nice upgrade with hidden price tag

Fitbit’s most popular fitness tracker has a successor, with a new design and a color screen. Read our Fitbit Charge 5 review now.

Our Fitbit Charge 5 review

Fitbit has released several smartwatches and trackers in recent years, but with the new Fitbit Charge 5, that distinction is no longer so clear. The company has placed an AMOLED color screen in this tracker, which is twice as bright as its predecessor. So you can finally read what’s on the screen in the sun.

But you really shouldn’t confuse the Charge 5 with a smartwatch despite its beautiful color screen. A smartwatch is made to show all information on the screen of the wearable. The Charge 5 remains a tracker, with a somewhat clunky interface and minimal info on the screen. Only as soon as you open the Fitbit app on your smartphone, you will be welcomed with all data about your activities and health.

The Charge 5 is a nice device. Not only is the wearable ten percent thinner than its predecessor, but it also looks much better. This is due to the curved edges of the screen, the soft lines and above all no visible Fitbit logo. The Charge 5 is also comfortable enough to wear all day and night.

always on

It is striking that the Fitbit Charge 5 no longer has a physical button or touch button compared to its predecessors. The entire control is via the screen, but that is not pleasant. If you want to go back, you have to tap the screen twice firmly. Too often, the Charge 5 activates the option that is currently on the screen.

This time you can also choose from an always on screen. This means that there is always information on the screen, unless you sleep during the times you set. It works well, but the battery life does deteriorate. Normally you can get through the week without having to charge the tracker. If you use the always on screen, you have to put the wearable on the charger every few days.

Fortunately, the Charge 5 responds very well to lifting your wrist, so you don’t really need the always-on screen.

The dials aren’t the best

What is very disappointing are the dials. You can choose from 23 different watch faces. There are quite a lot of them, but each and every one of them has mainly thought about the ‘flashy’ design and not the ease of use. The most important thing about a watch face on a tracker is that you see the right information at a glance. In addition, it should look nice. When designing the Charge 5 watch faces, Fitbit seems to want to get rid of a dull image, but with little success.

Also missing Spotify control and a weather app. These options may be added later, but it’s clearly a loss now – just as not all new features work yet. For example, the ECG app for the Charge 5 is not yet available. This wearable must also provide a daily recovery score later, which indicates whether your body is ready for a workout or a rest day.

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Sports, sleep and stress

It’s amazing how much this little Charge 5 measures. Throughout the day, your heart rate is measured and your steps and workouts are tracked. Important are the zone minutes, which track how many minutes a day you spend in specific heart rate zones based on your age and health, such as the cardio zone or the fat burning zone. It is striking that Fitbit has completely abandoned measuring the number of stairs you have climbed.

The Charge 5 has built-in GPS for when you exercise outside. Interestingly, the wearable also connected gps has. This means that if you take your smartphone with you, its GPS is used so that you have a faster connection. If you wear the Fitbit in bed, your sleep is also tracked. You can see exactly when you were in deep sleep, light sleep or REM sleep and you get a sleep score.

A kind of report card for sleeping. This comprehensive report does not always work. For several nights I had to make do with simplified sleep data, because the tracker couldn’t measure a consistent heart rate. However, there is a good chance that this was due to my sleeping position. During your sleep, your skin temperature and the oxygen saturation in your blood are also measured.

Known from the Fitbit Sense, you can now also do an EDA scan on the Charge 5 to determine your stress level. During a few minutes, small electrical changes in your skin are measured. You hold the sides of the wearable for this. With the Fitbit Sense, you had to keep a palm on the screen during this scan. Now the screen is free, but only a timer is shown. A missed opportunity not to put a breathing exercise there.

Higher price tag and extra costs

More than ever, the focus of the Fitbit Charge 5 is on Fitbit Premium. If you buy this wearable, you get six months of free access to this subscription. After that, you pay 8.99 euros monthly (or 87.99 euros per year) to get more insights into your health and your daily recovery score. You can also start workouts and meditations via video if you pay. Dutch content will also be added later this year.

Premium is presented as optional, but it actually isn’t. You buy a tracker like the Charge 5 because you want to gain insight into your activity and your health. Then you also want to have the complete picture and that costs you money every month.

In addition, this is the most expensive Fitbit Charge to date. The Charge 4 was sold for 149.95 euros, while the Charge 5 costs 179.95 euros.

Conclusion Fitbit Charge 5 review

Despite its obvious limitations, the Charge 5 is the best Fitbit for most people right now. Everything you could wish for from a small tracker is measured, the battery lasts a long time and the device looks nice. Add to that GPS and Fitbit Pay (if your bank supports it), and you have a fitness tracker that we can recommend without hesitation. Just be aware that the price tag can rise considerably, with Fitbit Premium playing a major role.

Buy Fitbit Charge 5

The Fitbit Charge 5 is for 179.95 euros for sale in black, ivory white or steel blue via Fitbit.com, Bol.com and Coolblue.