My experience with the Sense

[SunsetRunner]

1. Physical - The fitbit doesn't read over my tattoos. Normally this wouldn't be an issue except that I am covered in tattoos from knuckles to shoulder. The fitbit reads on every single part of both my arms from hand to shoulder EXCEPT on my non dominant wrist, ironically exactly where I want to wear it. Same tattoo artist. Same ink. Same colors. It just will not read on my left wrist. Anywhere else is fine. I would swap wrists for sleep/working out and honestly didn't mind it because I found the fitbit ecosystem to be such a relief from the Whoop and Garmin until recently (I've tried a lot of fitness trackers). I used the epoxy sticker method and that worked. So it's not a sensor issue with tattoos, it's just poor physical design. I should not need a craft sticker to make my $300 'smart' watch function.

2. Connectivity - The fitbit has serious issues with auto sync. It's mostly okay besides having to constantly re-sync my Fitindex Scale/App every time I get on it but the GPS connectivity is what frustrates me. Getting out for a mile jog to test this out and i'm waiting for the GPS to connect...2 minutes...5 minutes. Cool, so i'll just stand here until it's ready. During my run the watch is vibrating over and over telling me GPS has connected. Mildly annoying. Then I finish my run and the GPS map only read half of my mile yet claims I ran ".9 miles." When I stopped the exercise activity it said "8min" but the activity log on the app says 9min. It also says a "9'32"" pace, which is mathematically impossible. I run to lower my mile time. I run a track. Why would I need this when it's so horribly incorrect and a stop watch with a spread sheet will do? Can't go off road because the Sense is about as accurate as guessing. Was hoping this would make logging and tracking a passive activity. Im beginning to wonder if these are designed to keep you in the app/on the watch.

3. Music - No music capacity. Knew this when I bought it so not a big deal. What I didn't know was that there IS music storage through Pandora and Deezer (who?). Shameless marketing tactic here by fitbit and i'm not having any of it. Still need to carry my phone with me. Which begs more of the question "Why am I wearing this essentially 300$ phone dongle when I could just use the phone without the dongle?" Music playback function through the watch is top notch though, compared to other watches. I found using the Spotify App useless and buggy and the in-watch controls better. Also lets you control Youtube video playback, etc. Pretty cool.

4. Oxygen Saturation - Where the hell is this data? It's not on the watch unless you have a face. In the app it's buried in "Health Metrics" which you have to enable then dig through. Seems like an oversight for those who pay the extra 100$ over the Versa for essentially this exact type of feature. The customization of the fitbit app was something I was excited about at first but seems incredibly limited now.

5. Mindfullness - Meh. I don't like this feature at all. I was hoping that I could include my daily yoga practices into whatever this feature is but I guess Yoga doesn't count and Fitbit wants you to use their app controlled or watch controlled methods. Wait...is this more to keep me on the app and the watch and promote their paid for monthly subscription? Maybe.

6. Sleep - Sometimes it tracks deep data. Sometimes it doesn't. Two nights in a row I have had basic data results and i'm pretty much over this features inaccuracy and variability. Sleep reading is crucial t the value of the watch. It's the only time I am incapable of being a conscious observer. If the watch messes it up, I can't go back and observe or fix it. It's just data lost into the unknown ether of fitbit inconsistency.

7. Food/Calories - The food logger is cool, and comparable to MyFitnessPal but is seriously lacking features that make it intuitive ie. multi-add, food database (even by barcode its lacking), and UI. The UI is very very messy. They seem to be prioritizing the date over the actual calories you consumed.

The budget thing is annoying. Just say goal. This is not an accounting firm. The fact that you can't just see calories in calories out without some kind of goal is just meh. Needless feature for me that detracts from my ability to read my data. Calories out is also a bunk science. Is for every watch. So turning off this function would be a great relief.

8. Steps - Please stop with the steps. I know this is for people who need motivation but good lord. I received a notification I hit my step goal while I was combing my beard standing still at the sink. The entire system seems to be built around this data point. Im a serious athlete. I understand your pandering to the lowest denominator but please don't advertise your Sense as anything but a motivator for the unmotivated. (see next point)

9. Friends - Back to the steps issue. The only comparative data I have with my friends is how many steps we log? Honestly this just tells me I probably **ahem** more than my friend does. Not to mention the adding friend feature was a huge buggy fiasco. 0/10 would recommend this feature. Maybe we could have run challenges? Heart rate challenges? Wow what a concept, challenging my friend to get actual cardiovascular exercise not just getting up to the fridge 16 more times a day or styling their hair. Or maybe we could SEE more data of our friends? You know accountability through observation.

10. Customer Service - Obviously I reached out to CS before I went on a tangent about the issues with this device. First I came to the forum where I found some helpful advice that worked (or didn't) and was surprised at the request feature threads. Pretty cool. However it seems that a lot of very popular requests go untouched for years...literally...years. Some of those features I've touched on in this thread.

Next, I called CS to see if they could solve my issues. No offense to the woman on the phone but her accent was so thick that I had trouble understanding her and she clearly was having trouble getting out a lot of the english words she was using. To my dismay, it seemed as if she wasn't fully understanding the depth of the issues I was having or how to solve them. She asked me to restart the device which solved nothing and then hit me with what seems to be Fitbits catch all phrase, 

"Fitbit has not been fully tested on your device."

I use a Samsung Galaxy s20 series. Think i'll just use this $1000 handheld super computer as my fitness tracker rather than a buggy dongle that costs literally 1/3 of the price.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[t.parker]

@SunsetRunner this watch has a number of issues. It's true. But reading what you wrote tells me that this device isn't for you. I'm not considering myself "a serious athlete" (I'm involved in competitive sports but don't have a proper training regime, it's more to stay fit and for fun) but for last month of using Sense I can clearly say that Sense isn't for me, either. Just a few things:

- running: distance and pace don't take into account GPS, use stride and steps which makes running metrics very inaccurate

- no running cadence (and according to Feature Suggestion response, it won't be implemented)

- HR: hit and miss and rather on the "miss" side (I posted a few tests here) but...

- ...no external sensors support! I can't pair my PolarH10 or OH1 with Sense to fix HR issues

- ...no external sensors support! Can't connect my Stryd when running, or when cycling on the turbo trainer, I can't use cadence/speed sensors.

- No structured workouts

- Very poor interval workout support (intervals based only on time, why not at least distance?)

- Sports analytics is very poor, lack of filtering by sports, the data views are very simple

- Poor activity dashboard, no way to edit activities, no way to filter, gather data (for example, what distance did I run for last month or week, what's my monthly elevation gain? - Fitbit won't tell you that)

- Exercise app - I like to see more on the screen, tapping/scrolling through data fields are not my thing. I don't need to see huge HR or pace in the middle of the screen, but rather see 6-8 parameters altogether

- No in-watch navigation (I use it a lot on Garmin, especially running/cycling in unfamiliar areas)

- no multisport (switching between sports within same tracking session)

- no triathlon (a special case of multisport)

I notice all these things missing because I need them (and use them with the Garmin platform). If basics were done correctly (HR, GPS support, distance/pace calculation) then it could be just a nice casual fitness tracking smartwatch but Fitbit didn't get basics working right yet. I care only about the sports tracking features. I'm not interested in sleep tracking, food tracking, ECG, SpO2, and anything else that is not purely sports tracking.

Fitbit is mostly made for casual users and people who want to get fit (hence steps everywhere). It isn't brand targetting, as you're saying, "serious athletes". There's nothing wrong with that though. 

[SunsetRunner]

I keep hearing "this device isn't for you" about pretty much every device I've ever tried that has glaring and obvious discrepancies in what is advertised and what is actually functional. That is not an excuse for making faulty bugged products which you unload onto consumers for beta testing. This watch must be for the patient and ignorant then? /s I kid.

This watch is precisely for me it simply does not work as advertised. Most of what I covered has absolutely nothing to do with being a serious athlete - it's just the simple functions of the watch that are available for everyone that do not work. With that said, making a single metric (steps) THE ONLY metric for which you base your UI, UX, distance, pace, etc. is extremely limiting to those who want to take this tech a step further (or in literally any other direction), as advertised. It is an advanced health watch "that helps you tune in to your body with tools for stress management, heart health, SpO2, skin temperature & more." All of which are bunk at best. The GPS addition is laughable. Furthermore, as for false advertising, the site has said that they've been bought by google for a long time yet the acquisition only went into effect Jan 14th.

I feel your reply could easily be its own thread/post. I don't really need the watch for what you've listed which is ironically far more 'seriously athletic' than anything I mentioned and you say you don't need literally any of the features that make the Sense > the Versa. I digress. All worthwhile complaints but none of those things are advertised.

I simply would like a passive tracker that compiles and tracks data in a fashion that unifies my already successful regimen with some bonus features (like sleep tracking which I physically cannot do myself) and a stylish watch to wear that tells the time and hopefully reduces my need to be on my phone so often. This fails on pretty much all of those metrics. 

And don't get me started n Garmin. The venu was the most dog-sh*t thing I have ever used in my life and the garmin ecosystem is designed by a 4 year old trained in UX and UI from 1993. The fitbit got close but just doesn't get it quite right. Here's to hoping Google helps them out in exchange for all of the data within my soul....

[t.parker]

I wouldn't have many hopes about Google. GoogleFit is horrible. Although, they may enforce some kind of quality control (hopefully!). About Sense, you see yourself, everyone's requirements are different. Before, when I had Ionic and Charge 2, I was getting as angry as you (Sense isn't the first watch that doesn't work as advertised). Then I realized, it's pointless (well, it got me a ban ;)). Now, I have a simple strategy - I buy a watch, test it thoroughly in the area of my interests. If it ticks all (or at least almost all) the boxes - I keep it, if not - return and get money back - no hard feelings, there is so many competitors in the fitness/sports tracking field that if not this one, then another one. Eventually, something will click. After getting Sense, I found issues that I experienced years ago with previous models. Issues not only not fixed but transplanted from older watches to the new flagship models. Oh well...

[Rich_Laue]

For sleep stages to work, it needs a consistent heart rate. 

Sorry if you look at how colored ink affects light you would understand the trouble with tattoos. 

Ink will absorb all but the color of the ink. 

Your sense has Green, Red, and Infrared LEDs

Fitbit has tested the device on many different skin colors. But probably not many tattoos. Black would be the worse. 

[SunsetRunner]

I'm feeling empathetic to the plight of the hard of reading, so i'll elaborate again in case I wasn't clear.

I have tattoos on both of my arms, from my hands all the way to my shoulder. If I put the Fitbit Sense on my right wrist, over my tattoos, it reads HR just fine. If I hold the Fitbit Sense on my right bicep, over my tattoos, it reads HR just fine. If I put the Fitbit Sense on my left bicep, over my tattoos, it reads (you guessed it) just fine. However, if I put the Fitbit Sense on my LEFT WRIST over my tattoos IT DOES NOT READ AT ALL. 

Second, by adding an epoxy stickers as recommended by people on this forum, it WILL READ ON MY LEFT WRIST just fine. This means that it is NOT a problem with the tattoo ink or tattoos, it is a problem with the broadcasting of the LEDs. If it was a problem with tattoos it would not read anywhere on my arms. If it was a problem with the tattoos an epoxy sticker WOULD NOT solve the problem. It is a DESIGN FLAW in the LED broadcast.

[Rich_Laue]

One word colors.. 

[AtsukoArai]

I feel your rage. I'm having literally all of these same issues except the tattoo thing because I don't have any tattoos, but I imagine that is just one more annoyance on the heaping mountain of annoyance and disappointment that is this fitbit. I'm never buying another one. Sending this piece of **ahem** back while I still can.

[Clove6060]

I have not experienced any of the issues mentioned and find the device very useful and worth the $300.

Rich been very generous with his time and is one of the most knowledgable people on this forum. No need to get nasty. 

[LizzyFitbit · Accepted solution]

Hi everyone

Thanks for taking the time to share your insights about the Sense, and for every step tried on your own. As a friendly reminder, we want our Fitbit Community to be a place where users can come to share their feedback and stories in a positive and conducive manner, so please keep in mind the Community Guidelines when posting. All your opinions are always welcome.

I'm sorry for any inconvenience that you've had with your watch. We constantly work on our devices to improve their performance and your experience with them, and the input we receive from our members is a big part of the process. Please know your feedback won't be the exception.

To keep threads on topic or tailed to a specific topic, I'm going to close this thread from further comments. However, if you have another question, I'd recommend checking our Help Site where you'll find more information about our products, features, as well as troubleshooting steps. You can always get in touch with our Support team to receive further assistance. Click here to get connected with them via chat or phone.