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Fitbit Charge 2 Review - The Fitness Band For Everyone!

OPPO
Infinix
In recent years, fitness has fast becoming a priority for the Filipino people, and finding a tool to measure your fitness accurately in real time was a challenge until the advent of personal activity trackers like Fitibit. Fitbit is a California based company that offers activity trackers and wireless wearable technology devices that track, measure and record in real time a person's activity and fitness metrics and have recently been introduced officially into the Philippine market.
This is the Fitbit Charge 2

We were lucky enough to get a hold of one of their hottest product, the Fitbit Charge 2.0! Here is what we think.

Fitbit Charge 2 Specs

Display: OLED screen w/ tap display and Gorilla Glass 3 protection
Battery: Li Pol with up to 5 days battery life and up to two hours charging time
Compatibility: Android and iOS
Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.0
Sensors: 3-axis accelerometer, vibration motor, altimeter, optical heart rate tracker
Others: Water resistance (sweat, rain, and splash)
Price: PHP 8,499

Unboxing / Accessories

Everything you'll need inside
Everything you'll need inside

Unboxing the Fitibit Charge 2 was a breeze, the outer printed cover slides out easily while the inner box has a fancy fold out latch mechanism that makes the unboxing experience a delight. Once opened, you will find your Charge band while below it is an envelop for the standard documentations and under the envelop is a box that houses the USB cord to Fitbit clip. This serves as its charger.

Build Quality / Design

Rubber strap
Sensors at the back

Build quality wise the Charge 2.0's watch face and body feels solid and sturdy while the rubber hand straps has great texture and when we tried applying pressure on the bands it never felt and looked like the integrity slowly withered.
Rubber strap
Rubber strap

In fact we are confident that over time the bands won't sag like other rubber made products. We would like a steel band option right of the box though. The design is minimalist and wearing comfort is great.

Display Quality

Tap OLED screen
Tap OLED screen

The display is using an OLED screen w/ tap display and Gorilla Glass 3 protection. It is bright and readable even on sunny days when the sun is directly against the display itself. The refresh rate is fast enough that we don't notice any stutter or slowdowns in animations. The images has a decent resolution for its utilitarian purpose and we have no complaints.

Battery Life

Battery life is excellent!
Battery life is excellent!

It takes less than 2 hours to charge from 0 to 100 percent. We would wear the watch everyday for almost 24 hours continuously. We only removed it when we were in the shower to take a bath. It ran continuously while connected to our phone via bluetooth and would last for 5 days. That is from 100 percent till when the watch itself turned itself off from when the battery ran out of juice.

Performance

Alarm clock mode
Alarmzclock mode

The set up via the Fitbit app available at the Android Play Store and the iOS app store. We downloaded the app on our devices and proceeded with the setup process. It's relatively intuitive but requires an active internet and Bluetooth connection.
Alarm clock
Alarm clock

The Charge 2 is compatible with iOS and Android. The whole setup process was smooth while the everyday use of switching between the notifications, the real time metrics and the different modes without lag or slow down. In fact we were impressed at how fast and how quick the sensors sense, relay, and record data. 
Workout mode
Workout mode

The interface on the fitness band itself is simple as it can be. One icon per click that displays which mode or metric you customize to be in order.

The set up with the Fitbit app was also smooth and it is where you can custom the Charge to your preferences. We like how easy it is to see most of your personal metrics when you first launch the app. Some settings are buried under multiple categories though so it may take a while to get use to it. Otherwise we found the customizable settings to be fair given that this device was for a specific purpose.

You may also enable "Push Notifications" using Fitbit app. After that it will alert you if you have messages and show a portion of it via Bluetooth.

You can not call or send messages via the smart band though. We don't find this a problem because this is primarily a fitness band and we are fine with just having the notifications only. If we want more interaction, we reach for our phones. This simplifies the workflow and it saves battery for the fitness band if you chose to use it as your primary time keeper.

Pros - Simple UI, Solid Build, sweat resistant, push notifications, Fitbit app is great
Cons - No steel band option out of the box, some settings are buried in the Fitbit App

Verdict

This is clearly one of the best fitness band out there. We have almost no complaints aside from some settings being buried deep within the menus of the Fitbit app and the lack of a steel band option right of the box. The price can be off-putting for some but we think it is well worth it if you prioritize your fitness metrics. We highly recommend this product!

GIZ Rating: 4.75/5 Stars
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