Anyone with fitbit charge 2?

[kniquy]

I have wanted a fitness tracker and i happen to see a good deal (don't laugh probably the first thing i have bought from them ever!) on QVC for the fitbit charge 2-- I don't know a ton about (hasn't arrived yet), but seems to have great ratings on Amazon.

What features of it do you like?
What do you use it most for?
Does it track walks/runs well or at all? I usually use map my run, but not sure which is better.
Are there things you don't like about it?

Any features about it you find helpful, useful let me know. With many technologies they have so many features but you never realize what it can really do.

TIA!!

 

[ematulis81]

I have a Fitbit Charge 2 and love it so much so that I bought an apple watch and ended up returning it because I missed my Fitbit so much.
1. What I like most is the app and being able to see how many calories I've burned throughout the day. I think it's one of the easiest to use apps and really has useful information at a quick glance.
2. I use mine every day, never take it off (unless I'm showering) and probably use it most to track my calories burned. I find it to be the most accurate when it comes to HR and calories burned than other trackers I've used. There was a period of time when I was seeing a doctor several times a week over the course of a month or so and every visit my HR on the Fitbit was within 1-2 beats as to what the nurse got when checking. Even she was shocked by the accuracy of it.
3. In my opinion it does NOT track runs well. It tracks calories burned and steps well during my runs but I prefer to use the Nike Run app to track my distance and pace. More accurate and detailed. I've never really used my Fitbit to track my actual workouts.
4. I don't like the bulkiness of it and how non-feminine it is I'd prefer something a little flashier like the apple watch but it functions well for what I need so I deal with the ascetics.

 

[Chaitali]

I agree with the above poster. I love my fitbit charge 2 for daily fitness tracking like steps, sleep, heart rate, etc. But it does not have a GPS built into it and is not meant to be a running watch. It does track exercise automatically and tracks the number of minutes I run/work out but it doesn't track distance accurately and can't be used for splits, intervals, etc.

 

[TheHamm]

If the Charge 2 is paired with your phone, and you have it with you, I have found it to be as accurate as runkeeper in tracking distance covered. If it unpairs during your run, it is simply back to being a very nice pedometer but is not accurate with distance. While you can set your average stride length for running, it is just an average. If you set this based on running on a flat surface vs. a hilly one you would see a large difference. If you do not set a stride length, I have found it to be way off. Apparently my walking stride is longer than the default, but running is shorter.

As for using it as a calorie counter, I think this is a YMMV situation. I find it fine while friends of mine do not. There was a piece on NPR about how it is most accurate and precise on light skinned, average weight women. I dislike the dynamic prediction of how many calories it thinks I will burn in a day- for example, rather than just assuming I will target 1300 and adding 200 for a run, it will inexplicably think I can now consume 1800 calories/day and this is not true as I would run knowing I will be spending 5 hours on a road trip later in the day and simply need a bit of movement to bring myself up to a normal day's worth of activity.

Like (1) it is reasonably accurate as a pedometer, and if you set the stride length it does give you an accurate and precise distance walked (2) I find the sleep tracking fascinating, and helpful (3) I like the graphical interface, it is easy to read and intuitive.
Disapointment (1) I would like to be able to use it for interval training. I realize I can use a phone app for this, but I can not hear audio cues when my phone is in my pocket [I find it an unnecessary safety hazard to run with headphones], but I can feel the fitbit buzz on my wrist. I'd like it to buzz my wrist for intervals
Dislike (1) Being the master graph-maker I am, I would like to plot data myself for different trend identification. The app has lovely, easy to read graphs, but it will not let you export the data to make those graphs yourself. It will allow you to export day totals & averages. This irritates me to no end.