I've only owned the Charge HR's. The first version sucked. The band broke really quickly, and it could be persnickety about counting stuff. The second one (Charge HR 2) I really like. I can buy a different band, the face is super easy to read, and I like the ability to customize the options it shows, and the order. I also like the Relax feature. I use it with my kid, and it calms us both down! @londoncuppa Why do you like the Blaze better? Curious minds...
It shows you the basics: Steps, floors, BPM (current & resting average); Steps that hour; Miles so far that day; Calories that day; Number of active minutes that day. I can read my texts; see who's calling me; and also control the music on my phone from my Blaze. I can customize my exercises from the app, and it updates on my Blaze. Customize faces (I think there are 6 options currently). It's a stopwatch & timer. I use the timer function all the time instead of having to dig out my phone and carry it with me. I have a 250 steps per hour reminder set up, so it beeps to remind me to move and tells me how many steps I've done in that hour. It has a Guided Relaxation feature (can choose either 2 or 5-minute sessions)...deep breathing, etc. It has FitStar, which guides you through various workouts (warm ups, 7-minute workouts, 10-minute abs, etc). Alarm feature. You can set as many alarms as you want. I have mine set to go off on Saturday at a certain time; Sunday at a different time; and work days at different times. Sleep feature. I have it set to remind me to go to sleep at 10:30pm. This NEVER happens, but it does pop up a reminder to tell me to start winding down to get ready for bed. There are now a ton of bands available on Amazon cheap. I've got gold, leather in several colors (white,black,red,pink,brown), stainless steel, plus about 35 plastic bands in multiple colors. Hey...fashion is important. Overall, it's much more than just a step counter. I LOVE it, and I would definitely buy another one if it broke. I started with the Flex, and hubby went through 2 Charges (the bands kept breaking), so I bought him the Surge. It does a lot of what the Blaze does, but the Blaze seems to be the one that has "caught on." It's slightly smaller than the Surge (and cheaper). It does more than the Surge originally did, though I'm not sure what the Surge can do now. It still works, but DH prefers the Blaze, so that's what he wears. When I need to do some exercise that the Blaze won't register (like using the incumbent bike, which is how I get pretty much all of my exercise since my treadmill died...RIP), I pop it out of the band and stick it in my sock. Weird, I know, but it works great. Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.
Well, Fitbit broke my little ole trusty One yesterday. Sigh. It is stuck in a "you need to update your Firmware" but the tracker already says it is updated. Meanwhile it won't synch and won't stay connected to the phone. Went to the forum and lots of people with the same problem. So now I may need an early Christmas present...
@londoncuppa Most of those features the Charge 2 has as well. It's good to know the differences (music on the phone and fitstar being the ones I noticed from your list). And I totally get the sock thing! I've done that too for yoga.
I posted in the Community forum on a post that had 100+ comments from others having the exact problem. Those that contacted tech support got "pat" answers and a sorry, it is out of warranty answers - and would you like 25% off a new model? Maybe I should call to get the coupon offer...
Oh oh, I looked. We have several Amazon distribution centers in the area. I can get a purple Charge 2 TOMORROW if I order in the next 14 hours.
I priced mine out on Amazon and Fitbit. It was cheaper on Amazon with no coupon. (They offered me one for the broken band).
Just in case anyone is still shopping for a FitBit... I saw in Target's Black Friday ad that they will have several on sale.
