Charge 3 Fitness Activity Tracker

TLDR- This Fitbit works great for me. There are watch faces with dates on them, the watch activates when I turn my wrist. It's an extremely comfy watch/band, and doesn't feel too clunky. At first I was extremely skeptical about buying this watch. Half the reviews on here said it was bad and unreliable. I even asked a few people who had the watch and they said the same thing. The good news is that Fitbits can be updated and improved. Make sure to note the dates of the reviews posted. A lot were from when the Fitbit Charge 3 had just come out and don't doubt there were issues and bugs. However, it has been about 6 months since then and a lot has changed. The very first watch face that was on the Fitbit when I got it displayed the date. That was a big factor for me because I work in the food industries and always need to know the date so I know when food will expire. So I was pleased to see the date on the main screen. The first watch face is called "Double Stats." If you tap on the main screen it will also rotate through date, heart rate, calories, etc. In addition, I was looking through the watch face options and I saw a few more with date display options. A few reviews said the clock face was "nastily" formatted and though there are some artsy faces, there are equally traditional analog and digital faces. I also saw some reviews saying it was hard to turn the watch face on. One review said you had to mimik the motion of stabbing yourself in the chest before it would activate. I found that to be be untrue. I turns on easily, though not too easily. Basically, this watch ended up working perfectly for me. I haven't worn it long enough to check the accuracy of the fitness tracker part of it. Remember to check dates of things reviewed to see if they are from present day or months ago. People are also more likely to review something if they found it negative, so even though you are seeing those negative reviews, they are probably only a fraction of the positive reviews that just weren't written.

I’m absolutely in love with my new Fitbit Charge 3! First of all, I must express appreciation even for the simple fact of how well all the technology inside this little thing WORKS: I have had zero issues with it, which is so refreshing and rare in this day and age. It just works! Now on to all it does: it is awesome, and so empowering for the wearer! I think the thing I appreciate the most, personally, is the heart rate monitor/information. I have an electrical conduction issue with my heart, which doesn’t have any symptoms and was found on my first-ever, routine EKG back in 2009 (the issue is called left bundle branch block—LBBB for short). After further testing, I was told that my heart is healthy and fine, BUT we do have to always keep an eye on this LBBB situation, because it could stay the same, which would be great, but it could possibly become problematic down the road, and one thing the cardiologist told me to do is to routinely take my heart rate, and make sure the resting heart rate stays between 60 and 90 bpm. Well, I was so good about doing it, just as he taught me how (manually), for several years, but then I gradually stopped taking my heart rate, honestly. But now, with the Fitbit? I don’t have to sit there, stop everything, and manually take my heart rate. I just glance at the Fitbit and: THERE IS MY HEART RATE! That feature alone, for me, is worth the price of the Fitbit. And it isn’t just the resting heart rate, it is your heart rate, in real time, 24/7: resting, active, the whole enchilada! It lets you know your current heart rate at the moment, and your resting heart rate, right there on the screen of your Fitbit. AND, when you actually go into the app on your phone, it gives you TONS of DETAILED data/information about it, and your heart rate patterns. For example, if I take a 30 minute walk, the Fitbit Charge 3 KNOWS/recognizes that it was a specific exercise session, and that it was a walk, and it provides a color bar graph in the app that charts when your heart rate was in which “zone”, so you see, oh, my heart rate was at “peak” for this many minutes (you don’t really want your heart rate to be at “peak” ever, if I understand correctly—you want it in “fat burn” or “cardio” when you are exercising, but not “peak”, as at peak it is working too hard, so this is something I will ask the cardiologist about next time I see him for my routine, every-two-year appointment I have coming up to check on the LBBB. Without the Fitbit, I would have NO IDEA what my non-resting heart rate ever is! But with it, I know that it is usually very good (I think—I will check that with the doctor, too), but occasionally goes up into “peak” just when exercising moderately—this is info I want to check out with the doctor: it is probably fine and normal, but the point is, knowledge is POWER: I have so much heart rate info now that I can go into my appointment with and tell him, HEY, I have a Fitbit now and blah blah BLAH! (The poor man *lol*.) Oh, and I know that the Fitbit heart rate is accurate, as I have taken mine manually several times and compared it to what the Fitbit says at the same time, and it is exactly correct. And that is just the heart rate info—moving on, there is SO MUCH MORE that this little wunderkind does! We have sleep data: WOW! Just wow! I have had sleep issues for years, which recently have been better due to some factors, but anyway, it is fascinating and enlightening to see how much I actually am sleeping, how much of it is light, how much is deep, how much is REM, what times of night are which, etc. We also have the step counting feature, which is similarly enlightening and empowering: I’m a big walker and it is revelatory to see how many steps, and how much distance, I’m actually walking. The Fitbit also prompts me with a little vibration if I have NOT taken 250 steps in any given waking hour (it has a 9-hour timeframe set), at ten minutes before the hour. Folks, there is just too much information and data that this little amazing piece of technology gives you to even cover in a review! Suffice it to say this: like I mentioned early on, the word of the review is EMPOWERING. When you go into the app, you have SO MUCH information. I can’t get over it. I really, really love this Fitbit and would not be without it ever again. The heart rate info alone is priceless to me, but I also need to lose weight and I feel that the Fitbit is really, really going to help and is already motivating and educating me a lot re my steps per day, calories burned—oh yeah: it tells you that, too!!!—and everything else. I haven’t even used some of the features yet. Did I mention I LOVE this thing?!!!

Initially, I was disappointed that the sleep tracker didn't work as advertised, and wouldn't provide detailed sleep stage stats as expected (it didn't show deep, REM, light, and awake) They put out a new update within a couple of days of release that fixed that, however, and it works as advertised in that area now, and with surprising accuracy. It is by far the most accurate heart-rate monitor I've tried, as most of those on the fitness trackers I've tried have been wildly inaccurate. This one is pretty spot on, although you have to use the app, and not the display, if you want to monitor it, since the display automatically turns off relatively quickly. Initially, the step-counter waaaay over-counted steps, but I found setting the tracker to "dominant hand" (despite wearing it on my nondominant hand) and tweaking the stride length from the automatically selected one allowed me to fine-tune it to accurately track steps. It has a lot of apps: weather, relaxation/breathing, timer, countdown, exercises, etc, and it has an intuitive, responsive, and (relative to it's compact size) large touchscreen display with scratch resistant gorilla glass. It's waterproof. Others complained that the display wasn't bright enough, but I disagree. I think they must have bad eyes, because it's a good balance of being bright enough to see and not so bright as to be disruptive at the theater or in bed. I included a pic where you can see it is consistently and sufficiently bright. There is a clock-face option where the hour and minutes are differentially bright, so I assume others don't realize you can change the clock-face. Aesthetically, it is the nicest fitness tracker I've tried, as it is neither too long nor too thick, so it doesn't look bulky and disproportionate on my smaller-than-average wrist....especially given all the aftermarket bands. Again, see pics for a visual reference. I use a metal mesh magnetic clasp band that is both elegant and very thin, and adjustable to fit perfect without incremental holes or links. I have a feeling that they will work out the kinks most others complained about. Had I rated it before the update that fixed the sleep tracker, I'd have rated it two or three stars. I suggest giving it a chance, for sure!

First, I really like my Fitbit. I find it very motivating, I like the sleep tracking, and the notifications on texts and email are very helpful. But the Charge 3 is not necessarily an upgrade over Charge 2. I got the Fitbit Charge 2 as a gift a couple of years ago, and have worn it ever since. I use it for keeping track of exercise, watching my pulse count, and keeping track of sleep. It's also a good watch, with date, time, and notifications. But, Charge 2 has some issues: while the pulse count is good for low heart rates, it does not handle sudden bursts of activity well--it seems to need a lot of time to catch up. I don't do FITT, but it might not be especially helpful for that. (It does a reasonably good job of counting flights of stairs, but occasionally randomly misses flights, and sometimes adds phantom flights, but I can work with that). I upgraded to the Charge 3 when it came out, because the advertising said that the heart rate count had improved, but I have not seen that. One of my irritations with Charge 2 was that a couple of times a week, I go up either 12 or 15 flights of stairs, carrying laptop, full briefcase, etc. The Charge 2 routinely gives me a heart rate at the top of the stairs of between 100 and 110 (and doesn't count it as an activity, since it takes me less than 10 minutes to do it!). I am in reasonably good shape, but I'm in my late 60's, and I can't go up 15 flights and end up with a pulse rate of 110--it's more like 130. (And yes, the contacts are clean, and no, I don't have a hairy wrist, and yes, I did push it higher up my arm--thank you fitbit support). So I was hoping the Charge 3 would improve on that, as well as a couple of other glitches with heart rate counts. I have not seen much change (though it does now sometimes show me at 115 after the 15 flights). So that is disappointing. The Charge 3 has some nice features--it does seem to have a longer battery life, I like the improved button on the side of the watch, and I like the way I can scroll on the face to get other info, such as how many steps more to get to 250 in an hour. But unfortunately, the clock face design was a mistake. On my Charge 2, I can see the time, date, heart rate, and steps for the day on one screen, and it's actually readable. The charge 3 has many clock faces, but not even one that can show time, date, pulse and steps at a glance. It has some that have 3 of those, but mostly they are very tiny fonts, and not very readable: try squinting at tiny figures on the watch to check your pulse while running along the road--doesn't work. Many people have pointed this out, so I have been waiting for Fitbit to upgrade the clock face. But it hasn't happened yet, so yesterday I retired the Charge 3, and put on the Charge 2 again. It may not be as advanced and cool, but it gives me the essentials. So, bottom line: if you have only used an early, basic step counter, do not hesitate to upgrade to one of the better Fitbits. They really have some great features, and are definitely worthwhile. But think about what you want before deciding on whether to get a Charge 2 or 3.

I read a lot of the other reviews before purchasing this item and many of them listed very specific concerns. I chose to take a chance anyway. I'm very satisfied with my Fitbit Charge 3. It's pretty accurate with the step count as long as I'm not doing anything to "trick it". Shaking a bottle of juice will often times be counted as steps. Sometimes it doesn't record steps when I'm pushing a shopping cart, but the geotracking part seems to fix that to a certain extent. I can select what stat I want to see along with the time on the watch face. I prefer heart rate, but date, stairs, steps and several others are options. It doesn't always catch when I go up stairs, but usually it does. I senses when I'm turning my wrist to look at the time and automatically comes on, so I don't have to push the button on the side. Some have commented on it waking them up at night. I've never had that trouble. Very, very rarely is the screen activated in my sleep or when I'm trying to fall asleep. The wrist band that it comes with isn't the most comfortable one that I've ever used. However, it is very easily swapped out for a different style. I chose a magnetic one and it works great, looks great and feels much better. I've never had any problems docking it on the charger or having my data wiped out. If it doesn't seem to be charging when I first clamp it in, I slide it up or down a little bit until I feel that "bump" that tells me it's now charging. I haven't tried it in a pool, but I have tried wearing it in the shower and have not had any issues with the water affecting it. The app on my phone is easy to use, syncs up with my Fitbit without any problems and has lots of options for things that can be tracked. I've had my Fitbit for several months now, but never owned one before this. I was using a less expensive type of fitness tracking watch for about 6 months and thought it was pretty good. The Fitbit is much better. I haven't yet explored all of the options available to me, because I just don't have the time to research them. However, they are there and I'm sure there are plenty of people who can take advantage of most of the features offered. In conclusion I find that this is a quality product at a reasonable price. - Adding in 6 months later. I wore my Fitbit while swimming and playing in the ocean at Dewey Beach. I was in the water for 5.5 hours total. My Fitbit is still working like a charm, so I can verify that it is waterproof. I was not using the band that came with it, though. I was using an after market magnetic band, so I could tighten it down pretty good. I didn't want to loose it to a wave. The band also held up perfectly.

I really wanted to love my Charge 3. On paper it had all the features I was looking for at a reasonable price. Unfortunately it has been nothing more than headache after headache. The short answer- The Fitbit Charge 3 has both hardware and firmware bugs that make it at best just a fancy watch, and at worst a completely useless paper weight. The product clearly has issues and was rushed to market and Fitbit refuses to acknowledge those issues, and outright lies to its customers in it's own forums while covering up issues by deleting users posts. I've had 3 different Charge 3 trackers in a 6 month span and they all exhibit a host of issues and problems. Here are the main issues -Exercise function doesn't work to record heart rate. Tried all of Fitbit's tech help and even they couldn't fix it. Eventually they just give up and say "it must be a one-off issue" and suggest replacing the tracker. I did this many times before giving up and just living with the fact that this $150 fitness tracker is unable to track my heart rate during exercise -Sleep function is wildly inconsistent, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, sometimes it thinks you're asleep when you're awake. Again, Fitbit help was useless as they send you the same canned responses of how to try and fix what clearly is a flawed product that has hardware/firmware issues. -Touchscreen is wildly inconsistent, sometimes it works for swiping, other times you have to completely reset it. -Syncing with phones (even the ones Fitbit has on their approved list) can be extremely frustrating as you might have to manually try and sync dozens of times, reset the app, restart your phone, reset the tracker, etc. -Heart rate tracking can be wildly erratic. Sometimes it's pretty close, but other times it will be way off. -Step tracking can also be wildly erratic. Sometimes it's right on, other times it's added 1000s of steps while sitting still or driving. Additionally, one of the selling points Fitbit has been advertising since the release of the Charge 3 is the new Sp02 sensor and it's ability to measure blood oxygen levels, which can be tied to fitness, sleep, and more. The reality is that Fitbit just released an update (after about 6 months of waiting) and the Sp02 sensor still is not active and does not work. My biggest gripe though is the way Fitbit interacts with its customers, it's downright appalling and some of the worst customer service from a large company I've seen. There is a very active community presence on the Fitbit forums, where users are supposed to be able to share tips, tricks, issues, help, etc. The Charge 3 forum has a very large group of users. The problem is that Fitbit does not allow users to post anything related to questions around issues with their Charge 3. Hundreds of users have posted their extreme frustration with the situation on these forums and Fitbits response is to label those posts as "Inflammatory" and then promptly delete the posts. You are not allowed to request help around larger issues with the product, or request a response from Fitbit around issues with the hardware or firmware systemic problems. Fitbit moderators immediately delete the posts, and you are then warned that you will be banned if you continue asking these types of questions. The utter lack of transparency from Fitbit in regards to this flawed product and the countless issues is startling. Their entire approach is to silence any customer who questions them. If they just would come forward and acknowledge the widespread problems and do the right thing and issue a recall I would totally support them, instead they pretend like there are no problems and delete messages instead of respond to them. Reading through online there are dozens or articles about Fitbits worrying financial situation and stock issues, and the issue with plummeting sales. Tying this together with a rush to get the Charge 3 to market all add up with a product that was not ready for release, and as many users have complained, Fitbit is using it's customer as beta testers. Instead of addressing the issues and recalling the Charge 3, they continue to ship this flawed product out to customers as they work through whatever initial batch of flawed hardware units they have to move to keep their finances propped up. This was all made even more apparent when instead of addressing the Charge 3 issues that are widespread they moved forward with releasing two new trackers and putting their resources there. This shows that there current business model is to push as many products to market, regardless of flaws, and try to create cash flow and revenue amidst their financial issues. The end result of all of this is customers unwittingly buying a product thinking it will actually do what it says it will, and if it doesn't that the company will stand behind it. Instead Fitbit ignores its customers and deletes and hides any evidence of issues on their own forums. And that 1 year warranty only is applicable to the first unit you buy, when it has an issue and fails and they replace it the unit it's replaced with will be a refurbished unit that only has a 30 day warranty. I would love to have a exercise tracker that actually does what the Fitbit Charge 3 claims to do, but sadly this product is very flawed, and the company behind it is equally flawed in the way it treats its customers.

I just replaced my Fitbit Charge 2 (after 4 years) with the Charge 3 and I love it. I read the Amazon reviews before I bought and I found some of the old reviews (2018) are simply NOT correct. Several say the face clock doesn't provide the date - incorrect! I provided a picture to demonstrate this is false. The battery is longer on the Charge 3 and has lasted up to 7 days, although I typically charge it while I'm in the shower when I want to juice it up. Several other reviews give lower stars because the Charge 3 is not like their previous Fitbit (diff model) - well guess what, that is why they have so many different products to choose from. The best way to find the Fitbit product best for you is to go to Fitbit.com/compare and use the "Select top feature" drop down and select the most important features you are interested in having... this will show you which product to choose. Here is what was important to me... 1) Steps 2) Sleet tracking and stages, 3) Reminders to Move, 4) Hourly activity, 5) Swim proof and tracking, 6) Cardio Fitness Level, 7) Call, Text, calendar, and smartphone app Notifications. With these features, I had 4 products to choose from. I went with the Charge 3 because I really liked my Charge 2. Charge 3 has a longer battery and other additional features besides what I already listed that I'm sure I will learn to use. One of my favorite features is the ability to set how many steps you want to get in each hour. If I haven't completed my steps each hour, I get a notification that I need 52 more steps, etc... to meet my goal. It's so easy to get busy that this is simply a great reminder! It is so much easier to meet my daily goals when I start early each day. My other favorite thing is the Fitbit app, website and health tips newsletters via email. These tools unlock insights and inspirations. A friend told me she was going to get a Dr appointment to check for sleep issues - I asked her if she had looked at the Sleep tracking and information available on the App/Website and after looking at this info she decided she didn't need a Dr appointment. Information is powerful - make sure you are aware of all the data Fitbit provides at your fingertips! I've have experienced a few problems with syncing, but primarily when I fly and change time zones. A simple solution that has worked for me is to plug in Fitbit to recharge and that seems to fix it for me. I have to say this is the same for ANY Bluetooth syncing device, not just my Fitbit. Another tip is there are lots of bands available for the Fitbit on Amazon and other places for very reasonable prices, so you can change the color/band to give you diff styles for working out vs an evening out. Enjoy!

I highly recommend this product! It's comfortable to wear, tracks movement/sleep/heart rate accurately, and the app is also very helpful. I wore it without a screen protector for about a week and banged it on a couple doorjambs, but it didn't crack. Now I have a screen protector on it and I feel a little safer, but I think it's pretty durable. I also like that it's waterproof so I can wash it off daily. After about a month with this watch, here's what I've learned: 1. You can change the clock face by going into the app and clicking the Fitbit icon in the top left corner of the dashboard screen. Some have dates and some don't, and for some of the more minimal ones you have to tap through to see your heart rate, steps, floors climbed, etc. It remembers which feature you looked at most recently and displays that when the screen turns on again. 2. You can turn off screen wake so that it doesn't glow at night by pressing and holding the side button on the Fitbit. I agree with other people that the auto brightness doesn't make the screen dim enough for nighttime. When screen wake is off, you turn on the screen by pressing the side button. 3. The app is so helpful and customizable. You can delete and move around the widgets, see your progress, set alarms, etc from the dashboard. One of my favorite features is that you can track your water intake to make sure you're drinking enough. I also like the sleep tracking function. One complaint is that I haven't found a way to track exercise that I wasn't wearing the watch for. I'm not allowed to wear it during basketball games, and I would like to be able to record that exercise and at least have it count towards my active days/week goal even if it won't make a step estimate. 4. The battery lasts me about a week, and you can check how much battery you have left by swiping up on the clock face. It also charges really quickly - I get a full charge in about 2 hours. 5. I've started using my Fitbit as an alarm clock, and it works really well. You have to set the alarm in the app the first time and then sync the watch. This is sometimes a bit annoying especially if I just turned airplane mode off and it's not fully connected to the watch. I have to drag down on the dashboard screen several times and check the watch to make sure the alarm synced, and sometimes even go into my phone's settings to connect to the Fitbit again. But after it's on the watch, you don't have to use the mobile app again and can just turn the alarm on by selecting it in the Alarms app on the Fitbit. Overall I'm very happy with this product. I hope this review was helpful!

Der Akku geht nach einem halben Jahr so schnell leer, dass man die Uhr 2-3 mal am Tag aufgeladen muss. Leider gibt es keinen Produktsupport und anscheinend auch keine Möglichkeit den Hersteller zu kontaktieren.

رائعه وانصح بشرائه

First off, I received the product in just a week which was amazing considering that it ships from so far! So thanks a lot for the quick delivery! Next, the device itself is amazing. Given that I just got it, it is just awesome. It is so light on the hand you dont even feel like you are wearing it plus its very comfy. I just hope it can last a long time and give as little problems as possible XD

Me encantó! Desde el día que me llegó no me lo he quitado. La alarma para moverte me gusta mucho, me recuerda que tengo que estar activa. El registro y análisis de sueño también me gusta para darme cuenta si estoy recuperando o no. Y la razón por la que lo compre que fue para tener registro del ejercicio y calorías está genial, cumple perfecto su función.

I bought this Fitbit as a present for my husband and he absolutely loves it. He is able to connect with friends who have Fitbit. He is motivated to be more active.