Your Choice Fitbit

Honestly, I’d recommend giving these a pass.

I got my wife a Fitbit Charge (one of these Woot refurbs) about 5 months ago. It’s supposed to have a “7-10” day battery life, and it’s not even holding a 12-hour charge now.

Needing to be recharged multiple times a day makes it pretty useless as a fitness tracker or watch, and don’t dream of using it as a sleep tracker.

I had a bad experience also. I ordered two of the Flex fitbits and neither of them worked at all. After many hours on the phone, Fitbit finally sent me two more and only one of those worked. I returned the broken one again and finally have two that work. I would buy mine at Costco the next time.

I bought the Charge HR last time Woot offered it back at the end of March. So far, so good. I love it. The sleep monitoring is really cool, and appears to be accurate. I never knew I tossed and turned so much.

So does refurbished mean a new band?

You can’t change bands on the Charge or Flex.

However I’ll say this about FitBit… Their products are not the most durable… I’ve been through 3 of the Charge HR’s as has my wife.
But FitBit support has been exemplary.
Just join the chat on their support site. Run through a few scripted attempts to recover the device… Then another will be shipped to you.

I haven’t dealt with the refurbs but I don’t imagine the support through FitBit would be too different.

I picked up a Surge last time this deal came around and couldn’t be happier. Charge lasts a week, and it’s a lot better than the previous trackers I’ve owned (Up24, Up2).

Here is the previous sale

I got a Charge HR refurb from Woot a while ago. I’ve had no problems with it.

I do only get maybe 4 days of charge with it. I have noticed, though, that even if the battery says it is empty, it is sometimes still recording. After charging and syncing, the step numbers jump.

Stay away from these. I originally paid 250 for the surge and it only lasted 2 months before strap started ripping. IT IS NOT REPLACEABLE, it is screwed and GLUED to the body. Fitbit just replaced a poorly designed and implemented watch over and over and over again. Now, 13 months after purchasing, I have yet another ripped band and fitbit will no longer support the watch. Get a Garmin or any other brand.

EDIT: Fitbit DID replace with brand new units, then decided to send refurbs from Ingram Micro…they batteries lasted less than the new units. Take it as you will.

The one I got lasted just past warranty…and therefore not covered… Poorly made…to maximize profit.

If you are looking for a really good fitness band, I’d highly recommend you take a look at the Xiaomi Mi Band. You can get it for under $20. It doesn’t have a digital display so it cannot act as a watch, but it does have pretty much all of the bells and whistles more common fitness bands have. It does step/running monitoring, sleep monitoring, its water resistant to 1 meter, phone/text notifications, alarm clock. The original band gets about 30 days per charge (I can confirm). There is also a newer version that adds heart rate monitoring, but with a 10 day charge.

If you do go this route, I’d advise against getting it from Amazon as there are a lot of knock-offs that are being sold there. Buy either direct from Xiaomi’s website (availablity seems limited there though) or from a reputable distributor (GearBest.com is my recomendation)

If it needs to be replaced, yes. If it’s in good shape, no.

Actually, you can change bands with the Flex. They send you a small band and a large band.

I bought two refurbished Flexes a few weeks ago in the last sale. So far, they have been working great. The batteries last about 3 days each, and I haven’t had any problems otherwise. I can’t vouch for the others, but for that price the Flex is a good deal.

HAHA… I see what you did there.

I’ve had nothing but good experience with Fitbit. A few months ago, part of the strap buckle on my Charge HR popped off (long story, was really my fault), and they sent me a new device no questions asked.

Now, I’m using the Blaze - really like the additional features.

If you’re experiencing poor battery life with a Charge HR, make sure you have the most current software. It makes a huge difference. Also, ignore the low battery nag, your device will work for a couple of days after you see it.

I bought a Charge around the holidays and started using it in January. It works great and had a problem once but it was a Fitbit error not a hardware error. A call to support fixed it right away.

The low battery comes on after about 3 days but as someone said it still keeps recording longer than that. I find that I can charge it when I eat dinner or watch tv (it only takes about 1/2 hour) so I don’t lose any steps or movement.

I own the charge HR, have been using it constantly since Dec., I have had no issues with it. I don’t think I will buy another for the simple fact these things are not water rated. My primary activities are in/ on the water; the struggle now is finding something similar that wont swallow my petite wrist

I have owned a charge HR for about 6 months.

  1. the display died last week, and they are sending a replacement.

  2. they are not waterproof, but resistant.

  3. the HR monitor is mostly accurate, but can’t be used as a medical device. -it can be grossly inaccurate at times, mostly on initial reading.

  4. the fitbit site support is terrible. (forum - where you register). the forum moderators are working off a company script. they refused to confirm any accuracy problems, and said it was the wearers issue. despite numerous reports otherwise.

  5. the phone app is really needed to get the sleep, and details you want.

  6. the phone app wants access to your pictures, email contacts, and messages. (why?)

-btw I got mine a Wallyworld for about 100.

I have worn mine in the shower, but not swimming. -that said the display died last week after 6 months use. (charge hr)