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Every person I've talked to over at Fitbit (pre-this news) has been down on the company. Sounds like they've had trouble effectively scaling software/new hardwa

Every person I've talked to over at Fitbit (pre-this news) has been down on the company. Sounds like they've had trouble effectively scaling software/new hardware to the level of success that the initial device had. While this could easily be another money sink for Google as they attempt to figure out some sort of Android wearable, it also has the potential to be an Instagram level-acquisition. Non-Apple wearables seem to be ripe for the picking

atlasunshrugged 7y ago
Something definitely has been off at Fitbit - I had their first device and then after swearing off smartwatches got a new Fitbit for Christmas. 10 months later I'm on my 3rd watch from them - the first one stopped taking a charge after a few months, the second one the screen went out in a week or two. I'm hoping the third time is the charm
- sodosopa 7y ago
  I’m still on my g1 Applewatch. If it had as many issues as the fitbits, I sure wouldn’t buy more fitbits.
  - everythingswan 7y ago
    Probably received free replacements. I had 3 break down on me and only once did I have to pay shipping, coincidentally that was the last time I asked for a replacement. perhaps I am bitter. Their support was great but when it doesn't perform the basic function of syncing with my phone or desktop app, what good is it? I had software and hardware problems (band breaks easily) on all of them.
    - atlasunshrugged 7y ago
      Yeah, they were good about giving me free replacements whenever I had an issue, if not I definitely wouldn't have purchased a new device. I just swapped in the new replacement screen this morning, hopefully it works for a good long while
  - nesky 7y ago
    How's your battery life at this stage? Have you replaced the battery yet?
    - woobar 7y ago
      I just upgraded from Series 0 to Series 5. Passed it down to another family member. Battery still lasts whole day, and in general it was doing same tasks as a new one. Biggest issue I had with the old one is that it wasn't waterproof.
- CedarMadness 7y ago
  This was my experience as well. I had a Charge HR back when they first came out, and the glue holding the band to the display dissolved after about 4 months. Got a warranty replacement and it stopped holding a charge after about 5 more months. Sold that warranty replacement on ebay and got a watch from a competitor that's lasted for 3 years without trouble.
- unlinked_dll 7y ago
  > I'm hoping the third time is the charm "fool me once, shame on you. fool me twice, shame on me"
  - atlasunshrugged 7y ago
    Ha, does it apply when each time you get a free replacement? But really, one more time and even a free replacement won't keep me from switching
- hobo_mark 7y ago
  Meanwhile my Pebble2 still holds a charge for a week after years or careless daily use...
  - xeromal 7y ago
    Your mileage may vary. My pebbles, the OG and the round, both had screen tearing issues.
    - amatecha 7y ago
      Yeah, on the two Pebble OGs I owned, they had frequent display issues. However, it turned out it's because the display connector somehow starts wiggling loose or something. You can actually fix the display-glitching yourself by adding a paper/cardboard shim. It actually works! There's an excellent post[0] that outlines the process. I had to redo mine because it wasn't quite thick enough, but after I did that mine was good to go for a long time. I think you might have to redo it when the shim gets worn down and doesn't put enough pressure on the display connector? Not sure... [0] https://waynedgrant.wordpress.com/2016/02/01/pebble-watch-screen-tearing-fix-with-lots-of-pictures/ https://waynedgrant.wordpress.com/2016/02/01/pebble-watch-sc...
    - neumann 7y ago
      yes - I sadly left my kickstarter edition on a beach, and tried replacing it with a steel and both watches I ended up buying had screen tearing issues. Tried all the tricks, but ended up going back to my old analog.
  - Jnr 7y ago
    My Pebble Time Steel from Kickstarter still works nicely and looks like new (I have changed the straps though). I take it swimming, it has been dropped multiple times, it has had some hard knocks but the metal frame protects the glass and it seems indestructible. I am also surprised that battery charge still holds almost a week. They did have great potential but apparently consumers didn't agree. And then they sold their IP to Fitbit. :(
    - 7y ago
- pfranz 7y ago
  I've had the opposite experience. I've bought each gen of the FitBit. I never found the new version compelling enough to buy immediately (but that's generally how I feel about phones and computers, too). I think gen 1 had the strap break after a few years (it was annoyingly wasn't replaceable). Gen 2 did suddenly just die after a few years. In both cases the newer version had been out for awhile and competitors didn't look too compelling. Each upgrade was nice, too. I did have a charging issue, but it was because I left the charger plugged in inside the bathroom. I guess the steam from showers corroded the charging posts causing them eventually to no longer make contact with the watch. I bought a few replacements from Amazon for <$20 total and started unplugging it when it wasn't charging and I haven't had the issue in years.
- AgloeDreams 7y ago
  Meanwhile try one, then try an older Apple watch, the Fitbit is straight up trash (with nicer battery life.) Fitbit UX is bad, and requires tons of interaction between the phone and watch and is remarkably hard to use, even switching watch faces requires digging multiple screens into the fitbit app and a 30+ second sync period, on the Apple watch this is known as 'swiping right' or at worst, holding down and tapping 'add new'. The Pebble was worlds better at this, when I used the Versa I was surprised by it. It sells tons even though Wear OS is way ahead.
  - fragmede 7y ago
    > with nicer battery life Don't discount this feature on a fitness tracker. The most recent Apple Watches are better in this respect compared to the first one, but the battery life is still measured in hours, rather than days. The UX for a Fitbit as a smartwatch is honestly horrible. The Pebble acquihire prioritized watch apps, in (what I see as) a belief that watch apps are necessary to compete with Apple. Resources would be far better spend improving the first-party UX and apps first, before opening up the ecosystem to outside developers. The iPhone dev kit trailed far behind the initial iPhone launch.
    - scarface74 7y ago
      Resources would be far better spend improving the first-party UX and apps first, before opening up the ecosystem to outside developers. The same could have been (rightfully) said about the Apple Watch.... The iPhone dev kit trailed far behind the initial iPhone launch. The iPhone launched July 2007. The dev kit was released in April 2008. The App store launched around July 2008
    - harikb 7y ago
      A watch that needs to be charged once in a few days is actually worse than one that could use a charge every night. Charge at night is a habit that can easily be adjusted to our daily schedule. btw Apple watch does last a full day (I meant 16+ hrs) with decent use, unless you are playing music out of it all the time or obsessively checking time/calendar. Only advantage of fitbit is that some models are easier to wear to sleep, particularly if you don't need to charge at night. However, even here, apple one is way ahead - the theater mode will make sure the super bright led at the bottom won't wake you up.
- gadders 7y ago
  Similar situation with my daughter. On her third Charge3.
codazoda 7y ago
I had the Charge and liked it. It's a bit "boring" for the price. The tech seems solid though, so maybe Google could inject some excitement into the products via software.
ceejayoz 7y ago
My wife and I both blew through multiple Fitbit replacements each, and we're not enormously active people. Build quality was abysmal.
- mypalmike 7y ago
  Yeah I went through 3 Charges in a year. Lower quality than the cheapest no-name electronics I've ever had, but at a price premium. It's like they were manufactured to be disposable.
  - om3n 7y ago
    Very similar experience here, I went through 2 Charge HRs in about a year. I'm on my third now, but I purchased this one new on eBay for $50 iirc (after the Charge 3 was released). Every Fitbit I've had has felt disposable, and I've been using their products since 2013.
bovermyer 7y ago
My Charge 3 has been really solid since I got it back in February. Other than having to restart it once or twice to fix the display not working, I haven't had any issues with it.
- VectorLock 7y ago
  Hows that spO2 sensor working?
  - bovermyer 7y ago
    Just fine. I haven't noticed anything in my sleep data that could be construed as the sensor going haywire.
- standardUser 7y ago
  My Charge 3 has been nothing but problems. Freezing, blank screens, faulty readings. The proprietary charger and inability to reset when not connected the the charger have compounded the problems. I'm also on my third band.
ocdtrekkie 7y ago
My understanding was that the Versa Lite was a big misstep. The first Versa was super solid though (I have an Ionic, it's precursor), and the Versa 2 looks to be a solid true successor. Google has murdered every hardware company they've bought, whether it was smarthome products, watches, smartphones, robots, etc. I specifically bought a Fitbit because it didn't capture my location history (unless using a specific app for tracking running I don't use), and obviously I will have to leave (and stop buying them for friends as well) if Google acquires them.
skinnymuch 7y ago
I know your intent was to just say the acquisition could be huge. But I want to say anyway, in terms of ROI and being a blockbuster deal (returns being 11 or 12 figures), Instagram is possibly the best acquisition of all time. Booking.com is arguable though with Instagram still growing it takes the lead going into 2020. And Naspers investing into Tencent and Softbank into Alibaba are up there too, though they’re just big minority stake investments.
- trimbo 7y ago
  > Instagram is possibly the best acquisition of all time I vote for NeXT
  - why_only_15 7y ago
    NeXT acquisition price feels almost more like Steve Jobs sign-on bonus than an acquisition per se.
- MaximumMadness 7y ago
  Fitbit owns ~6% of the 45bn dollar wearables market Your point definitely stands, as a ~3bn market opportunity might not be at the scale of Instagram or Alibaba, but thats some good ROI
dehrmann 7y ago
Remember the Jawbone Up? It got popular with early adopters around 2013, the same time Fitbit released their first on-wrist tracker. Everyone I know who had an Up lost interest within six months. Sure, the hardware was flaky, but the novelty wore off. I'm guessing the same thing happened with Fitbit, but they somehow powered through people losing interest with a bigger product lineup and more features. But still, the novelty wore off. Funny enough, I have an Aria scale because that's a meaningful metric for me to track long-term.

atlasunshrugged 7y ago

Something definitely has been off at Fitbit - I had their first device and then after swearing off smartwatches got a new Fitbit for Christmas. 10 months later I'm on my 3rd watch from them - the first one stopped taking a charge after a few months, the second one the screen went out in a week or two. I'm hoping the third time is the charm

sodosopa 7y ago
I’m still on my g1 Applewatch. If it had as many issues as the fitbits, I sure wouldn’t buy more fitbits.
- everythingswan 7y ago
  Probably received free replacements. I had 3 break down on me and only once did I have to pay shipping, coincidentally that was the last time I asked for a replacement. perhaps I am bitter. Their support was great but when it doesn't perform the basic function of syncing with my phone or desktop app, what good is it? I had software and hardware problems (band breaks easily) on all of them.
  - atlasunshrugged 7y ago
    Yeah, they were good about giving me free replacements whenever I had an issue, if not I definitely wouldn't have purchased a new device. I just swapped in the new replacement screen this morning, hopefully it works for a good long while
- nesky 7y ago
  How's your battery life at this stage? Have you replaced the battery yet?
  - woobar 7y ago
    I just upgraded from Series 0 to Series 5. Passed it down to another family member. Battery still lasts whole day, and in general it was doing same tasks as a new one. Biggest issue I had with the old one is that it wasn't waterproof.
CedarMadness 7y ago
This was my experience as well. I had a Charge HR back when they first came out, and the glue holding the band to the display dissolved after about 4 months. Got a warranty replacement and it stopped holding a charge after about 5 more months. Sold that warranty replacement on ebay and got a watch from a competitor that's lasted for 3 years without trouble.
unlinked_dll 7y ago
> I'm hoping the third time is the charm "fool me once, shame on you. fool me twice, shame on me"
- atlasunshrugged 7y ago
  Ha, does it apply when each time you get a free replacement? But really, one more time and even a free replacement won't keep me from switching
hobo_mark 7y ago
Meanwhile my Pebble2 still holds a charge for a week after years or careless daily use...
- xeromal 7y ago
  Your mileage may vary. My pebbles, the OG and the round, both had screen tearing issues.
  - amatecha 7y ago
    Yeah, on the two Pebble OGs I owned, they had frequent display issues. However, it turned out it's because the display connector somehow starts wiggling loose or something. You can actually fix the display-glitching yourself by adding a paper/cardboard shim. It actually works! There's an excellent post[0] that outlines the process. I had to redo mine because it wasn't quite thick enough, but after I did that mine was good to go for a long time. I think you might have to redo it when the shim gets worn down and doesn't put enough pressure on the display connector? Not sure... [0] https://waynedgrant.wordpress.com/2016/02/01/pebble-watch-screen-tearing-fix-with-lots-of-pictures/ https://waynedgrant.wordpress.com/2016/02/01/pebble-watch-sc...
  - neumann 7y ago
    yes - I sadly left my kickstarter edition on a beach, and tried replacing it with a steel and both watches I ended up buying had screen tearing issues. Tried all the tricks, but ended up going back to my old analog.
- Jnr 7y ago
  My Pebble Time Steel from Kickstarter still works nicely and looks like new (I have changed the straps though). I take it swimming, it has been dropped multiple times, it has had some hard knocks but the metal frame protects the glass and it seems indestructible. I am also surprised that battery charge still holds almost a week. They did have great potential but apparently consumers didn't agree. And then they sold their IP to Fitbit. :(
  - 7y ago
pfranz 7y ago
I've had the opposite experience. I've bought each gen of the FitBit. I never found the new version compelling enough to buy immediately (but that's generally how I feel about phones and computers, too). I think gen 1 had the strap break after a few years (it was annoyingly wasn't replaceable). Gen 2 did suddenly just die after a few years. In both cases the newer version had been out for awhile and competitors didn't look too compelling. Each upgrade was nice, too. I did have a charging issue, but it was because I left the charger plugged in inside the bathroom. I guess the steam from showers corroded the charging posts causing them eventually to no longer make contact with the watch. I bought a few replacements from Amazon for <$20 total and started unplugging it when it wasn't charging and I haven't had the issue in years.
AgloeDreams 7y ago
Meanwhile try one, then try an older Apple watch, the Fitbit is straight up trash (with nicer battery life.) Fitbit UX is bad, and requires tons of interaction between the phone and watch and is remarkably hard to use, even switching watch faces requires digging multiple screens into the fitbit app and a 30+ second sync period, on the Apple watch this is known as 'swiping right' or at worst, holding down and tapping 'add new'. The Pebble was worlds better at this, when I used the Versa I was surprised by it. It sells tons even though Wear OS is way ahead.
- fragmede 7y ago
  > with nicer battery life Don't discount this feature on a fitness tracker. The most recent Apple Watches are better in this respect compared to the first one, but the battery life is still measured in hours, rather than days. The UX for a Fitbit as a smartwatch is honestly horrible. The Pebble acquihire prioritized watch apps, in (what I see as) a belief that watch apps are necessary to compete with Apple. Resources would be far better spend improving the first-party UX and apps first, before opening up the ecosystem to outside developers. The iPhone dev kit trailed far behind the initial iPhone launch.
  - scarface74 7y ago
    Resources would be far better spend improving the first-party UX and apps first, before opening up the ecosystem to outside developers. The same could have been (rightfully) said about the Apple Watch.... The iPhone dev kit trailed far behind the initial iPhone launch. The iPhone launched July 2007. The dev kit was released in April 2008. The App store launched around July 2008
  - harikb 7y ago
    A watch that needs to be charged once in a few days is actually worse than one that could use a charge every night. Charge at night is a habit that can easily be adjusted to our daily schedule. btw Apple watch does last a full day (I meant 16+ hrs) with decent use, unless you are playing music out of it all the time or obsessively checking time/calendar. Only advantage of fitbit is that some models are easier to wear to sleep, particularly if you don't need to charge at night. However, even here, apple one is way ahead - the theater mode will make sure the super bright led at the bottom won't wake you up.
gadders 7y ago
Similar situation with my daughter. On her third Charge3.

codazoda 7y ago

I had the Charge and liked it. It's a bit "boring" for the price. The tech seems solid though, so maybe Google could inject some excitement into the products via software.

ceejayoz 7y ago

My wife and I both blew through multiple Fitbit replacements each, and we're not enormously active people. Build quality was abysmal.

mypalmike 7y ago
Yeah I went through 3 Charges in a year. Lower quality than the cheapest no-name electronics I've ever had, but at a price premium. It's like they were manufactured to be disposable.
- om3n 7y ago
  Very similar experience here, I went through 2 Charge HRs in about a year. I'm on my third now, but I purchased this one new on eBay for $50 iirc (after the Charge 3 was released). Every Fitbit I've had has felt disposable, and I've been using their products since 2013.

bovermyer 7y ago

My Charge 3 has been really solid since I got it back in February. Other than having to restart it once or twice to fix the display not working, I haven't had any issues with it.

VectorLock 7y ago
Hows that spO2 sensor working?
- bovermyer 7y ago
  Just fine. I haven't noticed anything in my sleep data that could be construed as the sensor going haywire.
standardUser 7y ago
My Charge 3 has been nothing but problems. Freezing, blank screens, faulty readings. The proprietary charger and inability to reset when not connected the the charger have compounded the problems. I'm also on my third band.

ocdtrekkie 7y ago

My understanding was that the Versa Lite was a big misstep. The first Versa was super solid though (I have an Ionic, it's precursor), and the Versa 2 looks to be a solid true successor. Google has murdered every hardware company they've bought, whether it was smarthome products, watches, smartphones, robots, etc. I specifically bought a Fitbit because it didn't capture my location history (unless using a specific app for tracking running I don't use), and obviously I will have to leave (and stop buying them for friends as well) if Google acquires them.

skinnymuch 7y ago

I know your intent was to just say the acquisition could be huge. But I want to say anyway, in terms of ROI and being a blockbuster deal (returns being 11 or 12 figures), Instagram is possibly the best acquisition of all time. Booking.com is arguable though with Instagram still growing it takes the lead going into 2020. And Naspers investing into Tencent and Softbank into Alibaba are up there too, though they’re just big minority stake investments.

trimbo 7y ago
> Instagram is possibly the best acquisition of all time I vote for NeXT
- why_only_15 7y ago
  NeXT acquisition price feels almost more like Steve Jobs sign-on bonus than an acquisition per se.
MaximumMadness 7y ago
Fitbit owns ~6% of the 45bn dollar wearables market Your point definitely stands, as a ~3bn market opportunity might not be at the scale of Instagram or Alibaba, but thats some good ROI

dehrmann 7y ago

Remember the Jawbone Up? It got popular with early adopters around 2013, the same time Fitbit released their first on-wrist tracker. Everyone I know who had an Up lost interest within six months. Sure, the hardware was flaky, but the novelty wore off. I'm guessing the same thing happened with Fitbit, but they somehow powered through people losing interest with a bigger product lineup and more features. But still, the novelty wore off. Funny enough, I have an Aria scale because that's a meaningful metric for me to track long-term.