Fitbit Blaze Review: Half fitness tracker, half smartwatch

Summary
The Fitbit Blaze isn’t quite a smartwatch, but it’s a little more ambitious than Fitbit’s other activity trackers in terms of its overall user interface.
The good
- Great audio quality
- Case adds battery power
- Good call quality
- Suitable for jogging
The bad
- Comparatively expensive
- Sketchy Android audio support
- Limited watch faces
- App is available on cheaper bands
In the fitness tracker space, Fitbit stands tall over competitors such as Jawbone in terms of market share and shelf space in stores. There’s only so far you can push just a step tracking band, especially with the wide variety of smartwatch devices hitting the higher end of the fitness tracking market.
That’s the logic behind Fitbit’s most recent set of device announcements; the fashion-centric Fitbit Alta and the smartwatch styled $329.95 Fitbit Blaze.
Design
- Very light for a feature watch
- Comparatively expensive
- Limited watch faces

Battery Life
- Great battery life

Features
- Simple interface
- Good heart rate tracking
- Great smartphone app
- Sketchy Android audio support
- App is available on cheaper bands

Verdict
The Fitbit Blaze isn’t quite a smartwatch, but it’s a little more ambitious than Fitbit’s other activity trackers in terms of its overall user interface. That puts it in a rather particular niche for users who might be interested in a fitness tracker style device, but don’t like the usual "band" style form factor that such devices typically use. If you’re more of a typical watch wearer wanting a little more it could be a reasonable match, although it is expensive.
In the straight fitness tracking space you’re awash with choices, whether you stick with Fitbit’s own family of tracking devices such as the Zip, One, Flex, Charge, Charge HR, Alta or Surge. Competitor Jawbone offers the UP Move, UP2 and UP3 trackers, and there are numerous other offerings from other brands at pretty much any price point you’d care to name to pick from.
If you’re interested in stepping up into the slightly richer smartwatch space, at this price point many Android Wear smart watches are available if you shop around, including models from LG, Samsung, Huawei and Motorola. Apple’s Apple Watch will cost a premium over the price of the Fitbit Blaze, although it's recently had a small price cut at the entry level, as will more sports-centric watches from companies such as Garmin.
Pricing and availability
The Fitbit Blaze can be purchased through Fitbit’s local web site, as well as through selected retailers with a suggested price of $329.95.

Buy Fitbit Blaze for $329 from rebel
The Fitbit Blaze automatically detects and tracks your exercise, and can even monitor your sleep patterns for deeper insight into your health.
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Alex Finder
Senior editor
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