Rant :From Band 2 to Fitbit Charge 2

[slyronit]

This weekend, I noticed with a heavy heart that my MS Band 2 strap was cracking (again). Now, I live in India, I got the original Band and Band 2 from the US and I can easily ask someone I know traveling to the US to get it replaced, but I have done this too many times and now frankly give up. Here's my history with the bands

MS Band
1. Strap broke, replaced in the US
2. Strap broke, replaced in the US

MS Band 2
1. Died completely, replaced in the US
2. Strap broke- Cannot do this anymore

I looked for alternatives and although the Withings watches completely blew my mind, they have officially confirmed that they are not working on Windows compatibility, so I decided to get a Fitbit, seeing as how their Windows app is in active development.

I decided to get a Fitbit Charge 2, because the Blaze/Surge are damn ugly and are compromised in spite of being expensive. Here're my views below. In short, there's nothing on the market that can completely beat the Band in terms of feature parity

MS Band 2 over Fitbit Charge 2

1. The clasp on the MS band 2 was way better. The Fitbits have an old school belt style latch which is not only ugly, but uncomfortable, too.
2. No UV sensor on the Fitbit
3. No touch screen on the Fitbit
4. The display is Monochrome
5. The sleep tracking stats are not that informative on the Fitbit
6. The fitbit has no sleep mode. There's no way to tell it you are going to sleep, so there's no "Time to fall asleep". Also, the display remains activated so if you twist your wrist just right while sleeping, there's a chance the light can disturb your sleep
7. There's no smart alarm (On any fitbit device, in 2017), so it will always wake you up at the set time, regardless of sleep intensity.
8. There's no way to snooze the alarm manually. You have to tolerate the alarm buzz for 10 seconds after which it automatically snoozes (Once)
9. There's no GPS, although you can carry your phone with you for connected GPS (Yet to come to Windows Mobile 10)
10. Is not IPxx rated, but it says water resistant, so I am guessing on par with Band 2

Fitbit Charge 2 over MS Band 2

1. Their ecosystem is way better. I immediately found 19 friends (Via email addresses/Facebook lists) who were active on Fitbit. You can compare, send challenges etc. At its peak, I had 2 active friends in MS health who eventually ditched the band for something else.
2. You can log food (Surprising number of Indian food present in their database) and compare IN/out calories
3. Battery life is much better (down 12% after a full 24 hour usage with heart rate monitoring on)
4. Is lighter and in spite of the horrible strap, is more comfortable on the wrist than Band 2
5. Water logging is supported in the app

Overall, this feels like a downgrade, but I have decided to stick with Fitbit because of their ecosystem and hope they bring much much better trackers next year (from their acquisitions).

 

[anon(5327127)]

You might want to look at how you're handling these items! Honestly... I've owned and sold 4 bands with none of them showing any issues (Thankfully). I know that it happens, we've seen it, but the straps are not indestructible. I can, when looking at my own band 2, see how damage can appear so always clasp the catch when I'm not wearing it and never, ever, bend the straps past where they're supposed to bend as I know it will break.

Just a little more care... .

 

[lstar337]

You might want to look at how you're handling these items! Honestly... I've owned and sold 4 bands with none of them showing any issues (Thankfully). I know that it happens, we've seen it, but the straps are not indestructible. I can, when looking at my own band 2, see how damage can appear so always clasp the catch when I'm not wearing it and never, ever, bend the straps past where they're supposed to bend as I know it will break.

Just a little more care... .

Don't think care really comes into it, its poor design.

My first strap split and I had no idea why. I can clearly see why it has on my second band because I have been paying it much more attention.

Even though I have the correct size band for my wrist (small is too small), my wrist is clearly too small for the band I have. My clasp is one notch in from the smallest setting and I can see it is simply too much stress in the area where the solid part of the body ends. If I was a few notches larger I have no problem believing that my strap would last a whole lot longer, but that area is just way too weak to be stressed like it is on my wrist.

Of course if I undo it a little to reduce the stress, half the features stop working.

I love the band, but lets not start blaming the user for such an obvious design flaw.

 

[slyronit]

Let me tell you this. When the band 2 came out, me and my friend bought 5 bands, 2 for us, 3 for his family.

All 5 have been replaced at least once. 3 have been replaced twice. Either the strap split, or the bands simply refused to turn on.
I know that if you handle them with daisy fingers, they will not break, but a wearable which is worn on the wrist is expected to handle some rough use.

But all this is beyond the point. 5 weeks after switching, I dearly miss the functionality of my Band 2, but the badges/challenges in Fitbit keep me motivated.

 

[anthonyng]

Just a little more care... .

It's an activity tracker, I should be focusing on my activity not worried about damaging my band

I got the warranty for the band because I knew I'd probably break it.... didn't expect the way it breaks though haha, I figured more smashed screens. I've had my band2 replaced early December... Will just keep using it how I see fit

The screen is brilliantly tough, I do put plastic film on it to give it an extra chance but I'm impressed by the toughness of screen/metal part.

 

[anthonyng]

1. No UV sensor on the Fitbit

What's so great about UV sensor anyhow? If it's sunny, these days we need sunscreen all the time anyhow and try to stay away from too much sun normally.

It's something I'm not sure I would miss or know how it aides me.

 

[slyronit]

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What's so great about UV sensor anyhow? If it's sunny, these days we need sunscreen all the time anyhow and try to stay away from too much sun normally.

It's something I'm not sure I would miss or know how it aides me.

I generally don't bother sun screen and I live in a very hot/sunny country. I do a lot of outdoor work; the UV sensor was helpful in reminding me to get into some shade if I stood in the sun for too long.

I definitely don't miss it as much as some of the other things, but it was useful nonetheless.

 

[DroidUser42]

Plus, cloudy days can be deceptively high in UV. I haven't used it myself, but I'm sure it's nice to base your actions on actual measurements and not guesses.

 

[anthonyng]

Plus, cloudy days can be deceptively high in UV. I haven't used it myself, but I'm sure it's nice to base your actions on actual measurements and not guesses.

Hmm, I've only had a warning about sun during obviously hot days.... but perhaps that's just how Vancouver BC weather works. It's not often we get a ton of sun so it's easy to feel like we have too much already.