Surge-overall feedback

[Beetelbailey]

Running iphone7 and updated software. Not only does the surge have a crap battery life now, after 1 whole year, but syncing is constantly buggy. Such a waste of $250...

Moderator edit: Clarified subject.

[Apyock]

I have been using samsung gear fit 2 and am very pleased with it except the weak battery. Then i bought a surge because of its good battery life. Have tried using surge for the last 2 days and i agree this is a crap device that leaves a lot to be desired. The syncing and notification message are completely unacceptable. Its a waste of money paying hundreds of dollars for such a crab device. Very disappointed indeed. 

[Kapppa]

What do you mean by having issues when syncing? Just out of curiosity, gonna receive mine soon.

[Beetelbailey]

Dunno buddy-I'd say read between the lines and get out before you are aggravated like most. 

[Kapppa]

Well I guess I'll either be happy like some, or unhappy as others, soon be receiving one.

Hopefully I'll be part of the first group, at least for a while.

[HikerMD]

I've had mine for about 6 weeks and I love it.  There is zero doubt that I'm moving more than I was.  I hope you're happy with it.  There's some things I am a little frustrated with sometimes, but overall I am happy.

Con - my wrist gets irritated.  I switch to my other wrist while the other calms down

Con - syncing can be delayed and sometimes "fails"  when I try to do it manually.  How big of a deal is this?  Not much to me.  It syncs eventually.

Pro - LOVE the GPS feature.  It does suck up the battery though.  But I really love it for hiking mostly right now, but I am planning to start a little running and will appreciate having it for that.

Pro - Love the sleep tracking.  It has really highlighted to me that I need to do something about my inadequate sleep patterns.

It also isn't as accurate as I'd like with the auto exercise feature.  But that's hardly a big deal.

Hope you enjoy it!

[Apyock]

Glad to know that you are enjoying the device. The GPS, sleep and step tracking are very useful and motivational. However having tried other makes I still think fitbit is not doing its best to keep up with its competitors. Notification and ability to reply and many other functions are not possible in surge given it is the higher end model of fitbit. Its disappointing. 

[Takecareman]

I like my fitbit Surge except for the wrist irritation.  I've read all the recommended solutions.

Point blank, I shouldn't have to worry about that.  The band should be breathable, and not cause irritation to my skin or anyones for that matter unless they have a skin problem that is not normal i.e. eczema, hives, allergies to synthetic materials, etc..  But I have none of this problems but I feel like I do... Leather, stainless steal, and corrugated rubber all work... why did Fitbit go with some so frustrating and new when something reliable and known is a better choice... I personally have had leather, stainless steel, and plastic and I like stainless steel..  Looks professional and sharp.  Its tough, and its not likely to stretch.  So when I go looking for a band replacement (mine band is not broke) what do I find... the same band..  Anyone have a link to a company (hint great way to start a business) that sells substitute bands that don't use the same non-breathable material?

Just wanting to enjoy everything else I like with my Fitbit Surge,

Takecareman

[Jojoflojo]

Yes overall I'm happy with my surge. However with a few tweaks fitbit could make this a fab sports watch. (apart from the wrist irritation)

My Issue is that as normal it is designed to keep those who run, bike, walk or hike happy!!! the rest of us get workout!!! and no options to do a workout with HR & GPS this would solve all my problems. My activities are horse riding, skiing, exercise classes, dancing etc. This could be resolved so easily either by allowing all activities to edited to any activity name including custom activities, then i would use bike mode if i don't want steps counting or walk if i do and then edit the name afterwards. Or by creating a second generic workout option (one with GPS and HR).

[jackjilljones05]

With respect to battery life for the surge, here is the same information that I have just posted in another thread:

Based on my knowledge from larger MW as opposed to mW) Lithium type battery installations, a good quality battery should have a life of around 7000 cycles when maintained at 25degC.
Raise the temp by 10 degC and you halve the life. So considering out skin temperature is around 30 to 32 degC lets say we have available 3500 cycles.

I went through 3 or fit bits in 6 months all due to seemingly early battery  demise.
They started with 7 days if GPS not used but inside around 2 months would only have a battery life of around 4 hours!

I received a refund from the retail outlet and bought another surge elsewhere (hoping for a different production batch). had the same problem.

I decided to try a reset on the premise that maybe the electronics was getting confused.

Did a reset when fully discharged and then again immediately after a full recharge. Lo and behold the battery life if not using the GPS went out to around 6 days. Now every couple of months when the charge life drops to around 3 days I repeat the reset cycle and battery life again improves.

Okay my current Surge is only 16 months old but using the reset sequence is correcting the battery situation and suggests the internal electronics for the battery monitoring are getting "confused".

The reset/restart sequence is as follows:

1. Hold the left(home), and the lower right(select) buttons down for 12 seconds.

2. Let go and wait until the screen turns off.

3. Wait ten seconds and press the home button to turn on.

4. A successful restart will display the Fitbit logo.

I have, for better or worse, recently been combining  steps 1 and 2 holding the two buttons down until the screen goes completely blank and that still restarts with the Fitbit logo and battery life for a cycle improves.

[HikerMD]

This is super helpful info!  Thank you!  My surge is almost 2 months old, I have not noticed any battery life degradation, but I copied n pasted your fix to another document to keep it handy in case I notice this, or other wonky stuff.  A reset often cures many glitchy things.

I am considering getting a second fitbit to supplement the surge, but am having trouble deciding which.  I thought having a second one could:

1) give my wrist a break

2) look a bit more presentable for work.  On a man, it's not too bad, but I'm not a very big thing and it looks gigantic on me

3) track swimming

#3 means the Flex2, which I like because you can get that bangle bracelet which would be great for work.  But!  No display, and no altimeter...  decisions decisions.