First reviews coming soon?

[Ochie]

Note that the reviewer from Mashable has a pic of her Sense on twitter saying she received it this Wednesday morning. Assume it's same for other potential reviewers and we may have some reviews soon.

[datalore]

I've just gone down the twitter rabbit hole and it looks like reviews will be incoming next week. I contacted one of the reviewers and he said there was an embargo, but he wouldn't say when, so just a guess that next week is the earliest we'll see reviews. Granted, I have been wrong before so take that with a grain of salt. 

[N8teGee]

Yeah there's likely to be an embargo I'd imagine. I shouldn't think we'd have to wait too long for reviews though as it's not too far from the product launch. I'm looking forward to hearing what the reviewers have to say. 

[SunsetRunner · Accepted solution]

@Ochie 

there is one introductory review of the FitBit Sense on youtube but the guy talks in Dutch. Nevertheless you have the opportunity to see it as he swipes through the menus. You can also see how big the bezels are when the screen is on and how responsive the touchscreen is as well as how snappy it feels or laggy.

[Ochie]

Very useful prelim review. To find search youtube for Fitbit Sense eerste induk Nederlands

[Rinopopo]

there is also another "review" of the versa 3. you just have to search for "fitbit versa 3 hsn" on youtube. Same as the video you said before, just a first look, I hope this embargo ends soon.

[bobby2478]

When the Sense was announced Cnet received a device to review and gave a real brief overview, the problem is the Fitbit app wasn't setup yet to allow you to install/sync the Sense so he couldn't actually do anything with it and you couldn't see it in action at all. Still nothing but crickets. I hope it isn't the case the first time people can actually do anything with these devices is launch day 9/25, as then there would be no way to see it in action before buying for yourself.

[Ochie]

Check the Dutch prelim review at 'Cool Blue'. He goes over quite a few of the health features though not thoroughly testing. Gives you a good sense of how it looks. Bezel seems a bit large btw. He also has a similar one on the Versa 3

[bobby2478]

It's basically the same display/screen as the Versa 2, so not surprised the bezels look big. Although since most screens are black background you shouldn't really notice it much. A little disappointed they couldn't spend a little bit more time trying to slim down the bezels/improve the display when they're going up against the Apple Watch SE now.

[eljae]

I got charged for mine today, does that mean it is shipping?

[Jane11]

I noticed that too!

[SunsetRunner]

@bobby2478 

Yes the bezels look big in the video. If they slimmed  down the bezels even further, it would look exactly like apple watch. I guess they would have huge troubles coping their design so much. Apple tolerates this as much as the bezels of fitbit are unnecessarily big that will make people go away from it.  3 years in a row fitbit is using the same bezels. That's a very uncommon practice and it explains the story behind apple. 

At least this time around they bend the edges of the glass and give the illusion of smaller bezels up to a certain extend.

[askmrhp]

I have owned only Fitbit watches for 7 years. I purchased them mainly for ease of use and price. I would love to purchase the Sense but It is out of my price range . I think there watches that are less expensive and have more features than the FB Sense. Some low end watches even measure Blood pressure. Because of Covid and my age I may have to look for a watch that fits my needs. 

[SunsetRunner]

Engadget has a review up - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v6qsQf2dz4

[bobby2478]

There was an embargo against reviews, The Verge also posted a review. In theirs they said in order to get SPo2 ratings they needed to select the SPo2 watchface, if you selected another one it wouldn't capture the data at all overnight. If true hopefully that's just a bug they fix right away. They also complain about lag and slow responsiveness so hopefully this is also because it's a pre-lauch unit and if present hopefully Fitbit fixes with software/firmware updates shortly after release.

The same complaints The Verge noted about lag/slow response/glitchy animations/touches not registering appear in the Engadget review as well. Hopefully Fitbit reads these and fixes these ASAP

[NeilFinny]

Don't get caught up in the Blood Pressure watches, it is pretty much a farce.

[NeilFinny]

Mashable reviewer was complaining the battery was only lasting a few days with ALWAYS ON on.

Where do they get these reviewers...............

[bobby2478]

That's a common thread with the other reviews as well, they also say aod reduced battery life by 50% and only lasts 3 days. Hopefully another item Fitbit will improve upon with subsequent updates. The fact multiple reviews mentioned it leads me to believe it's not a one off but will be present for everyone. 

FWIW, my Charge 3 suffered from lag/glitchy animations/touches not responding and over time with Firmware updates these have all gone away and the device works well now. Although that's quite a time from when it was initially released. You'd figure Fitbit would learn from these mistakes and ensure subsequent devices don't suffer from the same problems out of the gate only to be rectified months down the road with fixes. They should take their time and release a product that doesn't suffer from these. There is still time until they officially launch the devices on this Friday the 25th so hopefully they are aware and have fixes ready to go in short order in the final versions consumers get.

Same complaint with the sync/Connected GPS functionality on the Charge 3. The sync behavior wouldn't work very well and Connected GPS was impossible to get a steady connection for the longest time, however now after a year it's finally working great. Hopefully all Fitbit devices don't suffer for a year of so-so performance only to really live up to their potential a year after the fact.

[NeilFinny]

I expect "always on display" to have a significant effect on battery life, it does on all other watches. It is the surprise in the reviewers article that I found suprising.

The 6 days battery life will be without AOD, without a GPS exercise or without using too many apps or features. All other watches are pretty much the same in their battery life calculations

[bobby2478]

I agree it will have an impact on battery life, the hope is they refine it over time to reduce the toll on battery life. But I plan on not using AOD as I'm fine with my Charge 3 not having display always on and only turning on when I lift my wrist/tap the display.