Smartwatches and fitness trackers · Fitbit
Owners keep the Inspire 3 as a small, simple tracker for steps, workouts and calories, and some value its battery life, though the move to the Google Health app is a sore point.
Owners are divided on battery life. Those who like it call it a big advantage over other trackers they have used, including a Garmin they considered, while others say it drains much faster since the recent update.
Long-time Fitbit owners clearly object to the app redesign and the move to Google Health. They miss the old minimal layout, where everything was visible on opening, and find the new one cluttered. Some are holding off on updating.
Pick up to three. You get a page with just those, side by side, on the subjects owners raised.
What keeps people wearing it is the basic job. Owners use it for steps, workouts, calories, distance and hours with movement, and one still uses a 2.5-year-old unit that way (it is their fourth Fitbit and the longest lasting). It suits people with small wrists who find most trackers bulky, and one owner with sensitive skin likes that clip-on options exist. One owner uses the guided mindful meditations to fall asleep. Some bought it on sale or secondhand and are happy with it.
What owners have had to adjust to is the app. Many of the long-time owners describe the Google Health switch as the biggest change since they bought the device, and a few are researching replacements. Reactions are not uniform: some newer owners like the new app, point to extra workout options, and say the coach's tone can be adjusted. Food logging has been a pain point for a few, who say it got harder to find regularly used foods and switch between measurements. One owner also says they can no longer set a wake-up time or choose vibration for phone calls.
The tracker itself keeps doing its basic job for some people, including one owner whose unit is well past two years old. Most of the trouble owners describe comes with the move to the Google Health app. Several say sleep tracking stopped after the update, even after they reset the device, reset the app or reinstalled it. Others cannot get the app to recognize the tracker, or find that syncing fails or Bluetooth shows as disconnected.
The fixes owners try are turning the tracker and Bluetooth off and on, telling the phone to forget the device and pairing again, and restarting the phone. One person got syncing working again this way, and another got pairing to work after days without knowing which step did it. Others tried the same steps and still could not connect.
Long-term accounts of the hardware are thin. Only a handful of owners talk about durability, and they are split: one says their Fitbits have tended to fail soon after the one-year warranty ends, while another has a long-running Inspire 3. Most of the reliability reports we have are about the app and sync, not about how the device holds up over years. We cannot say much about long-term wear from these accounts.
Nothing with a clear majority yet. Owners who raised these subjects were split, or too few to judge.
Counted from the owners who raised each subject, not from everyone. A subject is judged once at least 4 owners raise it.
35 more subjects came up from fewer than 4 owners each, which is not enough for a fair reading. To see how it stacks up, compare it with another machine.
The same owner, asked again at each point. Fills in as owners answer.
Two questions: how long you have had it, and anything you would like to say about it. Then we ask again as it ages. This helps our mission.
More in smartwatches and fitness trackers: Oura Ring, Apple Watch Ultra, Fitbit Air.
Among the 13 owner accounts here that gave a duration, 1 described a failure. Parts named most: battery.
Before you buy one used, ask the seller: how old it is, whether it was ever repaired and by whom, and whether any of the parts above have been replaced. Ask to see it run. A receipt tells you the warranty start date; most makers honour the term only for the first owner.
Public discussions we read and summarised in our own words. Nothing here was submitted to Still Kicks.
Counted from public accounts by people who said they own it, and summarised by Still Kicks in its own words. Not a manufacturer claim, a lab test or an estimate.
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