Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsUpgraded from Inspire 2
Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2022
My first fitbit was an Inspire 2, which often stopped reminding me to exercise every hour. I had to reset it more than 4 times in the first year. This fit bit is slightly bigger and looks a lot nicer with its colorful displays. But the problem I have is that I need a horizontal, digital clock face and the only options have really annoying color schemes or there is one very plain one that looks too similar to what I used on the inspire. When I clicked on the clock faces from within the app (things you can buy or download), it shows some really amazing clock faces, an entire collection of Pride clocks that are gorgeous, animals, buildings, etc... the only problem is that none of them are compatible with the Charge 5. I don't know if that's just because it's rectangle instead of square, or if it's because you have to upgrade to the most expensive watch to have the luxury clock options. At this point, the Versa 2 is actually cheaper than what I paid for the Charge 5, so I may switch. As for functionality, the heart rate seems accurate, the stepcounter is large and I like that you can make the vibration stronger, and make the display brighter. I haven't tried it outdoors yet to see if that's helpful. I couldn't see the inspire 2 outside at all. The display on this is really pretty and I do like the different colors that represent different aspects: purple is for sleep, red is for step count and heart... I would love a blue option but they don't seem to use blue very much on this watch in the clock faces, or features. Blue would be beautiful against the black background. When I switched watches today, it downloaded my sleep history from last night onto the new watch so that was convenient. Overall, it's a nice improvement over what I had but they need better/more clock options and also, I can't seem to find the tile app, which saved my life a few times last year, in terms of finding the fitbit once my cats knocked it off the table or shelf and batted it around the house... tile also found my phone a couple of times. This is a must-have app for any smart watch so I hope they integrate it in the near future.
I have added several updates to this review but they aren't posting. This is not a 4 star review. It is now a one star review because the battery drains daily. I do not use "always on" - I was promised 7 days. I use max brightness, but without touching the watch very much, it still is dead by the end of the night. I see other users are having the same problem. Also, there are no clock faces for this phone that are good for Generation X or higher. They are all weird, ugly, red/orange/yellow or lime green clocks with odd shapes that obscure the time, or they don't show any of your stats on the main screen so you do have to scroll, which does use battery. I'm returning mine. I really loved the way the watch looked on my arm, but it's not performing as expected. I love the features on this fitbit because they are perfect for people over 50, and the simplicity works for Gen X and Boomers as well, but they really dropped the ball on design and performance. The designs do not meet the best audience for this watch. Younger people would go for the smart watch features that come with the versa, older people don't need them, We do need the health services tho. So give it to us in a more palatable, more reliable way and make sure you can deliver on your product claims or we will make sure everyone around us knows you didn't.
