I wore the Charge 5 for just about two weeks to put the tracker through its paces and see how it stacked up to previous generations of the Charge line, other trackers, and smartwatches, the current ruling class of wearables.Īnother change: the inductive spot used as a button, which was on the inside corner of the tracker's body, has been removed. You get many of the health features typically associated with high-level smartwatches without the bulky casing, distracting screens, and importantly, the hefty price tag.

If the Charge 4, which came out last year, served as a happy medium between those who want to wear a smartwatch and those who want less of a constant tether to their phones, the Charge 5 is more of a fully-realized step in a different direction. The Charge 5 is packed with the type of tech typically only seen in smartwatches, which helps to establish a new standard for what trackers can do (it also helps that not many other companies are still making trackers). If that device is Fitbit's new Charge 5, however, they'll be able to do more than ever before with a tracker. Still, plenty of people prefer the smaller footprint of a slim fitness tracker on their wrist over often-bulky watch casings, even if it means that they won't be able to do as much with their device. As smartwatches became more sophisticated and left other wearable devices in the dust when it came to controls, features like colorful touchscreens, and specialized capabilities, opting for a fitness tracker over a watch could be seen as a sort of tradeoff of form vs.

Fitbit charge 5 review