have stuck with Fitbit. 
1: Nobody has the UI fluidity of Fitbit, I’ve played with other apps and always come back to Fitbit as my all around, nutrition, exercise, step minder utility. 
2: Fitbit products are the only wearable that has multi day life.  I don’t care what Apple says, there is no way under normal conditions the new $1200.00 watch gets a full 36 hours, Apple have always over estimated the battery life, and the new Google watch is rated at basically one day. 

I tried a Samsung smart watch years ago that had basically a day or two battery life and I hated it, it was always dying on me, and the app was horrible to deal with. 

Seems to me that googles intent is to kill off the higher end line of Fitbit and try and force us to buy the Google watch, which for me will never happen, hate Android, and as mentioned one day battery life, not for me, not to mention the god awful fishbowl looking design of this thing, they are so desperate to “not be an Apple Watch” that they have gone to this ridiculous design. 

Those are my thoughts, what are yours? 

[rajat1048]

There are many reasons why a TRUE SMARTWATCH like Apple watch and Android wear have a less battery life. Because they are based on a OS that supports multitasking,multithreading of processes. That requires more power to be loaded in the primary storage as the OS itself is heavy.

Fitbit os is not a true os in itself. Its more of kind of a platform with many os stripped features. I have a sense 2 and an old apple watch series 3. Fitbit UI is not at all any close to apple watch even today. Very inaccurate HR during HIIT and other complex training sessions where apple watch shines. SP02 is really useless as i cant measure it in daytime. I cant work on more than one app at a time by minimizing it. This fitbit device is pretty much dwarf even compared to a true smartwatch for the price we paid.

[t.parker]

@Crankybeaver"Fitbit products are the only wearable that has multi day life." - this isn't true. My Garmin Fenix 7 lives between 10 and 12 days on a single charge with heavy GPS and external sensors usage (1 charging cycle of Fenix 7, I usually need to charge Sense 2 twice). Even older F6Pro lives longer than my Sense 2 (and Sense). It beats any Fitbit when it comes to features and battery life. These are expensive models but even cheaper Venu 2S lives 10+ days (not to mention models with solar charging which extends battery life by many more days). Mind that those watches are packed with tons of sports features yet still provide excellent battery life. It's not only Garmin but other brands that also improved during past years (for a short while I owned Polar Vantage V2 which gave me 5-7 days, depending on the volume of training with GPS). If you can only compare to Apple or Samsung you're missing out on 90% of the market of wearables which already made a huge improvement in that field. I use multiple brands and battery life is the very last thing I need to think about. It's different if you take Samsung or Apple watches but these are next-level little computers on the wrist displaying with smooth 60FPS and capable of displaying 3D graphics. There is an obvious trade-off but also the target audience is different (my wife loves her Galaxy Watch 5 and doesn't mind charging every 2 days for the set of features she gets like on-wrist BP, ECG, body composition measurement + not lacking in the sports department). Depends on the needs but the market is already saturated with a number of comparable alternatives for any single wearable device. It's very different from what it was 10 years ago.

[Crankybeaver]

I looked at the Garmins, they are, or were I should say, more exercise specific, not really a 24/7 wearable.
Maybe they’ve changed, I’ll have to check them out.
Found them too bulky to sleep in too, same as my old Ionic

Sent from my iPhone

[Guy_]

Hi @Crankybeaver  - I agree with @t.parker - the Garmin Venu 2 plus is well packaged with largest screen, speaker, for alarms & notifications etc, still can get 10 days between charges if not using GPS.

Even the Nokia Steel HR can go 2 months or the Umidigi Ufit 3 weeks, admittedly not worn all the time, and can give good results.

The Nokia Healthmate app, can connect to the blood pressure monitor and scales and watch to collate all sorts of health information.

[Crankybeaver]

Wow, they have come a long way. I think after this watch is done I’ll maybe look into Garmin a bit closer, I’m sure their UI must have come a long way since I last checked them out, when I looked at them before it was real clunky and not very user friendly

Sent from my iPhone

[ali_baba7]

@Crankybeaver, I switched from a Versa 2 to a Garmin Venu 2S late last year when I discovered that Fitbit would be stripping out features and trying to funnel users to the Google Pixel Watch. I couldn't be happier with the switch. Personally, I still think Fitbit is marginally better when it comes to how it handles notifications, but Garmin meets and exceeds Fitbit in all other areas. For anyone who is unhappy with the direction of Fitbit, I think Garmin's devices - especially the Venu line - deserves serious consideration. 

[Crankybeaver]

I’m starting to agree, last time I looked at Garmin they were big clunky things, which while perfect for running just didn’t feel right for everyday/all day use.

Sent from my iPhone

[Denitra]

I wasn’t aware of the limited battery life with an Apple Watch but my new Sense 2 battery won’t last 2 days right now. And I have never once got a 100% charge, no matter how long I leave it charging.

Sent from my iPhone

[Crankybeaver]

I’m getting 4-6 days, but it’s winter and I don’t run in the winter so it will be interesting to see how long the battery lasts once I start using the GPS.

Sent from my iPhone

[Crankybeaver]

Oh, and I’ve tried using the mic and speaker on the Sense 2 on a phone call, practically useless, speakers too quiet and the clarity of the mic for the receiver is awful, had to grab my phone both times and switch to it to complete the call.

Sent from my iPhone