Fitbit Surge Review

I typically talk about cycling related things on this blog, but today I want to write about a new product I bought. Being as I am still active with the military in a state guard capacity the need to run is always lurking. I have a great love/hate relationship with all fitness activities besides cycling. I use a Garmin Edge for my cycling but didn't enjoy carrying the unit on a run. Of course I have to track my activities. I feed off information! The reasons stated above as well as a great curiosity with my sleeping habits lead me to research a fitness tracker.

I had been looking at getting a fitness tracker for quite a long time before pulling the trigger on the Fitbit Surge.(Purchased by me) When looking at other brands Fitbit stood out to me for many reasons. The design was very simple and felt sturdy. I am a mechanic by trade and I have never been able to wear a watch without messing it up. I will cover this a little later. I researched the app and liked what I saw. I had set out to buy the ChargeHR but went with the Surge in the end. I really wanted the GPS.

The first day wearing the watch I almost took it back. I am not a watch or anything on my wrist kind of guy. I wore a RoadID for a while but even that had to go. Now I just put it on before a road ride. I stuck in there and kept wearing it. I believe it has been 3 weeks and it has become as necessary as underwear. The only time I take it off is to shower and that's when I charge the watch. That leads me right into battery life. I have had no problems with the battery life yet, I do charge a little most days and either run, bike, hike, or some sort of activity everyday. Got the battery halfway down one time on a road ride using GPS. I hadn't charged it the day prior and my ride was after a long day chasing my kids. The Surge was busy that day! I really like all the information that is at my fingertips during a run or hike or bike ride. Its also nice that it syncs right away with Bluetooth on my phone and PC. I was worried about the HR being off but I have tested alongside my Garmin with the strap and they are usually within 1 beat of each other.

I do have a few issues with the Surge though, this is an honest review. I have had some trouble with my wrist stopping the timer during an activity, especially on the bike. I have tried to move it up my wrist and tightening it but maybe my wrist is oddly shaped, watch always works back down and I will inadvertently stop the activity. Being a mechanic I use power tools. I use many different types of hammers on a daily basis on my job. I get steps for every hit of the hammer, hit of a impact gun, and other various movements. I have also gotten many steps from leg tapping to a song in the car. I am into some techno, sometimes my air drums and such are going and I'm logging steps. I know this is probably unavoidable sense the Fitbit senses movement to log but maybe a different level of sensitivity is needed for us non cubicle workers. I also seem to take a fair bit of steps while I sleep (I don't sleepwalk) I am also quite skeptical at times of my calorie burning totals. Garmin calculates much different I guess. I have noticed that. Now I don't know who is right!

In the end I really like the watch. It satisfies my need for information. It is also providing me with ammunition to attack my wife on why I am tired all the time, averaging less than 5.5hrs of deep sleep most nights. I would recommend this product to anyone that does various types of outdoor activities and wants one device to track it all. I am also a religious Strava user. Fitbit communicates directly with Strava to show my activities. One less step when I am sweaty and tired from a run or ride. Thanks for reading! Post comments, I like hearing from you!