When comparing Suunto M5 vs Fitbit Blaze, the Slant community recommends Fitbit Blaze for most people. In the question“What are the best fitness trackers with heart rate monitoring?” Fitbit Blaze is ranked 5th while Suunto M5 is ranked 9th. The most important reason people chose Fitbit Blaze is:
The Fitbit Blaze fitness tracker is feature-rich and tracks steps, calories burned, distance traveled, active minutes, floors climbed, heart-rate, and sleep time.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Adapts to ones workouts
The watch can adapt to the routine one is using for their workouts in order to suggest other workouts the user may be able to handle. This basically works as a simple personal trainer, which can be encouraging to the user.
Pro Heart rate monitor is not necessary for every workout
Luckily the extra monitor is not necessary for every workout, which is nice as it can be a pain to hook up correctly and is a bit of a chore being an extra piece to worry about.
Pro Tracks your activity in a large variety of ways
The Fitbit Blaze fitness tracker is feature-rich and tracks steps, calories burned, distance traveled, active minutes, floors climbed, heart-rate, and sleep time.
Pro Very easy to read, even in bright sunlight
The Fitbit Blaze is a great option for outdoor use thanks to how easy it is to see the display even in bright sunlight.
The clear and bright display uses plenty of color for better clarity.
Pro Wide range of wrist straps available for a more personalized look
If you don't like the basic rubber wrist strap the comes with the tracker, you can change out the strap for more premium options.
There are many different styles available including leather, silicone, or stainless steel in a variety of colors.
Pro Long battery life for being so feature-rich
While it varies somewhat, many people have been reporting that the fitness tracker usually lasts 5 full days on a single charge.
In general, the more features a tracker has, the faster it will drain the battery. 4 or 5 days is an impressive charge compared to other trackers with similar features (continuous heart rate tracking for example).
Pro Interesting design
The Blaze has a techie look to it that some may find a nice change from the usual sporty-appearance of trackers.
It is fairly lightweight and the design isn't offensive, it's something you can wear every day.
Cons
Con Setting up the heart-rate monitor can be a chore
Finding the correct placement for the heart rate pad to record correct reading can be difficult to do, which may be time consuming and a PITA.
Con Movestick can't be run on OSX
Software for the device is not OSX compatible, though users could emulate a Windows environment and use the software that way.
Con Heart rate monitoring can be hit or miss
There may be times where the monitor fluctuates out of the norm, which leads to incorrect readings. Normally this is understood when using something like a smartwatch, but to see it happening with a device that has a separate band to record heart monitoring it is a shame to see.
Con Poor use of the large display
The fitness tracker's screen takes up a small amount of the front face. The glass bezels and casing take up most of the front.
Con Requires your smartphone for GPS tracking
The Blaze lacks a built-in GPS so it can't track the route of your runs on its own. It can, however, be paired with your smartphone to use its GPS and track the route that way.
Con Inconvenient to charge
To charge the Blaze fitness tracker, you need to remove the main module and lock it into its charger.