The Fitbit Charge 4 is a major improvement on the Charge 3, with built-in GPS, Spotify and Fitbit Pay, helping to bridge the gap between fitness trackers and truly smart ones.
Its price and design are nearly identical to the release 3 wristband, which is impressive considering the improvements under the hood, and while it sadly lacks the color display we were hoping for, there are plenty of new tools to help you take control and improve your fitness.
While Fitbit had to cancel the event due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it's actually a great time to launch a new fitness wearable.
With races and other public events canceled around the world, and face-to-face training with karts for the foreseeable future, runners will rely on watches and apps to take charge and resist the temptations of Netflix's couch.
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The launch coincides with Fitbit's decision to extend the free trial of Fitbit Premium for 90 days.
Interesting? Here's everything you need to know about the Fitbit Charge 4 to help you decide if this is the right fitness tracker for you.
Fitbit charge 4 release date
Pre-orders for the Fitbit Charge 4 will begin March 31, 2020 (on site hot and select retailers including Amazon), and it will go on sale worldwide on April 15.
Fitbit Charge 4 Price
The Fitbit Charge 4 launches at $149.95 / £129.99 / AU$229.95 - the same price as the Fitbit Charge 3 at launch. The standard model is available in black, rosewood and storm blue/black.
There's also a Fitbit Charge 4 Special Edition priced at $169.95 / £149.99 / AU$269.95, which comes with a granite reflective/black stripe, and a classic black stripe, so you can choose between different looks.
Additional channels are available in a choice of materials (silicone, rubber and recycled woven fibers) starting at $29.95 /£19.99/ au for $49.95 each.
Fitbit charge 4 specs
The Fitbit Charge 4 is the company's first 'flagship' fitness tracker Band to offer on-board GPS, plus support for Spotify. Together with Fitbit Pay, it allows you to enjoy the great outdoors without being burdened by a bulky phone.
After a workout, syncing your device will automatically release a GPS navigator with a map of your activity - a feature that will be familiar to Strava users, and shows you where you work most often (whether it's running, walking, cycling, swimming or any other 20 + supports activity).
Like its predecessor, the Fitbit Charge 3 is thin, light and intrusive. However, while its screen is bright and easy to navigate, it's not the color display we were hoping for. It looks like we'll have to wait another two years for full color graphics to arrive on our wrists.
However, the monochrome display means the Fitbit Charge 4 has the ability to offer impressive battery life; *one says the device will last up to seven days on a single charge, making it a handy smartwatch for everyday wear.
Another new feature for the Fitbit Charge 4 is Active Minutes, a zone that measures heart rate and age, and tracks any type of workout that raises your heart rate. Your goal is to spend 150 minutes in each heart rate zone (fat burning, and cardio and peak combined) during the week.
This concept is similar in intensity to Garmin Connect minutes and is based on recommendations from the World Health Organization and the NHS.
Many other fitness apps give you an estimate of how much you move, but these measurements are often connected to feet rather than heart rate and are therefore less accurate for indoor activities such as yoga, Pilates and spinning.
Although the active monitoring of the zone minutes will arrive first on the Fitbit Charge 4, the feature will roll out with other Fitbit wearables at a later date.
Like the Fitbit Charge 3, the Charge 4 features sleep tracking and includes a relatively SpO2 sensor that detects blood oxygen concentration and can be useful for detecting sleep apnea and allergies.
This is not a medical diagnostic tool, but may be useful for identifying problems that lead to poor sleep.
Although it's not activated at launch, a future update for Fitbit Charge 4 will add a Smart Alarm feature currently only available to the company's full watchphone.
Enter the time you want to be awake and Smart Alarm will use machine learning to wake you up at the optimal time in your sleep cycle so you don't get up dizzy.
You'll also receive sleep points each morning, which is now available on your wrist rather than in the app, so you don't have to reach for your phone the moment you wake up.
And the lack of color screens is a shame, Fitbit charge 4 ticks each box to our Wishlist with aplomb. It's also refreshing to see movement continue to support older devices with the addition of new features such as active minutes in the pipeline zone.
We are looking to bring you our full Fitbit Charge 4 review very soon to see if this will be the device to keep people active during this long summer…
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