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    December 31, 2014
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    December 31, 2014
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    December 31, 2014
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Smithfamily61's Reviews
 
Fitbit - Surge Fitness Watch (Large) - Black
Fitbit - Surge Fitness Watch (Large) - Black
Fitbit Surge Fitness Watch (Large): Built with GPS tracking and continuous, wrist-based heart rate monitoring, Surge displays real-time workout stats like distance, pace, elevation climbed, and heart rate intensity, so you can make the most of your training.
 
Customer Rating
4 out of 5
4
Great Tracker with a Few Bugs! Highly Recommend!
on December 31, 2014
Posted by: Smithfamily61
I bought the Fitbit Surge from REI and received it as a Christmas present. I have been using it every day along with the Fitbit app on my iPhone 5 and the Fitbit Dashboard on my Macbook Pro. Here are my observations:
I bought the Surge from REI when they had a few in stock (got lucky!). I have been using it consistently since Christmas day and am very happy with my purchase. Here are some observations that may help you in your decision making process:
1) It's a great motivator to get in shape. If you're the type of person that likes to track data and finds that seeing your progress helps you to get going, then this is a GREAT product. I am overweight (about 30 lbs) and have been back to working out for the last 2 months. This tracker has greatly enhanced my motivation by allowing me to see my progress in multiple areas. The app and dashboard not only show you your workouts (so you can compare and see your progress), but they also allow your to track your calories in and calories out. You can also record your water intake. These elements have been literally life-changing for me.
2) The workout variety is great and it allows you to customize your workouts, so the tracking possibilities are endless. The dashboard gives you very detailed information on multiple areas including (for a walk): Elevation, Pace, Heart Rate, Heart Rate Zones, Calorie Burn and Impact on Your day. The GPS works flawlessly, and as long as I'm outside, does not take long at all to hook up (5-10 secs). I have used the Exercise area for: Walking, Weight Lifting, Spinning, and Elliptical.
3) The app on my iPhone allows my to easily enter the type of food I am eating and the amount of calories, and calories from fat. The app is synched up with a HUGE database and allows you to scan a barcode on a package and it automatically shows you the pertinent nutritional information. I have used this feature on about 30 items so far, and about 70-80% of these items were in the database. The others I added manually, but then you can pull the up easily the next time you eat that food item. You can also type in the name of a restaurant and it will pull up items on their menu. I have done this at Panera Bread, Chick-fil-a and Ruby Tuesdays. It has worked on 100% of the these with 95% of the items listed. Do you know how many calories are in a Chick-fil-a Large Fry? Holy Smokes! There are 520!! Not eating those anymore!
4) Setting my weight loss goal is wonderful! It asks your current weight, your target weight and how long you want to take to get there (It shows you the date you should achieve your target weight in 3-4 categories ranging from Easy to Difficult). I have lost 3.2 lbs in the last 6 days. I have been rather ambitious! Other goals can be set and tracked!
5) The dashboard gives you badges and motivational "splashes". Fitbit also will send you a weekly email showing your weekly stats and progress "at a glance". All very helpful and encouraging.
6) The tracker itself is VERY comfortable. I can't sleep with anything constrictive on me, but because the band is made of such soft material, I hardly know that it's there. The sleep tracking has been helpful in showing how many times I am "restless" during the night. I have tried sleeping in different locations/positions in order to increase my "sleep efficiency". So far, I am sleeping at between 92-98% efficiency.
7) The tracker charges very quickly. I have docked it while taking a shower with half battery life and after my shower (10-15 mins) it looks fully charged. I have had no issues with better life whatsoever, and considering all that it does - the battery last longer then I would expect.
8) The face of the tracker is very nice, the displays are less then "dazzling", but I realize this is probably part of the reason for the long battery life. I don't mind not having the "glitzy" face of the MS product. This is much more effective from what I have read. The build of the device is strong and I expect it to last a long time. No issues with inadvertently swiping the face, it does so easily but not often accidentally. The back light works really well. I have left mine set to "auto" and it seems to come on just at the right time.
9) OK, so you can tell from the above that I really like the Surge. Still, there are some drawbacks and here is what I have found:
A). The HR Monitor does drop during high intensity workouts. I usually start my workouts with cardio so if I am on an elliptical, spinning or a treadmill - IT WORKS GREAT! I literally can grab the HR monitor on the gym elliptical and watch my Surge and they almost always change simultaneously! I would say that 90% of the time they are matching perfectly or 1 beat off. That's pretty amazing! So, after my cardio I move quickly to weight training on "selecterized" equipment. This is where the HR tracking can go haywire. Because of the rapid arm movements, and possibly the level of sweat that is being generated - the tracker can go from 130 BPM to 98 BPM in a second. Now, I know that my HR is not doing that. I tried all the suggested fixes: sliding up my arm further, making sure it was loose enough, tight enough, etc. and nothing seemed to work. I even called fitbit and spoke with an women (who could barely speak english) for quite some time. She pulled up my workouts and could see what I was saying (that was kind of cool also). She recommended I try it on my other arm. I did, really no difference. She did say that the irregularities were probably due to my arm moving so quickly and the tracker not staying in touch with my arm the whole time. In this area, it just seems like the technology has limits. I used to use a polar chest strap monitor a long time ago (when I was a runner), and those obviously can be more consistent in activities like this, but it a series of "trade-offs". I hate taking the time to put on and take off and chest strap and could never walk around all day with that on. They also have their limitations and if the area that reads becomes dry - it also will drop out or get irregular readings. I don't' think Fitbit is going to be able to change this inconsistency through firmware or software updates due to the "anatomical limits" of the technology. The good news is, if you take a min or two and reposition the device it can go back to an accurate reading and overall, your workout should be close to the correct amount of calories burned.
B) The only other gripe I have is that the device can record "faulty" steps. Now, if I am out on a walk or "walking" it does just fine. BUT, I can sit (just did) and wave my arm around and steps will be recorded. I just logged 5 steps sitting and writing this review by waving my arm around. If you're a person that talks with your hands, this can problematic. So, what I plan on doing is paying attention most closely to the amount of steps I take during a stepping exercise and realize that some of the steps recorded (overall) may not be actual steps. Since I shook my arm a min or two ago, I have just been typing and no additional steps were recorded so if needs to pick up a level of activity similar to a step to record. The floors climbed is also cool and seems to be very accurate.
Overall, I give the Surge 4 stars. I really would like to see more consistent readings of the HR monitor during intense workouts and find a way to not have the device pick up "false" steps, but I realize that the technology is still young. The many pluses that come with the Surge (to me) outweigh the negatives, so I am happy overall with it.
Hope this review helps you in your decision making process. I guess if you're SUPER serious about having a very accurate HR reading during intense workouts, then the chest strap in the way for you to go. For me, I'd rather have a little inaccuracy and not have to deal with the polar device.
Blessings!
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Smithfamily61's Answers
 
Fitness & Exercise
Fitness & Exercise
 

Clock on Fitbit surge

Does the clock on the Fitbit surge have a second hand or a way of keeping track of seconds
No, there is no "second" hand on any of the clock faces. You can see seconds being counted off in you are in one of the exercise modes, but there is not a "stop watch" that can be used without being in an activity. Hopefully firmware updates will bring greater ability in this area.
9 years, 3 months ago
by
Smithfamily61
   Shrewsbury PA
 
Fitbit - Surge Fitness Watch (Large) - Black
Fitbit - Surge Fitness Watch (Large) - Black
Fitbit Surge Fitness Watch (Large): Built with GPS tracking and continuous, wrist-based heart rate monitoring, Surge displays real-time workout stats like distance, pace, elevation climbed, and heart rate intensity, so you can make the most of your training.
 

What smartphones can this connect too?

You can find a list of compatible devices here: https://www.fitbit.com/devices
9 years, 3 months ago
by
Smithfamily61
   Shrewsbury PA
 
Fitbit - Surge Fitness Watch (Large) - Black
Fitbit - Surge Fitness Watch (Large) - Black
Fitbit Surge Fitness Watch (Large): Built with GPS tracking and continuous, wrist-based heart rate monitoring, Surge displays real-time workout stats like distance, pace, elevation climbed, and heart rate intensity, so you can make the most of your training.
 

Surge, charge hr

Do you have to push a button to see the time or is it always on? I would like to not need two hands to check the time.
The time on the Surge is displayed all the time.
9 years, 3 months ago
by
Smithfamily61
   Shrewsbury PA
 
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