Dubbed as the ultimate “smart fitness watch,” the Fitbit Blaze is what, in layman’s terms, means that this is the company’s attempt to create an all-in-one wearable tech that can offer a wide array of activity tracking capabilities, along with basic smartwatch functionalities. When looking at it at a design standpoint, it looks like a not-so-attractive combination between the Fitbit Surge and the Apple Watch. However, it’s a design that can grow on you with continuous use.
The Fitbit Blaze is Marketed as the Ultimate Smart Fitness Watch
For its looks, the Fitbit Blaze looks more of a smartwatch than a glorified fitness tracker. For its face, it is a 1.2-inch detachable kind that sports a 240 x 180-pixel resolution display. It is encased in a metal frame and wrapped around a rubber textured strap. Speaking of its strap, it will be most familiar with owners of other Fitbit devices.
As far as wearable techs go, more specifically that of watches, this is not the prettiest device on the market. It will not give you the top-end premium look and feel with the likes of the Moto 360 2 or the Huawei Watch, nor can it keep up with the likes of the Moto 360 Sport in both form and function. Nevertheless, this is not the ugliest one on the planet and it easily looks quite nice with regards to other sports watches, especially when you’re comparing it with techs from other manufacturers like the Nabu Watch from Razer.
Even though the Blaze is being marketed as a fitness tracker, it does tread too far into smartwatch territory. Therefore, there are a few too many compromises with regards to the sports side of things. It feels more like a hybrid device than an actual activity tracker.
Like many smartwatches, this particular fitness tracker is not waterproof. While it can survive when you’re wearing it under the rain, or when you’re sweating it out in the gym, the company still recommends that you don’t take it with you in the shower or when you’re out swimming. Therefore, this can be a great partner for the gym, or when you’re out and about doing your running/jogging around town, but not when you’re at the pool.
Speaking of running/jogging, the Fitbit Blaze does not have a built-in GPS, which can be cumbersome for dedicated runners as it cannot display accurate location and distance data. Which also means that you will need to pair it with a smartphone constantly in order to have such features available.