Sense 1 vs 2

[CTerp]

I have a sense 1 and would like to know what i get by upgrade to Sense 2?

[N8teGee]

Hi @CTerp.

I think the main upgrade is the continuous stress tracking, and aesthetics. I would also say Google wallet and Google maps, but we don't yet know if either will be coming to the Sense 1 or not. 

[t.parker]

• There is more (40) sports modes which are not coming to Sense (Fitbit stated that on FB account).
• The battery on built-in GPS lasts 5 hours (for Sense Fitbit claimed 12)
• There is connected GPS feature

[Dopovo]

- no Google Assistant

- no onboard music

- apparently not even phone music player control 

- new Google Maps (future update)

- new Google Wallet (future update)

[Guy_]

Hi @CTerp - it would not be an upgrade to switch to the Sense 2, it is more like a Sense Lite edition.

Your Ionic was probably a good watch if the battery issue had been resolved.

If music is a requirement upgrading to a Versa 2 at half the price is a possibility but hurry before they disable music transfer on that.

[JohnnyRow]

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@t.parker wrote:

• There is more (40) sports modes which are not coming to Sense (Fitbit stated that on FB account).
• The battery on built-in GPS lasts 5 hours (for Sense Fitbit claimed 12)
• There is connected GPS feature

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@t.parker   Did Fitbit say the 40 sport modes are not coming to Sense ever or just not at the same time as Sense 2 release?

[Dopovo]

I read it too somewhere (definitely not on Facebook) that there is no plan to deploy them to current lineup. 

[Guy_]

That would seem logical as there would be no incentive to downgrade to the Sense Lite if the 40 new sports modes were released on the Sense too, which with its current HR issues couldn't support them effectively anyway.

It would be interesting to know if these exercise modes are manual or auto recognise or both? 

And if they can be pre chosen and ordered manually in the Fitbit app.

[t.parker]

@JohnnyRow  they said they would consider it. It may go either way but there is nothing like "new modes will come to older devices later". What support said didn't sound optimistic for Sense (and other models) users

[JohnnyRow]

I would not expect them to come right out and say ' yes, this is coming to original Sense, too'.  But it sounded like I was hearing someone saying they said 'No it will never come to original Sense' which also would surprise me.

My guess is there is a decent chance it will eventually trickle down to other Sense and Versa's, of course depending on the future of the whole Fitbit/Google lines, but they are not going to come right out and say that right now to take away from new product sales.  But I also would not expect them to say point blank that it will never trickle down.

  However in my opinion, this is way overblown as a feature, as the different exercise shortcuts are just labels, most basically being treated the same, just being labels there for your bookkeeping.

[Guy_]

On the US Fitbit site they have stopped selling the Sense and Versa 3, so any further development on them seems highly unlikely.

Given the Sense 2 and Versa 4 are considerably more expensive than their counterparts and much cheaper to build, more money can be made selling them, so it seems the others are no longer of any importance and are at end of life.

[t.parker]

@JohnnyRow whether new exercises are just labels was my another question I never got answer. If these are just new labels then it might be easier to allow edit name of any activity (not only a few) and let user decide what they want it to have saved as. Knowing how Fitbit has been neglecting sports tracking I don't expect much. If I could see for example Trail Run that does breakdown between run/hike or Rowing that counts strokes that would be something really new but it would require lots of changes in the app as well (adding new metric will require some way of presenting).

[JohnnyRow]

@t.parker   I have no inside inside source for all Exercise App labels being just labels, but that just seems common sense to me, including the existing ones existing now.  Calorie burn is based on heart rate. period.  A step is a step.  I think people are used to looking at chart of how many calories you burn per hour doing certain activities, but those are all based on estimating how hard you are working to do those activities.  But with a heart rate monitor (all of course assuming getting getting accurate heart rate readings) there is no need to estimate how hard you are working - it is measured precisely by heart rate.

Another bit of confusion is because so many people manually log their workouts after-the-fact, which is another form of guessing how hard you are working depending on what the activity is, because when you manually log your workout, the recorded heart rate data is ignored.

All that said, there are 2 or 3 places where the activity might be more than a label: (1) which stats are shown in the workout summary (i.e. pace makes more sense for run than for workout), (2) maybe in which options are offered such as GPS or not, and (3) whether for not totals get added to daily totals - i.e. biking mileage does not add to daily distance total.

Editing names - haven't thought about.

Rowing strokes - almost seems like should be like steps, but for me doesn't match up at all; maybe a function of form ??

[t.parker]

@JohnnyRow Here is the exact answer I got from Fitbit through social media.

I understand that calories are based on HR. What I'm saying is introducing other metrics. Not everyone cares about calories. The performance is often more important for people who are already fit and into sports. The rowing strokes are like steps but what you want to know is number and cadence. And that shouldn't be added to steps, just a metric for rowing exercise (and being able to add the distance manually if that can't be measured - I don't expect new watch being able to connect to my rowing machine). Apple introduced in-watch running power (Polar did it long time ago), will Sense 2 have it? I doubt it. I doubt it will even bring cadence to running. Many sports use own metrics to measure sport-based performance. When I analyse my performance I never look at calories because this is irrelevant. When I run, what matters is real-time elevation gain/loss, HR (this is secondary to power), power and cadence. Pace is ok but without foot pod accuracy of pace is never great. When running on trails I do care about run/hike breakdown (to know when and how long I hiked). This is just running and we are talking about number of sports. How about for indoor swimming adding a screen with pool pace clock which lots of swimmers find useful? Additional metrics are not to be converted into steps or calories. I'm talking about adding sports tracking features that would help runner/cyclist/swimmer/rower to see whether the performance is better than last time. Calories and steps won't tell it. Of course, Fitbit may stay in the comfort zone and end up as a steps tracker but that zone is getting smaller and smaller when competitors really improve their products. 20 new labels is... meh...

[JohnnyRow]

@t.parker  It sounds to me like you are looking for a higher-end sports performance watch.  I personally don't see Fitbit aiming for that market, but I could be wrong.  I guess it is in the eye of the beholder whether that would be playing it safe, or knowing your audience, or maybe just accepting that Garmin, Polar, etc have a head-start in high-end running watches and choosing not to try to play catch-up in that area at this time.  I guess I trust that people making those decisions have more information about the market and economics of it than I do.

[t.parker]

@JohnnyRow in here I do agree with you. Fitbit is probably for more casual audience rather than for (amateur) athletes. Garmin and Polar had head start at sports tracking but companies like Suunto and Coros also took a piece from that cake (quite successfully although not a very big piece 🙂 ) and now, Apple and Samsung going in that direction, too. Fitbit adds a number to the model name of watch but feature-wise feels very stagnant (or playing safe, like I said, not willing to leave its comfort zone). On the other hand, you may be right. Maybe this is what Fitbit users want, simple devices focused on steps and calories with some smart features and this is what Fitbit provides 🙂