Its studies like this and my own experience that makes me so annoyed that Google seems to be intentionally killing the FitBit brand.
They first removed all of the social features, which was a massive encouragement for large swathes of my friends and family. You have one family member that is training regularly for 5ks, half-marathons, marathons, etc and its always nice to just be able to get anywhere close to their steps for the week. Have a friend that you usually can beat, all of a sudden you're encouraged to hop on the treadmill and get an extra 1000 steps in that day. Theres a poor alternative called Stridekick, that seems to check all the boxes as a replacement, but just somehow is just poorly designed enough to be an app no one actually wants to use.
Now they've issued an update that is bricking Fitbit devices and are just sending out coupons to buy a new one.
Whats frustrating is that the market seems completely devoid of anything currently to replace them. All the halfway decent options are all huge clunky smartwatches. If you have no interest in apps on your wrist, because you already own a phone, it seems like the only option is the ugliest Garmin I've ever seen or Chinese ones of unknown quality that do not connect to any of the fitness ecosystem. When my FitBit seemingly got hit with a bug that killed it, (worked fine one day, then suddenly battery only lasted an hour after just over a year of owning it), I desperately looked for an alternative and ended up stuck getting the cheapest FitBit. It really wasn't an option to forgo not having a device as my insurance pays me up to 90 bucks a month for hitting my step goals.
You are really missing out if you are getting hung up on Garmin's appearance. Their fitness system is top of the pack. There is a reason why if you go to any competitive fitness event it's all Garmin watches on peoples wrists.
Maybe look into a Whoop device. Their business model is unique in the space as it's a subscription, but the tracker itself is solid, has no screen and can be worn a number of ways if you don't want it on your wrist.
I have the Venu and I think it looks alright for everyday wear. The Vivomove and Lily lines also have physical hour/minute hands and really downplay the smartwatch aspect if that's your thing.
They first removed all of the social features, which was a massive encouragement for large swathes of my friends and family. You have one family member that is training regularly for 5ks, half-marathons, marathons, etc and its always nice to just be able to get anywhere close to their steps for the week. Have a friend that you usually can beat, all of a sudden you're encouraged to hop on the treadmill and get an extra 1000 steps in that day. Theres a poor alternative called Stridekick, that seems to check all the boxes as a replacement, but just somehow is just poorly designed enough to be an app no one actually wants to use.
Now they've issued an update that is bricking Fitbit devices and are just sending out coupons to buy a new one.
Whats frustrating is that the market seems completely devoid of anything currently to replace them. All the halfway decent options are all huge clunky smartwatches. If you have no interest in apps on your wrist, because you already own a phone, it seems like the only option is the ugliest Garmin I've ever seen or Chinese ones of unknown quality that do not connect to any of the fitness ecosystem. When my FitBit seemingly got hit with a bug that killed it, (worked fine one day, then suddenly battery only lasted an hour after just over a year of owning it), I desperately looked for an alternative and ended up stuck getting the cheapest FitBit. It really wasn't an option to forgo not having a device as my insurance pays me up to 90 bucks a month for hitting my step goals.