Fitbit Charge 5 Advanced Health & Fitness Tracker with Built-in GPS, Stress Management Tools, Sleep Tracking, 24/7 Heart Rate and More, Black/Graphite, One Size (S &L Bands Included)

UPDATE: 2/22/24. Well, my Charge 5 died. Just died. Had it just over 6 months. I was really pleased with this Charge 5 every single day I have had it, and I wore it every single day and night, then it acted a little wonky a couple days ago, then the next day (today) it just fully died. Was fully charged (holds charge forever) but showed nothing. Had a white line then went all black. Cant get it to do anything, even when plugged in. RIP :(Keeping my review the same. I am once again so disappointed. As per my review I happened to have purchased an Inspire 3 at same time, so I am currently charging that up. Will see if I keep with it or shop around. Please Fitbit.. do better.------------------------------------------------For stuff like this, I sort by "most recent reviews". I did that and saw all the negatives, but I still went with it, and I will tell you why. I simply like the brand overall despite some frustrations and wasting of money, haha.I think buying a Fitbit product is taking a risk. I am still reticent to move to another brand because I havent found one I really like, and I almost never like the apps. I simply havent been impressed enough to want to make a change. I have been gifted or borrowed other brands, and I still come back to fitbit. So I just view Fitbit as a throw away item that is sure to crapp out within 2 years. Not sure if it is the product or my body chemistry as my husband STILL uses his Fitbit Blaze from late 2015 to this day. ME? I went through 2 Blazes, and several others in the same time period.I have been using Fitbit nearly exclusively for 9 years straight. I have had the early model "fitbit" (whatever it was before HR came on the scene. circa 2014), then the first Fitbit Charge, Blaze (2 of them!), Versa 2, Sense, and then very recently I went backwards to the Inspire 3 and this Charge 5, simultaneously. I bought them both as the combined price was less than one smartwatch.I decided that I really didnt take advantage of all the features of the smartwatch, and so when my Sense crappped out exactly 2 years, I decided to go with a more basic model. I hemmed and hawed between the Inspire 3 and Charge 5.For my detailed review of the Inspire 3, here is a link to my review . They are both very similar (Inspire 3 needs to have phone for GPS tracking, and although it says that the Inspire 3 does NOT have ECG app for AFIB detection, it does. Sorta. "while it can't take an ECG like the more expensive Fitbit Charge 5 or newer smartwatches, it will monitor your heart rate and alert you if it detects an irregular heart rhythm"). Then size difference. But that is about it.IF you are looking to "compare and contrast" then scroll halfway down the product description page and you will see that they list a slew of other Fitbit models to compare it to. On this product page they dont show the Inspire 3. If you want to compare this Charge 5 to the Inspire 3, then go to the Inspire 3 produc page and scroll down half way to see the models they compare it to. The Charge 5 is one of them.The battery life on this is good. Seems to hold true to the weeklong battery life. I have my watch face set to needing to be tapped/pressed rather than wrist flick, which I imagine can impact battery life, as well as other nuances. But as is it lasts all week.Image is very clear. Looks great. Nice bright clear colors and lettering/numbers. Can change watch face in app.Larger face than the Inspire 3, but smaller than the smartwatches. I think the size of face is perfect for me. Loaded with info to easily see.Scroll up, down, left, right for all the information you could possibly want.Steps seem accurate enough. I find that if anything it undercounts, which is fine. I just adjust my goal. But it is close (thats the other thing with Fitbit, i find the step counts to be pretty accurate compared to other brand names I have used).Has the button to pop the wristband on and off. The Inspire 3 has the pin style which I dont care for. Wish they would list this type of details.Overall I really like it, and am pleased with the Charge 5. It has all that I need, and at a price point that is much more reasonable over the smartwatches-- I really dont use the features on those, so why buy them?I WILL update if I experience anything worth sharing. I had gone back to my Sense review to update when it officially "died". I didnt change rating, but I figured it was good info to know.THE ONLY THING I DONT LIKE, which isnt Charge 5 specific, bit just toward Fitbit as a whole:There was a time when you could have more than one Fitbit linked to your app. NOW, in order to have one, you have to take off the other. I bought the Inspire 3 and Charge 5 at the same time with expectation that I could have both in use depending on which I felt like wearing and to compare them. So I initially used the Inspire 3 for a couple of weeks then deleted it off the app in order to try out this Charge 5. In order to switch back I have to delete the Charge 5. Its annoying. Since I prefer the Charge 5, I will either tuck the Inspire 3 away for use when this inevitably crapps out, or just give it away.

Upgrading from the Fitbit Charge 4 to Charge 5 was a good move. I use the tracker to monitor steps, pulse while exercising, for detailed sleep information, text message monitoring and more. Improvements include heart monitoring with an ECG sensor, an EDA sensor to monitor stress, new color screen vs. black/white and a different strap. The color screen is a plus at night as the previous version was quite bright and disturbed my sleep on occasion. Not only is the color an improvement, but the screen figures are larger making it easier to read, especially at night. Battery life is better giving me at least an extra day. Like the previous model it recharges fairly quickly.The app is largely the same providing an instant snapshot of several key health monitoring factors. Minutes spent in the "Zone" with high physical activity, estimated calories burned, steps taken/stairs climbed, a Mindfulness tracker which measures intentional breaks to relieve stress, Stress management log, sleep log including time spent in different stages of sleep, average steps per hour, heart rate, logged weight changes and water intake. Several of these log entries require manual input such as weight and water intake. There are premium features available for a subscription upgrade which I declined. The data points offered more than fill my personal needs. The historical logs are useful for identifying trends that I want to change such as sleep patterns or level of movement.I mentioned the new strap/band in particular as the current means of fastening does away with the previous belt-buckle arrangement. On the Fitbit Charge 4 the silicone band would break from my removal for charging. I replaced bands every 6 months which to me suggested a design flaw. Apparently Fitbit agreed coming up with a superior type of fastener convenient for one-hand use.My unit is set to vibrate when I receive an incoming text on my phone the with app, then displays the sender and first bit of the message. I can access the entire message and even reply with the Fitbit Charge 5. (My cellphone is a Samsung S22 Ultra.)The cost is midrange for smart wrist devices at $149 at the time of purchase. I recommend this without hesitation for the uses described above.