Surge vs Garmin Vivoactive HR

[STEVENM1000]

HI,

I am new to the forum, but have been seaching for a fitness tracker for a few months.

Eventually I narrowed it down to the Surge or Vivoactive HR, as I require HR and GPS with multisports tracking ability.

As the price difference is about £50 between the two and I did not know if it would be stuck in a drawer after a month or so I decided upon the Surge based on price.

After reading this forum and the problems with the bands I am having second thoughts,

Just a thought,I assume thousands of the Surge have been sold and it would be interesting to know the percentage of units with faulty bands, as any products will have fault issues.

Or could it be some people with faulty bands cannot be bothered to complain to or contact Fitbit.

So could it be the percentage of faulty bands is quite small and that there are many customers who have not had this problem.

Anyway as far as performance is concerned has anyone experience of using both trackers to sway me one way or the other.

Thanks in advance

regards

Steven

[FerdinandFitbit]

Hi there @STEVENM1000. Good to see you in the Community! 🙂

As my personal experience, I've used the Surge in the past and didn't really have any problems with the bands (I must say that I'm super careful with my things so that's probably a good reason for it to have lasted a lot) and when it comes to funcitonality, it's amazing. The integrated GPS helps in the case you go running outside, biking, etc. and you don't need to carry your phone with you for the GPS to work.

Now, it would be great to hear from someone else's experience for you to make a decision based on that. Anyone else around?

[STEVENM1000]

Hi Ferdinand,

Thank you for your reply.

As I said previously I want a tracker with GPS and narrowed down to these 2, the Surge being my initial choice due to the price as most other features appeared the same.

It is only the band issue that stopped me buying,but still have not bought the Garmin due to the price, not wanting to pay that much, although I asumme it may come down eventually.

Do you still have the Surge,if so how long has the band lasted ?

Maybe you were lucky, or as you say because you are careful,which I tend to be as well.

thanks

Steven

[Kizeree]

I have both and I wear both all the time.  

The surge monitors step count better and recognise activities a little better.  It knows Zumba is aerobic activity, whereas Garmin things it's swimming. Garmin doesn't seem to count steps when I am in the house, but I do like the way the Garmin auto calculates a step goal each day so it can change.  

I prefer the band, HR and sleep tracker on the Garmin.  My surge has stopped recording it properly.  Bands are easier to replace on the Garmin too. 

I like them both, but when it comes to replacing them in the future, I am less likely to get a fitbit.  

[Kizeree]

Also, try Flubit to get a better price.  My Garmin cost me £174 instead of £210

[Chris1963]

Hi.

With due respect to Ferdinand, he would say that as he is a Fitbit moderator. 

I'm on my second Surge in twelve months, some on here have had three or four. Ferd says he is super careful with his - well forgive me, but its an Activity Tracker, it should be robust. Check out the threads - it's a design flaw and although Fitbit are good at replacing within warranty (2 years in the EU) once outside this you're stuck.

I can't really fault the functionality, although it is getting dated now. The only thing ,as with most optical HR monitors they arent that accurate and Fitbits has real trouble with rapid HR changes.

Overall though its good, auto track is great, GPS spot on, and the only reason I've stayed (mine is held together by superglue) is that I like the app and the number of friends with Fitbits for challenges.

Otherwise, and if this breaks permanently before another Surge comes out, I'll be off to Garmin.

In the UK at least the Surge and Vivoactive HR are about the same price. 

[STEVENM1000]

hi Chris,

The cheapest I have seen the Garmin Vivoactive is about £170, whereas the Surge about £130.

On average the Surge is about £50 cheaper.

Have you seen the Garmin cheaper elsewhere.

regards

Steven

[Chris1963]

Hi Steve, yes that's about right for the Garmin, the Surge I've seen for 150 or so which is 50 cheaper than last year. Have you looked at the garmin forerunner 35, not as specd as the Vivoactive but looks good for a simpler surge like tracker.

[STEVENM1000]

Hi Chris,

Thanks re the Forerunner 35 advice.

I mainly require a tracker for long walks (hence GPS for accuracy) and indoor gym work such as rowing,indoor bike and machines.

Also to count daily movements such as steps.

Although the Forerunner covers most of these as you say, probably not as good for the gym work.

I am not a runner, so probably not appropriate for me, which appears to be the main function.

[Chris1963]

Hi, I had discounted it as I'm mainly a walker and cyclist but have a read of dc rainmaker's review, it may be an alternative worth looking at...though I'm likely going vivoactive if it's not too large. Fitbit I'm afraid won't get a repeat buy unless they sort the Surge replacement soon.

[dogenzenji]

Tough one. If you are into watching your weight and calories the fitbit environment is a winner. If you swim then the Garmin. I have the Surge and it does everything except the swimming really well. Cycling is spot on with the gps. Running and walking likewise. Indoor spinning likewise. I have used my Surge 24/7 for 10 months and the band is cracking by the screws. Contacted support and got a no quibble replacement so cannot argue with that. A bit of super glue round the split has sorted the problem but nice to have the replacement. The Surge is quite an old design now. I hope fitbit can do a Surge 2 very soon. Make it water proof so it tracks swims and make the band replaceable. It would then be a Garmin killer. Until then if your friends are on fitbit go surge. If your mates are on Garmin or strava go Garmin would be my advice. As for swimming dcrainmaker has tested the Surge to 5atm and I have a Facebook friend who takes it swimming in the pool and the sea without issue. Though obviously this is not advised by fitbit themselves. Tough choice both are great.

[YojanaFitbit]

Nice to see you around guys! Thank you all for all the information and feedback that you're providing. 

I think that is a difficult choice, since to be honest both brands offers a lot of cools features. In my personal opinion I'd rather stick with the one that worked for me in the past. It's great to have options and Fitbit has being improving features and also services. If you have more ideas that can help Fitbit to have more choices you can visit the Feature Suggestions board for example, and place your ideas or find a similar idea and vote for it. 

I'd say...Fitbit Surge, since I love his features and the Fitbit app functionality.

Thanks for taking a break from stepping and post your thoughts, I’ll see you around the Community! 

[Slowmax]

I'm also in the mist of looking for a new activity tracker and am seriously considering the Garmin Vivoactive HR. I am currently on my  second Surge in about 9 months. While I like the functionality and ease of operation of the Surge, I think the Surge has some serious issues with it's reliability and built quality. My first Surge had battery issues and would go completely flat within a day even without wearing it for any activity (Kudos for the excellent customer service in getting me a replacement without any fuss) while my replacement Surge worked perfectly for about three months until a couple of days ago where it decided not to syn with my phone or PC. After some exhaustive trouble shooting, I came to the conclusion that the Surge's Bluetooth sensor/driver is faulty. I have written to the Customer Service and waiting for their reply. Prior to using Fitbit, I have been using Garmin for many years without any issues. Looks like it's time I use Garmin again.

[YojanaFitbit]

It's great to see that you've visited the Fitbit Community @Slowmax! Thanks a million for your feedback! 

In regards of your concern about the quality of Fitbit, I assure you that we test our Fitbit before releasing them to the market and we expect the highest quality in our products and services.  I will definitely pass all this feedback along to our team; we do take all of your feedback seriously. Hope you keep enjoying your Fitbit Surge replacement. Thanks for sharing!

Catch you later! 

[Chris1963]

I've had the Vivoactive HR a couple of months now ..and I have 4 different bands that I can change in about 2 minutes. I won't "sell" it here as the post will likely be taken down but as a device it is a leap forward. HR is still a bit dodgy but it pairs with a chest strap also so solves my issues when cycling. 

The app initially seems more clunky than fitbits but after a few days and getting used to it, it's fine.

Anyway, enough, I can't say I will be back!

[YojanaFitbit]

HI there @Chris1963! I appreciate the time you took to give your thoughts about Fitbit trackers! Feel free to give your opinion, we allow and encourage all our friend Fitbitters to give their experience. As I mentioned before I'll pass this information along. 

Fitbit was designed to help other to enjoy fitness activities and we're always taking all comments and feedback posted here in the Forums!

Have a good one! 

[TwoBit]

There are some basic requirements that need to be met before even considering feature comparisons.

1) Can I wear it?

• Surge has a poorly designed band that is non-replaceable.
• If the band is broken or is falling apart then you can't wear it. If you can't wear it then it might as well be a paper weight.

2) Can I see it?

• Surge has recurring display issues that require a device reset.
• The reset, although very annoying, had always worked for me but @JerryKre problem above seems to be more serious.
• Without a functioning display it's not a tracking device, it's just jewellery.

3) Can I sync it?

• Syncing the Surge is problematic. I had a 50% success rate at best using the Android app.
• The myriad of trouble shooting steps recommended by Fitbit is an indication that they really don't know what the root cause of problem is. The apparent "fix" one time would not work another time.
• If you can't sync then your tracking data is useless.

All of the above is why my Surge has been sitting in a drawer since July 3rd.

[JerryKre]

I am now looking at Garmon for a replacement. I am very disappointed in how
FitBit handled this.



Jerry Kre

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @TwoBit and @JerryKre Thanks for sharing your feedback! 

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 what you share here. If you already troubleshooted your Fitbit we can check your warranty options, I'll be more than glad to request for a case for you; and our Support Team will be contacting you directly.

@JerryKre please check your PM, I'd like to check some information with you! 

I'll be around! 

[JerryKre]

OK, here is what I have gone through.  I had a number of contacts with technical support.  They were very forceful on the 365 day guarantee.  Since the watch is just over 2 years old, they offered a 25% discount on a new watch.  I am sorry but I do not see that as an acceptable offer.  The watch is quite normally on sale at Best Buy for 25% off.  Catch Amazon at the right time and it can be 31% off.  Here is the way I look at this from a consumers point of view.  This is the most expensive watch I have ever purchased.  It failed in 2 years.  Customer support claims they have never seen my issue before.  I view this as falling somewhere between lack of training, ignorance or a bold face corporate LIE.  Then they offer 25% off.  Hey, if Amazon is making a profit at 31% off, Fitbit is surly making more of a profit at 25% off.  Good business model.  Sell an expensive watch that lasts 2 years then keep selling watches to the same person every two years at a profit.  If you have not guessed by now, I am not happy.  I strongly recommend you review your process in the future.  Had the offer been 50% discount for a new watch, I would have jumped at it and could have lived with it.  I am actually planning on having discussions with Garmin to see what discount offer they may have for a Fitbit trade in.