Review of three new Fitbits: accuracy of heart-rate sensors in Charge HR and Surge disappoints
Three New Fitbits: See How They Run — Depending on what you read, the market for step-and-sleep-tracking wristbands is either set to explode, or is hanging in a wobbly balance while everyone waits …
Context & Ripple Effects
When Re/code tested Fitbit's three new bands in early 2015, the step-and-sleep tracker market was still deciding whether wristband wear was a durable habit or a fad — and the review's verdict hinged on exactly that question: whether optical heart-rate sensing was ready for prime time. The Charge HR and Surge failed that bar, putting Fitbit's two flagship launches under an accuracy cloud.
The story didn't end at the verdict: complaints over those same sensors grew into a class-action lawsuit, prompting Consumer Reports to retest both devices in January 2016, where they passed handily. In between, the Fitbit Blaze shipped with accurate heart tracking, suggesting the criticism landed.
First-order effects
- Early Charge HR and Surge buyers get heart-rate readings the review found unreliable, undercutting the core pitch of paying extra for continuous optical HR over plain step counting.
- Fitbit enters its biggest product cycle with reviewers flagging its headline feature as its weakest one.
Second-order effects
- Accuracy complaints escalate beyond reviews into legal exposure — the class-action suit forces third-party retests from outlets like Consumer Reports, turning sensor precision into a public adjudication rather than a reviewer's opinion.
- Competing tracker makers can position against the accuracy gap, making verified heart-rate performance a differentiator in band marketing.
Third-order effects
- Sensor accuracy becomes a standing review criterion across Fitbit's lineup — the same lens later catches the Charge 2 on distance tracking (inaccurate distance spoils an otherwise good device) — pushing each generation to be judged against the last one's measured failures.
- If optical sensing keeps drawing lawsuits and retests, independent validation could harden into a de facto requirement for wearable health claims.
The trend: Fitness wearables are shifting from counting steps to being judged on clinical-grade sensor accuracy, with every Fitbit generation reviewed against the previous one's documented shortfalls.