[26 December 2020] I received a Fitbit Charge 4. It is said to be capable of monitoring:

- Steps taken
- Distance covered
- Calories burned (total for day including rest)
- Active Minutes with strenuous activity
- Floors climbed
- All day heart rate and zones

There are more details here [link]

Continue reading...
 

• closely monitor my sleep and optimise it - observing any correlation with when I dream
• monitor the runs I do and see what the charts show (I try and run a distance of 2 miles most mornings; I already keep a record of when I run/walk and how far)
• monitor the cycling I do and see what the charts show (I cycle most days for at least 45 minutes; I already keep a record of how many miles I cycle and my average speed)
• use information gleaned from the above exercises to encourage my efforts and improve

I am not interested in 'counting calories' or 'fat burning' to lose weight. Nor am I interested in the social aspects of the Fitbit app beyond sharing this information here which may be of interest to others.

After using the device and 'software' for over a week I wrote up a review which you can find [here].
 

- If you use built-in GPS regularly, Charge 4 has a battery life of up to 4 days. If you use built-in GPS continuously, Charge 4 has a battery life of up to 5 hours. [more on this in my Review]

- Check your settings after doing a firmware update; I previously had GPS turned off, but it was back on following the update and producing maps in my account (something I didn't want). I had to go into each activity on the Charge 4 and disable GPS for each.

- Read about EMF
 

My Setup options:

• Windows 10 Laptop
• Samsung Galaxy S4 Phone
• Android 7.0 Tablet

Windows 10 Compatibility

Without a compatible phone (Android 7.0 is the minimum required and mine only has 5.0.1), I discovered the Fitbit App is available for Windows 10 in the app Store, the only other requirement is Bluetooth.

Once I installed the app and opened it for the first time I was asked to create an account with Fitbit (it's a shame this is necessary but I suppose that is where the data is stored). I then chose Charge 4 from the list (for some reason the long list of devices appeared to be in a random order which wasn't helpful).

Then to set up the Charge 4, I gave it my email address and chose a password and agreed to the Ts&Cs (including sending my data to the US). It then asked for my name, date of birth, height, weight and sex (there's an option to click which will explain why they ask you for these details - I didn't read it). Finally I had to agree to further Ts&Cs. A confirmation email is sent which needs to opened and a link clicked.

My Fitbit had previously powered on to display the prompt to go to www.fitbit.com/setup and a smiley face, but then when I came to set it up it wasn't functioning properly; it did a little vibrate when I tried to power it on but the screen remained blank. I suspected the battery was low so I left it to charge.

I was unable to get a Windows 10 laptop with Bluetooth to detect the Fitbit device, so I tried my phone and it detected it but failed to connect (perhaps due to it being out of date)... (the laptop would detect the phone).

Samsung Galaxy S4 Phone

My first thought was to attempt to upgrade my Samsung Galaxy S4 I9505 from Android 5.0.1 [the latest official version for it] to 7.1 Nougat, but that turned out to be a complicated minefield littered with "How To" videos and a plethora of links to download ROMs and stuff... I gave up with this (for the time-being).

Android 7.0 Tablet

Then it happened that I sold someone a Tablet via ebay which they wanted to return as faulty. It has Android 7.0 on it. Once I received the tablet back it turned out they had managed to bend the USB plug and break it, causing the tablet to fail to charge. I was frustrated about this, and having to refund them for their mistake, but I was happy that I would now have my tablet back to use with my Fitbit...

Or so I thought! Things weren't that straightforward because the buyer of the tablet had sync'd it with their Google account and resetting it just asked for their details. Finally, after more frustration I finally tracked down a Youtube video with the right steps for my tablet and after about an hour of meticulously following the steps, I managed to reset the tablet and connect it to my account.

The Fitbit app for Android weighs in at 115MB so on my slow connection too about 10 minutes to download. There was also a large update to install.

Notes:

• The Fitbit apparently takes 1-2 hours to fully charge
• If you use built-in GPS regularly, Charge 4 has a battery life of up to 4 days. If you use built-in GPS continuously, Charge 4 has a battery life of up to 5 hours.

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