Charge 5 Activity Tracker with 6-months Premium Membership Included, up to 7 days battery life and Daily Readiness Score, Black / Graphite Stainless Steel

Yes you can get cheapo fitness watches 30% the price of the Charge 5 (UK), but I tried one of those last year and it was a total waste of time. Display was virtually invisible in daylight, accuracy was poor and functions very limited. The Charge 5 is head and shoulders above them. The display is awesome, the navigation easy to use and intuitive and the supporting phone app very informative and helpful. Of course, it doesn't offer the accuracy and functionality of apple and android super smart watches, but frankly, I am not there yet. (I dont really need functions that I use my phone for on my watch as well). My wife was so impressed with the positive impact the watch had on my fitness regime she got one as well! She loves it just as much as I do. I bought a different strap as I did not get on with the rubber one it came with (I have sensitive skin) but that was no big deal. My wife was super happy with hers. Battery life is amazing. We leave our watches on day and night and only charge once every five days or so... We've had the watches over a month now and have no regrets - though I am told not to expect much more than 18 months 2 years life expectancy. Time will tell and maybe I will update this review as and when it expires! If you're looking for a good entry level fitness watch to help kickstart your health plans then look no further. Pete (UK)

I bought the Charge 5 at launch, so I was a bit concerned by the reviews about poor GPS tracking as that was one of the key reasons I wanted it (that and the colour screen). I've found it to be comfortable, it does everything it is supposed to and my experience of the GPS tracking is that it is very good. Battery life is excellent, it obviously depends on how you use it but I get about a week between charging up. I'm using the free 6 months trial of Fitbit Premium at the moment, I doubt I will continue with that as it seems to offer very little that I need above normal functionality - but it's a free trial so I can't knock it. Pros: Functionality is good, has all the features I need. GPS tracking, heart rate tracking, step count, all seem accurate. OEM strap is comfortable to wear all the time - I haven't felt I needed to try other straps yet. Great battery life Cons: The screen, while colour, isn't as large or as bright as my old Samsung Gear Fit 2 (from 2016). Related to the above, the watch faces aren't as vibrant or detailed as I would like. The device has frozen a couple of times, needed to be resurrected from the app. I'd give it 4 1/2 stars if I could due to the cons above, but if you want a good all round tracker then the Charge 5 is a great option and I would recommend it.

I have used Fitbit charge 2 for several years, and when it died, I wanted another exercise tracker. I also have a rowing machine and wanted a tracker which would translate rowing strokes into miles or steps travelled. Sadly, the fitbit charge 5 does not sync strokes with a rowing machine, but it will tell me time spent exercising and calories used. However, in all other respects it is almost perfect. It tracks sleep very well. It has less artefact than charge 2, but without a sleep lab verification, I cannot guarantee its validity. The ability to track GPS satellites is amazing! It's wonderful not to have to use the GPS on my phone! Battery life is reduced by GPS use, but I think one charge of battery is good for over 5 miles of GPS. I have discovered that playing tennis gets my heart rate into cardio but walking only gets it to fat burn! I guess I don't walk fast enough! The ECG does work, but does not give a visualisation of the trace, even after syncing with an iPhone. It can be used while swimming, just like it says on the tin. It looks sleek and stylish. I personally have no problem with the lack of a "back button", as some reviewers do. Once you get used to it, it is easy to negotiate the menus. It also syncs steps with the Weight Watchers app!

UPDATE: downgrading to 1 star. On top of all the below GPS is off by 300m on 5 k run in comparison to other devices and phones (especially if you live the road and run on the footpaths), battery dries inconsistently on the same running course and can go from 25% to 0 in no time. and there are even more bugs to what's described below (for instance today I've had black screen of death just when I was going to go on a run). FitBit should be ashamed to charge £100+ for such a poor product. Very very disappointing. Firstly, let me mention that my "high" usability standards were set by MIFit4 which I used for several years and it was like 10 times cheaper. The good: device itself is very nice, gathers a lot of data, quite accurate when tracking activity, battery is decent and depending on how you use it will actually last longer then 5-7 days suggested in the description. For my liking default setting of vibration is too strong and there's no possibility to tune it down (only up) The bad: User experience and testing was done by people who should be banished from software development forever. If this group of people were asked to design a WC room you'd find urinals upside down and toilets on the ceiling. And none of that would flush. Also I don't think any of them did any sports. Ever. Let me give you several examples: 1. Running app - you have a choice of setting a goal of 1,2,3,5,10,20 and 40k. I normally run between 5 and 10k. is it too much to ask to be able to select 8? or 13? How about a buzz every kilometer to inform me on my progress? again too much to ask? it’s buzzing like crazy with every heart rate change but almost ignores the distance. 2. Mobile app for this device is a separate story - it's literally USELESS! Max you can do with it is change the display view and see some stats. That's it. ok, also some fency training programs, sure. But a lot of user journeys lead you to the same place and that place does not resolve your problem. Or how about being able to set an alarm on the devise from the app? Set a running goal? being able to reinstall any program (it’s not the case for most of them). How about telling me my pace and distance via headphones while I run? It’s sooo much more convenient! Apps for waaaay cheaper devices are perfectly capable of doing that, but not this one. Maybe it would be slightly less frustrating if fitbit wasn’t that bugy! 3. Stopwatch and timer. It's funny that I even have to white about it. Both DON'T really work. Think about it, you are buying a £100+ device that has a problem with such basic things. Stopwats doesn't buzz in the end. I literally have to stop it manually and only then it decides to buzz. Time increments in 2-3 second steps, turns the screen off and then doesn't want to come back on, so if you are stretching on the floor you are screwed. You need to use your other hand to tap the screen to light it up and every other time it will stop the timer. At some point in time the timer disappeared from the device all together, I had to reboot derice 2 times for it to come back. 4. Bugs, bugs everywhere... today I was running 10k, at 8,5 mark the device said that the battery was 7% and this notification wouldn't go away. So for another 1,5k I was trying every trick in the book to get it to show me distance and pace but nope, screw me - 7% is all I've got. Naturally missed the mark and only when I've stopped it decided to show something else. Synced it with the app, it suddenly became 12%. Sometimes when swiping through the device it will get stuck in one place (like ECG or stopwatch) and refuse to move or go back to the main screen. It can last for seconds or for minutes. Same with activity reminders and other notifications or just random screens. And I could go on and on and on about these things. The Ugly: Fitbit clearly does care more about marketing then about actual user experience. There’s a lot of hype about it but in the end you are buying yourself an endless source of frustration for £100+. I will be checking if I can still return it at this point as it was used already.

I upgraded to a Fitbit charge 5 and was really excited to get it. Well after about a year, the battery drops out, it’s different value than in the app. I plug it in and it tells me I have plenty of battery so I wonder what the issue is. A minute after disconnecting from the charger (I didn’t really need it connected) the screen goes black again. It doesn’t wake up when I move my wrist, or if I press it. It’s stopped recording my sleep, well stopped recording everything really as it turns itself off. Same thing happens, I plug it in to charge and it says it has 41% so why did it go blank? I have restarted the device, completely deleted the device, tried everything and it still doesn’t play ball. I am now returning to my Vido tracker that came from Poundland, it’s older than my Fitbit and still working great. It was £15!!!

I bought this as an upgrade from my previous Fitbit. It’s nice to have the colour screen and the extra displays that it offers. I like the fact that I can customise to show what aspects of the fitness tracker are most important to me. I wore it in the bath accidentally and it seems fine. It’s good value and has a lot of benefits when trying to track your health. For example steps, heart rate, it can also receive messages if you’re near your phone The strap is comfortable and fits my slim wrist well.

I have had this Fitbit for 2 years now and it has about come to the end of it's life. It doesn't hold charge well and the touch screen is hardly responsive, requiring to be plugged in to restart it. Other uses express similar concerns so this isn't a one off. The strap caused me allergic problems but Fitbit did send me a diifernt version of the strap which was fine. I've had three Fitbits in 5 years. Would I buy another? No. I'm going to try something else next as they are not as good as I'd hoped.

If you are going to look at a Fitbit and get the most out of it, then the Premier membership is a must! It is only with the membership do you get all the functionality that turns this from a simple tracker to a personal focused health device. The premier membership comes with a whole range of services. If it is a simple tracker then there are cheaper alternatives; pays your money, takes your choice! The Charge 5 is a great upgrade to my Inspire HR and a worthy replacement albeit with the known issue with the watch strap clip issue!!!!!!!!! If you are not aware the 'pebble' is attached to the strap by a very tiny spring loaded clip which seemingly, with not much more than a tug comes away! Very, very easy to loose as it so small and there are no Fitbit replacements for it! There are couple of online companies that sell a replacement but the reviews are very mixed! You can buy a pebble holding watch strap which is what people buy that have the issue, stopping you throwing it away. It seems a very small complaint but it is a significant design flaw, have a look at the Fitbit community page. Anyway mine came away as above but I have managed with a watch making toolset managed to fix (for the time being) the issue. Now the aesthetics & functionality. It sits great on my wrist and looks the business. I swapped the original silicon strap as it doesn't breathe. I have ended up with a rash underneath as it captures, soap, body lotion, water and what ever ends up in a swimming pool! I bought an adjustable nylon strap on Amazon and it works a treat. Three weeks no rash! The increased functionality of the Charge 5 is great, allowing me to train smarter (with a Readiness score) which works! The more you train, the greater the physical stress the lower the scoring and a suitable training recommendations are made. I love the Fitbit app and is very comprehensive and detailed and is easy to follow. The screen on the Charge 5 is excellent and the glass is scratch resistant. It is light, smooth and unobtrusive, and therefore there is no issue wearing 24x7; and it does capture all nocturnal activity!!!!!!! If you are going to invest in your health this is a great tracker. I am sure there are other equally as excellent trackers out there but you won't have wasted your money, especially if you pick it up at one the Amazon sale days or buy a second hand one from the buy options.