Fitbit Sense 2 evaluation: a health tracker disguised as a smartwatch

After I reviewed the Fitbit Sense two years in the past, it was an formidable smartwatch. Its successor, the Sense 2? Eh, not a lot. It’s hyperbole to say the Sense 2 is a whole downgrade, however I don’t suppose you’ll be able to really name it a smartwatch, both. This, my pals, is what I’d name a premium health tracker — and if you happen to view it from that lens, it’s a great one. However is it actually $300 value of health tracker, particularly for the reason that Pixel Watch is barely $50 extra, has almost all the identical well being options, and is a lot smarter?

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Earlier than I get into why the Sense 2 isn’t a smartwatch, we have to set the stage. In 2020, the Sense was a lot good. It had a novel stress-tracking electrodermal exercise (EDA) sensor, FDA-cleared electrocardiogram (EKG) sensors, blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) sensors, temperature sensor, contactless funds, and the selection between Alexa and Google Assistant. It was a viable different to the Apple Watch Sequence 6 and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 — even when it didn’t have mobile connectivity and its third-party app ecosystem was meh.

Rather a lot can occur in two years. Since then, the Sequence 8 and Galaxy Watch 5 have caught as much as nearly all of the Sense 2’s well being options whereas widening the hole by way of smarts. There’s additionally now the Apple Watch Extremely and Galaxy Watch 5 Professional to deal with. The Sense 2’s principal benefit is weeklong battery life, however that every one however disappears if you happen to allow the always-on show. In my testing, enabling the AOD meant three days on a single cost at most.

After which there’s the Pixel Watch. It’s clear that Google, Fitbit’s mum or dad firm, sees that as the way forward for its wearable lineup. The Pixel Watch makes use of Fitbit’s platform for its well being and health options; Fitbit CEO James Park even launched the Pixel Watch on the Made by Google occasion. And it has all of the options you’d count on from a smartwatch, together with a voice assistant, emergency calling, and good dwelling management. In case you learn between the traces, all of it appears like a loss of life knell for the Fitbit as a smartwatch.

Fitbit spokesperson Jonathan Moll instructed The Verge that the Sense 2 was designed to “prioritize crucial options our customers care about and use essentially the most, together with coronary heart fee monitoring, sleep monitoring, and stress administration.” It is sensible that Google would take steps to distinguish the Sense 2 from the Pixel Watch. There’s no motive for one firm to have two competing smartwatch platforms, and it is sensible for Fitbit to to slim its focus to health. But it surely appears like Google nerfed the Sense 2 a bit an excessive amount of.

For instance, you’ll be able to’t use Google Assistant on the Sense 2. That is bizarre. On the unique Sense and the Versa 3, you’ll be able to choose between Alexa or Google Assistant. Now, your solely choice is Alexa. Fitbit spokesperson Jonathan Moll instructed me, “At the moment there are not any plans to deploy Google Assistant on Sense 2 or Versa 4. We sit up for bringing this function to future units.”

No matter whether or not you want digital assistants, their presence on smartwatches is a given lately. Positive, there’s Alexa — however that’s a complete different good dwelling ecosystem. Why wouldn’t you set Google Assistant on a Google smartwatch? The entire theme of the Made by Google occasion was that every one these units work collectively! If not, what’s the purpose precisely? I’m really misplaced on the thought course of right here.

Beforehand accessible third-party apps like Starbucks and Spotify don’t appear to be an choice anymore. No less than, they weren’t listed as suitable with the Sense 2 once I tried to obtain them from the Fitbit App Gallery. Fitbit’s third-party ecosystem was already paltry, so that is yet one more baffling choice.

The addition of Google Maps and Google Pockets takes a number of the sting out. Besides, I can’t inform you how properly both app works as a result of they’re not accessible but. It’s not remarkable for firms to launch options after a product hits cabinets. However if you mix this with Google taking away earlier third-party apps, it positive is a head-scratcher. 

The Sense 2 has a mix Bluetooth / Wi-Fi radio, as did the Sense, however the Wi-Fi is deactivated, per Fitbit’s official spec sheet. Moll instructed The Verge, “Traditionally, Wi-Fi was used for updating firmware and music storage. Sense 2 and Versa 4 now use Bluetooth to replace firmware, and would not have music storage capabilities.” Add offline music — which the Sense supported for Deezer and Pandora — to the casualty checklist.

All that is odd. The Sense 2’s redesigned UI actually makes you’re feeling prefer it’s meant to be a smartwatch. The refreshed design is spiffier than earlier variations of Fitbit OS. It appears to be like precisely the identical as Put on OS on the Pixel Watch. For instance, swiping left and proper will allow you to view widgets. Urgent the button brings up an app checklist. Swiping up brings up notifications, and swiping down will get you to the fast menu. It’s an ideal enchancment, efficiency doesn’t lag, and every thing appears to be like a lot nicer as properly.

Regardless of its UI, the Sense 2 isn’t actually a smartwatch by 2022 requirements. It’s a health tracker masquerading as one. 

The Sense 2’s software program feels prefer it’s been intentionally restricted — or centered, if you happen to favor — however the bodily {hardware} has been improved throughout. You’ll be able to inform Fitbit’s put plenty of effort into streamlining the design in order that it’s extra snug for on a regular basis put on. 

The Sense 2 is lighter than its predecessor, although chances are you’ll not discover the change in weight. I didn’t once I in contrast them one after one other. I did, nevertheless, discover the Sense 2 is a lot thinner. The Sense had this tapered, trapezoidal form on the facet the place the sensor bump dug into your pores and skin. It was a method of masking the thickness when really in your wrist. The Sense 2 doesn’t want to do this. And so far as numbers go, the Sense 2 is 11.2mm thick, whereas the Sense is 12.4mm. The distinction in thickness is roughly that of a penny.

It was refreshing to put on such a light-weight machine after testing the Apple Watch Extremely. It didn’t catch on any sleeves or jacket cuffs, even once I was sporting a number of layers whereas mountaineering. It was additionally cozy for sleep monitoring and all-day put on. I hardly observed it whereas working or understanding, which is a pleasant change of tempo from the chonkers I’ve been testing as of late. 

The brand new design additionally means fully totally different sensor arrays — each on the underside of the watch and within the show. The place the Sense had a metallic prime ring for EKG and EDA readings, the Sense 2 builds that functionality straight into the show’s bezels. The result’s it appears to be like much more just like the Apple Watch. And whereas I want these bezels had been thinner, I’m glad Fitbit is making use of the “wasted” house. 

However the very best change is that Fitbit changed the Sense’s infuriating inductive groove with an precise bodily button. That groove was a confounding design alternative. Not solely was it susceptible to unintentional presses, however the haptics additionally weren’t sturdy sufficient if you happen to had been making an attempt to make use of the long-press shortcut. I typically sat there urgent, confused why my shortcut wasn’t launching. I finally received the dangle of it, however peruse any Fitbit discussion board or subreddit, and also you’ll discover loads of annoyed customers. 

I had none of those points with the bodily button. Plus, it’s a lot extra satisfying to press one thing and know it’s registered. The button, whereas raised, doesn’t protrude too far. I haven’t skilled any unintentional presses up to now — even whereas sporting a number of layers and a winter coat.

Fitbit clearly put plenty of effort into stress monitoring. With the Sense 2, Fitbit’s made some significant enhancements to the lineup’s most original function.

Fast refresher: The Sense watches measure stress through an EDA sensor. EDA sensors detect minuscule adjustments in your pores and skin’s sweat ranges. That, together with different metrics like coronary heart fee variation, can be utilized as an indicator of stress. Or, as Fitbit dubs it, “physique responses.” Beforehand, the EDA options labored extra like spot-checks that customers needed to provoke. The Sense 2 upgrades the unique’s EDA sensor to a cEDA sensor. The “c” stands for steady, that means now you can get computerized alerts in actual time. 

Principally, if the Sense 2 detects a physique response, you’ll get a nudge to log your temper. You’ll additionally see prompts to take just a few stress-relieving actions like a guided meditation, a two-minute EDA scan, or occurring a brief stroll. 

It really works! Principally. In my expertise, the alerts lagged a bit and sometimes got here at inopportune occasions. For instance, I had a little bit of a automobile rental snafu once I visited Iceland final week. It was 4:30AM ET at Keflavik Worldwide Airport, I hadn’t slept on the flight, my cellphone was malfunctioning, and the automobile rental company was so new none of its info was on Google but. It labored out, however I used to be one misfortune away from hyperventilating right into a paper bag. You’d suppose the Sense 2 would’ve been buzzing incessantly on my wrist. As an alternative, it solely notified me about half-hour after every thing was sorted. When prompted to log my temper, I hit the “Annoyed” emoticon.

By that point, I wasn’t capable of do a guided meditation session, go on a stroll, or sit nonetheless sufficient for a two-minute EDA studying to alleviate my stress. I used to be in a automobile, giving my husband instructions to our subsequent vacation spot. One other time, I received a physique response alert whereas trekking up Seljalandsfoss waterfall within the freezing rain and wind. I logged my temper as “excited,” however I wasn’t occupied with something however being current within the second. It turned a recurring theme. Every time I had highly effective physique responses, I used to be too preoccupied to do greater than be aware how I used to be feeling. And that’s if I even observed the alerts, to start with.

The execution could be a little bit clunky, however Fitbit’s stress administration function remains to be the very best I’ve ever examined. I didn’t all the time reply to alerts as supposed, however general, it is good to take a step again and acknowledge how you’re feeling in a high-stress second. I appreciated that Fitbit acknowledges that bodily stress will be optimistic or damaging and that it could not all the time align together with your temper. 

The stress information can also be offered thoughtfully. As an illustration, you get each a Stress Administration rating and a weekly abstract. The previous appears to be like at your physique responses, exertion stage, and sleep patterns to offer you an concept of how your cumulative stress might influence you on a given day. The weekly abstract visualizes what number of physique responses you bought every day within the earlier week, in addition to your most typical moods. 

Stress administration will be difficult, particularly if you happen to’re somebody who tends to disregard bodily alerts till burnout kicks in. (It me.) The combination of quantified information and logging is a useful visualization device, and I appreciated it wasn’t linked to athletic efficiency. 

Fitbit’s all the time had a number of the finest general sleep monitoring options. It’s just lately added profiles, which categorize you as a sort of animal based mostly in your sleep patterns and offer you sleep hygiene insights based mostly on these patterns. (It’s much like what Samsung does with its Galaxy Watches.) You get a brand new profile on the first of each month. I’d like to inform you the way it works, however there’s a catch. You’ve received to put on it for 14 nights out of the month so as to get a sleep profile for the subsequent month, and it solely gives profiles on the primary of the calendar month. In September, because of my evaluation queue, I solely received 12, which meant I didn’t get a profile for October and received’t get one till November 1st, six weeks after I began utilizing the Sense 2.

I acknowledge that I’m an edge case. This reviewer life has me always rotating between units, and I’ve solely received two wrists. Prospects sticking to one Fitbit can have much less of a problem, however there’s no good motive to tie sleep profiles to the primary of the calendar month somewhat than updating them on a rolling foundation.

I’ll be blunt. If you would like a sturdy tracker that may face up to excessive parts or one with hyper-accurate GPS information, this ain’t it. The Sense 2 has built-in GPS, however if you happen to actually care about correct route maps, you’re higher off with a Garmin or one other health watch with multiband GPS. Working example, you solely have to have a look at these screenshots of a latest hike to see that Fitbit’s GPS isn’t the best. The identical goes if you happen to’re searching for in-depth coaching plans and extra uncooked information. 

Then once more, Fitbit’s all the time been a platform for basic customers. Its biggest power is that it has all the time offered uncooked information in a digestible format. That’s what makes the Sense 2 — and different Fitbit units — nice for constructing more healthy habits in a mild, holistic means. It’s received nice restoration instruments in its Sleep Rating, Day by day Readiness Rating, and, now, stress administration options, in addition to easy however handy instruments for logging energy, weight, and water consumption. Its Energetic Zone Minutes metric is superb for serving to inexperienced persons visualize whether or not they’re getting an ample quantity of train per week.

So the Sense 2 is an effective general well being tracker however a not-so-great smartwatch. In comparison with dirt-cheap health bands, you’re getting a prettier design and a novel tackle stress monitoring. I’m simply undecided why anybody would pay $299.95 for a fancier health tracker with fewer general options when you may get an entry-level smartwatch for much less. I can perceive wanting a health tracker and not a smartwatch, however in that occasion, there are additionally extra inexpensive choices. 

For iPhone customers, the Apple Watch SE prices $249. For Android customers, the 40mm Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 is $279.99. I imply, come on, the Google Pixel Watch prices solely $50 greater than the Sense 2 at $349.

Fitbit’s different trackers muddy the water much more. The $229.95 Versa 4 has the overwhelming majority of the Sense 2’s options, and even the $179.95 Cost 5 has an EKG sensor. In case you simply desire a fundamental tracker, the Encourage 3 is out right here for $99.95. Until you discover the Sense 2 on sale for underneath $200 or actually need stress monitoring, this isn’t a great deal.

Any individual at Fitbit (or Google) didn’t do the mathematics proper. It could’ve been a better transfer to retire the Versa line and let the Sense 2 take the place of the Versa 4, particularly if you happen to had been going to nerf the smarter options on each units. However that’s not what occurred, and even when it had, it’d simply be delaying the inevitable. The Sense 2 is a casualty of Google’s ambitions for the Pixel Watch. And it’s attainable that we’re solely a Pixel Band away from all Fitbit trackers sharing an analogous destiny.

Images by Victoria Tune / The Verge