The promise of higher fitness levels... with a small Charge
FITBIT’S NEW CHARGE 5 TRACKER IS IDEAL FOR THOSE LOOKING TO BOOST THEIR WELLBEING FOR A MODEST PRICE
WHAT do you do if you want to get serious with tech to help you look after your wellbeing, but you’re not interested in a fully-fledged smartwatch?
You need a fitness tracker… and Google would like to talk to you about that.
The latest offering from its Fitbit sub-brand might just be the device you’re looking for – the Charge 5 has been revealed, and it has certainly got everything you need to get your wellbeing goals back on track, with tools to manage fitness, stress and sleep, all in a sleek new design that doesn’t cost the earth and has a battery that lasts for days, instead of hours.
The Charge 5 is all about the sensors. Of course it has a heart-rate monitor, and it can do an electrocardiograph, too, which looks out for symptoms of atrial fibrillation – it’s an all-in-one package for monitoring overall heart health and fitness.
But there’s more. The Charge 5 also has an EDA sensor, which can measure your body’s response to stress via the changes in sweat glands in your fingers.
This tech is already available in Fitbit’s pricier Sense device, and has reportedly helped 70% of the users of that device to reduce their heart rate using the sensor to monitor their own stress levels.
This new Fitbit device is all-in on managing stress, in fact, adding that as the fourth pillar of wellbeing along with heart-health, overall activity and sleep management.
Measuring all these different elements of your daily life without you really having to do anything, allows you to focus on making small changes that make a big difference to how you feel.
And with the Charge 5, Fitbit is introducing a new metric that allows you to check your ‘readiness.’ Every day the device will offer up a score that will give you a clue as to whether you should rest up and take it easy, or get active.
It comes up with this score by combining your heart rate variability with your recent activity levels and your sleep ratings.
Another measurement the watch will calculate for you is your ‘stress score’, and this allows you to measure whether you’re ready to take on more or need to wind down a little.
These two measures are part of Fitbit Premium, which is a paid-for programme that also offers up a lot of workout video sessions, some meditation and gentle yoga routines. With the Charge 5 you get access to Fitbit Premium for six months – it’ll cost £7.99-a-month or £79.99-a-year after that.
There are other features that make it more useful than your runof-the-mill fitness tracker – there’s a watch, obviously, but there’s also Fitbit Pay, which allows you to register debit and credit cards so you can use the device to make contactless payments.
With up to seven days of batterylife depending on usage, and a price tag of £169.99, the Charge 5 is a compelling solution for those who value having access to as much data at they can get about their wellbeing, but aren’t too bothered about the other things a fully-fledged smartwatch can do.