Sense essential functions require Premium subscription

[glenton-r]

I am thinking of buying the Fitbit Sense model but frankly I do not find much sense because in order to fully use its most important health functions it is practically essential to pay for the Fitbit App Premium subscription. So, at a cost of US $ 79.99 / year, in five years of use, I would be paying for the Fitbit Sense, approximately US $ 725.00.
I think Fitbit should reconsider this and at least lower Premiun's annual subscription by 50%.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[wesleyangel]

That's true that metrics will be used. However, after researching several other brands of fitness/smartwatches, they all use them. The best way to not have one's metrics watched it to not own a smartwatch. It's like most apps we use on a daily basis, or the phones we use, or websites we view, our data is being collected at all times. The best way to prevent this is going off the grid, per se. However, we don't because we, as a consumer society, who loves tech and convenience, buy into these things all the time. I can understand if this data collection is upsetting. Perhaps, it would be best to shop around and find something that makes you more comfortable, preferably not a smartwatch. Personally, I'm okay with it, and that's why I was looking at this watch and here in the forums. I hope you find whay you're looking for. Stay safe, stay healthy,  and have a peaceful evening. 

[wesleyangel]

Very brief and well articulated! Why didn't I think of that? Ha! I agree completely and will very likely enjoy the watch regardless. Stay safe, stay healthy,  and have a peaceful evening. 

[MG262]

New Fitbit Sense:  Do you have to use the Premium for the watch features?  I read everything and I can not tell.  Thanks.  I am interested in purchasing it also (without a monthly fee).  

Thanks, Merry

[MG262]

Thank you so much for the clarification.  *I am hoping to order the Sense.  

[MG262]

Thanks for your insight.  Can you (or anyone) clarify if the normal sinus rhythm feature (Afib detector) is included with the watch (without the Premium service). I have been waiting for Fitbit to come out with this.  Thanks, Merry

[mikeyt1818]

The ECG feature will be available to all as soon as the FDA approves it sometime this fall. 

[glenton-r]

Beyond the fact that some people find it correct and others not, the fact of having to pay an additional and recurring extra to fully obtain the analytics related to the Fitbit Sense that we already pay for, what is happening is the appearance (or advance ?) of a new business model whereby devices lose their autonomy, assisted by free apps, and users will have to pay extra and recurring costs.

[Tranceblast]

I was going to buy 2 fitbit sense, one for me and one for my wife, until I was told that I can't get deep analysis of sleep without premium. This is insane! Hope fitbit will reconsider this by the end of September or we will buy something else. 

[Mithras90]

I'm cancelling my order for the Sense.

This is bull**ahem**.

I'm still pissed off by the crap that followed Versa 2 (mainly the **ahem**ty Spotify controller, and the incredibly bad HR monitor that completely missed everything during workout compared to the polar H10), so this feels like another blow to the jaw.

I'll wait until release, if things haven't changed, I might be forced to switch companies completey.

[Laszlo52]

"glenton-r says:

I am thinking of buying the Fitbit Sense model but frankly I do not find much sense because in order to fully use its most important health functions it is practically essential to pay for the Fitbit App Premium subscription. So, at a cost of US $ 79.99 / year, in five years of use, I would be paying for the Fitbit Sense, approximately US $ 725.00.
I think Fitbit should reconsider this and at least lower Premiun's annual subscription by 50%."

+1 And the timely introduction of ECG function is also highly questionable. I think it takes at least 1 year, as it did for SpO2, for the Versa 1. Neither Apple nor Samsung succeeded quickly.

[wesleyangel]

I apologize for the late response.  A lot of people here seem to think it is absolutely essential to use all of the features of the watch. However, only the very deep analysis of sleep patterns, SP02 and keeping a daily record of these things are the only features that would be going away if one were to cancel the premium subscription. The thing I don't understand is how people are judging the watch over features that most of them probably would never even use. It wasn't until Fitbit came along that made health tracking possible for people that didn't have the money to purchase $1000 of specialized equipment or go into a lab for much more. If there are legitimate health concerns, they should be looking at medical equipment, not a smart watch. I hope this helps you and anyone else who may be on the proverbial fence. I'm not married to the brand, I just like to keep things into perspective. They began personal fitness tracking in the way Apple began personal computing. Speaking of Apple, if you're deep into that ecosystem, you may want to consider that, but it costs more and functions more on the smartwatch side than health tracking. Also, I would never swim with it. 

Stay safe, stay healthy, and have a peaceful evening. 

[Marrrmaduke · Accepted solution]

@MG262 Yes, AFib & ECG is included as long as you live in the country that approved it. On day one in Hong Kong, followed by the US, and then UK (according to Fitbit VP Product in the interview for Wearable - " this side of xmas").

You also do not need premium to see your sleep analysis such as stages, score etc whatever you normally see. Behind premium there's only one sleep feature and that is sleep HR. You get separate HR chart for sleep duration.

SpO2 is also included and this time displaying % value. This should be already available on your older Versas If you updated the firmware and installed Fitbits SpO2 clockface.

What's coming behind paywall is additional analytics based on the data collected. This will be part of the new Dashboard. History, trends but also HRV, breaths per minute, relative temperature.

All previous features will be available along with improved HR algorithm and bunch of features mentioned earlier. My take on it that's what we're paying for when purchasing device. We are not paying for additional analytics and reporting. This becomes a service. It's like saying I bought a Pixel so now I want all google services for free. Just my two cents. 

ETA: @mikeyt1818 unfortunately if you had a premium trial you will not be eligible. The issue is all premium signups are managed either in Apple Store or Google Play Store. Fitbit has no control over the transactional entries here. Hence the problem. I know they've been looking into it. I wouldn't hold my breath tho.***

@SunsetRunner what questionable measurements? It went thru clinical trials before laid in front of FDA. The same FDA that approves all therapeutics and devices. 

***moderator edit: Customers who previously subscribed to Fitbit Premium and don’t have a current subscription can start the free trial with the purchase of Fitbit Sense or Fitbit Inspire 2.  Current Fitbit Premium subscribers can start the free trial after they cancel their premium subscription and then start the free trial with the purchase of an applicable Fitbit device.

[wesleyangel]

Thank you for the additional clarification! Very well said and I wholly agree with your Pixel - All of Google for free analogy. Stay safe, stay healthy, and have a peaceful evening.

[jeremiahlee]

---

@Marrrmaduke wrote:

It's like saying I bought a Pixel so now I want all google services for free. Just my two cents. 

That is inaccurate. In this specific case, Fitbit is already capturing all of the data from the device and doing the processing. The additional data points are interpretations of the data. There likely is no additional cost for Fitbit to provide these features because there is no additional data to store or processing to do. It's 100% extortion. (I am a former Fitbit engineer.)

[wesleyangel]

The stuff they're holding back without a sub is the very stuff that most people never thought to keep track of anyway. It's all extra. That's why it costs extra. Claiming it as extortion is wrong and I don't think that is what you're trying to say. At least, I hope not. Extortion would be withholding all of the data collected and forcibly making someone pay for it. They aren't forcing anyone, they're simply saying, "hey, if you want a detailed, minute by minute breakdown of each breath you take, we can give that to you". Also, let's be honest, I mean really honest, until the past few months, how many times have you or someone you knew turned to someone and said, "hey, I would like to read a graph chart of my breathing for every minute of the day!" Again, for those with medical conditions that need this kind of info, they don't need to be looking at smartwatches, they need to be consulting a doctor. 

[mikeyt1818]

Well stated. I have sleep apnea, diabetes and hypertension so it is worth for me to pay for premium. Thank God my wife is in great health and she will likely not pay for premium. Having said that I sure do wish they had a family plan with a 50% discount for each additional member that signs up with premium. Anyway we are excited to get our devices! 

[glenton-r]

@wesleyangel Frankly, I don't make sense of your many constant "defenses" to the Fitbit business model. I will be very naive when I ask you what is the problem that you adhere to a claim of some, if not quite a few users, that the great company Fitbit does not include analytical functions derived from our data, in the premium version of its app. Does this bother you a lot? Because of their determination and systematic interventions, it would seem that they are.
Anyway, thank God, that each user will make their own decisions. I already took mine: Bye-bye Sense and Fitbit.
I am very unskilled about these things of virtual communities. So I leave to as many users who have expressed their opinion in this section of the forum, the decision to close this problematic thread. Not once have we had the official participation of someone from Fitbit. Fortunately, they have well-intentioned evagenlists like you. Thank goodness, this does not represent an innovative form of user support.

Stay safe, stay healthy, and have a peaceful evening. 

[wesleyangel]

@glenton-r 

Thanks for the laugh. The only thing I've defended is the ridiculous idea that people are getting so bent out of shape over a watch. I've pointed out that the things behind a sub isn't really that important to the majority of users. Plenty of people never cared until Fitbit first came out with the ability to do so. I've tried to answer questions or put people at ease by pointing out common sense. You seem so upset that you have read everything I've said and even called me an evangelist over it. I think that's both funny and sad. You don't have to read or respond. Let me help you, uncheck the box that allows you to be sent an email, so you can finally be done with Fitbit and Sense and the evangelists on this thread. I hope this helps. Enjoy whatever choice you make and have a nice day.

[SunsetRunner]

@wesleyangel 

you're probably right. The things behind a sub may not be so important for the average user and after sometime you won't even care about the metrics any longer. These are for the people who are chronically sick and need to keep active and take care of themselves every day.

You don't need a fitbit for " All in moderation " lifestyle.

People who got sick in the first place are people who exceeded their limits for quite long and ate wrong food, drank soda with every meal, drove with a car and sat all day at the office.

It's just that other companies don't charge a subscription for these extra features that fitbit charges you. That's the whole story. People pay a lot for a smartwatch and expect not to pay even more....

But that's a matter of how much somebody needs the extras, like I said.

[SunsetRunner]

@mikecyprus 

Well said. Even hospital grade diagnostics offer as much detail as they can and these machines cost lots of money.

I don't expect from a watch to give accurate results. A simple move with your arm could be considered a step. There are no medical grade machines which count steps. I don't know how the smartwatches came with this idea.

It's just an estimation and at least you know where you are more or less.