Has the Fitbit sense improved since launch?

[warbkhelo]

After 6 years, my Fitbit blaze is at the point where it no longer holds a charge for very long. So, I'm looking at the Sense, and a lot of reviews are from when the watch was new and I'm just wondering? Has it improved since launch? What has improved or changed? I'm also seeing a lot of things about heart rate being inaccurate? Does it still have the same level of accuracy as older models, like the blaze? Are all the cool features of the sense only available for Fitbit premium??

[Jdsenter]

@warbkhelo Went from the Ionic to the Sense, both from release to final firmware update.

They have improved the Sense with each update, is it perfect no, compared to other devices is it accurate, maybe or maybe not, but I compare my status from day to day, week to week, month to month using the same device, so if it is not accurate than it should be consistently not accurate. Which gives me I think an accurate enough heath comparison.

They have improved the interface, like switch watch faces from the watch, so you don't have to use the app to switch, included new assistant only one at launch, improved metrics, but that was consistent with other Fitbit products.

For me the Sense was the perfect upgrade from my Ionic... 

[Guy_]

Hi @warbkhelo - actually, Floors count used to work and in many cases doesn't anymore, Google Assistant was added but then Google Routines stopped working. There has been no announcement of a correction to the Heart rate problem or the weak vibration in 2 years. Charging can be a major issue, if you look in the forums.

A more reliable version is the Versa 2, it currently has music but no Google Assistant or onboard GPS which can be a good thing if you have your phone with you as the battery will last up to 6 days and it doesn't suffer charging problems.

The cherry is the Versa 2 is on offer and about a third the price of a Sense 2 which is not yet available and the Sense has been discontinued on the Fitbit site..

What is the cause of the Blaze not holding a charge, as many report the same issue with the Sense. It may be more feature usage or Fitbit App related than the watch and worth investigating.

[PaulMe]

@Guy_ 

"What is the cause of the Blaze not holding a charge, as many report the same issue with the Sense. It may be more feature usage or Fitbit App related than the watch and worth investigating."

Given that the OP's Blaze is 6 years old, I'd be comfortable in predicting the battery is simply end of life. They don't last forever, and many fail far too early. Four years+ as a minimum is a reasonable lifespan. I'd be happy with this, but not much less. 6 years is excellent - even outstanding.

OP, I have the Sense, having previously owned a Blaze, first edition Versa and Ionic. The Sense is the best experience I've had. Still can't get email notification on it - I've given up worrying and trying to configure this. Same on two phones - Life is too short!

HR is accurate and connection with my Android phone (OS 11 and 12) is better than earlier devices, but still not rock solid.

Waterproof integrity still concerns me - but I won't bang on about that here - I just don't shower or swim with my Sense.

Think carefully about whether paying extra for a Sense 2 is worth it. The difference between it and the original Sense is quite disappointing. Which is great from my perspective, as I have no reason to consider upgrading. 

The original Sense does all I need.

Battery life is still 7-8 days, but I don't use those silly battery hog apps. Had mine since March, so not expecting to see any battery degradation for some time yet.

[SunsetRunner]

HR monitor highly inaccurate during workout/weight lifting, Pilates, etc.  Disappointing really. 

[econway]

My Sense just quit working on me after less than 2 years of usage.  I rarely used it in the water and never showered with it on.   It seems there are some software glitches with it when I was trying to troubleshoot and very disappointed that Fitbit was unwilling to accept responsibility for a faulty product.  For that reason, I would say buyer beware.

I had upgraded from the Blaze strictly for the onboard GPS and found that to be much more accurate than having to pair with my phone.  I did find that stair counts weren't accurate, but I never had any heart rate issues with running or other cardio workouts.  I did see some inaccuracies when I was lifting weights, but chalked it up to watch placement on my wrist.  I also liked the sleep noise tracking feature that the Blaze does not have.  

[t.parker]

@PaulMe my Sense is nearly two years old and the battery seems to be degrading already. I'm lucky if it lasts 4 days, now on the third day, it already yells for recharging. I started monitoring power consumption a couple of days ago and since fully charged last night it's now 80% (18 hours, 1hr11min run included). No SpO2 (deleting SpO2 app changed nothing in night power consumption), no snoring, no heavy apps (any apps, never installed anything on the watch from apps gallery), default clock face (the one watch came with, never changed it) and not wearing watch 24/7 (only activities and night/morning) so HR sensor shuts down (it should preserve power). At first, I thought it was the last FW update but seeing that charging it to 100% takes very little time and this is a sign of degrading battery capacity. No way I can get it back to 6+ days (and with my regular usage pattern I was getting it before). Your watch is still almost new and hopefully, the battery will last longer before it starts deteriorating.

HR never improved for me so I stopped looking at it. Anyway, what's the use of HR during activities on Fitbit? Not much for someone who doesn't count calories. Yet, pity Fitbit never addressed this issue (and never truly acknowledged it). I know that people point out weight lifting and HIIT but I find the worst results during outdoor cycling. I have not a single ride recorded with even remotely correct HR (compared with chest strap). During runs, it often picks up my cadence and unlike other users reported, I get higher HR (running with cadence 190+ so I can get crazy high HR registered by Sense). And sometimes, out of nowhere without doing anything different, the HR during running is perfectly aligned with the chest strap. The mystery that will never be solved...

The thing that seems to improve is GPS. It does work for me noticeably better than during the first weeks I owned Sense. It was a real struggle to get GPS connected and if it disconnected for any reason, often never reconnected. Now, it happens rarely. The accuracy is good enough, too.

The problem is that even if something looks improved (like GPS) one cannot know for sure because Fitbit never tells what has changed for new updates. It's mostly "This release includes bug fixes and improvements.". What bugs? What improvements?