a great gift for the biohacker in your life

Health is so much more than how many steps you’re taking each day. And while fitness trackers have made some major strides over the past several years in the breadth and depth of health measurements they’re able to track, the new Charge 5 is made for whole-body (and mind) health tracking.

The latest offering from Fitbit, this slim watch takes a truly holistic approach to health and wellness by tracking fitness, stress, and sleep. Best of all, it retails for a modest $179.95.

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However, the only way to unlock most of the detailed wellness reports is to also become a Fitbit Premium subscriber. The Charge 5 comes with a 6-month membership for free, but after that your membership will run $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year.

My experience with fitness tracking watches is pretty limited, as I’ve only been using one consistently since January 2021. My current watch is a Garmin Vivoactive 3, so I was excited to try the newest Fitbit and see how it compares and how smartwatches have evolved since the Vivoactive 3’s debut in 2017.

Specs and comfort

The Charge 5 is small and sleek, with a comfortable thin band and a display that’s twice as bright as the Charge 4. Compared to my Vivoactive 3, the colors are noticeably more vibrant.

I swapped out the Charge 5’s standard band for the Sport Band and it is extremely comfortable, more so than other bands that I’ve tried. I actually forget it’s on regularly.

The battery can last up to seven days, and it only takes two hours to reach full charge. I never got seven days of battery life, but I prefer to keep it in Always On Display mode because I check the time a lot, which runs down the battery faster.

The Charge 5 is also water resistant up to 50,000 meters, so I felt totally comfortable washing dishes and giving my 9-month-old a bath without taking the watch off.

However, one thing that I had trouble with is the initial setup. I had to try several times over the course of about 20 minutes to get the Charge 5 to connect to my phone to finish the setup, but eventually it did. It’s worked without a hitch since.

Tracking

The Charge 5 itself offers a number of tracking options, including your steps taken, heart rate, oxygen saturation (Sp02), and sleep.

The watch also has a feature called SmartTrack, which auto-detects and records workouts if you forget to manually start tracking (which is always, for me). It worked flawlessly for walks and treadmill workouts, and made a few educated guesses that I thought were pretty close. It recorded a rowing machine workout as an elliptical workout, and me pushing a stroller through a muddy corn maze as an outdoor bike ride. Amusing, but a good guess nonetheless.

The watch also features something called an Electrodermal Activity (EDA) Scan, which is meant to give you some insights into your stress levels. The daily Stress Management Score also gives you a score from 0-100 based on your sleep patterns, exertion, and EDA responsiveness.

The EDA Scan requires three uninterrupted minutes during which you quietly and calmly hold the sides of the device with your fingers so that the electrical responses can be measured. Intentionally or not, this exercise serves as a mindful moment in and of itself.

You can even track food intake and menstrual cycles on the Fitbit app, making Fitbit a truly comprehensive health and wellness app and wearable — not just a fitness tracker.

Daily Readiness Score & ECG App

Fitbit just rolled out two new features for the Charge 5: the Daily Readiness Score and the electrocardiogram (ECG) App.

The ECG App measures your heart rhythm and can tell you if it’s normal or abnormal. An abnormal result is not a diagnosis, but may be a reason to give your doctor a call. Like the EDA Scan, it requires you to hold the sides of the watch with two fingers, but this time only for 30 seconds. My result…

A normal rhythm
Credit: SaVanna Shoemaker / Mashable

After four days of wearing your Fitbit, you’ll also get a Daily Readiness Score. It provides guidance on how intensely to workout on a given day, and it’s based on three factors: activity, recent sleep, and heart rate variability. Here are some of my scores.

Credit: Screengrab: Fitbit

Credit: Screengrab: Fitbit

I followed the guidance provided by Fitbit for three days, choosing a moderately intense yoga session on day 1 (not pictured), a “Cardio Pump” class on day 2 (above, left), and a rest day on day 3 (above, right). The prompting from the device about my readiness gave me more motivation to workout. Let’s just say I’m not typically one to take part in a class called “Cardio Pump.”

Watch features

While testing the Charge 5, I found that it was comfortable and useful — with a couple of exceptions. I check the weather using the weather app on my Garmin at least a couple of times a day, but there was no comparable weather app or widget for the Charge 5 watch. I definitely miss that feature.

I also occasionally use my Garmin to control music on my phone during workouts, and I was disappointed to find that the Charge 5 doesn’t offer this function.

However, the watch itself still offers several useful features, like Fitbit Pay, phone notifications, GPS, alarms, and timers.

Wellness content

In addition to all of the tracking features, reports, and scores you can get from the Charge 5, the Fitbit app is loaded with wellness content to help you optimize your health once you’ve got the data.

As a Premium member, you’ll have access to streaming workouts, mindfulness exercises, recipes and nutrition guides, and guided programs like the 2 week “Get More Sleep” program or the 3 week “Beginner Bodyweight” program.

After using the Charge 5 for 30 days, Fitbit Premium members will be able to generate a Wellness Report, which is a detailed, easily-scannable summary of their Fitbit stats that can be printed and shared with a healthcare provider too.

The Fitbit Charge 5 is packed with health-tracking features for what is actually a fairly modest price. However, it’s more “wellness tracker” than “smart watch” — lacking certain useful, non-health related features like a weather app and music controls.

However, when it comes to health and wellness it delivers a truly comprehensive tracking experience — especially when paired with the ultra-detailed reports provided with a Fitbit Premium membership.

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