FitbitSense Advanced Unisex Smartwatch with Tools for Heart Health, Stress Management & Skin Temperature Trends```

Nice slimline watch with plenty of features.

Very good. Keeps me well imformed

I am changing from Apple to Android soon (still waiting for my Pixel 5!), and hence changing my watch as well. I saw the Fitbit Sense coming out and went for it. My review will include unbiased comparisons with Apple Watch.1. DesignThe watch is light and nice looking. I like the stainless-steel bezel which is similar to my Apple Watch series 3 sapphire version. The square face is a bit new to me, but it’s not obstructive at all in daily usage, and it makes the watch looks bigger, which is nice (to me. On smaller wrist like my wife’s, it will look too big).The watch has metal connectors on its back for charging. These on the Fitbit Charge 3 did give me skin allergy so I was a bit hesitate, but I am fine with these connectors so I suppose they have changed the metal with the Sense. A thumb up for Fitbit.However, I dislike the watch strap. As many other reviewers have pointed out, the strap is either too short or too long. In my case, the short one barely makes it whilst I am on the second to last eyelet in the long one with almost 5cm of spare strap. It goes inside the strap anyway so not flapping about, but they should have made a Medium size.2. Vitals trackingThe Sense can do everything a fitness tracker can do: it counts steps, measures heart rate, tracks your sleep, take your skin temperature when you sleep, even counts your breaths and tells if you are stressed or not. It has dedicated sport mode which has different types of sport. With pandemic and local lockdown, I have not had the chance to actually try out all of the functions. However, it was disappointing that the watch does not detect workout automatically. The Charge 3 did, albeit incorrectly (probably why the function was removed for latter models).The sleep detection works, and it works better than any of the smartwatch I have used. My Apple Watch detected that I went to bed and slept at 10.30PM although I was lying in bed reading on my e-reader until 12AM. The Fitbit did capture the sleept time correctly. This is me wearing two watches to test this function, and I did not touch my phone. Mind you, my Apple Watch is a Series 3 and I have not had the luxury to try out the newest version yet so can’t say Fitbit has beated Apple in terms of sleep tracking.The SpO2 indicator is newly introduced to this watch, and it only measures when you sleep, along with your breath rate, skin condition. Unfortunately, all of the data is hidden behind a paywall (premium subscription). I find it rather unfair since the data is there, and the watch is capable of capturing it. But oh well, it’s their business strategy so I won’t discuss further. I have applied for the trial Fitbit premium coming with the watch to see if it’s worth it. In my view, it’s not. You get some extra information about your skin temperature, your sleep score, the phases of your sleep (REM sleep, deep sleep, awake, etc.), and your heart rate during sleep. Again, a shout out to Fitbit for capturing my sleep precisely here! A quick trip to the toilet is also captured whilst my Apple Watch totally missed it (again, it’s 3 years old).Another new function in this model is EDA (stress measuring, basically). It’s nice, but I don’t think it’s that helpful, and accuracy is doubtful as well. There are days that I was stressed by work (I work remotely from home but I work with numbers, and I work 10-12 hours lately due to increased workload), but the watch couldn’t tell. I measured and tried putting my mood as Neutral, nothing happened and the watch logged it as that. I think this needs improvement here.3. SoftwareThis is where the Sense is lacking. It tries to be a smartwatch, and a fitness tracker at the same time, but its software has failed the goal. I feel that this watch has been rushed out of the door in order to beat a competitor’s watch so that its software has not been fully developed and thought out.The most annoying part I found is the fact that notifications disappear too quickly or does not stay on screen with a flick of the wrist. So when I have a notification, I will have to press the home button to wake the screen, or flick my wrist, then pull down the from the top of the screen with my finger to go through the list of notifications. What’s more, the notification won’t go away despite already cleared on phone. I call this is because the phone and the watch cannot ‘talk’ to each other. It’s just a one-way transmission of data from the phone to the watch.The watch only performs limited smartwatch functions so it won’t be able to interact with calls (take call, end call, mute. It seems that this is something that is “coming soon” so hopefully in the next update.One more thing I dislike is the fact that you can only use SpO2 function if you select the only one watch face available with this function. And that face is ugly! I do not understand why the sensor cannot just measure it automatically and store in the watch/send to phone so I can view it on my phone instead? Again, this feels too rushed to beat the release date.And lastly, as mentioned above, the watch and the phone cannot talk to each other. I have multiple health data store in Apple Health so the watch should have at least been able to tap into that (at least my weight since I use a smart scale from a different company!).4. SummaryThere are good and bad things about the Fitbit Sense. The watch is a promising device which can accurately track vital information as well as finess activities. It can also act as a smartwatch with limited functions. However, its software needs a few more updates until it can completely please the users. And Fitbit’s new paywall system (Premium service at £79.99 per year) isn’t for everyone.EDIT: so my Pixel 5 has finally arrived. I have a chance to test this on Android and now updating my feedback to show the difference in terms of software (the Sense has just had a new software update last night as well. It took more than an hour to finish!):- On Android, it is possible to transfer data between Fitbit and Google Fit app using a medium app called FittoFit, which will pull data from Fitbit and update into Google Fit on a set schedule. Clunky, but it works seemlessly so I'm happy with that! At least all my health data can be stored in a centralised place and if/when I move away from Fitbit, I will not lose them.- Notification can now be interacted to a certain extend on Android. I suppose this is because Android is a more "open" system comparing to Apple iOS. Messages and emails can now be marked as read on the Sense and they will disappear on phone (still doesn't work the other way around except for messages! Boo!). I can reply to messages with some set templates (OK, Call you later, Thank you, etc.) and these templates are customisable, which is good.- Still no interaction with calls.- My wrist is getting itchy after wearing this for half a day (no working out yet!). I'm really not good with this silicon strap. I will need to find a replacement ASAP!Will come back and update this review periodically if I find out something new.

Don't leave the house without it!!!!

Brilliant little gadget, I love it. I upgraded from the Charge HR 3 in September upon release and it's been brill - I haven't had much chance to use some features yet though like the fitbit pay element.The sleep tracking is great, gives me an insight into why I feel the way I do in the morning, and the "true" sleep i.e. I'll wake up thinking I've had 8 hours but when I check my fitbit it's only 6hrs 30mins or something because of waking up throughout the night.The mobile app is great and has everything I personally need, my only wish is that the food library was as comprehensive as My Fitness Pal and that it would show what your weekly calorie deficit is, but it's not too bad because it syns automatically with MFP so I'm not making double the work when logging foods.The battery life is brilliant, I only charge it about once a week (with always on display turned off) so I barely have to think about charging it compared to my partner's Samsung Galaxy Watch 2 which he has to charge every single night without fail. It also charges really quickly and the charger connection is so much better than before, it's just magnetic rather than fiddling around with the connection.Love the fact you can change the bands too.One of the most motivating aspects of this watch for me is the built in exercises to choose from which then accurately records whatever you're doing e.g. An outside walk (tracks GPS along with heart rate, distance, steps, active minutes based on your heart rate) or treadmill (everything listed before but GPS), workouts, weights, swimming etc. I especially love the new active zone minutes, you get single zone minutes in fat burn zone and double minutes in cardio or peak heart rate zones so I find it very easy to meet the minimum 150 active minutes per week, it's very motivating to carry on when you're smashing the zone minutes out!Sometimes, and I mean it's only happened about 4 times since I've had it (since September) it kind of crashes in that the screen is black and won't wake up, then I just have to hold the side button down for about 10 seconds and that sorts it out. Other than that it's worked brilliantly for me.For anyone wondering I believe the only difference between this and the cheaper Versa 3 is that it also has a stress EDA scan and ECG function. They're interesting insights but I'm not really sure what I can do with that information really, it seems to be more about health as well as fitness. But if you're just into fitness then I would just get the Versa 3 because I'm pretty sure all other functions are identical.Overall I really enjoy this product, and use it every day. I don't think I could go back to working out/doing my daily steps without one now!