Last year's Fitbit Charge 4 came with some fairly incremental upgrades, and if you've been tired of the same old design, the new Charge 5 might be worth the investment. It brings along some new features and a new look.
For starters, the Charge 5 has a far more high-end design look this time around. The shiny, slim aluminum case looks more similar to the stylish Fitbit Luxe than any of its predecessors.
You'll have the choice between Platinum (with a Steel Blue silicone band), Graphite (with a black silicone band), and Gold (with a Lunar White silicone band). Fitbit also offers a variety of additional bands for purchase (which range from $30 to 50 depending on the style) including, Horween leather bands, sport bands, and more
On the front is a color AMOLED screen, which is a nice change from the greyscale OLED display we've seen on the Charge lineup in the past. It's also the first fitness tracker to include always-on display mode.
As usual, the Charge 5 packs a heart-rate monitor, SPO2 sensor, and built-in GPS to track milage on your runs, walks, and biking sessions. It also comes with 20 different exercise modes, and tracks your sleep throughout the night.
Of course, you'll also receive smartphone notifications to the tracker including calls, text messages, and other alerts.
You'll also have access to Active Zone Minutes, a feature that was first introduced on the Charge 4 last year. It uses your heart-rate to track effort throughout your workouts, and pushes you toward different heart-rate zones (e.g., fat burn, cardio, and peak).
The Charge 5 features workout intensity maps, too. Whenever you use GPS to track a workout and sync the tracker to the Fitbit app, you'll see a heat map of how intense your workout was based on your heart-rate zones.
But the company also pulled inspiration for from its Fitbit Sense, by including both an electrodermal activity (EDA) sensor and an electrocardiogram (ECG) app.
Using the EDA sensor, the Charge 5 can measure minor changes in your skin to help determine your stress levels. Meanwhile, the ECG app uses electrical sensors built into the the tracker to help detect signs of Atrial Fibrillation (AFib).
It's worth noting, however, that the ECG app won't be available at launch. Fitbit says it's coming soon, but has yet to give an exact date.
Fitbit also announced a new feature to its Fitbit Premium subscription service, called Daily Readiness. As with the ECG app, it's a feature that's coming soon. It will be available on the Fitbit Sense, Verse 2, Versa 3, and Luxe, and Inspire 2 as well.
Based on activity (fitness fatigue), heart-rate variability, and sleep quality tracked on the Charge 5, you'll receive a Daily Readiness score each morning. Depending on how high or low the score is, you'll know whether you should workout that day or allow your body to rest.
And if you're wondering whether all these sensors compromise battery, Fitbit managed to keep the same seven day battery life as seen on the previous version. Of course, that depends on usage.
As for price and availability, the Charge 5 will start at $179.95 and is currently available for pre-order via Fitbit's site. It'll start shipping in late September.
