Fitbit Charge 4 Advanced Fitness Tracker with GPS, Swim Tracking & Up To 7 Day Battery

Product Information

The Fitbit Charge 5 has a soft Infinity Band strap, which makes it more comfortable to wear while sleeping and exercising (Image credit: Fitbit) During workouts, get real-time stats on screen to see whether you’re in Fat Burn, Cardio or Peak zone, so you can dial the effort up or down according to your goals. Workout Intensity Map The Fitbit Charge 4 is a real evolution from its predecessor, and GPS is an excellent addition that helps bridge the gap between fitness bands and fully-fledged sports watches. The Fitbit Charge 4 charges through a USB cable that connects to the watch via a large clip. It’s easy to line up the connectors (it clamps securely around the whole body of the watch, making it much easier than the similar charging clips used by Garmin devices), and a full charge takes under an hour.

Many other apps fitness provide you with an estimate of spent moving, but these measurements are often connected to footsteps rather than heart rate and are therefore less accurate for indoor activities. Fitbit Premium So why would you buy the new Fitbit Charge 4 in the face of an avalanche of cheap rivals from China? Fitbit thinks the addition of GPS and a selection of other features is enough to persuade customers away from the bargain bin. We’d have to say we agree. To avoid overloading you with information and putting you off Fitbits for good, this guide isn’t quite as exhaustive as it could be. Instead, here are some of the standout features you should consider before you buy a Fitbit: During outdoor runs, rides, hikes and more, use built-in GPS to see your pace and distance on Charge 4, then see a map of your workout in the Fitbit app. Water-ResistantThe Fitbit Charge 5's screen is about the same size, but is a full color AMOLED, with crisp graphics and animations. It looks very much like that of the Fitbit Luxe, and may indeed be the same unit. It's a huge upgrade, and one that brings the Charge series in line with rival device from the likes of Xiaomi and Amazfit. Fitbit Charge 5 vs Fitbit Charge 4: Features Smartwatch features After four days of wearing the Charge 4, plus two half-hour runs using GPS, the Charge 4’s battery life was down to 24 percent. Fitbit Charge 4 review: Verdict See which heart rate zone you’re in to gauge if you’re working hard enough to reach your goals. Goal-Based Exercises

The Fitbit Charge 4 follows a pattern established by the company over the past few years, in that it doesn’t look all that different from the model it replaces – the Fitbit Charge 3, which launched in October 2018. When it comes to features, however, there are upgrades and they’re significant. Do a mild, ten-minute workout mostly in your fat-burning heart-rate zone (zone 3, normally), for example, and you’ll earn ten Active Zone Minutes towards your daily 30-minute target; up the intensity to your cardio and peak heart rate zones (usually defined as zones four and five) and you’ll get double credit for any time spent in those zones. Amp up your workout when you control music, like songs and browse playlists and podcasts from Charge 4. * Guided Breathing Sessions

Fitbit Charge 4 Specs

Fitbit has also brought its Smart Wake feature to the Charge 4; the company says it uses machine learning to know the best time to rouse you from your slumber, a feature my toddler has perfected without the assistance of advanced algorithms. Fitbit Charge 4: Spotify controls The Charge 5 has lots more health and fitness tools to offer, though – including an EDA (electrodermal activity) sensor, as seen on the Fitbit Sense. This uses your skin's conductivity to assess physiological changes brought about by stress. The Fitbit app then helps you understand the factors that affect your stress levels, and take steps to manage it. The only things I’d be concerned about is that, first, Active Zone Minutes as a concept is a lot less simple to comprehend than a step count. And, second, that those extra time credits for activities in your cardio and peak zones might encourage people to indulge in too much high-intensity exercise at the expense of lower intensity exercise when a balance between the two is what you want to aim for. The first night I wore the Charge 4, it said I didn’t fall asleep until nearly 12:30 a.m., a half an hour or so after I dozed off. I must’ve been tossing and turning a lot. However, my oxygen levels remained pretty consistent. The second night, the Charge 4 thought I didn’t fall asleep until 2 a.m. Fortunately, you can edit this data in the Fitbit app, to more accurately reflect your rest.

That all changes with the Versa 3, the first Versa smartwatch to feature built-in GPS. That’s not where the upgrades stop, either. The Versa 3 also comes with an upgraded “multipath” heart-rate sensor, a screen that fills more of the front of the watch body, plus the ability to take phone calls. Though it’s not live in the UK yet, Google Assistant will also be coming to the Versa 3 in a later update.Go into exercise mode during your favourite workouts to set a goal for each workout and see real-time progress of your effort on screen. Built-In GPS Finally, to battery life, which is quoted at seven days without GPS and five hours of continuous GPS use. My experience so far is that using the GPS for short bursts of activity (20 to 30 minutes) every day gives around four days of use. That’s pretty good in my book. You also get six months of Fitbit Premium in the box, which is handy as it enables something called a “Readiness Score” (again, this is “coming soon” – and to the more recent Sense, Versa, Luxe and Inspire devices, too). This will advise you on what kind of exercise your body is ready for each day, to theoretically ensure you don’t overdo it. The second issue is harder to let slide: the continuation of Fitbit’s war on buttons. The Fitbit Versa 3 had an infuriatingly inconsistent capacitive button and the Charge 5 goes one step further: it’s now touchscreen only. That’s a bold move for a device with such a small screen, and operations frequently verge on the fiddly, especially if you intend to run with your Charge 5 in the rain. Or, y’know, perspire at all.

Get a better understanding of your effort during outdoor workouts with a map in the Fitbit app which shows when and how long you were in each heart rate zone. Active Zone Minutes Both Charge devices will use a similar-size wristband, so Charge 3 owners who want to upgrade but like their old band will be able to easily swap them. All you have to do is press a button on the underside of the strap where it connects to the device. Charge 4 automatically syncs to most popular iOS and Android devices to show your stats, trends and progress on your Fitbit dashboard. Mobile App As we’ve mentioned, when it comes to Fitbits, the sheer amount of choice can be dizzying. We’ve outlined some key questions here to ask yourself when making your decision, to help you find the right Fitbit for you. What features should I look for? You can also request a Wellness Report, which provides a visualization of your health trends over the last month. It’s a shame this isn’t available instantly – instead, the app takes a few minutes to generate it as a PDF. ConclusionSetup is simple: just log into your Fitbit account on your phone (or create a new one), then select the Charge 4 from the list of available options. The app will search for it using Bluetooth, then request a four-digit PIN displayed on the device’s screen. You'll then be asked to update the device's firmware; a process that takes a few minutes and requires it to be kept close to your phone.