Fitbit Blaze Fitness Tracker Review and Guide

The Fitbit Blaze is a sleek and feature-packed fitness tracker that's perfect for anyone looking to track their daily activity and reach their fitness goals. It has a color touchscreen display that's easy to navigate and customize.

The Fitbit Blaze has a battery life of up to 5 days on a single charge, making it a great option for those who don't want to worry about recharging their tracker every day. This is thanks to its low power consumption and efficient design.

One of the standout features of the Fitbit Blaze is its guided breathing sessions, which can help you relax and reduce stress. These sessions are customizable and can be tailored to your specific needs and preferences.

The Fitbit Blaze also tracks your heart rate continuously throughout the day, providing you with valuable insights into your physical activity and health. This data can be used to optimize your workouts and make informed decisions about your fitness routine.

Curious to learn more? Check out: Activity Tracker Fitbit Charge

The Fitbit Blaze's design is a mixed bag. It looks similar to the Apple Watch, but with a smaller 1.25-inch screen and a chunky black bezel. The Blaze's modular design allows you to easily swap out the tracker portion for a different band, which is a convenient feature.

The Blaze's frame is made of aluminum and houses the screen and electronics, while the surrounding case is made of black plastic. The device is 1.5 x 1.75 inches in size, making it a bit too large for smaller wrists. It's also splash-proof, but should be removed before showering.

The Blaze comes with three different band sizes and a traditional watchband and clasp, which is a welcome feature. It's also worth noting that the Blaze tracks steps, stair climbing, heart rate, and sleep automatically, just like the Fitbit Charge HR.

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The Fitbit Blaze shares many similarities with a regular fitness tracker, making it a great option for those already familiar with the technology. It tracks steps, stair climbing, heart rate, and sleep automatically, just like our current favorite fitness tracker, Fitbit Charge HR.

One of the key similarities is its ability to track various metrics, including calories, distance, floors, steps, sleep, and exercise stats. You can view all of this data in detail in the Fitbit app, which remains one of our favorite fitness apps.

The Blaze also adds a large color touchscreen and side buttons, which can let you start and stop workouts plus get stats mid-session like heart rate, pace, etc. This is a great feature for those who want to stay on top of their fitness goals.

The Blaze comes with four fitness watch faces, which are all a little easier to read than the Charge HR's super-tiny display. This is a nice touch, making it easier to view your stats on the go.

In terms of battery life, the Blaze is a winner. It takes about an hour to recharge the tracker's lithium polymer battery, after which it's good for about five days. This is better than most smartwatches, which usually last up to two days at most.

Here are some key similarities between the Fitbit Blaze and a regular fitness tracker:

The Fitbit Blaze's design is a bit of a mixed bag. It looks similar to the Apple Watch, but its smaller screen and chunky black bezel give it a distinctly different look.

The Blaze features a modular design that allows you to easily swap out the tracker portion for a more stylish leather or stainless steel link band. This is a great feature for those who like to mix and match their accessories.

The frame of the Blaze measures 1 by 1.58 by 0.5 inches and weighs 1.44 ounces, including the band. It's a pretty lightweight device, which is a plus.

Some people have called the Blaze's design "ugly", but it's not as bad as some would make you think. It's definitely a polarizing design that will appeal to some and not others.

The Blaze's band comes in three different sizes, so you should be able to find one that fits your wrist. However, the device itself is a bit too large for smaller wrists, measuring 1.5 x 1.75 inches.

I like that the Blaze uses a traditional watchband and clasp, which makes it easy to secure. This is a nice change of pace from some fitness trackers that have a clasp that's a pain to use.

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The Blaze watch is quite stylish, and Fitbit offers various bands to match your personal taste. You can choose from three different bands: the Classic Band, the leather band, and the stainless steel band.

The Classic Band is a great option, made of rubber and available in three colors: black, blue, or plum. It costs $29.95.

If you prefer a more premium look, you can opt for the leather band, which comes in black, camel, or grey. This stylish band costs $99.

For a sleek and modern look, the stainless steel band is a great choice, priced at $129.

The Fitbit Blaze is a solid fitness tracker, but it has its limitations. It tracks calories, distance, floors, steps, sleep, and various exercise stats, which you can view in detail in the Fitbit app.

You can also view basic data on the device itself by scrolling through its various screens: Today, Exercise, and FitStar. The Today screen shows your daily stats, including calories, continuous heart rate, floors, mileage, and steps.

The Exercise screen lets you manually begin exercises, including bicycling, elliptical training, running, treadmill, and weights. Each workout is accompanied by specific real-time performance stats on the display, followed by a summary of your workout at the end.

However, the Blaze's distance and heart rate measurements were not accurate in testing. A 4-mile run was measured as 4.25 miles on the Blaze, and it underreported average heart rate by about 10 beats per minute.

The Blaze takes about 15 minutes to recognize an exercise, although you can lower the threshold to 10 minutes in the app. This can be frustrating if you just want to do a quick jog.

FitStar is a fun feature that turns the Blaze into a personal coach, with animated demonstrations for workouts like the 7-Minute Workout and 10-Minute Abs. Automatic sleep tracking also appears to be quite accurate, detecting different levels of sleep that you can view on the app.

You can set silent alarms right on the Blaze, which you can dismiss or snooze by tapping the screen. But if you're a runner, you'll need your phone on hand to track stats like pace, distance, and mile splits, as the Blaze lacks built-in GPS.

Broaden your view: Fit Bit Mobile App

The Fitbit Blaze has a battery life of up to 5 days on a single charge, which is impressive considering it has a color display.

To charge your Fitbit Blaze, you'll need to remove it from the wristband and place it in the charging cradle. The charging cradle has a lid that you need to open, put the tracker portion inside, and close it.

A large battery icon on the screen indicates that charging has started, and it can take up to 2 hours for the Fitbit Blaze to fully charge, depending on the current power level.

You can set the watch to wake when you raise your wrist or press the left button, and the display itself looks crisp with vibrant colors.

A faint battery icon is always visible on the main screen, showing your current battery level. You can customize this screen with different watch faces, but only four are available at this writing.

It takes about an hour to recharge the tracker's lithium polymer battery, after which it's good for about five days. This is better than most smartwatches, which usually last up to two days at most.

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The Fitbit Blaze has received some fantastic software updates over the years, and they're definitely worth mentioning.

One of the standout features is the ability to view your Cardio Fitness Level, which is calculated by comparing your heart rate data with other users of the same age and gender based on VO2 Max. This score provides a simple and clean way to contextualize the long-term data your Blaze collects.

Guided Breathing sessions are also now available, taking you through two or five-minute breathing exercises to help relieve stress and get your heart rate down.

The update also brings Fitbit's Sleep Stages and Sleep Insights features to the Blaze, which utilize the accelerometer and heart rate sensor to determine whether you're awake or in Deep, Light, or REM sleep.

Navigating your Fitbit Blaze is a breeze. You can swipe side to side to flip through the menu, then tap to open the menus.

To return to the previous screen, press the Back button. This will take you back to the clock, and eventually, you'll be back to the start.

You can view notifications by swiping up from the clock or by pressing and holding the bottom-right button.

Controlling your music is also easy – just hold down the top-right button.

Since the Blaze's software updates, you can now view your Cardio Fitness Level, which compares your heart rate data with other users of the same age and gender based on VO2 Max.

This feature is a simple and clean way to contextualize the long-term data your Blaze collects. It assigns you a score based on your data.

The update also brings Guided Breathing sessions, which take you through two or five-minute breathing exercises to help relieve stress and get your heart rate down.

These exercises are a great way to relax and unwind, especially if you're feeling stressed or anxious.

Fitbit's Sleep Stages and Sleep Insights features are also now available on the Blaze. These features use the accelerometer and heart rate sensor to determine whether you're awake or in Deep, Light, or REM sleep.

You can view your 30-day averages and see how well your sleeping habits stack up against other people your age and gender.

The Fitbit Blaze fitness tracker has its share of advantages and disadvantages. Here are some of the key pros and cons to consider.

The Fitbit Blaze has a good battery life, lasting up to five days on a single charge. This is a significant improvement over some smartwatches on the market. With its vibrant color display, you'll be able to see your workout guidance and notifications from your smartphone in style.

Some users may find the design of the Fitbit Blaze to be awkward, but overall, it's a solid choice for those looking for a fitness tracker with a smartwatch-like feature set. The Blaze also tracks activities, exercises, and heart rate accurately, making it a great option for self-quantification newbies.

Here are some of the key pros and cons of the Fitbit Blaze in a nutshell:

The Fitbit Blaze is a feature-packed fitness tracker that's worth considering. It has a vibrant color display that shows workout guidance and notifications from your smartphone.

One of the standout features is its battery life, which can last up to five days on a single charge. That's impressive, especially compared to smartwatches like the Apple Watch.

The tracker also comes with accurate heart rate, sleep, and step monitoring, making it a great tool for self-quantification newbies. The heart rate monitoring sensors are located on the back of the tracker, along with a charging port.

Here are some of the key pros of the Fitbit Blaze:

The Fitbit Blaze is not without its flaws. The design is awkward, making it a less than ideal choice for those who value aesthetics.

The Blaze lacks built-in GPS, which is a significant drawback for runners and cyclists who want to track their routes. This means you'll need to bring your phone with you, which can be inconvenient.

The wristbands feel a bit cheap, which may not be what you want from a premium fitness tracker. The charging port is also proprietary, meaning it won't work with other Fitbit devices.

Here are some of the notable cons of the Fitbit Blaze:

The display doesn't stay on, which can be frustrating if you're trying to glance at your fitness stats quickly. The charging cradle is also annoying, making it a hassle to keep your device charged.

The Fitbit Blaze is a solid choice for those new to the world of fitness tracking, or upgrading from a first-generation device.

It's an accurate and reliable tracker, and the color screen is great for displaying the useful new FitStar workouts.

If you're a runner in need of GPS, the GPS-equipped Surge is a better option, but it's also more expensive.

The Blaze is a good alternative to the Charge 2, which lacks a color touch screen but costs $50 less.

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It's worth considering the Blaze if you want a full-featured smartwatch experience, but you'll need to spend more money on an actual smartwatch like the Apple Watch.

The Blaze is a step up from its fitness tracker rivals, but still lags behind smartwatches in terms of features.

If you're willing to spend $200, the Blaze is well worth considering, especially if you're looking for a device that can track your fitness and provide guided workouts.

The Blaze is not the best choice if you're looking to upgrade from a more advanced device, but it's a great option if you're new to fitness tracking.

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