Fitbit Blaze review

• Attractive UI in the app which is very easy to use
• Works with almost all smartphones, but it's worth checking before you buy

If you've used a Fitbit product before, you know the app is one of the best things about owning one of its devices. The app makes the process of setting up the Fitbit Blaze simple, and presents you with a guide on how the watch works as soon as you download it.

When it's all set up, the Fitbit app will give you a huge variety of information. The main menu covers steps, heart rate, miles, calories, floors climbed and active minutes. You can compare past and present performance using daily, weekly or monthly charts.

The app will also set you a number of challenges to keep you motivated, and you'll receive medals for each milestone you achieve. You can tackle these challenges on your own, or compete against friends who also use the Fitbit app.

These range from simple races to the amount of steps you take over a weekend. It can add that extra element of competition to your workouts, helping to keep you engaged with your regime.

It's simple to add friends if you know their email addresses and know they use the Fitbit app, but it would be nice if Fitbit let you connect to your Facebook account – that way you'd be able to see all your friends who exercise with Fitbit, rather than having to ask everyone.

There's a new app to to help you get more from your Fitbit too. Fitbit Coach is a separate app for people who are that bit more serious about fitness. Featuring 100s of workout videos built into guided sessions for everything from running to HIIT, Fitbit Coach is a fantastic motivational tool and particularly useful if your new to working out. 

While some of the videos are available for free, the majority are tucked away behind a premium paywall. Access to the premium app will still set you back £5.99 per month for £29.99 ($39.99, about AU$50) for the year, though there are some free workout sessions in the app too. These are frustratingly hard to find in the Coach app.

You can access the Coach app from the main Fitbit app and any activity you do will still be counted into your Fitbit totals, but you'll need to download the second app and jump between the two which is a little clunky.

That said, Fitbit Coach has some other great benefits that make that – and the price – potentially worthwhile. For example, it uses your recent tracked info to recommend workouts to do next. All in all, if you're not a big fan of the gym, and pricey gym memberships and you're looking for support in your fitness journey then this is an app worth looking at. 

The Fitbit Blaze will likely work with your iOS, Android, Windows Phone or Windows 10 Mobile device, as there are over 200 compatible devices – if you're not sure whether your device is supported you can check on the Fitbit website. If your phone is only a couple of years old and can download the Fitbit app, it's likely to be compatible.

Bear in mind that you can't use an Apple Watch with Android phones and not all Android Wear devices work on iOS; Fitbit is one of the few wearables producers whose devices can be used across multiple platforms.

Battery life

• Five day battery life is quite impressive for a device with such a big screen
• Intensive use will bring it down to three to four days of use

Battery performance on the Fitbit Blaze is surprising – and in a good way. Manufacturers regularly make a song and dance about the battery life of a new device, but, more often than not, in testing we find that said device doesn't last as long as claimed.

But in this case, Fitbit has it just about right.

Fitbit claims the Blaze has a five-day battery life, which for a smartwatch with a color screen would be pretty impressive. And during my review I found a full charge would keep the Blaze going for between four and six days; I suspect the disparity was down to different levels of exercise on particular days.

My only complaint about battery performance on the Fitbit Blaze is how long it takes to charge. I found it always took at least three hours to charge the Blaze

In the grand scheme of things though, that's not a problem. You'll usually be taking the watch off when you go to bed anyway, so it's easy enough to charge it overnight – you just pop the Blaze out of its strap and place it in the supplied charging cradle.

It certainly doesn't look as impressive as when you place the Moto 360 on its charging stand with the strap still attached, but it gets the job done.