Any plans for a new GPS tracker to replace the Surge?

[Byte_76]

One of the glaring omisions from fitbit in the last year has been a new tracker with built-in GPS to replace the Surge.

My Fitbit Surge band broke just out of waranty so I'm looking for a new tracker but built-in GPS is a non-negotiable criteria and I'm not prepared to invest in a new Surge because it is too old and there are lots of better options available from competitors now. I've been waiting on Fitbit because I have an Aria scale and want to remain within the Fitbit ecosystem but my patience is running out.

Does anyone know if Fitbit has any plans to release a new tracker to replace the Surge before the end of 2016?

[MikeF]

No, no-one knows because Fitbit don't release their plans outside the boundary of the company.

If such a thing is due to happen, the first any of us will hear of it is the press release when they open the online store for pre-orders (unless there's a press leak as there was with the Charge 2 recently).

[Chris1963]

I'm in the same boat, my Surge is being held together by superglue. I'm not sure what they achieve by not saying anything, I'm certainly not going to buy another Surge knowing how fragile they are but I like the app etc.

I'll wait a while longer, the Samsung Gear S3 announced yesterday looks great but has way to many features that I'd never use and it's huge! But now has GPS.

The Pebbles look interesting but no GPS which is non negotiable for me, connected GPS doesn't cut it.

I keep going back to the new Garmin so come on Fitbit do the decent thing or you'll be losing customers whose loyalty is already being tested by a product that barely lasts a year.  

[MarreFitbit]

It's nice to see you around @Chris1963 @Byte_76, hope you're doing great! I agree with my friend @MikeF. However, thank you for your suggestion. We're constantly striving to improve Fitbit products and services, and we very much appreciate all of the input we receive from our customers. The best place to make your voice heard is the Ideas board on our community, which our product development teams consult regularly to ensure we're delivering on what our customers need and want. Please take a moment to visit and give us your feedback. 

If you find that a similar suggestion has already been made by another member of the community, you can vote for their idea and add your comments. Our product team looks forward to reading and incorporating your suggestions into future versions of Fitbit trackers and apps. 

Thank you for the thorough feedback for the Fitbit environment, customer service, platform and devices. This has not gone unnoticed and be sure that I will pass this along.

We don't want to create frustration in our customers. Fitbit has been designed to provide motivation and help you to reach your daily goals to success. Please know that we provide feedback to our team based on community posts and we are always working on improving our devices and overall environment based on that feedback.

To the members who received the 25% discount option as per our Warranty Policies please know that this is the best option to help you get back on track with the Fitbit family and I'm sure our Customer Support team will be more than glad to help you further with this. I understand you've invested in the Fitbit Family; however, we as any other company have policies to follow through.  While customer satisfaction remains our number one goal, the demands of running a global business require that we enforce our warranty consistently.   

If your Surge has some damage, I recommend to contact our Customer Support team via email here or you can call (877) 623-4997 between the hours of 4am-8pm PST Mon-Fri and 6am-5pm PST on weekends. I am sure they will be more than glad to further assist you.

Don't lose the hope yet guys!

[Chris1963]

Hi Marre, the warranty isn't that consistent though. In the EU Fitbit is required to give a 2 year warranty, so why not extend this worldwide? Otherwise all the other users who suffer the wristband breakage fall short of the service given to EU countries. Not that fair for a product that struggles to make a year.

[MikeF]

I'm pretty sure that's true of just about everything that's sold on both sides of the Atlantic. Of course if we want to talk 'fair' this does go some way to compensate for the fact that we end up paying more for things over here in Europe 😉

[Chris1963]

True enough I guess though you can get it here now for £159.00.

[pmdawn]

To add to the conversation, I'm wondering if there are plans for improvements in a gen 2 Surge? Two things that have me contemplating upgrading to a beefier GPS watch are: (1) somewhat high GPS error in landscapes with steep terrain or canopy cover, (2) a short-ish battery life (8-9 max, with HR off, BT syncing off, lights, notifications, etc. off). Any plans to enhance in these departments? It's been a great watch otherwise!