Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The Fitbit Charge HR is everything that I've been wanting in my Flex. I got my Flex the day they came out, back in June 2013. I used it everyday and loved the thing. I've have my Charge HR for about two weeks now and I love it more than the Flex because of all new features it come with. A major difference from the Flex and the HR is the material it's made of. The HR is made of a "softer" rubber and seems to attract a lot more dust and fuzz compared to my Flex which never collected dust. But the HR is super easy to rinse off and clean and has a traditional watch strap. Display One of the things I didn't like about the Flex is the lack of function it does physical. It has the progression lights and alarm vibrations, but it wouldn't tell you much more. The HR has a nice interface and it totally customizable. You can program a specific function for when you double tap(I have it set up to show my heart rate). You can also put all the tracking info in a specific order or turn it off so it doesn't show up when you scroll through the display. The Heart behind the HR It's pretty sweet having a heart rate monitor. I've never been too interested in tracking my heart rate, but with this, I can't stop looking it. There are two green flashing LED lights on the underside that are used to do the measuring. They are not noticeable unless you lift the band off your wrist. I have noticed them at night when I'm sleeping, but only if I rest my a hand funny. Tracking exercise Another great feature I just found out about recently is the "Exercise Tracking" feature. At the beginning of your workout hold down the button on the HR for 2-3 seconds, a stop watch icon will show up and start a stop watch. They as you workout, if you toggle through the display, it will show you all your stats since you started the workout! How awesome! Once you finish, hold it for another 2-3 seconds and the workout is complete. Then if you log onto your online dashboard, you will be able to see minute by minute stats of your heart rate, heart rate zone, and calories burned. I thought it was pretty amazing seeing the heart rate break down. And compared to the treadmill I was on my Fitbit heart rate was always 0-5 BPM off, the total distance was 0.13 miles off, and the calories were 55 cals off (but those are never too accurate). The app interface The interface has not changed if you are coming from the Flex or another Fitbit. If you are new to Fitbit, you will have no problem going through the app and figuring things out. One thing I've noticed is the heart rate graph is not too specific and difficult to understand. But maybe when there are more HR users, Fitbit will make improvements. Another thing I hear about is people saying how the device is inaccurate completely. Yes it's not %100 right all the time but there are a few things you can do it make it count better. On your Fitbit account on the computer, make sure to enter all the accurate info about yourself. Including your stride, height, and weight. Sleep The auto sleep function is great but it sometimes can misinterpret sleeping, from watching TV or a movie. In the morning it will show you your sleep log and amount of time you were restless and awake. The silent alarm will vibrate a pattern three times then go into a 9 minute snooze mode. It continues this until you press the button or double tap it. Floor count Having the floor count with the HR is a great upgrade from my Flex. It does a pretty accurate job at detecting how many flights I go up. But I have noticed the count does increase even when I'm just walking around outside. I looked it up on Fitbits site and they say it measures air pressure differences. So for every 10ft you walk up, it notices the pressure difference and counts it. But it can also get confused if a strong gust of wind blows or you open a door. So it's not %100 accurate. Overall I am very pleased with the Charge HR and all that comes with it. I would recommend this to anyone who is thinking of getting a Fitbit. It is not a perfect tracking device but neither are any of the other ones offered today. Hopefully with time, Fitbit will improve their graphs with the HR and maybe include a few more features.