Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Fitbit will lay off 110 employees amid challenges in wearable market

theverge.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 125 posts

Re: Fitbit will lay off 110 employees amid challenges in wearable market

#51

Post by sahaskatta »

CydeWeys wrote: post #28

I've said it before and I'll say it again: A big part of Fitbit's problem is the poor hardware quality of their products, especially considering the high price. A lot of people, me included, will never buy another Fitbit after having been burned. Their warranty only lasts one year, yet I've had to replace both Fitbit devices I've had twice within that one year. I'm now Fitbit-less because the latest, a Charge HR, fai…

I had a Fitbit Flex. I had the band tear 3 times last year. Fitbit replaced it for free each time. Eventually the little device inside stopped holding a charge. They replaced that for free too.

I decided to upgrade to the Charge 2 for 2017. Last week the heart rate sensor stopped working. I've been using it for exactly 4 weeks. They are replacing it for free.

I'm a bit shocked at the number of defects.

Re: Fitbit will lay off 110 employees amid challenges in wearable market

#52

Post by s_kilk »

CydeWeys wrote: post #28

I've said it before and I'll say it again: A big part of Fitbit's problem is the poor hardware quality of their products, especially considering the high price. A lot of people, me included, will never buy another Fitbit after having been burned. Their warranty only lasts one year, yet I've had to replace both Fitbit devices I've had twice within that one year. I'm now Fitbit-less because the latest, a Charge HR, fai…

I'm on my fifth fitbit in about 10 months.

After a few weeks, like clockwork, the rubber housing will start to peal away from the display, eventually leading to the glue coming unstuck and the housing bubbling up.

Needless to say, I'll not be bothering with fitbit again.

Re: Fitbit will lay off 110 employees amid challenges in wearable market

#53

Post by akshayB »

snuxoll wrote: post #39
akshayB wrote: post #19

Even if you are a premium fitbit user and use their customer API you don't have access to some data point for heart rate, cardio time-frames and performance stats. They not only need to catch-up but also provide people their own health data forget HealthKit and Google Fit integration that is like step 2.

They don't WANT to provide people their own health data, I'm guessing. They demoed a full integration with HealthKit years ago but canned it, I'm guessing for the exact same reason. And honestly, I think this is exactly why Fitbit ended up failing. They tried to create a walled garden where you would collect all your data into their service, the hardware wasn't what they wanted to sell you, but their premium services…

I am a developer and I was a fitbit premium user for long time but I cancelled my subscription. I went over all their APIs but failed to get data where I can export my detailed workout and cardio stats. My main purpose was train myself for even more intense workout looking at the data. It was just a very disappointing experience.

Re: Fitbit will lay off 110 employees amid challenges in wearable market

#54

Post by CN7R »

teach wrote: post #40
throwaway_374 wrote: post #2

I always thought this was simply nothing more than an overpriced step counter and nothing changed the perception for me - if anything, the glorified marketing felt quite deceptive. Strangely, on the contrary, I find myself addicted to the "step counter" on my Galaxy S6 everytime I go for a run.

I have a Fitbit for exactly two reasons: sleep tracking and heart rate. The step counter is interesting , but I wouldn't have bought a device just for that.

I have a charge hr -- mostly for silent alarms to wake me up without disturbing my roommates, and timer function in case I need to track something. Oddly enough I don't care about the step counter or the heartrate sensor.

Re: Fitbit will lay off 110 employees amid challenges in wearable market

#55

Post by arafa »

CydeWeys wrote: post #28

I've said it before and I'll say it again: A big part of Fitbit's problem is the poor hardware quality of their products, especially considering the high price. A lot of people, me included, will never buy another Fitbit after having been burned. Their warranty only lasts one year, yet I've had to replace both Fitbit devices I've had twice within that one year. I'm now Fitbit-less because the latest, a Charge HR, fai…

My Fitbit won the prize for being the only hardware/software to blue screen my Windows computer in at least a decade. It actually took me a few hours to figure out what was happening because I never suspected simply plugging in that device could do it. Sure enough, after 5 minutes or less it would hard crash my computer. I promptly gave it away and will never buy another one. I read some Amazon reviews where people talked about being on their 8th Fitbit and decided they have a real problem.

Re: Fitbit will lay off 110 employees amid challenges in wearable market

#56

Post by CN7R »

theli0nheart wrote: post #33
nemild wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is your experience emblematic of the that for most customers? Some of the things you mention seem like fundamental design flaws, so I'm curious if most customers have issues?

Been using Fitbit devices since 2010, and using a Charge HR since it came out. Never had a problem like OP's.

I've had mine for more than a year and a half -- my charge hr hasn't failed yet. But my cousins' have, which leads me to wonder what if the issue is user-caused.

Re: Fitbit will lay off 110 employees amid challenges in wearable market

#57

Post by akeck »

sremani wrote: post #6

I have bought my share of fitbit, Band etc. The only way to make wearables tolerable is making them less smart and more accurate. Accurately measure my heart rate and stop bugging me about a stupid text!

My most reliable fit wearable so far has been my Wii U Fit Meter. It's about as smart as a Tamagotchi, but it gets the job done for me. Data xfer via IR instead of radio. CR2032 battery goes for a few months. I find it a clever balance of cheap tech and engineering trade-offs - very Nintendo in that regard.

Re: Fitbit will lay off 110 employees amid challenges in wearable market

#58

Post by akgerber »

TarpitCarnivore wrote: post #45
sremani wrote: post #6

I have bought my share of fitbit, Band etc. The only way to make wearables tolerable is making them less smart and more accurate. Accurately measure my heart rate and stop bugging me about a stupid text!

This is why I've been eyeing a Garmin Vivoactive HR. I know people slam Garmin because they feel behind but if there is one thing they know it's accuracy. There's a reason they're the goto brand for cyclists, runners and triathletes. It's because they work reliably.

I have a Garmin band and, at the 6 month mark, it's starting claiming I'm climbing 50 banks of stairs a day. So they're not perfect either.

Re: Fitbit will lay off 110 employees amid challenges in wearable market

#59

Post by Analemma_ »

arafa wrote: post #55
CydeWeys wrote: post #28

I've said it before and I'll say it again: A big part of Fitbit's problem is the poor hardware quality of their products, especially considering the high price. A lot of people, me included, will never buy another Fitbit after having been burned. Their warranty only lasts one year, yet I've had to replace both Fitbit devices I've had twice within that one year. I'm now Fitbit-less because the latest, a Charge HR, fai…

My Fitbit won the prize for being the only hardware/software to blue screen my Windows computer in at least a decade. It actually took me a few hours to figure out what was happening because I never suspected simply plugging in that device could do it. Sure enough, after 5 minutes or less it would hard crash my computer. I promptly gave it away and will never buy another one. I read some Amazon reviews where people t…

Isn't that more a Windows problem? An OS should never crash entirely because a device was plugged in. Fitbit probably should've caught that in testing though.

Re: Fitbit will lay off 110 employees amid challenges in wearable market

#60

Post by noyesno »

TarpitCarnivore wrote: post #45
sremani wrote: post #6

I have bought my share of fitbit, Band etc. The only way to make wearables tolerable is making them less smart and more accurate. Accurately measure my heart rate and stop bugging me about a stupid text!

This is why I've been eyeing a Garmin Vivoactive HR. I know people slam Garmin because they feel behind but if there is one thing they know it's accuracy. There's a reason they're the goto brand for cyclists, runners and triathletes. It's because they work reliably.

Consider also the Fenix 3 - it was plagued with software bugs when launched but the firmware is now stable and delivers what it says on the tin. You get a nice smartwatch and fitness tracker with GPS/GLONASS and good integration to other sensors (Bluetooth and ANT).

Plus, as the icing on the cake: you can easily get a week or more of use with a single charge, if you don't use the GPS.

Post reply on HN