If your current smartwatch or fitness tracker is leaving holes in your Quantified Self program, the new Fitbit Charge 5 can likely fill them.
Packing their “most advanced technology and sensors” into a slimmer, brighter, and more equipped package, they’re able to track every metric you’ve ever heard of. And probably many you haven’t.
The goal? Giving you a holistic look at your health and wellness beyond just basic fitness markers, balancing exercise with recovery. Here’s how it measures stress, recovery, temperature, heart rate, blood oxygenation, and more…
Fitbit Charge 5 features & tech details
A new look and feel
Starting with aesthetics and form factor, the new color touchscreen is 2x brighter than the Charge 4. It’s 10% slimmer, despite packing more features inside, and it has a sleeker look.
The Charge 5 has up to seven days of battery life. Sync it with your smartphone to get notifications (Android users can also make quick replies from your wrist) and make contactless payments. It’ll also show you timers and reminders from your calendar.
Choose from 20+ full-color clock faces and multiple watch bands (silicone infinity, breathable sport, plush nylon, and premium Horween leather…shown at bottom of this story) that are easily swapped out to help you match the mood and the activity.
The new design also adds more functional touchpoints, like using the stainless steel side panels as sensors to detect stress levels.
Basic Workout Data
The Fitbit Charge 5 has built-in GPS and 20 exercise modes (including cycling, or course). There’s even SmartTrack, which will automatically start recording a workout if you forget to hit the button (been there, done that). Expect the usual stats like workout time, distance, etc., plus heart rate measured directly from the device’s optical sensors.
Active Zone Minutes lets you input your desired intensity level, then it’ll alert you throughout your workout if you’re falling short and help you increase your efforts to hit your goals.
When you’re done, check your intensity levels laid out over a map of your ride (or run, or any other outdoor workout tracked with GPS), showing how hard you worked along the way. It’ll also upload the data to any of 28 other apps, including TrainingPeaks, Strava, Peloton, Noom, WeightWatchers, RunKeeper, etc.
Heart & Health measurement features
The Charge 5 builds on features from their larger Sense smartwatch, particularly the EDA (Electrodermal Activity) sensor, which uses electrical impulses on your skin’s surface to detect stress levels. It turns that into a numerical score you can use to measure and adjust your breathing, mindset, or activity to reduce stress.
It also tracks heart health with high/low heart rate alerts, ECG assessments for AFib, key Health Metrics tracking for, HRV, resting heart rate, skin temperature variation and
For overall wellness monitoring, it’s even tracking nightly skin temperature variations, breathing rate, and SpO2 (blood oxygenation) levels.
ECG app will help you detect Afib and other heart rate changes, sending you real-time alerts and emailed PDF reports that you can share with your doctor.
Fitbit Premium Features take it up a notch
Thankfully, most of the Charge 5’s functionality is readily available without an ongoing subscription. But for those who need a little extra data (or a daily nudge), Fitbit’s Premium Membership connects all the dots to give you more insight into what all that data means specifically for you.
The Charge 5 comes with a free 6-month membership, but after that, it’s a subscription service that they say has more than 1 million members. So, if you’re up for a $79.99 annual subscription (or $9.99/mo), here’s what you’ll get:
Daily Readiness Score
The Charge 5 introduces Fitbit’s new Daily Readiness Score (1-100), a personalized Premium feature (will also be available to Sense, Versa 3, Versa 2, Luxe, and Inspire 2 users) that compiles your HRV, sleep quality, and training load to predict what you’re body’s ready for.
If it thinks you’re tired or overtrained, it’ll recommend a mindfulness or yoga session. If it thinks you’re rested and ready, it’ll give you workout recommendations based on your goals. All of the sessions are pulled from their library off Premium content.
Personalized Fitness Content
Access 400+ workouts and meditation sessions from popular brands like Daily Burn, Les Mills, and POPSUGAR, Aaptiv, Aura, Breethe, and Deepak Chopra’s Mindful Method.
You’ll get all manner of strength and HIIT workouts, cardio training, and even meditation and mindfulness coaching to help with recovery and stress management…including access to a select library of Calm’s sessions. Plus nutrition tips and guidance.
Some of these features, like the ECG app and select Premium content, will come online shortly after product launch and/or not be available in all countries.
Fitbit Charge 5 Pricing & Availability
The Charge 5 will retail for $179.95 USD and come in three colors: Platinum (Steel Blue band), Graphite (Black band), and Gold (Lunar White band). Pre-orders open August 25th, with retail availability coming in mid-September.
Accessory bands range from $29.95-$49.95, with more options planned for future releases.
