Samsung Gear S2 - smartwatch review

The Samsung Gear S2

Is this the smartwatch for me...? Well, I must decide by tomorrow for the deadline to return to eBay.com ends on April 28, 2017. Yeah, I know, how amazing is that to have a return policy via an auction website - amazingly geeky! Here is some of are thoughts compiled after nine days of usage.

Tuesday, April 18, 2017
My first night sleeping with the watch on was different, quite different than most smartwatches or fitness bands worn during my four years of testing. The watch is heavier than #Fitbit Surge or Blaze and thicker than the Apple Watch. I painstakingly had the brightness turned on too high and forgot to disable to raise to on mode so it really lite up the bedroom. The sleep data popped up on the screen nicely after the Gear synchronized with the Samsung Gear S (app) on my iPhone. Without the Gear S app "open at all times" the watch has much trouble functioning smartly. That being said, the standalone features are still amazing when your iPhone is left at home and you're venturing about with only one device. 

Thursday, April 19
After the 48 hour mark one begins to know if they wish to keep a device. Yeah, I didn't want to return it after I switched my iPhone into Italiano mode for the Gear automatically updating the interface language and it was fabulous. The translation verbiage was not only easy to read, but also intuitive and fun. 

Tuesday, April 25

Finally got around to and rang AT&T to activate the Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch and... they were unable to do so. Tried again online via the AT&T iOS app on my iPhone 7+, nope, no dice again for it gave me some lame error message. Called AT&T back and they said I needed to visit a local store if I wanted to active the on-board SIM card. Overall, the iPhone connectivity and communication to an Android watch is amazing!

Thursday, April 27
It was a good day using the GPS mode to track a walk and then a run. I quite enjoyed the displayed stats. That being said, the lack of reports, the lack of leaderboard, and having no website to view more detailed data, yeah, it is a deal breaker. I tested the Samsung S Health Android app on the new Galaxy S8 phone and it was incredible! Alas, I would expect a much better communication between Android devices. I was hoping that before my trial period ended Samsung would update the iOS app, nope, not rumors or hints found as of yet. As it turns out the Garmin interface is becoming more attractive for it synchronizes quite nicely with both Android and my current Apple smartphone. Perhaps, I was a little too optimistic in thinking Apple and Android could ever play nicely.

A rough night for battery life. 

Have you ever wanted to use a GPS map on your watch? Yeah, me too so I tried this feature. I clicked on an address connected to a calendar appointment and the Google maps app quickly opened with a spinning icon. Minutes later the app closed, so I thought. One hour later I received a low battery warning of 14% left and before I could place the Gear into a power-save mode it shut off and would not not turn back on. After using Garmin, Withings, Fitbit, Mio, and many others I really wanted to like and fall in love with this smartwatch, alas, it is not logically acceptable nor financial viable to switch smartphone and leave the Apple ecosystem for a watch. Perhaps Fossil has solution?

Here's my list of pros and cons:

Pros

- ability to change and browse the app is pretty good

- text message come through great

- calendar reminders are wonderful

- alarms on the device great

- phone call notifications function smoothly and there is an option to answer or decline the call on the watch face

- app notifications are easily read and blocked

- through the Samsung Gear S iOS app notifications are easily unblocked

- customization of the Gear S2 sport is fun, intuitive, and well designed

- Heart Rate data appears consistently accurate (in comparison to Garmin and Fitbit HR data)

- the HR data acquired during sleep is quite useful

- sleep data is great; however, if the sleep is missed or inaccurate, the sleep cycle cannot be edited with in the iOS app or on the watch

- Find my Gear - yeah, such an amazing feature to quickly locate your lost smartwatch

- reactivation lock, worked smoothly, and helps prevent thieves from benefiting from a stolen Gear 😃

- Send image - this is a feature within the Gear S app, and it worked easily sending photographs to my watch

- App layout - yes, you can change the layout of your watch app from the iPhone

Cons

- no ability to share sleep, exercise, workout, any data collected from the Gear S2 from the watch or app

- no leaderboard or social interaction with other friends that use a Samsung Gear watch for fitness

- no customization or cool tweaks for the watch faces

- not all apps are applicable when connected with an Apple iPhone (shockers since Apple and Google are arch enemies)

- no notification withing the Gear S app when the device is fully charged

- find my phone, yeah, doesn't work
- GPS map may lock-up the device and drain your battery by 81% over a one-hour time frame. 
- Battery life - a smartwatch truly needs to last at least through the weekend with moderate use. 


So, what is your favorite smartwatch or fitness tracker? Feel free to leave comments below. 

Sincerely,
Orange Runner

Fitbit Sleep Cycles released in March, 2017 - How do your track your sleep?

Dear Social Media,

Good morning! So, how did you sleep last night? Yeah, me too for I was wondering the same things:
1. Was I restless?
2. How long was I actually asleep?
3. How long was my dream or were there multiple dreams?
4. Was I in a deep sleep last night or thrashing around far too often?

Well, it turns out the Design Team over at Fitbit had the same questions and wanted answers for themselves and us - yeah! Ergo, back on Monday, March 27, 2017 a few upgrades were released. The app on my iPhone updated and a firmware upgrade went out for the Fitbit Blaze and many other devices. This allowed the software and the hardware to function seamlessly to gather more data as we all sleep through the night. 

Previous data was simplistically reported, easy to read, and came with a nice bar graph.
Sleep Duration 8 hrs 31 mins (yeah, I know, it was an awesome night!)
7:11 wake up
22:20 bedtime

Sleep Quality
0 minutes to fall asleep
10 times restless
2 times awake
20 mins awake/restless

How here is the new data release over one week ago. The first screen in an overview of your sleep stages. 

Fitbit sleep data over view

The second screen is your awake details

The third is your REM cycles

The fourth is your light sleep data

Lastly, is your deep sleep stage

So, what are you thoughts on this newly released information, do you find it useful? Are you intrigued on the accuracy? 

Yeah, I am not a doctor, nor I have ever pretended or acted as a doctor on TV. I still know the importance of rest for the body, mind, and over life span. Sleep as a parent is a huge variable, one I accepted gladly over a decade ago. Along with my wife when awesome sleep happens it is wonderful and when it does not, well, you move forward and hope for a long deed sleep cycle on the morrow. Another use item is the reporting that Fitbit added. There is a 30 day average which of course is updated daily.

And there is a benchmark based upon your age group.

If you still have more questions you can click on the "Learn More" link and be directed to the Fitbit BLOG and or help articles for more information. I hope you liked reading my article and feel free to add comments. Hope you achieved your 7.1 hours of rest night...

Sincerely,

Orange Runner

PAI - Personal Activity Intelligence by MIO

Dear Social Media Realm,

Good morning! How did you sleep last night? Were you wearing two different fitness trackers? Sweet, me too and now I am not the only nerd out there, right...? So, yesterday arrived one of the newer fitness trackers on the market called, MIO SLICE, I was quite excited to try this one after watching several videos online and the emphasis on heart rate instead of mere step count, calories, distance, and speed. So, if the emphasis is on the HR, why is the following missing:

1. easy to read HR data during a workout

2. feedback on your HR readings after a workout

3. average HR, lowest HR after a good night's rest

4. quick and easy synchronization with the app and device

5. audio feedback during a workout

Back in the year 2002, 2003, 2004 and up to today, March 8, 2017 there are so, so, so many, yeah, there are plethora of fitness devices on the market waiting to be purchased and with the vast abilities to provide coaching during workouts. The Mio missed the mark. Not only did they release a fitness product that tries to be a smartwatch, sans alarm, but also the SLICE has severe issues synchronizing with the cloud. Yes, I used that silly coined phrase, "cloud", which truly means a server with a fancy flash hard drive connected to hundreds of other servers stored in a remote location near Pineville, Oregon. Okay, here is what my first five hours looked like.

14:00 - open the box, and had trouble putting on the device

14:15 - created an account and then wanted to go on a walk with the MIO Slice, nope, no dice, it wanted to force me to update the firmware prior to even using the app or the tracker - ugh!

15:00 - after charging the tracker in my car ride home the app allowed me to move forward and the initial sync was smooth

17:00 went for 90 minute run and walk

18:00 tried to sync my 'Slice' to see my new PAI score and... nothing. The sync progress window nearly made it to 100% and then just stalled

18:10 after restarting my iPhone 7, closing the Mio PAI 2 app, and reopening the app I tried again, nope

18:20 synchronization success - yeah and now the app registered a different Pai score than the device, what? Oh wait, and my one-hour plus run, nope, no history or any data

The following Day, March 8, 2017

The step count method becomes a bit boring after four years of tracking 10,000 daily steps as your goal. The ability to correlate step count and how it relates to heart rate, better sleep, and a lower resting heart rate, yeah, this is my current interest as I still wait for Fitbit to add reporting enhancements to their already awesome sleeping feedback. I was excited to see how Mio presented my sleep feedback and... disappointing. I had been awake for nearly an hour and quickly synced the Slice (no server delays this time) and there was no sleep data and my run from yesterday, 03/07/2017, was still missing. 

08:00 - nearly three hours after being awake I did another sync and low and behold there it was

In comparison, here's the detail from Fitbit - the app was translated into Italian, which is my second language, if you need help interpreting the data let me know and I can add English screenshots as well.

If you click on the sleep section there is no expanded view. However, here at the expanded views of the HR data, which are nice. 

The resting heart-rate data was close to the Fitbit Blaze output during the same night's rest

Home view of the app - it shows a PAI score of 38 whereas the Slice tracker still shows a 43... what?

workout details after a 90 minute run and walk - the step count was nearly 1,500 steps below the Fitbit Blaze

Here's the screenshot from the Fitbit app - 

Perhaps comparing the Mio Slice to the Fitbit Blaze is an unfair advantage for the Blaze is over one-year old technology whereas the Slice was released months ago. Regardless, the Mio is the 20th tracker I have used and it will be returned over the next three or four weeks. They have a 60-day return policy; however, I don't think I'll need that long to make my decision. Both Fitbit and Garmin have more finely tuned apps and devices. Perhaps in 2018 the folks over at Mio will be able to release different technology, hardware, and software.

I'll post more reviews over the days of March, 2017. Feel free to comment and ask any questions. 

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Over One Week Later... - March 16th, 2017, Thursday

New Day and now getting dis-sensitized to the nuances of the Mio realm of fitness tracking. I strive to keep an open mind day after day; however, it is becoming more and more difficult. Here are list of negative points

Cons

1. no alarm

2. no edit function for missed sleep cycles

3. no feature to add or track naps

4. no social media integration

5. no weekly reports

6. no method to share a workout

7. no GPS integration

8. the screen is nearly impossible to read outside

9. no audio feedback from the device or the app

10. no website integration for more data, analysis, or leaderboard

11. does not work with swim workouts

12. does not list any stats from the workouts except heart rate

13. heart data is not numerically detailed enough

14. battery life is lame for what the watch is doing

15. heart-rate accuracy does not appear any better than Fitbit, Garmin, or Withings

16. wear ability of the device - not that comfortable

17. durability - the band and device are one piece - Fitbit and others have made this costly mistake! Based one my five years of Quality Assurance with more than 11 fitness tracker(smartwatch) vendors I doubt the band would last much longer than the one-year warranty period.

18. lacking any communication or coaching to motivate the Mio Slice wearer

Pros

1. simplicity of use

2. synchronization is automatic

3. water-proof

4. charge dongle is magnetic and easy to connect the Slice and charge time is brief

Any thoughts on this brand, have you used any of the Mio brands from previous years...?

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Update from the Athlete Geek wearing two fitness trackers

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Thursday, March 23, 2017

Today was did not start off normally. My urge to return to the swimming pool was unlike the exercise motivations of past years. Both mind and body awoke me nearly 30 minutes prior to my #Fitbit Blaze buzzing my wrist (since the Mio Slice has no alarm). Regardless, it felt great to be excited about working out again. I have lacked such a luster for burning off ice cream since 2009. Unsure why the ghost of triathlons past has been such a distant friend, I don't care, glad to have reason 73 to wake-up back in my life. 

Is there such as thing as being too plugged in?

YES! Wearing too fitness trackers daily for more than one week use to be fun, a challenge, a nerdy task gladly accepted, at one point, it becomes too much. The Mio Slice is no longer a valid pursuit and has become a feckless thing on my valuable wrist real-estate. It goes back on the morrow for a full refund of $129.00. The next device, well, how about we use Social Media - chat me which device your eager to hear about - your thoughts please?

The Samsung Gear 3?

The Garmin Fenix 5?

Sincerely,

Peter 

Update date - the new sleep data updated on Fitbit.com and within the iPhone app. Here's a view of my cycles last night, 03/28/2017

Fitbit Blaze Battery Test #7

Dear Social Media,

Good morning! Another day in the life of a dad, husband, human, brother, son, uncle, friend, and member of society. Oh yeah, and today is Wednesday! There are less than 72 hours until the weekend begins - wahoo :) Do you ever wonder why the weekend and workweek cannot be switched? Alright, I will tell you. We would not get anything done if we all played more often then worked. Ergo, you get two full days with your family after devoting five nine-hour days to your employers. Fair shake? Well, this all depends on your perspective...

Today is May 18, 2016 and the third month using the +Fitbit Blaze fitness tracker and quasi smartwatch. I use the term quasi smartwatch because of the following:

Smartwatch Requirements
1. smart alarms
2. stop watch & countdown timer
3. apps
4. sound
5. vibration alerts
6. time & date
7. input
8. waterproof 
9. calendar
10. watch face
11. battery life
12. accessories 

Smart Alarms
Your resting in bed at 23:00 and everyone else in your home is asleep. Your realize at the moment your body is sick and you won't be waking up early. Does your smartwatch allow you disable the alarms or do you need to walk into another room, turn on your phone, wait for the two devices to synchronize? Luckily, the Development Team at +Fitbit thought about this one. You can easily disable the alarms and view all alarms from the Blaze smartwatch. The touchscreen technology makes it very easy. However, unlike the Casio or Timex you had in grade school or high school one cannot set a new alarm from neither the Blaze, Surge, nor even the Charge HR. Both the Surge and Blaze have touch screens and buttons to set an alarm, really Fitbit, why did you leave this feature out?

Stop Watch & Countdown Timer
Back in grade school I had a cool Casio watch. It had a stop watch feature with lap button and it just worked, never crashed. The early "so-called" smartwatches did not have the basic functionality and features of a $20.00 Casio from 1990, yeah, lame! Ergo, two of my requirements of a fancy smartwatch is both a stop watch (with lap button) and a countdown timer.

Apps
The applications that make a smartphone smarter are the apps installed by the owner. These apps have truly automated and augmented the levels of customization since 2008. Presently, neither the Blaze or Surge allow third-party apps. The Garmin vívoactive HR, just released in May, 2016,  is getting close. The other option is go the route of the uber expensive Apple Watch or switch to an Android smartwatch.

Sound
The brown box from Amazon.com finally arrived. You opened it with excitement and then setup your new smartwatch or fitness tracker. Three weeks later you were careless and now you cannot find your fancy device. You search on Fitbit.com or Garmin.com for help. You discover an app for $3.99 that uses Bluetooth to help you locate which room your tracker may or may not be found. Days go by and your lithium battery goes empty. A month later your daughter finds it for you, go figure right? Ergo, why not place a nano-size speaker inside your $200.00 device that makes a sound so you can find it? Or perhaps, the device could light up and mimic an alarm mode of type for discovery?

Vibration Alerts
Do you ever need to be reminded of something, yet, you don't want to annoy your circle of friend nor your family with loud alarm noises? Excellent! Me too, and that is why vibration alerts are great! The +Fitbit Blaze notifies you quietly with a vibration alert for phone calls, calendar appointments, text messages, alarms, countdown timers, workouts, and goals reached. The buzzing in your pocked or on your wrist is a wonderful feature that avoids adding the societal problem of noise pollution. Many thanks to Garmin, Fitbit, Apple, and many others for thinking of the 1980's pager device and including the "buzz" alerts.

Time & Date
Do you recall the term, wristwatch? Yeah, me too! The primary reason for wearing a device and your wrist is to tell time. Yes, there is fashion concern for some, alas, if your smartwatch fails to easily inform you of the time and date throughout your week, well, why wear it? Now, the Fitbit Surge as the amazing functionality of an "always-on-display" it uses a screen tech similar to the Amazon Kindle of electronic ink. Using low power the display never turns off as long as your Surge is charged and turned on. I would love for a program to stealthily write 400 lines of code for the next Blaze update to allow customers to keep their color LED screen on instead of tapping the screen, raising the wrist, or clicking buttons just to get the time of day - ugh! 

Input
Writ-ability and readability are two great functions of computers a technologically advanced devices. The Blaze does both, however, an option to do a quick reply to a text message from the device itself could be a useful communication tool when running. The folks over at Pebble have worked on voice recognition from the Pebble smartwatch to respond to text messages and even create an Evernote reminder when you on the go with your hands full and don't want to pull out smartphone when moving or perhaps driving...?

Waterproof
The month is now July and you just finished a lovely walk, hike, jog, or run along the beach in South Florida. The blue, warm, ocean water is now literally screaming your name to swim. Oh wait, your smartwatch is only sweat resistant... lame! Garmin is able to spend the extra R&D and run their fitness trackers, smartwatches, and GPS navigation through the quality assurance gauntlet to get ATM certified. Ergo, why do Fitbit, Withings, Misfit, and Jawbone do the same? No, I am not looking for a deep-sea diving watch, just a fitness smartwatch I can take running or lap swimming; or perhaps, for a quick swim in the ocean waves. Yeah, a 10 ATM rating would do quite nicely.

Calendar
When you're about to leave your desk for a break when is your next meeting? If you wait until the 15-minute notification buzzes, well, you may be unprepared. If you could see all of today's and tomorrow's agenda then the smartwatch wisely informs of present and future. Again, the folks over at Pebble nailed this feature with their Pebble Time series released in May, 2015.

Watch Face
There are seven days in the week. Fitbit thinks four watches are enough. I would like 14. Yeah, a unique watch for to change every-other-day of the month. The customization of the watch face is equally important.

Batter Life
Our world has made advancements in outstanding aspects of technology, medicine, health awareness, biology, and life. Why does a smart device barely last a week? Well, I tried to ignore it and minimized alarms and synchronization. I even disabled notifications and focused on paper & pen for a week. The Fitbit Blaze endured seven full days! The entire last day the watch face had the blinking red bars begging me to plug it into the clam-shell, nope, I resisted. It was not until the device shutdown then and only then I rushed to a USB port.

Accessories
How often would like a different colored pair of shoes to wear? Yeah me too! One usually has two pair, one for church and other for play. So, does your smarty device permit you to change the color? The Blaze and Alta devices hit a home run on the art of accessorizing. You can purchase additional bands and easily change your mood color at will. Now, you must surely realize that accessories come at a cost and Fitbit was not as greedy as Apple, alas, an extra band will run minimize your checking account by $50.00 to $129.95 (plus tax).

Are you still interesting in tracking every step, each nap, the restless nights of sleep, calories burned, active minutes, flights of stairs climbed? Great news then! Here's a link to Fitbit.com and I wish you the best of luck...

Fitbit or Garmin, which one will you choose...?

Good morning! There are many choices for fitness watches out there and there is a new one entering the realm of fitness trackers/smartwatches later in April by Garmin called, the vívoactive HR. This will the the second edition of this same smartwatch model by Garmin. Here's a look at the old model, a special slate, The Biggest Loser Limited Edition,

If you are wanting a device to monitor your steps, calories, prompt you to move after being chained to your computer desk for 90 straight minutes, and notify of meetings when you're smartphone is too far away, the vívoactive is a pretty good alternate from the ecosystem I have grown to love named, Fitbit. Why would Garmin choose to release a new model? Well, it has been over one year and all smartwatches are moving away from the chest-strap-hear-rate monitors of 1997. Do you remember visiting a sick person in a hospital and they had that white cap on their finger detecting their heart rate? Well, similar technology was converted for the consumer for under $800.00 and sans medical augmented pricing. Wrist detection heart-rate technology has changed much in the past three years. If you read this older article from 2014 by CNET you and see why that had to be improved.

Models tested

1. +Fitbit Charge HR 2. +Fitbit Surge 3. +Fitbit Blaze

4. +Garmin vívosmart HR 5. +Garmin  vívofit with an HR chest strap 6. +Garmin vívofit 2 with an HR chest strap

When I tested the Charge HR, Surge, and the Garmin wristband heart rates devices I matched them against a Bluetooth HR chest-strap by Wahoo (+Wahoo Support). The different between my wrist heart rate and the chest strap heart rate was very minimal. At most after a 30-60 minute of running or brisk walking the two devices were within four beats. The chest-strap HR did have a faster detection of increasing and decreasing whereas the wristband took many more seconds to realize I had stopped running. Today is Friday, April 15, 2016 and I've been using the Fitbit Blaze now as my primary heart-rate monitor, smartwatch, and fitness tracker. Of the models used it has been my favorite. I plan to test it again the new Garmin vìvoactive HR later this month when it is released.

Pricing

Current, the Fitbit Blaze sells for $199.00 and the first-generation Garmin vívoactive is on sale on Amazon.com for $209.00. Now, my prediction is if you wait another week or so for the new vívoactive to be released the prices on Amazon.com and other sites will continue to drop for nobody will be wanting the older model. The touchscreen for the original vívosmart was nice, not as sensitive as the Apple Watch or the Fitbit Blaze, yet for the pricing point, it was better than the touchscreen hardware Garmin used on their first-generation vívosmart or vívosmart HR. If you're looking for a tone of features and a waterproof watch, the Garmin vívoactive 2 may be worth waiting for. Am I going to return my Blaze and switch over to Garmin leaving the Fitbit ecosystem which has been my virtual friend since 2013...? Nope! The Blaze is an easy-to-use smartwatch and I've been able to have the battery last six or seven days. It also has a great screen both visible in sunlight and dims automatically when you go to bed or if you in a movie theater. Okay, I'll be honest, it is tempting to trade-in your fitness devices every four months, but for once I simply want to see if the Blaze will endure one-full calendar year. And it was a Christmas gift and has sentimental value. In the writer's opinion, yeah, that me, one cannot go wrong with either +Garmin or +Fitbit for they are similar to the +Android verses +Apple, both are great, you simply have to choose and stick with it. Good luck out there today and may the closest parking stalls be full allowing you to reach your 250 steps for the hour. Speaking of which... time for another glass of water on the third floor!

Sincerely,

Orange Rabbit Runner

Fitbit Blaze Unboxing and One-Week Review 03-05-2016

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Fitbit Blaze Unboxing 

History of Fitbit trackers used over four years

01/2013 - Fitbit One

2014 - Fitbit One, Fitbit Force, Fitbit Flex

2015 - Fitbit Charge, Fitbit Charge HR, Fitbit Surge, Fitbit Flex, and again the Fitbit One

2016 - Fitbit One, Fitbit Surge, Fitbit Blaze

Fitbit Blaze Unboxing - https://youtu.be/pwy7dbKdYrY

An Idea was Born
In 2007, the founders, Eric N. Friedman and James Park, realized that sensors and wireless technology had advanced to a point where they could bring amazing experiences to fitness and health. They embarked on a journey to create a wearable product that would change the way we move.
https://www.fitbit.com/about

The year is now 2016 and back on January 5 during the CES (Computer Electronic Show) in Las Vegas, Nevada. On this same day several of my friends, co-workers, and I purchased the newly-created-fitness tracker, yet why?

What would compel an adult to purchase a device without seeing it first hand? Well, in all good politeness I cannot speak for the others in my fitness realm. I am addicted to data, okay, there, I wrote it down and that's the "first step" to realizing my problem. Data is everywhere, in everyone, about everything, and surrounds our first world environment in the United States.

No, data is more than numbers, for data provides feedback, a temperature gauge, targets, and information. Numbers mean something and nothing at all in any given moment in time. It matters not how someone else's data is in comparison to your own. Yet, if you can use your own data to improve your life and live to see your children marry, well... yeah, then that data is worth gathering, reporting, and tracking. My primary points of concerned data are:
1. Heart Rate
2. Activity
3. Lack of activity or what many call SLEEP
4. Flights of stairs

How many calories I burn daily, how many miles I move, yeah, not that vital to me. The shear numbers of steps equates daily success in my mind. Surpassing the 5,000 threshold, then 10,000, 20,000, and once 48,000, yeah, an self-realization of how much control the mind has over feet. Four years later after beginning my journal down the path of 00110111011111000 and joining the niche realm of fitness trackers the fun aspect has been overwhelming as are the learning experiences. There is a nice feeling to know one's physical output (often mental too) is measured twenty-four hours daily, 366 days in 2016. When you sleeping, walking, sitting, typing, running, swimming, or just hiking through the trees in order to find a forest, +Fitbit is along your side proving the data when you need it. 

One-Week Review of the +Fitbit Blaze

On Friday, February 26, a brown box arrived on my doorstep. I had checked the FedEx tracking system nearly twenty-one times getting updates. I was as giddy as a nine-year old boy on Christmas Eve waiting, waiting, and waiting for the present to arrive. Yes, a present, one gets the gift of fitness for Christmas by means of coins. I received the message from FedEx - package delivered.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ip0EDmaH6g

There was much chatter about this new tracker ergo, I waited the two months for it to arrive. I enjoy using it, wearing it, and the data it presents is great! How does it compare to the Surge? The Blaze is better, the screen is more sensitive, the text to easier to read, and there are more smart features. How does it compare to the Charge HR? The Blaze is a smartwatch and the Charge and Charge HR are not. For the price of $199.00 I feel it is quite the sports watch and wrist computer. 

Features:
1. Time
2. Step tracking
3. Calorie tracking
4. Automatic sleep tracking
5. Automatic nap tracking
6. Altimeter lights of stairs climbed
7. Date
8. Stopwatch
9. Countdown timer
10. Alarms - up to five (no noise, just a powerful buzz when you need alerted and don't want to annoy your realm)
11. Color touchscreen and three hardware buttons
12. Switchable bands (Accessory Bands & Frames)
13. Wrist heart rate detection (PurePulse Heart Rate) - back in 2012 and 2013 everyone was still wearing the chest-straps to track their HR, well, times changes in 2014 and even more so in the past six months with augmented technology such as the PursePulse hardware & software. 
    - Resting Heart Rate, Fat Burn, Cardio, and Peak zones just to name a few for there is also custom zone feature built           within the app
14. Bluetooth constant connection to your smartphone or computer
15. Four different watch faces
16. On-screen workouts (after each workout there is an on-screen summary of our achievements)
17. Connected GPS
18. Notifications - Cell, Text, and Calendar Alerts
19. Music Control (and volume)
20. Multi-sport activity logging without pressing any buttons
21. Connects to your Apple, Android, or Windows smartphones
22. Connects to your laptop or Surface tablet via the Fitbit USB dongle or the computer's Bluetooth
23. Water and sweat resistant 
24. SmartTrack - The +Fitbit Blaze, Surge, Charge HR, Charge, and even the Flex all had a firmware update to include the smart-track technology to automatically detect your workout after 10 minutes of activity. When you sync your tracker device the activity displays nicely (both on the app and on your web-based account)
25. Activities and other data from both the Fitbit apps and their website are integrated with social media. 
26. Leaderboard - if you find yourself wanting to virtually race your friends, family, or coworkers, simply chase them on the leaderboard feature. Not all fitness trackers provide the awesomeness which has developed over the past years. The Fitbit leaderboard functionality is near flawless. They do need to incorporate steps, active minutes, and other statistics so members can challenge one another with various mediums of output. I would even like to see a "sleep" filter :)
27. Challenges - back in 2015 Fitbit introduced a challenges, yeah, one of my favorite features! When you compete against someone on the leaderboard it is indirectly and they may not even care that you pass them or fall behind for they may be on holiday. A challenge among your mates allows a one-day, weekend, or five-day race to the top of the mountain - way fun and free!

28. Active Minutes - how active were you during the day? When you vacuuming the house, mowing the grass, checking the mail, and running after your kids? Your +Fitbit keeps track of it all. The other weekend I was doing construction work and tallied up 190 active minutes, burned 3,000+ calories, and over seven hours of being the fat-burning heart-rate zone.

If you have any questions about this fitness tracker or others I have reviewed, please let me know. When it comes down to the end of the day a device such as a Fitbit, Garmin, Withings, Jawbone, or Misfit, they are great if they help you stay active, sleep better, and have fun living healthy days. Of the top-five organizations you cannot go wrong purchasing a +Garmin a +Fitbit. Good luck out there for I know it is difficult balancing family, children, church, work, and personal hobbies. If you live in Utah the time is 14:36 and you still have a good six hours until bedtime - take your favorite person for a one-mile stroll and you'll feel better...

Sincerely,
Peter