Fitbits any good anymore? (need a gift for My Bride)

[clean]

I have a Charge 2.  It is not long for this world, I think. 
However, the question is not for me, but my bride.   We went to San Antonio for a conference this week.  while I was conferencing, she went to the mall and walked.  She had some news from the doctor with a required minimum drop in her weight for the next visit.  She seemed go enjoy the mall walking and kept asking me how many steps I had so she could guess how many she has.  So, I am thinking that with our anniversary weeks away that a step counter would be in order.  I was considering the Fitbit Inspire 3, but 6% of the reviews are in the One Star level, and there are pretty recent bad ones. 

What is your experience? 
Ideally, the model should be one that counts steps, measures heart rate, provides calorie estimates, and if possible blood oxygen. 

(calorie counting because I am certain that she overestimates how many she has burned... eating some forbidden sweet and noting that she will walk 10 minutes). 

What are your experiences and do you have any suggestions?

[Hibush]

If you just need steps walked, there are lots of pedometers for under $20 that don't share your data with anyone. Heartrate doesn't cost much more. If the exersise goal is to do x steps at >y heartrate, these are plenty good. Just keep an eye on y while walking, and stop when x is reached.

[Puget]

Her phone will do all of that except heart rate. On iPhone, the included Health app has all that, and I'm sure there's some android equivalent.

[Sun_Worshiper]

You must have a death wish man! Get her flowers and earrings instead!

[Hegemony]

Why not get one of the models with better reviews? I have a Sense and it seems to do pretty well. Get some flowers in addition, though.

[Kron3007]

You must have a death wish man! Get her flowers and earrings instead!

Wise words...

My wife picked up a rather cheap smart watch this summer that does all those things (and much more).  It probably does beam all of the data straight to the PRC, but that is just a fact of life these days.  She is pretty happy with it, so you definitely don't need to spend a lot of you don't want.  I was shocked at how cheap they are now....

[FishProf]

I I have a charge 4 which I love and will upgrade to the charge 5 when the time comes.

[ab_grp]

I have a Charge 5 that I am happy with.  Looks like I bought it in May.  I believe that it has all of what you're looking for, though there are also features that your bride may not need or want.  I got it on sale, and I'm pretty sure they run good sales for Black Friday/Cyber Monday (and at other times).  Definitely buy on sale! The only thing that bugs me about it is not really being able to change the font size for some features.  I like to know my battery level, but it's hard to find a clock face that shows the info I want that has a large enough font size throughout (especially for looking at it while exercising without reading glasses).  Now they have changed the app, and it is harder to find out your battery level that way.  I am getting used to the new app look and am not enamored, but we'll see.  Overall, I think it's a great purchase.

I have had several other Fitbits.  Most recently, I had the Inspire 2, which I think also provides a lot of what you are looking for (can't remember if it does O2).  That one had a defect that seems common according to the Fitbit Community.  One of the band connectors broke, and since that piece is part of the main device (rather that on the band itself), there is no real way to get a replacement band.  There are workarounds discussed on the forum, and one worked fairly well for me (the device can be inserted into a different kind of band that's like a frame around it), but it made it kind of difficult to charge at times.  I kept that for several months before upgrading, and it would probably still be fine enough now.  Anyway, that Fitbit is more streamlined in terms of features you might be looking for and should be less expensive, but I wanted to warn you about the band issue.  Fitbit did offer me (and others) a discount of 30% or so on another device because of it even after the warranty expired, so I guess that's something.

You may also wish to look at other brands, because Google bought Fitbit a while ago, and all accounts will be through Google as of 2025 or so (so data must be moved to a Google account, and there will not be support for Fitbit accounts).  I'm not sure whether I will stay with a Fitbit at that point or not.  I'm not sure I want my health data tied more directly to my main Google account and not sure I want to switch to a lesser-used account, but there's still plenty of time to decide.

As was already mentioned here, there are plenty of less expensive devices.  It depends on what kind of accuracy you are looking for for different measurements and what features and connectivity you're looking for.

[pgher]

I I have a charge 4 which I love and will upgrade to the charge 5 when the time comes.

The Charge 6 is about to come out.

I have a Charge 5. I think it's my fourth FitBit. The only problem I've ever had was the band; they seem to have figured that out. It also aggravates me that they keep changing charging connections. Each model has its own adapter, none of which are anything standard like USB-C.

As a watch, I don't like it. I often wear a real watch in addition. But that doesn't sound like the problem you're trying to solve.

[Langue_doc]

I use Strava, a free app that tracks your walking--distance, steps, and time.

[Hibush]

I use Strava, a free app that tracks your walking--distance, steps, and time.

If you do that check your sharing settings to avoid undersirable outcomes.

[Langue_doc]

I use Strava, a free app that tracks your walking--distance, steps, and time.

If you do that check your sharing settings to avoid undersirable outcomes.

Only a handful of fellow walkers can see my walks. I don't use Strava unless I'm scoping out a potential walk that I would like to lead. I don't think I'm important enough to warrant the kind of following that the Russian commander seems to have had!

[clean]

I see that some of the fitbits come with some months of premium service.  What is that? How much is it?  Is it required to keep track of things (make the device usable) or just a way to upsell and pick one's pocket?
thoughts on the service?

[pgher]

I see that some of the fitbits come with some months of premium service.  What is that? How much is it?  Is it required to keep track of things (make the device usable) or just a way to upsell and pick one's pocket?
thoughts on the service?

It's an upsell. Gives you more health information, that sort of thing. I have it but often think about canceling.

[FishProf]

It's an upsell, and I have never activated mine.  I still have the full functionality that I wanted.