Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

After a ton of research about Fitbit products, I purchased the Fitbit Charge 2 as an upgrade to my Fitbit One. I had to return/exchange the Charge 2 as the step count was wildly inaccurate. Fitbit advised that this was a defect and provided a new device promptly. However, the new device had the exact same issue. Both Charge 2’s have been returned. I then broadened my research beyond Fitbit products and was stunned to learn at how much more I could get for my money if I opened my mind beyond the popular Fitbit product line. I ended up purchasing a Samsung Gear Fit 2 and am very happy I did. I’ve used the Charge 2 and Gear Fit 2 each for at least a month, and here’s my take on how they compare - *Accuracy: This is the main deciding factor for me. The Charge 2 was wildly inaccurate (keep in mind, I received 2 devices from Fitbit as noted above – both with the same issue). It consistently missed over 1,500 steps a day and counted steps while I slept somehow. My Fitbit One didn’t have this issue. Fitbit customer support suggested I place the Charge 2 in my pocket for improved accuracy, which completely negated the purpose of upgrading from the One to the Charge 2. The Gear Fit 2 is pretty spot on. I say ‘pretty’ because the only time it’s slightly off is when I walk in place, and that’s OK with me because I’m cheating anyway… It also accurately counts repetitions when using the different Exercise features (lunges, crunches, squats), which is really cool and helpful. *Features/Functionality: The Gear Fit 2 is the clear winner here. The biggest reason is that if you’re looking to keep track of how you’re doing with your fitness goals, even if you’re just casually trying to improve your fitness level, it really makes it easy by improving awareness. For example, when viewing any item such as floors or steps, not only do you see today’s activity, but you also see how you did for the rest of the week at a glance. Tapping on those screens displays the detail by day. You can get more detail on the exercise done (map, etc) if you want to from these screens as well. There's really not much of a need to use the app with the Gear Fit 2. The Charge 2 will display this detail within the app only, as far as I know. I tried the guided breathing feature on the Charge 2 a few times and didn’t really find any value in it. To each their own. The Gear Fit 2 has built in GPS (no phone required!), so once you’re done with your run/walk/hike, you can view your route, distance, average MPH and much more, right on your wrist. MyFitnessPal works really well with the Gear Fit 2 so you can quick add foods directly from your wrist and log water intake with a couple of taps. With the Gear Fit 2, I can play music from my phone or store music directly on the device. I can view/dismiss Alarms directly from the screen. I love the ability to set a button to quick launch a feature. I use it to quick launch an Exercise, so all I have to do is press the button, and I’m off! On the Charge 2, you’d have to tap thru the screens, then press/hold to launch the Exercise - this was kind of a PITA for me and I usually forgot to do it before I set off on my adventure. One thing that I really love, which may not be a big deal to many other folks, is the ability to quickly set the Gear Fit 2 to ‘do not disturb’ mode. This means that the all alerts are muted and device won’t wake when you move your wrist. It’s great to use when sleeping so you don’t light up the room at night! *Comfort: The Gear Fit 2 blows the Charge 2 away here. You can tell by the photo that the Charge 2 doesn’t sit flush to the wrist area, largely due to the lumpy bottom and straight face. This made me abundantly aware that I had something on my wrist every second of every day that I wore it. It was downright painful to wear while sleeping if I put any pressure on that wrist (if I slept on that side). When I took the Charge 2 off to charge it or shower, I had a visible indentation mark on my wrist from it (and I wasn’t wearing it too tight). The Gear Fit 2 has a curved display with a flush bottom that I forgot I was wearing once the novelty of playing with it wore off. It’s comfortable to wear while sleeping and while active. *Customization: It’s kind of a split here, but I’d have to say that overall, the Gear Fit 2 wins. The Charge 2 has the advantage over the Gear Fit 2 in the band category since there are so many different bands to choose from. I’m really not sure why there aren’t more available for the Gear Fit 2, but I will say that I’m happy with the options that I’ve found. There’s a great magnetic Milanese one out there that I love. And, for anyone else who’s lost some thumbnails – it’s easier to remove the original Gear Fit 2 band if you bend it backwards a little bit:) The Gear Fit 2 wins over the Charge 2 with respect to the customization features available directly within the device. For example, with the Gear Fit 2, the biggest difference is that you have a color screen. So, you have a whole world of options open to you for different clock screens. I can easily change mine each day to match my outfit. Then, there are all the different apps you can download and use right on your wrist (such as MyFitnessPal and Workout Trainer). *Battery Life: It’s a draw. Some complain that the Gear Fit 2 has too short of a battery life, but that’s not been a problem for me. I set the screen brightness to 3, which is still plenty bright, and use a clock face with a mostly black background. Maybe I get more life out of it since I put it on 'do not disturb' mode at night too… I was getting about 3 days of use out of the Charge 2 which is about the same as I’m getting for the Gear Fit 2. *Fitness Goals: I didn’t really find many features within the Charge 2 that would encourage me to push to meet my fitness goals. Although I did like how the Charge 2 had automatic reminders to move 10 minutes before each hour. The Gear Fit 2 does one better by having reminders every 50 minutes, which is a bit more personalized. I’ve set an exercise as a quick launch, which has been super helpful. I have also found myself using the other exercise tracking features often, just because the device has the ability to do them (for example, crunches, squats, etc). Maybe it’s just me, but knowing I have the ability to track it with a tap on my wrist is encouragement enough. *TL;DR - Summary: For me, the clear winner is the Gear Fit 2. I absolutely love it. I can’t for the life of me figure out why so many folks love the Fitbit Charge 2, after having had 2 that were totally inaccurate. One conclusion I’ve arrived at is that many may prefer the Fitbit to other devices just like some prefer iPhone to Android. Just a matter of preference. Fitbit is basic, simple and stripped down versus the Gear Fit 2, which is feature loaded and very customizable. It can be overwhelming to some that just want a device that comes out of the box with no other options. Personally, I love the mere fact that the Gear Fit 2 is accurate in addition to the additional features, having the ability to customize and the ease of use that the Gear Fit 2 has versus the Charge 2.