Saturday, July 14, 2018

Fitbit Versa Issues

My posts in the Fitbit Forums are getting deleted so I'll post here.



Forums have 3 months worth of posts on incorrect step tracking, bluetooth paring issues, notifications and a really nasty "Connected GPS" issue where the Versa is unable to get the GPS coordinates from the phone and there is no fix or admission of a problem in sight.



I'm going to go to speculate that there are Bluetooth radio, firmware or problems with the antenna on the Versa.  I don't believe they can be fixed via firmware updates and the Versa needs to be recalled.  I'm speculating that with everything crammed in the slim profile (battery, screen, haptic motor, motherboard and chips) and now an aluminum case, there is probably signal loss.



There are bluetooth connectivity problems on many android phones and iOS, so it's not limited to android.



I've worn the Versa simultaneously with an Apple Watch Series 2, LG Watch Sport over the past 3 months to have data to prove the Versa is the problem.



Since day one April 12th, 2018, I noticed within about 2 hours that the Fitbit Versa was not capturing my steps properly and I immediately put my Apple Watch back on to continue to get my steps.



The next day I noticed that the bluetooth notifications were not working for hours at a time, then connected gps issues and then later in the week, my alarms were not going off.



After a firmware update 32.32.10.15 in early May that did not address the main issues, I realize that it was something else going on.



The week of July 8th, 2018, I performed a little experiment with the older, cheaper Pebble 2 with Heart Rate this week.



Step Tracking

It tracks steps accurately without the need for exaggerated arm movements. One step forward, back, side up or down counts as a step. 



Location Tracking

The Pebble App is able to use the phone's GPS to track walks and runs without issue everytime.  



Notifications

Notifications just work.  For some android apps, I can even perform some actions from the Pebble.



Music Playback

Works everytime

No need for a weird Versa Classic bluetooth device being paired.



Alarms

Every alarm this week has gone off correctly

Added plus of smart alarms to wake you up during the appropriate sleep phase within a specified range of your wakeup time



Text Messages

I can actually send text messages from the Pebble 2 via voice transcription, canned responses or emoji.

Anyone else experiencing major issues with their Fitbit Versa that are not being addressed?