Fitbit Charge 4 is the perfect fitness bracelet

It is a strange time to test an activity meter. For many people, general physical activity has plummeted due to orders to stay home and social distancing. Still, for the past week, we've been testing Fitbit's latest fitness device, the Charge 4.

The $ 149.95 bracelet is a modest update to the Charge 3, which launched in late 2018. Add GPS, which lets you ditch your phone and let the device take care of putting your career on the map (or in our case, From software to hardware, it's an attractive option for someone who wants all the health details a fitness bracelet offers, with just a pinch of smartwatch features.

Design

Two strap sizes and a charging connector are included in the box with the Charge 4. If you order the $ 169.95 Charge 4 Special Edition, you'll get an additional woven reflective bracelet.

Charge 4 straps are easily changed. At the push of a button, the device glides smoothly off.

Like most Fitbit charging adapters, the clamp-shaped connector hooks to the sides of the Charge 4 with three pins that connect to the back of the device. The other end of the cable connects to a standard USB connector.

On the left side of the case there is a button that you tap to do things like go back a screen or long press to bring up quick settings or trigger a Fitbit Pay transaction. At the bottom of the Charge 4 is the hardware that powers 24-hour heart rate monitoring, 7 days a week.

The 1-inch grayscale touchscreen is the primary way to navigate the Charge 4. A swipe down from the top of the screen reveals recent notifications from your phone. A swipe up displays your daily stats, while a swipe left will show installed apps. Tap an app to start it.

The Charge 4 is neither large nor bulky, which is a common complaint about some smartwatch designs. The 1-inch screen is large enough that we can easily read a text message or check our current workout.

software

It is clear that Fitbit has learned many lessons with the software, features and general capabilities of its Versa line. For example, there is a silent mode in Charge 4 that will silence calls and alerts, similar to "do not disturb" on your phone, so you can get a good night's sleep.

Fitbit also added its mobile payment platform, Fitbit Pay, to Charge 4, allowing you to touch the bracelet on a payment terminal and use NFC to pay something. It is similar to Google Pay or Apple Pay, but is managed through the Fitbit app.

Even the app design and navigation on the Charge 4 make it look a lot like a smartwatch, but in a smaller form factor. With that said, the Charge 4 is still an exercise bracelet and not a smart watch.

You can change the watch faces and add or remove apps, but you don't have access to the same store that Fitbit Versa users have. You're limited to what's pre-installed on the bracelet, and that's it. There are 24 different clock faces and seven applications.

The apps range from weather to a timer, from a remote control for Spotify to a breathing exercise app called Relax.

You cannot store or play music from your Spotify account. Instead, the app only acts as a way to control the app on your phone.

Even with these limitations, it had been a few years since we used one of Fitbit's Charge devices, and we were pleasantly surprised at how much we could do with the Charge 4.

performance

Fitbit estimates the Charge 4's battery life at seven days, or five hours of autonomous GPS use. Naturally, that number is influenced by how many notifications you receive, how much you use the dedicated GPS feature, and how often you tap and swipe through the interface.

For us, the initial battery test lasted just over five days. That's with heavy testing, about an hour of GPS tracking, and countless alerts. We are happy with that result.

Speaking of GPS, we use it to track a ride that we often take and we know it's a mile. Charge 4 once recorded the total distance as 1.05 miles; in another attempt, it was 0.96 miles. We are not sure what caused the different distance measurements. We can only assume when looking at the map of our route that the GPS was slightly poorly calibrated. At various points in our walk, the line on the map weaves from one side of the street to the other, rather than showing an almost straight line, which is how we actually walk.

In summary

We have a hard time finding something wrong with Charge 4, other than the fact that many of us are in quarantine and don't really need a new fitness bracelet right now. But Fitbit's Premium subscription service offers training videos and more information about your health habits for $ 9.99 a month, with a 90-day trial.

Charge 4 has impressive battery life and NFC payment capabilities, and will make its users happy whether they are fitness enthusiasts or people just starting an exercise program.

Note: The above prices reflect the price at the time of article posting.