The Fitbit Surge tremendous watch is the primary Fitbit with built-in GPS for pace and distance, and it additionally has steady strapless coronary heart charge monitoring. It does what different Fitbits do — counting steps, distance, energy, flooring climbed and monitoring sleep. In the event you pair it with a suitable cellphone you may get name notifications and skim incoming textual content messages and management your music throughout exercises. It is a very good pedometer smartwatch.
Who Will Love the Fitbit Surge?
It’s smooth sufficient for both males or ladies to put on all day as a watch. Then if you wish to monitor a exercise, you need not put on a coronary heart charge monitor strap or use a separate app or machine to trace your pace and distance by way of GPS. You may view all of it in your wrist, then see additional particulars (together with a map of your route) after syncing to the app or on-line dashboard.
The Surge is constructed for walkers, runners, and cyclists who wish to use GPS and coronary heart charge to trace their exercise pace, distance and train depth, and who wish to monitor step, energy and sleep multi functional machine.
You may monitor different train exercise by way of the train timer and coronary heart charge readings. You may monitor indoor walks and treadmill exercises with the Surge with out GPS, it should use the accelerometer readings to present you pace and distance estimates.
If you have already got been monitoring your exercise with a distinct Fitbit mannequin, you’ll be able to simply change your similar account to the Surge and proceed with the identical historical past, app, and on-line profile. Fitbit additionally has up to date to can help you hyperlink a couple of Fitbit machine to your similar account, so you need to use the Surge for exercises and one other Fitbit for each day exercise.
Purchase Fitbit Surge at Amazon.com
On Your Wrist
The Surge is worn as a wristwatch with a smooth elastomer strap and typical (safe!) wristwatch buckle. It is available in black solely at the moment and the strap will not be replaceable. It is best to put on it one finger-width out of your wristbone or barely increased in your arm for the accuracy of the center charge monitor. Your pulse is learn by way of their PurePulse LED sensors on the again of the watch.
Surge has a monochrome touchscreen, with the clock or different screens at all times seen and it has an automated backlight. I discovered it simple to learn with my getting older eyes. The clock display has a alternative of various time shows, all of which present solely the hours and minutes (no seconds), and a few additionally present the date. I want the Flare display which exhibits your exercise every minute.
Swipe the touchscreen to view screens displaying your present coronary heart charge, each day steps, distance, energy burned and flooring climbed.
Press the House button to trace train classes and handle vibrating alarms. You may view incoming calls and skim incoming texts on the display in case your paired cellphone is inside 20 toes. I really was capable of get texts when my cellphone was downstairs on the reverse finish of my home (most likely 50+ toes away), which was spectacular.
Charging and Battery Life: The Surge has a battery lifetime of as much as 7 days in case you do not use the GPS function. The battery will solely final for five hours of GPS exercise monitoring, and so they advocate charging it after utilizing the GPS operate. It has a customized USB cable for recharging.
Is the Fitbit Surge Waterproof? No, it’s splashproof however they advocate towards swimming or showering whereas carrying it. Showering should not harm it, however Fitbit desires you to present your wrist some air and taking it off within the bathe will clear your wrist to forestall rashes.
Setting Up the Fitbit Surge: You want both a pc or a smartphone to arrange and use the Fitbit Surge. It syncs wirelessly to a USB dongle on a pc, or by way of Bluetooth 4.0 to the cell app (iOS and Android).
Coronary heart PriceÂ
- Are You Within the Zone? The guts charge display exhibits your beats per minute and the center icon signifies which zone you’re in. It has three automated zones: moderate-intensity Fats Burn zone (50-69% of most), vigorous-intensity Cardio zone (70-84% of most), and the Peak zone (85% and above). You too can set a customized zone in case you do not just like the preset zones. You get whole time within the zone for any exercise in addition to all-day totals.
- Coronary heart Price Accuracy: By carrying the Surge within the place they recommended, with the strap comfortable, I obtained secure readings that had been in line with a chest strap coronary heart charge monitor after I was at relaxation and through brisk strolling exercises. However as a wrist-based sensor, it’s prone to be much less correct if you’re doing weightlifting or different actions that use the arm muscle groups.
- Exercise Coronary heart Price: You may view your coronary heart charge and zone indicator throughout exercises, but it surely would not have any alerts when you’re in a selected zone or out of the zone (comparable to a beep or vibration). After you end, you’ll be able to see a graph of your coronary heart charge on the app or on-line dashboard, together with your common and most coronary heart charge and time in every zone.
- Resting Coronary heart Price: This studying is taken throughout your sleep interval and is a sign of your well being and health. A decrease resting coronary heart charge is a sign of higher health and readiness for exercise
- Day by day Coronary heart Price Graph: See a graph of your coronary heart charge all through the day on the app or dashboard.
GPS Pace and DistanceÂ
Select Run, Stroll, Bike, or Hike as an train exercise and you need to use the GPS sensor to trace your pace and distance after which view your route afterward on the app or on-line dashboard. Not like the Fitbit app, it makes use of the sensor within the Surge watch itself somewhat than your smartphone.
You could be outside to make use of the GPS function because it locks in satellites after you select Run, Stroll, or Hike train monitoring. This could take a number of seconds, though you are able to do a fast begin and it’ll monitor you primarily based on the accelerometer till it locks within the satellites.
Whereas monitoring a Run, Stroll, Bike, or Hike, the display exhibits the overall mileage on the prime, elapsed time (minutes, seconds, tenths and hundredths of seconds) after which a 3rd line which you could scroll via for present tempo, common tempo, coronary heart charge, energy, and time of day. You may monitor laps by urgent the motion button on the finish of every lap and seeing the lap stats. Computerized laps are recorded for every mile, however you’ll solely see them after your exercise within the app or dashboard.
I discovered the Tempo (your present tempo) to be jumpy, it appeared to flip-flop between paces that had been a few minutes per mile aside at my strolling pace (common of 16 minutes per mile). The Common Tempo and Lap Tempo had been extra constant.
You may pause the exercise and resume simply. You’ll nonetheless obtain incoming calls and textual content alerts whereas recording exercises, in addition to congratulations in case you attain your each day step aim.
After the exercise, you’ll be able to view your abstract stats on the Surge and full particulars on the app or on-line dashboard after you sync.
For treadmill exercises and indoor strolling, the gap and pace are primarily based on the accelerometer somewhat than GPS. You will have to measure your stride size and regulate it by way of the net dashboard to get an correct pace and distance for the treadmill.
Intervals: There is no such thing as a apparent interval operate, however you could possibly use the vibrating alarms to arrange your individual intervals.
The GPS distance readings had been way more dependable than the GPS of my iPhone 4s (which constantly overestimates my distance by 10% and subsequently my pace by an identical margin). They match the Polar M400 GPS Sports activities Watch worn on the opposite wrist.
You may’t use the GPS on the Surge to inform you the place you’re or give coordinates. You may solely get map info after you sync it along with your cellphone app or on-line dashboard.
What Fitbit Surge Tracks All Day
- Steps – All-Day and Exercise Steps: The Surge tracks each all-day steps and steps for particular person exercises. It vibrates and flashes congratulations if you attain your each day step aim, which is ready to 10,000 steps per day by default (which you’ll change).
- Energy: Fitbit tracks all-day calorie burn, plus you’ll be able to see the energy burned in the course of the exercises you monitor. The calorie rely is supposed that can assist you stability the energy you eat with the energy you burn off all day. The dashboard or app will inform you what number of energy it’s best to eat as a way to meet a weight reduction aim. You need to use their meals monitoring log on-line or within the app. It’s a excellent pedometer for dieters.
- Distance: That is estimated out of your step rely for all-day steps. It contains any distance tracked in exercises by way of GPS.
- Sleep: The Surge robotically detects sleep, however would not show it on the watch. On the app or dashboard you’ll be able to view your whole time in mattress, time asleep, time awake and time stressed, plus a sleep graph.
- Alarms: You may set a number of vibrating alarms and select how usually they repeat. You may handle these from the watch in addition to the app and dashboard.
- Stairs/Flooring: It robotically tracks the flooring climbed.
- Energetic Time: The variety of steps you’re taking per minute are translated into Energetic minutes. This may help you monitor whether or not you’re assembly train suggestions for half-hour or extra of moderate-to-vigorous train every day. In the event you use the Flare clock, you see how lively you could have been every minute of the present hour, which generally is a good immediate to forestall lengthy durations of inactivity.
Fitbit Dashboard and App
Fitbit is a favourite of mine for monitoring your food plan and well being stats. You need to use its meals log within the app or on the net dashboard, monitor water, your weight and extra. You may have interaction in challenges with associates and earn badges for accomplishments. Fitbit can also share information with many different in style apps and you’ll put up to social media.
Professional EvaluateÂ
Pluses:
- Consolation: I discovered it simple to put on as a wristwatch day and evening. I tightened the buckle barely extra after I needed the most effective coronary heart charge studying throughout an train session.
- Show: Like an ordinary watch, you’ll be able to view the time with out having to activate the show. It was simple to maneuver from display to display with a swipe to see your different stats.
- Coronary heart Price, GPS Pace and Distance at a Look: You do not have to placed on a chest strap or activate an app. You may depart your smartphone safely at residence and nonetheless monitor your exercise. You may view it proper in your wrist as an alternative of attempting to view it in your smartphone throughout a exercise. Better of all, for lengthy exercises you are not draining your cellphone battery, simply that on the Surge.
- Mobility: You could sync with the app or a pc each 7 days to obtain minute-by-minute information, however it should maintain 30 days of each day totals and 39 hours of GPS information if you’re unable to sync weekly.
Minuses
- No inactivity alerts or strikes reminders to maintain you from being sedentary and cut back the well being dangers of sitting an excessive amount of. Nevertheless, the Flare clock offers an excellent indication of how a lot you could have moved throughout the hour. In the event you set a vibrating alarm, you could possibly test it at set intervals to remind your self to maneuver.
- Lacks superior operating watch options: In comparison with the Polar M400 GPS Sports activities Watch, it would not have interval timers inbuilt and another options that severe runners might count on on a operating watch.
- Lacks superior coronary heart charge monitor options. There are not any beeps or vibration to point if you’re in-zone and out-of-zone, simply the icons.
Backside LineÂ
I beloved the GPS and coronary heart charge options of the Fitbit Surge. It’s a excellent all-in-one health monitoring machine for runners and walkers. I additionally loved the incoming name alerts and textual content messages. It has the entire different fundamental Fitbit capabilities for steps, energy and sleep monitoring. Most of all, I appreciated the Flare clock show to indicate me how lively I’ve been throughout the hour.
The worth tag of the Surge places it into the realm of smartwatches, and it could be that you just’d need an Apple Watch as an alternative.
In the event you aren’t within the GPS pace and distance, or the Surge simply appears too huge so that you can get pleasure from carrying, the Fitbit Cost HR band is an effective different.
