Feedback about Sense and Premium features

[elixeus]

Hi Everyone,

I had previously owned two Charge HRs, Blaze and original Versa. In the past, on average, I upgraded every 2-3 years and considered FitBit devices to be good value for what they offered and first year of support was always excellent. I always sung praise to friends and family about the superior battery life and how they were better health watches, all around.

But now, I am a very concerned with this push towards software as a service/subscription. It started with Adobe and now many companies have no fear of losing customers. They feel fine in demanding it. The sad part is learning premium sensors in a premium watch, requires an obligate premium subscription for their use... I feel like something is seriously wrong with this picture considering just how few hardware updates are released for the FitBit (maybe 1-2 per year on my Versa/Blaze); not all of these features are active, and as far as I can tell, the only updates to the FitBit App for the most part in the past year have been optional coaching- so what are we paying premium for aside from a power grab? That program must not be very successful if you need to pay monthly on sensors you already paid for. That seems a bit like intentional deceiving of people who don’t understand as much about device tech. It’s just shocking this is the reality we live in.

The sad part is prior to discovering this appalling level of greed, I was happy and willing to throw down $330 for the new FitBit Sense (the price of a premium smart watch) for what in the past has been clearly the best health watch, with excellent metrics and battery life... now it looks like they are destined in the future by paywall... is our own data being sold back to us from behind a paywall. Is that the future of FitBit? Seriously?

First, I am writing this partially out of love for your previous products and provide you feedback that I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling put-out about this. This may prevent me from considering an upgrade.

And second, I need to know if one day I wake up that all my data will be hidden behind a paywall for legacy FitBit device users? What is the case of the Versa 3?

If so, transparency (letting us know in-advance) would be great along with offering us the option to download our health data, either in raw form, or as a daily digest, csv. Of course, it wouldn’t come as a surprise if the EULA (which is updated frequently with most providers) carries some provision that says user’s data is not their own, but I hope that’s not the case and it would be great if we are offered the chance of downloading an archive of our health data in some raw / processed database format either to hold onto, or to keep open the possibility of data portability across platforms.

Anyways, I’m really bummed out. I was such a fan of FitBit. While I am certainly not going back to an Apple Watch with 16 hours of use between charges and no sleep tracking, I will need to consider what else is out there especially if the future of Versa 3 remains just as questionable.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[Rich_Laue]

New? Fitbit has had a paid premium service from at least 2014. 

[lawninja]

This writer completely understands how I have grown to feel about Fitbit over the last few years.  While once I was an avid supporter - I now feel much more cautious in my view of who they are now (not the hero's I once thought they were), and where they appear to be going in the future.  Apple is clearly not an answer, but Fitbit is quickly joining them in the trash bin of history.

[RickFlynn413]

Yes, but it wasn't required for us to get the sensor features data from our devices until now. 

[sanman202]

There are always the standard traditional old school watches by Seiko and other that you can always use. These just have the two hands and the second hand which is optional. The great news here is that nobody is forcing you to use any companies products. If you don't feel comfortable using a product then don't use it. 

[HSS79]

They are also harvesting our data.