Gear Fit 2 returned

[Nate Silver]

Today I sent back my Gear Fit 2. A shame really, as there were several things I really liked about it. Beautiful screen, and very comfortable to wear. Had problems with it coming unfastened, but cured that with a 'BandCuff'. There were a couple of things that put me over the edge and now I'm back to my MS Band 2 instead. First, the hr sensor seemed to have problems with some activities. Indoor cycling was a total failure, my hr would never go above 85-90 no matter how hard I was working (strap had me at 120-130). On the Elliptical, hr was just the opposite. Fit 2 was running 185 or more, while strap showed 100-110. Heck my all time max hr is 163. Another major annoyance was the automatic tracking. Mowing the lawn always got detected as cycling. Pushing carts and wheeled cages around at work always got detected as cycling. Not good. And why doesn't 'other exercise' utilize the hr sensor? That just doesn't make sense.

If there were a way to turn off the automatic tracking feature, and the generic 'exercise' activity used the hr sensor, I probably would have kept it. Samsung could really have a killer little device here, but it (and Samsung Health) need some more work.

 

[srkmagnus]

You have some really good points, and I hope Samsung continues to improve on some of those areas. Did you by chance contact Samsung and provide them with your feedback?

 

[Nate Silver]

I hope so too, because the hardware is fantastic....well, other than the hr sensor, but I imagine that is somewhat tune-able. I voiced my opinions during the return process, but haven't really looked for a 'user voice' type outlet as yet. I'm just a bit disappointed that with a two year + span between the first Fit and this one, they didn't do more. But, they managed to hold the price down, which is important for attracting the masses, while including a good range of features. Like I said, its so close to being killer. Even with its flaws, I think it is more than competitive with some of the other devices floating around out there.

 

[mountainbikermark]

As with any heart rate tracking sensor on the wrist, darker skin and/or tattoos wreak havoc on them, especially if the band isn't skin tight. A work around solution Apple Watch wearers have talked about is putting the watch on the inside of the wrist.
As far as software, well Samsung just seems to half bake many of their ideas then never follow up with working solutions.