As far as the best fitness trackers are concerned, Fitbit has been a true pioneer ever since launching its first breakthrough model back in 2009. The specific fitness that the devices track has evolved tremendously over the years, too. Through the development of new sensor technology, you can now track your fitness to more pinpoint accuracy than ever before. Bringing us to where Fitbit is today, we've managed to get our hands on the Fitbit Charge 6.
The Charge 6 is the latest addition to Fitbit's successful Charge formula, a range that attempts to encapsulate everything a contemporary fitness tracker is and should be.
The Fitbit Charge 6 offers a 1.4-inch AMOLED touchscreen display. It boasts a battery life of up to seven days, with a water resistance to 50m, and it has built-in GPS (with the option for dynamic and phone GPS too).
This iOS and Android compatitble fitness tracker runs in tandem with your smartphone. You're able to bridge the Charge 6 to your smartphone via the Fitbit Mobile App – the hub of your Charge 6, if you will. Here, you can flick through your sleep, activity and other key data that the fitness tracker logs.
The Charge 6's long list of textbook Fitbit features should wow many, as far as modern fitness trackers go, it doesn't leave too much to yearn for. Expect to see the likes of 24/7 Heart Rate Tracking, Active Zone Minutes, Sleep Tracking, and Oxygen Saturation Monitoring. You'll even find more intricate features such as ECG (Electrocardiogram), which monitors heartbeat rhythm and electrical signals), and EDA (Electrodermal Activity), for stress detection and management.
What's the Best's Jack Barrell has been hands (or wrist) on with the Fitbit Charge 6, a modern fitness tracking marvel. Here's how he sizes it up.
AmazonPros
- Very intuitive and engaging to use
- Mobile app is helpful and clear
- Over 40 preset exercise modes feels limitless
Cons
- Display customisation is somewhat limited
- Battery life closer to 5 days under realistic daily use (as opposed to 7)
| Display | 1.4-inch, AMOLED, touchscreen |
| Battery life | Up to seven days |
| GPS | Built-in, Dynamic, Phone |
| Water resistance | Up to 50m |
| Compatibility | iOS and Android |
| Dimensions | 18.6 x 11.7 x 38.7 mm |
| Weight | 37g |
Getting it up and running
I'm always pleased by a speedy installation or set up process (aren't we all?), and most modern smart tech has been moving in this direction for quite some time. The Fitbit Charge 6 is definitely with the times on this one, with set up taking me no longer than an hour altogether. Yes, I did have to charge it straight out of the box and this made up the majority of the setup time.
In order to kickstart the Charge 6, I had to download the Fitbit Mobile App and follow the on-screen instructions on my smartphone. This whole process was made a breeze thanks to a clear and concise visual walkthrough. The only obstacle I did come across was at the point of synchronising the Charge 6 with my smartphone. I initially carried this out while the device was charging, but soon realised that it wasn't able to fully pair until the Fitbit was taken off charge.
Comfortable, practical and liberating
Before you even get into the technical features and performance feats of a fitness tracker, there's one far more imposing question - how does it fit? The Charge 6 is rocking a nylon strap which I don't have any complaints about. It's comfortable and practical for all activities, and it features more than enough notches for adjustability.
As far as build quality is concerned, there's nothing cheap feeling about the Charge 6, and I never felt like I had to be particularly delicate or cautious with it either. The Fitbit Charge 6 strikes a solid middle ground that few gadgets are capable of achieving. The AMOLED display feels like it's been nabbed straight from a high-end Google smartphone, and that integrated nylon strap provides a sense of structural support that never sacrifices comfort. These design choices play a significant role in ensuring you get the most out of your Fitbit.
An encouraging fitness companion
As far as I'm concerned, ease-of-use is a number one priority when it comes to fitness trackers and smartwatches. Though this is a complex device, it has to be easy to use. During the early stages of managing the Fitbit Charge 6, I knew right away that this was a fitness tracker that I was going to get on with - and dare I say it had the telltale signs found in some of the best Fitbits. It's very responsive and has a simple interface: that combo makes it highly intuitive.
The Charge 6 feels like a fitness companion, and a really encouraging one at that. I recieved these fun little graphics whenever I hit a milestone or a goal. For example, every 10,000 steps I got a buzz and a celebratory animation displayed. During exercise, the Charge 6 would vibrate and let me know that my heart rate is steadily increasing. There're more notifcations too that can be customised or disabled at will, including reminders to move after periods of sitting, low heart rate notifications and even notifications recieved by your linked smartphone.
I can't fault the display. The brightness can be tweaked manually, but I had no issue with the default setting. It's a crisp, bright AMOLED touchscreen does everything I needed it to. There's an option to make it an 'Always on' display, but I never opted for this based on the likelihood that it'd absolutely burn through battery life. Besides, activating the display is fairly easy: either double tap the screen, or simply twist/raise my wrist to wake the display. Granted, sometimes I'd get a little frustrated as the Charge 6 would struggle to recognise my wrist movement, which often led to me performing a move that looks how checking the time would look in a game of Charades.
Fitbit Mobile App
In order to get anything out of the Fitbit Charge 6, the Fitbit Mobile App is required. Thanfully, it's incredibly pleasant to get along with. The app is split into three tabs, there's the home page which displays all of your daily statistics, including steps, calories burnt, distance travelled, and so forth. I was also able to go backwards and look at previous days, which I found handy when I wanted to reflect on my week.
The next tab is titled 'Coach', and it's dedicated to providing guidance and programmes surrounding your training, sleep, and mindfulness. The 'Find your fitness' section offers an assortment of workout videos that can be followed either at the gym or at home. 'Stress less' is a collection of audio programmes designed to ease your stress, which recommend headphones for the best results. 'Sleep better', also appropriately named, offers similar content to 'Stress less'. There's a range of headphone recommended audio programmes which are perfect for if you need help winding down.
The third tab on the app is titled 'You'. This is where you can log all your goals and targets, you can connect with friends and view earned badges. It's similar to the main page in the sense that you can reflect and view achievements and milestones.
There's also a little Fitbit icon at the top left side of the screen, by tapping this I was taken to another section which centres more around the personlisation of the Fitbit Charge 6 experience. Here, I was able to choose my clock face theme, which apps I wanted acccess to, and I was also able to manage the relationship between the Fitbit and my smartphone.
What the Fitbit app offers by default is really refreshing to see. Yes, there's an optional Fitbit Premium subscription (£7.99 a month, or £79.99 if you pay for a year upfront). This offers additional sleep and recovery insights, workouts and training recommendations, recipes, and wellness and stress reports. And while you miss out on these without the subscription, the free content by no stretch feels restricted.
Exercise modes
An element that's been a big highlight during my time with the Fitbit Charge 6 is the sheer number of exercise modes to choose from. There's over 40 to select, ranging from the common walking and weightlifting, to more obscure choices like indoor climbing or rollerblading. By choosing the correct workout type, the Charge 6 will have a better understanding of the activity you're about to perform and give you the appropriate feedback and metrics.
The presence of these exercise modes is a huge factor in making the Charge 6 so engaging. Before any workout or sports activity I'd simple swipe to exercise modes, select what I was doing, and away I went. Each exercise mode may offer slightly different points of feedback depending on the activity, most will almost always feature the likes of heart rate, time spent and calories burnt.
Sleep tracking
Sleep tracking and monitoring is heavily marketed for the Charge 6. Overall, I was really pleased with how sleep tracking is integrated into the Fitbit Charge 6 and the Fitbit Mobile App. As is the case with sleep tracking in general, it isn't to be taken as medical advice, nor should it be interpreted as the be-all and end-all. If you keep that in mind, you'll certainly enjoy Fitbit's sleep tracking.
Every night's sleep will be summarised with a percentage score and you can see the exact amount of time you've slept, from the moment you nodded off to waking up in the morning. The Charge 6 can detect at what point you enter or leave each stage of sleep, including light, deep, REM and awake. The Fitbit app presents this data in a graph, which makes the process easily intelligible.
What's it missing?
Like most tech I've tested that has an 'up to' advertised battery life, this often never ends up being the case. Unfortunately, the Fitbit Charge 6 isn't an exception. It's advertised as having up to seven days battery life, but with my usage, the best I could achieve was five. In my second week of testing I only got four. I used the Charge 6 daily, exercising two or three times a day and utilising the fitness trackers exercise modes for this. This is where I lost out on the aditional battery life. Of course, those that might use the Charge 6 less frequently than I may find that it can in fact last up to seven days, maybe more.
I'd also have liked to see a little bit more in the way of customisation. You can choose from a variety of clock faces, which tediously you have to install instead of just select and go. This is where the visual customisation ends. I was hoping to see some manual options to change colour schemes and fonts, but no luck. If this is something you are interested in, a Garmin fitness tracker would suit you will.
Price and competition
This latest installment to the Fitbit Charge range sits in a rather unique position within the current fitness tracker market. It isn't super budget, but it's by no means in a high-end price bracket. Currently sitting at £109.99, its closest competition would include some of the budget fitness trackers from Huawei, notably the Watch Fit 2 (£89.99) and the Watch Fit SE (£69.99).
For you what you get in the Fitbit Charge 6, it's no exaggeration saying that it's phenomenal value for money. It is an all-out fitness tracker, and though it might have features common in smart watches, it isn't one. That's likely a factor that's contributed to the Charge 6's attractive price tag.
Who is it for?
The Fitbit Charge 6 is a welcoming, intuitive and gratifying approach to the fitness tracker formula. It's for this reason that I don't see it targeting any niche audience, but rather embracing a wider demographic. The Charge 6's modest price point means you'll be getting your money's worth out of the device whether you use absoutely every feature it offers, you want to monitor your sleep or track your steps.
Fitness enthusiasts and first timers can find mutual affection for the Fitbit Charge 6, it offers enough to satisfy veteran fitness tracker cravings, while simultaneously being a solid entry point to health and fitness tracking in general.
Would we recommend it?
Without a shadow of a doubt, yes. We'd recommend the Fitbit Charge 6 ten times over. If you're battling between picking up a smartwatch or a fitness tracker, the Charge 6 makes a very convincing arguement for team tracker. This is a totally inclusive fitness tracker that we can see slotting into anyone's day-to-day, regardless of activity level, profession, or lifestyle. This is a device that has to integrate into your daily life with ease, and the Fitbit Charge 6 does that and then some.
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Who tested it?
The Fitbit Charge 6 was trialled and tested by our very own Jack Barrell, resident Digital Writer and Tech Reviewer for What's the Best. He is well-versed in testing a range of smart tech, and with his keen interest in fitness and exercise, he jumped at the opportunity to try out the Charge 6.
How the product was tested
Jack tested the Fitbit Charge 6 over the course of two weeks. He integrated the fitness tracker into his active lifestyle, wearing it during daily resistance training and cardio. He also wore the Charge 6 to sleep every night, in order to document the device's vast sleep tracking capabilities.
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Jack Barrell is a Tech and Fitness Writer and Reviewer for What’s the Best. He is invested in the entertainment space and also keeps well in the loop with the latest sports and exercise trends too. On his off days, Jack can usually be found either in the gym – or watching his favourite Star Wars for the thousandth time.
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