Fitbit Surge Fitness Super Watch

I have quickly progressed from a Charge to a Charge HR and then to a Surge, of course I lost money at each change so my hope is that this review will help others avoid doing the same. Firstly, the Surge does everything that it says it should, (also suffers with the same difficulties in detecting floors that all devices do, so don't expect that to be perfect). So you need to decide if the functionality is something you want. I am not an athlete and so initially was put off the Surge as it seemed to be for "serious" athletes. It is also very useful for obese people like me to be able to see "live" what heart zone I am currently in (aiming for cardio some days and fat burn in others) the Surge shows me this. The GPS works great and pushes the data from my walks into the App and Dashboard seamlessly, I have a sense of achievement looking at my walks on the map, to me this is motivational (I should be clear you can use your phone to do same with Charge and Charge HR, but its not as seamless). I like having all the live data available during an activity (something the Charge and Charge HR can't do without taking your phone with you). I can see Pace, distance, Heart rate, calories etc, right on the watch face during the activity.The watch is much bigger than the Charge designs and you need to be comfortable with its size, I would suggest that if you are petite you should try before you buy. The backlight (it does not light up like the Charge and Charge HR) is weak so more difficult to see at night, but its nice not to have to press a button to see the time as its displayed all the while. Battery life depends on Notifications and bluetooth usage and number of times you use the GPS, I am fairly heavy on those and get around 3 days at most. I usually charge during "desk" periods in my day so not an issue for me.The way that the watch works is by a couple of buttons, and "swiping" the screen left and right to go between functions, all very slick and easy to learn.In Summary, it works great, and empowers you with a wealth of useful info, the question for you really is do you need all the features for your own aims? If you have any suspicion you do, then jump straight to the Surge and don't do as I did and work your way there!

I ordered the large size, it's well worth visiting the fitbit site and print the page with the wrist measure on. I've have small wrists but need a large strap for the Surge, so don't guess take a bit of time to get it right.Cons1. So will get the bad out of the way, the GPS stopped working after a couple of weeks but the help from Fitbit was great and the Surge was replaced a few days later.2. The fitbit site has a premium offering, after paying £200 for a watch I would expect the website to fully backup the product. Having tried the 7 day free trial of the premium it's not worth the cash. I hope Fitbit sort this because both Apple and Microsoft are going to start pushing their health sites.3. Does not work with windows phone notifications. So calls or text messages will work with your iphone but not your windows phone. It's a minor thing to me, but still, it should work.Pros1. Strap feels good and sturdy. I enjoy wearing this watch and only take it off to get a shower, which is also when I charge it.2. GPS works well and picks up a signal quite fast. I have a Garmin watch and it's not that far behind it. Downside is you can't easily share your runs/hikes etc on Facebook or via email etc.3. HR work well and is accurate. Others have complained about this but I must just have a wrist that fits the watch or I'm wearing the watch correctly. HR monitor does not always work that well when lifting weights, because of the way my wrist bends. That's not a big deal for me and it only happens occasionally.4. Screen is very good. It's has touch and swipe functionality that work very well. It quite fast to swipe through the different options and during a run you can swipe the bottom half of the display to see HR, calories, steps, clock etc.5. Battery is ok, I charge it daily but only for a few mins. If I do a long run then I may charge it again but mostly the watch stays on my wrist. Could it be longer, of course but for now it's fine.6. Works well with the windows phone app, the challenges are great.