The majority of the world has grown increasingly conscious of their health in recent times. This has worked out quite well for the companies that produce products that cater to the consumer’s specific health needs. Ever since the coronavirus pandemic picked up in 2020, the way people look at and use fitness bands and their health monitoring features has changed completely. It has also become a challenge for smart wear producers to upgrade their products to meet customer expectations and wants. With a variety of competitors in the market, customers have the option to switch to another company’s products if they are not satisfied. Let us introduce you to the Fitbit Charge 5!
Of the thousands of companies out there, one that holds a high percentage of the market is Fitbit. The company is owned by Google and creates products like fitness trackers and watches. The reason it has a high market share is not just its product quality or its features. It is due to the fact that Fitbit, unlike its competitors, does not launch product after product at short intervals. Their competitors lose customers because their products have continuous launches. This tends to leave the buyer a lot more confused due to the number of different products available in the market by the same company, and Fitbit has done well to avoid that.
I was able to get my hands on the Fitbit Charge 5 and have been using it for a couple of months now. It is an absolute beauty when it comes to fitness trackers but costs a whopping Rs. 14,999. And like every other product, it has both pros and cons, which we’ll go through in detail.
Design –
Look-wise, the tracker is gorgeous, with a sleek screen display surrounded by metal plates on the side. Functionality-wise, the design isn’t ideal, because it has no buttons. Unlike its predecessor, the Charge 4, the Charge 5 has no button to navigate through screens and back to the home screen. This means that you have to constantly swipe back to reach your initial screen, making it very tedious and frustrating.
Display –
The Charge 5 gets a huge upgrade in terms of display, which is a 1.04-inch colour AMOLED screen. It is bright and easy to view under direct sunlight if you set the brightness to the correct mode. The AMOLED display also has an always-on mode, which is very useful but at the same time drains your battery significantly. With the always-on mode, the battery life on my tracker was reduced to less than 2 days.
Battery –
The promised battery life of the Charge 5 is about 7 days. This life excludes using a few features of the tracker. If you use the EDA scan, there may be an immediate fall in the life of the battery by about a percentage. Also, as mentioned above, if you use the AOD feature, the band’s battery will barely last you 2 days. Without this feature, my band tends to last about 6.5 days, which is pretty good when compared with the promised battery life.
The charge 5 also comes with a magnetic charger that is different from the earlier bands in the charge series. The charger definitely charges the tracker faster but seems like it could be damaged easily. If that does happen, one would be forced to buy a new charger considering the previous band chargers don’t work on it.
Function –
The Charge 5 isn’t just a pretty face. The tracker is mainly meant for fitness and has a tonne of features that promote a safer and healthier lifestyle. The screen is also larger than the charge 4, which was possibly done to compete with the larger screens of Huawei and Xiaomi’s fitness bands. It has many general features similar to its competitors, like getting text and call notifications in real-time as long as your phone is in range and has an internet connection. There is also the DND mode, which mutes the notifications while you’re busy. It also has inbuilt workout modes and more that you can customise. Unfortunately, you can only store 6 of these as shortcuts, whereas you can do about 15 on the Xiaomi and Huawei bands.
Then there are also the features that are exclusive to the Fitbit, like the inbuilt EDA scanner. This detects tiny electrical changes called electrodermal activity (EDA) on your skin. This scan regularly can help you keep track of your responses and help improve your mental health. The tracker also generates a score that can help you keep track of your stress. The Charge 5 also has an ECG scanner that not only tracks your pulse but can also detect any irregularities and notify you. It also has the carried-on GPS feature which lets you track your band from your phone. This feature is not inbuilt into any of the competitors’ fitness bands. The Charge 5 also has a sleep tracker that can draw up data and present it while tracking your REM cycle and deep sleep activity automatically.
Should you go for it?
The extensive features of the Charge 5 come with a 63% price difference from its competition. The Huawei and Xiaomi bands cost a maximum of Rs. 4,499, and the Fitbit Charge 5 costs a maximum of Rs. 14,999. The question that arises is if it’s worth it. That depends entirely on whether or not you make optimal use of the features that the Charge 5 provides. It is definitely packed with more than enough scanners and features to justify its price, but whether or not the user makes use of it is up to them. It is the best fitness band on the market but comes at a high price. Hence, if you are going to make good use of it, you will get your money’s worth. It’ll help you lead a healthier lifestyle both physically and mentally.