Fitbit Charge 6 has arrived, and it’s (almost) like a longer-lasting Pixel Watch
Fitbit has unveiled the Fitbit Charge 6, the sixth entry in its long-rumored premium fitness tracker range, with a selection of new features including Google Maps, YouTube Music, Google Wallet, more accurate heart rate monitoring and updated workout modes.
The Fitbit Charge 5 was consistently ranked as one of the best Fitbit models and one of the best fitness trackers overall due to its premium feel, built-in GPS, automatic workout tracking, and wealth of data collected.
Fitbit Charge 6 sticks to much the same design ethos as its predecessor: it’s almost the same size and only 1.2mm thicker, although it weighs 13 grams less, and the body is also made of aluminum and resin. It still offers 7 days of battery life, built-in GPS and GLONASS (another satellite system that can improve GPS performance), sleep tracking, smart wake, SpO2 blood oxygen tracking, and seemingly all the other features the Charge 5 offered.
Where it does differ from its predecessor, however, is the accuracy of the heart rate monitor. Fitbit Charge 6 is said to provide “up to 60% more accurate measurements during vigorous activities such as HIIT, spinning and rowing” compared to previous years’ trackers. When TechRadar asked Fitbit exactly how this improvement was achieved, we received the following statement: “Through many years of hard work and R&D, our advancements in Machine Learning and AI algorithms ensure that Charge 6 delivers a significant improvement in heart rate accuracy .
“We ported and optimized these innovations from the Google Pixel Watch for a lower power processor and operating system than Charge 6, and further optimized so that we can still deliver within seven days despite the compute load. battery.”
The improvement of heart rate measurement uses the same innovations as last year’s Pixel Watch, now in a smaller, slimmer housing.
Fitbit Charge 6 can also communicate with fitness devices with Bluetooth heart rate functionality to display your heart rate on their displays. With Charge 6 you also get the Fitbit Daily Readiness Score on your wrist, a single score with all your recovery stats in one, provided you have Fitbit Premium. As before, the Charge 6 comes with a free six-month Premium subscription, after which it will cost $79.99 / £79.99 / AU$124.99 for the year or $9.99 / £7.99 / AU costs $15.49 per month.
Fitbit Charge 6, as briefly mentioned above, includes a range of new Google features, also carried over from the Pixel Watch. If you use YouTube Music you can control your playlist from the Charge 6, skip songs and adjust the volume, while the Charge 6 also uses Google Wallet (replacing the old Fitbit Pay system the Charge 5 had) and Google Maps . Google Maps offers turn-by-turn navigation, powered by the Charge 6’s built-in GPS, and sounds like the big win here, especially for runners. Unfortunately, no Google Assistant here.
The Fitbit Charge 6 is available for pre-order today with strap colors including coral, obsidian and porcelain, including different materials and woven and sport styles to offer a bit more variety. The tracker will cost $159.95, with UK and AU pricing yet to be confirmed. However, we expect the tracker to cost around £149.99 / AU$279.99 in those regions.
Analysis: a much-needed update
The Fitbit Charge line needed a refresh and Fitbit Charge 6 seems to have delivered. Relatively little has changed in terms of design, which isn’t a bad thing: the Charge 5 was a brilliant looking and feeling tracker, and while the upcoming update hasn’t changed too much, it has used the Pixel Watch’s improvements to improve training. bring tracking to today’s standards. However, the fact that this tracker is up to 60% more accurate begs the question: how inaccurate was Fitbit before?
Elsewhere, the new Google features will please Android phone owners in general and Pixel users in particular, as they’ll be more likely to use Google Wallet and YouTube Music. Music controls are a first for the Charge series, which is hard to believe, but the lack of Spotify inclusion here is disappointing. The Charge 5’s Fitbit Pay has been replaced by Google Wallet, and I’m really excited to get turn-by-turn navigation on a Charge with Google Maps.
It’s definitely a more ‘traditional’ Fitbit band than last year’s Sense and Versa smartwatches and feels like a more natural place for Fitbit, with the Pixel Watch line set to lead the future as Google’s flagship smartwatch. I wonder if the Charge, Fitbit Luxe and Inspire lines will remain, and if the Sense and Versa fitness watch models will be dropped.
Nevertheless, with its improved Google-powered smarts, it feels like a logical choice for Pixel phone owners looking for a smart wearable that doesn’t cost as much as the flagship Pixel Watch. Of course, when you factor in the cost of Fitbit Premium, fitness fans may still prefer one of the best Garmin watches or an Apple Watch if they’re looking for a long-term investment.