Fitbit Charge 3 Fitness Activity Tracker- Black / Graphite

The screen is a bit brighter than the Charge 2, but it's still a little hard to see in direct sunlight. It seems to be behaving now, so time will tell how it compares in accuracy to the charge 2. Definitely needs more watch faces. Update 1. Fitbit charge 3 failed suddenly, after 4 days. Returned and received a new one from Amazon 2 days later. New one works as the other. So far. I hope it was just a fluke, but I am seeing people having issues thru reviews. Perhaps it was released prematurely and they are working out the bugs. They have stated (Fitbit) they will have more watch faces soon that include the date. I like this new version of the charge and I think it will be an improvement if the bugs are worked out and it lives long enough to prove it.

I love this tracker, it has a few useful tools; like weather, timers and agenda. It can track your sleep, it has lots of exercise modes, it can set alarms, it has Fitbit Wallet (Which is like Apple/Google Pay I think), one of my favorite features is that I can read all of my notifications, and in some cases, respond to some of them with the watch! The Fitbit Charge 3 has great battery life lasting me an estimated 5-6 days per full charging of battery. It can track your HR. (heart rate) And that pretty much wraps it up for this cool little fitness tracker! *some smaller features include changing the clock style, sleep mode, and DND (Do not disturb). This watch is water resistant, and swimming is included in exercise modes.

I’ll just get the bad part out of the way first - I HATE the strap. Like I can’t believe how unbelievably bad it is. The first few days were fine, but then it started to irritate my wrist almost non-stop. I wash it after every workout and it makes no difference. I wear it slightly loose to avoid having it strangle my wrist during activities, but it still seems to grab the skin uncomfortably. After owning it for about a month, I started to wake up with pains in my wrist that ache all the way to my finger tips and even caused a numbing sensation at times. I thought at first this may have been unrelated to the Fitbit, but after switching it to my dominant wrist, the same thing happened with pain and numbness. So unfortunately I had to stop wearing it to bed.All that ... MoreI’ll just get the bad part out of the way first - I HATE the strap. Like I can’t believe how unbelievably bad it is. The first few days were fine, but then it started to irritate my wrist almost non-stop. I wash it after every workout and it makes no difference. I wear it slightly loose to avoid having it strangle my wrist during activities, but it still seems to grab the skin uncomfortably. After owning it for about a month, I started to wake up with pains in my wrist that ache all the way to my finger tips and even caused a numbing sensation at times. I thought at first this may have been unrelated to the Fitbit, but after switching it to my dominant wrist, the same thing happened with pain and numbness. So unfortunately I had to stop wearing it to bed.All that being said, it does okay as an activity and step tracker. The step tracking... Eh. Sometimes I can walk 30+ steps without it registering a single one, so it's frustrating to say the least.

This watch is really comfortable to wear, even for long periods of time or to bed. I normally don’t wear bracelets or watches much because they bother my wrist, but this rarely ever does. The charge lasts a long time so I am not constantly recharging it, and the bands are changeable. I wear the bands in the smaller size and they fit well. I love how this tracks my steps and my sleep, as I have been using it to try to improve my sleep habits and track how much I walk daily. It connects to the app pretty well and has features to set timers, stopwatches, silent alarms, etc. It has a weather feature, but that doesn’t work until you have synced the watch to the app each day so I don’t really use it. I wish this device had an option to play music as I work out, but ... MoreThis watch is really comfortable to wear, even for long periods of time or to bed. I normally don’t wear bracelets or watches much because they bother my wrist, but this rarely ever does. The charge lasts a long time so I am not constantly recharging it, and the bands are changeable. I wear the bands in the smaller size and they fit well. I love how this tracks my steps and my sleep, as I have been using it to try to improve my sleep habits and track how much I walk daily. It connects to the app pretty well and has features to set timers, stopwatches, silent alarms, etc. It has a weather feature, but that doesn’t work until you have synced the watch to the app each day so I don’t really use it. I wish this device had an option to play music as I work out, but otherwise, I really enjoy it I did have an issue at one point where my watch band ripped (it must have gotten caught on something at work). Since it was still in the warranty, Fitbit sent me a new band with minimal hassle at no charge, so that was good too.

3 times unlucky

Bought a special edition Charge 3 in 2018 as well as my husband bought a Charge 3 at the same time, both displays started to fade within 8 months, we thought it was just in sunlight we couldn't see the display. Then by 14 months, we could not see the displays at all. Worked with support to no avail. Offered 35% off a new watch. Then bought a new Charge 3 2 years later. Kept losing bluetooth connection twice a day. Paid to send it to their warehouse. 2.5 weeks later received a replacement. Display vibrates with notifications but does not light up the display, time does not display with twist of arm, have to always push the button on the side. Loses bluetooth connection every 2nd day. Fitbit offered 50% of new tracker, but I cannot purchase a Charge 5 with it and ... MoreBought a special edition Charge 3 in 2018 as well as my husband bought a Charge 3 at the same time, both displays started to fade within 8 months, we thought it was just in sunlight we couldn't see the display. Then by 14 months, we could not see the displays at all. Worked with support to no avail. Offered 35% off a new watch. Then bought a new Charge 3 2 years later. Kept losing bluetooth connection twice a day. Paid to send it to their warehouse. 2.5 weeks later received a replacement. Display vibrates with notifications but does not light up the display, time does not display with twist of arm, have to always push the button on the side. Loses bluetooth connection every 2nd day. Fitbit offered 50% of new tracker, but I cannot purchase a Charge 5 with it and there are no Charge 3 or 4s available to purchase on their site, so unable to purchase a Charge.

Do not buy fitbit

This is my third fitbit. My first was a charge 2. Once it got wet, it was toast. So I figured lesson learned. I already had the fitbit app and was used to using it so I thought I would try the fitbit charge 3 instead. It is supposed to be water resistant so that shouldn't be a problem, right? Within 6 months the glitches were a pain and lines had started over the watch face, making it hard to even tell the time. Customer service gave several go-to try tricks that didn't work, and eventually the screen quit altogether. I couldn't see the time, the steps, my heart rate, my messages, absolutely nothing. This tracker was junk before a year was up. I figured I just maybe got a bad tracker, and I really liked all the things it kept track of, so I bought another ... MoreThis is my third fitbit. My first was a charge 2. Once it got wet, it was toast. So I figured lesson learned. I already had the fitbit app and was used to using it so I thought I would try the fitbit charge 3 instead. It is supposed to be water resistant so that shouldn't be a problem, right? Within 6 months the glitches were a pain and lines had started over the watch face, making it hard to even tell the time. Customer service gave several go-to try tricks that didn't work, and eventually the screen quit altogether. I couldn't see the time, the steps, my heart rate, my messages, absolutely nothing. This tracker was junk before a year was up. I figured I just maybe got a bad tracker, and I really liked all the things it kept track of, so I bought another charge 3. I've had this one a little longer, but I can barely see the screen again and this is just a pain in the butt. The very LEAST I should be able to do is SEE the screen. No more fitbits for me. Overpriced junk.

Product’s length of life is extremely disappointing!

Charge 3 is great when it works & while it lasts. These things are pre-programmed to die after the 1 year warranty expires (planned obsolescence) so they can sell you another one for nearly $200. At these prices you’d hope they’d last at least 5 years! I have a 30 year old Timex sports watch in my jewelry box that still runs, but my fit-bit’s have only lasted 20 to 26 months & I’m not alone in this experience! Fitbit admits the problem is in the hard drive, but won’t cover it. You’d think after this many years they’d have the “bugs” worked out, but the “bug” has been put there intentionally- so it’ll never be “worked out”!!I’m a 5’3” tall, homebound, woman with low to normal weight- so it certainly doesn’t receive any heavy duty use & was fully charged routinely ... MoreCharge 3 is great when it works & while it lasts. These things are pre-programmed to die after the 1 year warranty expires (planned obsolescence) so they can sell you another one for nearly $200. At these prices you’d hope they’d last at least 5 years! I have a 30 year old Timex sports watch in my jewelry box that still runs, but my fit-bit’s have only lasted 20 to 26 months & I’m not alone in this experience! Fitbit admits the problem is in the hard drive, but won’t cover it. You’d think after this many years they’d have the “bugs” worked out, but the “bug” has been put there intentionally- so it’ll never be “worked out”!!I’m a 5’3” tall, homebound, woman with low to normal weight- so it certainly doesn’t receive any heavy duty use & was fully charged routinely according to the instructions! Because of suffering from myalgic encephalomyelitis- (ME) & postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), I use it to track my heart rate & sleep. Initially I had problems getting it to sync with the Bluetooth- so for months I couldn’t get any of the app information without spending hours of trying one fix after another & repeating the processes until at some point it magically worked! Then, I enjoyed about 8 months of it working like it should until the screen abruptly went black! None of the “fixes“ worked- so I gave up & had to look at my iPhone app to see what was going on! Then it wouldn’t take a charge, but after purchasing a new charger for a hopeful fix, it still didn’t work. So I threw it out & reluctantly purchased another one! I’m looking for a different company this time!

Too many functions, too complicated, but appears very accurate.

I received one of these as a Christmas gift last December and returned it because it was so much more difficult to use than other cheaper trackers i have had in the past. Unfortunately, you get what you pay for and i finally grew weary of the cheaper trackers being so grossly inaccurate. So..i recently bought this Charge 4 and am determined to use it, not because i need or want so many of the features which are of no value to me, but because of the high ratings i see from other reviews about its accuracy which is my top priority. I am old and have several health problems .When i work out I need accurate information readily available to monitor primarily my heart rate, so i dont exceed my target rate for any extended period of time. Unfortunately, i am having a very ... MoreI received one of these as a Christmas gift last December and returned it because it was so much more difficult to use than other cheaper trackers i have had in the past. Unfortunately, you get what you pay for and i finally grew weary of the cheaper trackers being so grossly inaccurate. So..i recently bought this Charge 4 and am determined to use it, not because i need or want so many of the features which are of no value to me, but because of the high ratings i see from other reviews about its accuracy which is my top priority. I am old and have several health problems .When i work out I need accurate information readily available to monitor primarily my heart rate, so i dont exceed my target rate for any extended period of time. Unfortunately, i am having a very hard time getting the face of my Charge 4 to open up without having to tap on it multiple times, and that isnt easy while on a treadmill going at a fast pace. I also dont understand why Fitbit couldnt provide a color face option so i could see the info more easily. I do like that they provide many options for what shows on the face when you open it up. I have been reading the user manual to try and tweak several areas of the setup options, but i need to do a much better job of that and ask Fitbit for help if I continue to struggle. Finally, the charger for my Charge 4 sucks compared other trackers i have owned which are much easier to accurately connect to the tracker. i realize that Fitbit wants its own proprietary charger like Apple, but I prefer other trackers where the end of the tracker fits into a USB port to charge. I havent been able to remove the strap from the tracker without fear that i will have to pull so hard i break something.Fortunately, the small strap which came installed on the tracker is just barely large enough for me. Overall, this charger is much more complicated than i need or want, but i will probably keep it because of its accuracy. I had previously bought an off brand which was much simpler to operate and synch with their app, but it turned out to be junk..totally inaccurate...it was geared toward Seniors which is why i bought it...why doesnt Fitbit try to provide a tracker or two geared to Seniors which is simpler and easier to operate? If they do I'm not aware of it.

Works fine, except when it doesn't

Since I made this purchase I have had one FitBit Charge 3 replaced by Fitbit and had to buy 2 new Fitbit Charge trackers since buying this one. First, the tracker quit syncing with my pc and smart phone and their tech support couldn't get it working. FitBit sent me a replacement unit at no charge. It worked OK for a few months, but I had problems again with the sync. So I bought a Charge 4. It worked fine, except after a few months, I developed a rash from the plastic band. I ordered a leather band. So all was well until I bumped the watch on a yoga block and broke the piece where the tracker connects to the band. So I bought another FitBit as well as a metal band for it. So I have had 4 FitBit Trackers in less than 2 years. I like the information they provide, but ... MoreSince I made this purchase I have had one FitBit Charge 3 replaced by Fitbit and had to buy 2 new Fitbit Charge trackers since buying this one. First, the tracker quit syncing with my pc and smart phone and their tech support couldn't get it working. FitBit sent me a replacement unit at no charge. It worked OK for a few months, but I had problems again with the sync. So I bought a Charge 4. It worked fine, except after a few months, I developed a rash from the plastic band. I ordered a leather band. So all was well until I bumped the watch on a yoga block and broke the piece where the tracker connects to the band. So I bought another FitBit as well as a metal band for it. So I have had 4 FitBit Trackers in less than 2 years. I like the information they provide, but the plastic wrist bands are awful! I wish they came with a choice of bands - plastic, leather, and metal.

simple but useful. better than most alternatives

I've tried a few Fitbit options. I don't want a full-on watch that will annoy me with notifications and unnecessary stuff so a tracker is what I wanted. This is a bit bigger than the inspire HR i had before and around the same size as the fitbit charge 5, which has color but no physical buttons. The best part of this is the physical button because tap to wake doesn't always work and if you're sweaty and your hands are wet you can't use it, so the button is your only option. So, this is the best tracker I've found so far from the fitbit family, even if it's not the most recent. I didn't mind the color screen of the 5 but not being able to use a button was a dealbreaker for me. This has pretty much all the same features, is cheaper, and in my opinion just a more ... MoreI've tried a few Fitbit options. I don't want a full-on watch that will annoy me with notifications and unnecessary stuff so a tracker is what I wanted. This is a bit bigger than the inspire HR i had before and around the same size as the fitbit charge 5, which has color but no physical buttons. The best part of this is the physical button because tap to wake doesn't always work and if you're sweaty and your hands are wet you can't use it, so the button is your only option. So, this is the best tracker I've found so far from the fitbit family, even if it's not the most recent. I didn't mind the color screen of the 5 but not being able to use a button was a dealbreaker for me. This has pretty much all the same features, is cheaper, and in my opinion just a more reliable and function tracker. And I can confirm over one week worth of batter, which is nice.