What is your opinion about the Sense?

[MichaelGrace]

Hi, 

This is a very upfront question but I feel it's necessary. 

I was considering buying a fitbit sense, and get into the fitbit universe (upgrading from my old tomtom runner 2) and getting a whole lot more bang per buck. 

But considering a the reviews and topics in this forum regarding the laughable HR accuracy, robot-like scripted answers from moderators which are little to no help (not their fault, just complying with their "orders" I guess), I must say that all the confidence and hopes I had for getting a Sense are pretty much burnt to a crisp. The price is very steep for every single complaint I read about here or reviews elsewhere. 

Can someone give me their opinion?  What's the scenario? 

Is it a wait a little longer? 

Is it a no-go? 

Is it a wait for a Sense 2?

Thank you for your attention! 

Regards 

-MG

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[Basandy]

Thought I would give you my perspective. I really like the Sense. I have no Bluetooth or syncing issue and furthermore the heart rate monitor works really well for me. I do experience a little hr lag if I use the treadmill, however other than that it is very accurate.

I see a lot of HR issues reported however I for one would recommended the Sense and would not hesitate to purchase another one if I had to 

[MichaelGrace]

Thank you for your input. It seems at least one person is satisfied..!

I'd like to hear out some more opinions though, as I'd like to take full advantage of everything the Sense claims to have to offer! 

Cheers! 

[Atomic77]

I don’t really know anything about the Fitbit Sense but I have a Fitbit Versa 2 which is also a very awesome device. 

[BlazeFS]

I second what @Basandy said. I'm pleased with my FitBit Sense. I do have a new issue with too many stairs bring counted and a few minor polishes I feel they left out of the Sense. Despite what it may look like on the forums, FitBit does resolve issues and make feature improvements. I've been with FitBit for years (and 4 different trackers) and I feel it has been well worth the money and I have full faith that things will keep improving. I'm also the kind of person who loves being in betas and trying out new technology. The Sense 2 will be more polished and have fewer bugs. However, I don't think it's worth waiting until then.

[t.parker]

I can't consider myself as a satisfied or unsatisfied user because I came to use Sense without prior expectations. I don't use it anymore. I admit that I didn't test everything as I'm not interested in ECG, SpO2, or even sleep tracking. All I care about is purely sports tracking and Sense didn't meet my requirements. Just a few comments about what didn't work or did work for me:

HR:

HR isn't accurate. I found out that it measures too low HR when it comes to higher intensity training. On top of that, I found it not reliable for low aerobic activities like simple walking - then HR is too high. I experienced such behaviour on Ionic before, so no surprise here. I posted here plenty of tests.

GPS:

GPS worked surprisingly well. I know there are reports of not being able to connect etc. I even experienced that with the previous Ionic watch. With Sense, I really had no issues. Connected quickly, route tracked accurately and after losing signal it recovered almost instantly. Maybe I was lucky here but can't say anything bad about GPS.

Running:

As much as GPS worked, unfortunately, old distance computation algorithms make the watch useless for runners. GPS doesn't seem to contribute in distance and pace computation and this results very often with lack of precision and accuracy. The same route could end with very different distance just because I ran with different stride length. Still no cadence parameter. No way to connect to external HR sensors. No way to connect to footpods. It is a very poor running experience. One thing I liked though is how light Sense was. It's possible to forget you wear any watch.

Syncing:

Very broken. I happened just ONCE that my exercise has been synced right after I was done. Otherwise, I found out a need for rebooting the device. 9 out of 10 times it solved the problem. Maybe I could live with it if not that awful...

...Button:

Yes, I just hate it. I had problems with pressing it and considering that one must hold it a good couple of seconds in order to reboot the device (so I could sync my exercise) it was just driving me crazy! Horrible, horrible thing. Unlike many others, I didn't experience spontaneous presses.

I wouldn't say that I'm unsatisfied (or satisfied). The Sense it's just not for me. I need a reliable sports watch and Sense is more a smartwatch with fitness and health tracking features.

[Cindylouwho57]

I have to say I am so unhappy with my Sense. Have had it since Christmas and have had so much trouble with Syncing. My HR never had a problem. My husband thought an upgrade would be great. I have spoken to to reps since this issue. One rep said it was my phone. The rep today said that they are aware of syncing with androids and it's all fixed. Sure for an hour, blue tooth just drops off. I have spent so many hours with this, ready to throw this 300.00 Sense out🥺

[MichaelGrace]

Thank you all for your input.

@t.parker I think we're on the same boat then - I also need a sports watch and thought of the Sense as a reliable sports watch, but it seems it just doesn't cut it at all, from what I've read and seen. Running and weightlifting is about all the sports I want to monitor (and swimming, when this pandemic situation is over/under control).

I guess I'll wait some more and see if any upcoming firmware update improves the current HR algorithm and syncing.

Once again, thank all of you for taking your time.

Cheers,

- M

[CBV2]

Very happy with my Sense. I was happy with the Versa and Versa 2 before that.  My wife and daughter are also happy with their Versa 2's.  

[t.parker · Accepted solution]

@MichaelGrace if you need a sports watch just buy one rather than wait for Fitbit to improve. There are already superior solutions in the market out there and it would take Fitbit a very long time to catch up. You want to swim and you will find out that the HR tracking doesn't work (which is an option on other watches, either via external HR sensor or using wrist HR considering lower accuracy - yet, you have a choice). You running and you will find out that running the same route very often gives a different distance in the end. For better accuracy you could use a footpod but wait... you can't pair any external hardware with Fitbit. Cycling - no use for power meter, speed/cadence sensors cannot pair. Outdoors you can live with it but during indoor sessions the captured data without using such sensors are useless. No multisport, no triathlons and don't get me to talk about how poor the Dashboard is (no filtering and grouping stats, no calendar view, no training planning). You can't even edit recorded activities. Fitbit Sense (or any other model) isn't a sports watch and if we considered it as one, it would be a very low-end. I'm not trying to be mean and bash Fitbit. It's just my experience and after using devices superior in the sports tracking field my expectations are way higher and Fitbit currently is more like a toy 🙂 As I said, the device isn't cut for me because it is a poor sports tracker. Don't get me wrong. It may be a great overall fitness and health tracker - I don't argue with that but sports... nah...

[Mladen90]

I like the watch. Sleep tracking looks pretty accurate but many things seems useless or pretty off.

Temperature seems useless.

Spo2 tracking is available only during sleep(no spot check available for now but at the beginning it was even worst) with only the average value in the app, while for the range you need to use a specific watchface.

ECG not important for me but i had many issues to try to make it work....a lot of times there's a lot of difference from the optical reading(i mean 15/20 bpm). Maybe i'm using it in a bad way but i'm trying to follow the instructions....anyway i don't really care too much so i just stopped to check it.

The worst part, as many other said too, is the issue with HR during high intensity workouts. Sometimes it's ok but many times, values are completely off.

I don't have many past experiences with top smartwatches so can't say how much sense is bad or how much it's a "common" issue with wrist optical sensors but for sure i'm not going to continue to use the sense and i will try something else(thinking about Garmin).

[AlekseiA]

I would strongly recommend Sense only for the sleep tracking. The rest functions and realization are pretty average or so so and Apple Watch / Garmin / Polar or even cheaper Samsung / Huawei / Mi could bring much better measurements and visualization.

But for the sleep tracking (with premium subs of course) you get semi professional data - very good.

I have tested many devices and programs no way to substitute Fitbit at all so far. My opinion Sense is no1 non professional steep tracking device on the market now.

You could also check some reports here 

https://youtube.com/c/TheQuantifiedScientist 

The great guy from Austria - professional tester!

hope it helps. Take care. Aleksei

[Rich_Laue]

@AlekseiA the same sleep tracking may be found on the Versa 3 and Charge 4. 

The biggest difference between the sense and Versa 3 are the ECG and EDA. 

[aremick]

Don't even consider it if you want to listen to music or podcast you own, unless you're willing to pay monthly fee to a third party (Deezer).

Far better to pick up a refurbished Ionic (if you want to stay with fitbit) or a newer garmin.

[aremick]

The inability to store music is a big issue for me.  I bought mine to replace my old Ionic (Battery failing after many years of service) not knowing that they had removed that functionality.

[Clove5858]

I’m happy.  Went all in coming from Inspire HR.

Wife and 2 kids have Apple watches.
I’m a basic **ahem**.

[Rami.Khalawi]

If you want to use it as a fitness tracker, then trust me and don’t go with Fitbit sense. I assure you that you will be disappointed.

I bought it and just feeling that I wasted  my money.. 

[sanman202]

It's funny how varied the wants can be on a device like this. I don't care about storing music at all on the Sense. I do love music, but I don't listen to music from the device. People who jog often probably want this feature more than others that don't. It can be a total deal breaker for some and for others they couldn't be happier with the Sense without that feature. So when the OP asks if anyone is happy, it can vary greatly. If this was device was that bad then nobody would be using and we'd all would return them. The sleep tracking is probably one of the best out there and the premium information when used daily is rather consistent, so you should be able to notice something out of the ordinary. The issue is Bluetooth connectivity and they're saying the Pixel 5 is not compatible. This has to be the most frustrating things I've dealt with on the Sense. It seems a bit better lately though. The Versa 2 was somewhat like this early one as well and seemed to get better with each update. It's ironic that Google has purchased Fitbit as the Pixel 5 is Googles product. There have been issues noted like the display cracking and the bands falling off randomly. I don't know if some just got some defective ones or if some are extra rough, and we know that there are those that are very rough with anything they own. Sometimes we hit the watch on a door knob when walking or bang it into the side of a door opening. Those things will happen and you would think that the glass would be able to take the typical knocks. So those people will not be happy with the broken displays and Fitbit doesn't have a way for your to being it in for a repair. From what I understand, Fitbit does not offer a protection plan. The heart rate monitor if you don't think it's accurate then test it against a pulse oximeter that has the heart rate as well. I've tested it and they've been exact or very close. It's a good device and we have to remember that these things are not going to be spot on all the time, and it's really amazing what they can do when you look at all of the sensors and the size of this thing, and all of the other smart wearables out there. I'd say this is a 8.2.

[Atomic77]

Fitbits screen cracking and bangs and dings can easily be remedied by putting a screen protector on it. My Fitbit Versa 2 has a protective cover over it. I don't know about covers or protection for the other fitbits though.

[Dannyadowntown]

Michael Grace...no one needs to teach you how to go with your gut.  Personally, I was happy to see your post.  I was unhappy cause my own personal life is a bit blah.  I looked at this thing on my wrist and said, ah, "there you go again, thinking you'll be happier or something with change, but nothing really will!"  Then I said, might log in once more just to sync and see if I can get something going.

Fitbit says I have done 4,500,000 steps.  I only got it a couple months ago, so that's messed up too but I love it anyway!  Like you know it's wrong but you love it anyway.

While I'm on a Animal House role and people slowly get their devices hooked up and charged and remember that this year no the Grinch did not win and that purchase you made to Love yourself more this past holiday is still valid.

It's also you are gonna need a tracker...adavance beginner expert whatever sooner rather than later and the technology will evolve but you will have a tracker...so get in where you fit in...$59 cheap, $300, Apple, Google, just the cellphone.  You probably have already started with something...that's why you are here!

But complaints...oh yeah, I got them!  Cheers