8 ms·

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

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.

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.