The Fitbit Charge 5 is a truly comprehensive fitness tracker, perhaps the best “true” fitness tracker we’ve ever tried, combining the best features of Fitbit’s current lineup in one device. It has GPS to track your run without a watch, an EDA (electrodermal activity) sensor to measure your stress response, contactless payments, sleep tracking, excellent heart rate monitoring, and sleep monitoring. With the Charge 5, Fitbit dropped support for Spotify, which allowed users to control their playlists through the Charge 4. Since the Charge 5 is designed with workouts in mind, the lack of music is disappointing, but if you don’t mind that, it could be an ideal gym buddy.
A significant upgrade from the Charge 4, it is a great choice if you are serious about getting into working out (running, gym work, or a combination thereof) and a step up from the less expensive Huawei Band 7 and Fitbit Inspire 3, which do not feature GPS The Charge 5’s heart rate monitor is particularly impressive and a good choice for those interested in HIIT or spinning.
[content-egg-block template=offers_logo hide=price]However, the new color display and smaller size make for weaker battery life overall; with the Charge 5 set to maximum (display always on, brightness and vibration set to maximum, etc.), I used it for 72 hours with about 10% to spare. This included sleep tracking, three workouts, multiple bike rides, and setting the odd alarm or timer here and there.
Battery life is not great, especially considering that the full-color Xiaomi Band 6 can be used for over a week with all features turned on, and is pretty poor for a $180 tracker. Finally, Fitbit also did away with the cumbersome clip-style charger that came with the Charge 4. Instead, it has a proprietary magnetic charger not unlike what we saw on the Luxe, Sense, and Versa 3. This magnetic charging cable is included in the box, but there is no wall adapter included. Unfortunately, the Charge 5 does not support any manner of wireless charging.
The first is the previously mentioned lack of an altimeter. Without this hardware feature, the Charge 5 cannot record the number of floors ascended, which is not very accurate when tracking elevation-based workouts such as hiking. This is a curious omission given that the Charge 4 has this feature.