Sense issues reported by reviewers

[Rinopopo]

I've read 7 different reviews and every single one says that this device is half-baked. I'm really worried about this. Anyone at fitbit could tell me if they are aware of those issues and if are going to be fixed in a day one firmware update?

- slow OS

- slow animations

- not so accurate HR readings when exercising.

- no spo2 readings if you don't enable the spo2 watchface (WTF FITBIT!!)

- no voice responses from alexa
- no voice calls at all.

- Lack of information about stress management data.

[VascoDeGama]

The major problem is that if the HR data is wrong all the other data too (hrv, stress score, respiration rate), in fact the sense is useless. 

[N8teGee]

@VascoDeGama Yes this is the worrying thing. So much is derived from the HR sensor, the knock on effect could be huge. 

[Rinopopo]

4 pages on this topic... anyone has seen a Fitbit employee here? it would be nice to hear something from them.

[bobby2478]

@Heather-S it's fine for observations comparing the Sense to another older Fitbit product, the Versa 2. I'd just caution against making assumptions that just because in your observations it's accurate that must mean others are doing something wrong (i.e. out of date firmware etc), or implying/stating that there's nothing wrong with the HR on the Sense. It's perfectly fine to say based on your observations you haven't noted any issues, but can't confirm/disprove what others are seeing.

Obviously from a scientific standpoint, the best way to measure accuracy of any product is to compare it not only against a single product from the same manufacturer, but against a variety of products from a variety of manufacturers in a variety of platforms (i.e. wrist wearable vs chest strap). This will give you a very robust data set against with a baseline can be established and objectively compare against this baseline to determine how accurate it is. It goes without saying I nor a lot of other people will have the luxury of having access to such a wide range of devices as @dcrainmaker so everyone won't be able to provide as thorough of an analysis.

We'll see if to @dcrainmaker point whether this is only an issue for some people such as those who are in better physical condition/cardio fitness level compared to people who are in more average or below average cardio fitness level or those who do less strenuous exercise. Everyone's observations are helpful as the more data points we have it give you more information. I still believe Fitbit will ultimately be able to get this figured out to the point that the Sense/Versa 3 will be "at least" as accurate as the Charge 4 and previous devices and not "less accurate". I'm still somewhat perplexed that even though Pure Pulse 2.0 is new tech with new algorithm that they don't have it more flushed out at this point. HR is the bread and butter of all activity trackers and arguably the easiest to refine as you have a long history and track record with this technology. It would be surprising at the end of the day if their "new and improved" HR tech is less accurate then their older legacy tech.

[wookietim]

The difference between people might be physical. I mean, just looking at this as a black box that somehow records HR, I assume the watch has to shine light on where it thinks blood vessels might be in order to count. Is it possible that some people simply have veins in... well... the wrong spot for Fitbit to see them?

[bobby2478]

@wookietim or the fact that people in better shape or that do more weight training might have bigger veins that are closer to the skin and thus easier to read. But I consider that basics that they had to consider with their 1st gen of optical HR tech 6+ years ago, so I doubt that's what's causing the issues. It likely has more to do with changes in blood flow/heart rate and physical response to activity and how their algorithm is tuned. People at varying levels of cardio fitness will likely have differences in blood flow/heart rate changes in response to activity. If you are in better shape you'll likely see less variation until later and perhaps a more gradual rise as their body isn't working as hard as someone who isn't in as good of shape. But that's just speculation.

[wookietim]

That sounds logical.

[launton]

I'm reading all this with interest.  My new sense has just been delivered and I have updated the firmware.  I'm lucky to have the following to hand:

1 sense

1 wahoo tickr 

1 galaxy active 2

1 amazfit gts 

1 treadmill.

I have a low RHR at 55 and can compare it from memory from the versa 2 it has just replaced when at rest. I workout cardio and weights 3 times a week. I'm not an athlete it's milder exercise than you think to keep my weight and BP in check. I will wear all the devices simultaneously to compare. 

My guess is there are just software updates needed, the HR accuracy does indeed correlate with other metrics to find overall health reports so they must fix it if it's varying.

Possibly there are 3 firmware revisions:

One with ECG not included

One with ECG not enabled

One (internal firmware) with all sensors activated under in-house test

I would make sense (har har) to have the full ECG firmware version working the best on activation and release in October for Xmas sales and better reviews closer to the holidays. This initial firmware can be buggy and it's not the end of the world because we expect devices to improve over a few months and fitbit do add extra features as their devices age.  I'll make some initial tests over the next week and get back to you with some results. I expect there to be not too much deviation between devices but we'll see! 🙂

Bye I'm off to play with my new toy 🙂 

It's beautiful to look at! 

[Tomtomato]

Yes, seems like the latest Fitbit devices are not for fit people. Company name becomes unfortunate then! Should they change to Fatbit?

[Tomtomato]

@Heather-S

Did you get the Sense for free from Fitbit as someone as inferred here? It's fine but it should be disclosed.

I have never had any issues with the physical button(s) on my Charge HR, Versa 1 or Versa 2 (even when wet), so I am still convinced removing the button is an example of using new technology for the sake of it, without any real needs and introducing drawbacks.

[Heather-S]

Yes @Tomtomato all the Fitbit Community Council receives new devices before launch. It’s not a secret. 🙂 You can find information about the CC here and even apply if you desire. We are a group of people who enjoy the Fitbit brand, but most of us do have our criticisms and share our honest feedback with Fitbit. 

[launton]

I haven't had any free devices from fitbit, I just get myself into too much debt buying new ones 😂

On first test I'm not seeing anything more sluggish than the ionic on first release and that was sorted out in a few weeks.  

The side button works better for me if I use it in tandem with one of the ecg sensors and pinching the watch up slightly. 

There's no major complaint from me but it's early days, see you in about a week or so with some statistics  

[VascoDeGama]

It's okay it's a beautiful watch, for the moment it's responsive and fluid, the hr looks good at rest. No training yet.

I find the rear too fragile, full of micro scratches with the charger, you too? 

[Ames23]

Why did you have to point out the scratches on the back 🙂 Now I can't unsee them.

[VascoDeGama]

Sorry but I saw that when I looked at the back of my sense

[jrode]

I think what has been noted by reviewers is that the heart rate accuracy while resting or doing very mild activity is largely pretty accurate. It's pretty hard to screw that up these days from my understanding.

Where I think there's issue is during workouts. If you read @dcrainmaker's analysis of his workout sessions, you'll see that the Sense has issues picking up quick increases/drops in heart rate, which basically renders it impossible for someone to train in heart rate zones. That's a pretty big hang up for me. For example, my Garmin Vivoactive 3 falls into the same general device category. It's not really an athlete's watch. However it's almost always within a beat or two of my Garmin chest strap when I'm working out.

And the fact that Fitbit doesn't allow you to connect a chest strap via bluetooth makes all this even worse.

[AddyRazz]

I agree entirely with @Heather-M in every way, there is absolutely zero lag at all whatever you use GPS screen apps. I am an Android user, Pixel 3XL Android 11

[mbarylski]

Agree. No lag for me either.I'm an Android user, Samsung Galaxy s20.

[PaulMat]

Right! I got my sense since yesterday and everything u have mention is true. No connection to my galaxy buds, no automatic tracking of bicycle ride. The watch counted 4 floor while I was riding the bike!!! Wtf fitbit?! And don't recommend me to restart the watch!!! 

[bobby2478]

I just got mine i'm on Android with Galaxy S10+ and for most part it's fine. There are times where I feel the swipe isn't responding, but I figured out that has to deal with the context.

For example:

On clockface, if you swipe right or left, you need to start the swipe on the screen. If you start the swipe off the side of the screen it doesn't seem to respond. Same thing goes when performing general navigation on the apps page (to the right) or try to swipe left from apps to go back to the clock. You need to start these swipes on the screen (not past the bezel).

If however you go into Settings lets say and want to go "back" a screen, here you need to start your swipe off the screen on the bezel and then swipe onto the screen, this allows me to go back. If I start the swipe on the screen here it doesn't respond. This is the "back" functionality the button used to do on the Charge 3 for example.

Similar observation if you select Exercise, then select an exercise, to swipe down to access settings I need to first hold my finger by the up arrow at the bottom and swipe up. If I just swipe up it doesn't respond.

So i wonder if the non-responsiveness people have noted just has to deal with what I've noticed above. At first glance I was frustrated like it never responded to my actions, now that I've played around with it for a bit I seem to have figured it out and it responds most of the time.

Overall there is some lag when opening apps on the device (Today for example), and the tap to wake feature I've found to not always work. For example, if you first press the button to wake the screen then turn it off, now if you tap the screen it responds and wakes the screen. If however the screen has been off for several minutes and instead of tapping the button if you just tap the screen, here it doesn't always respond to a single or double press to wake.  Sometimes it does but never on the first try.