Tech Corner: Fitbit has massively upgraded the Charge 5

Say hello to the Fitbit Charge 5.

In an age of minor tweaks to new versions of products rather than wholesale changes, Fitbit has certainly not taken that approach with the Charge 5. Fitbit has officially announced the Charge 5, the company’s latest fitness tracker, and it marks one of the biggest design changes to the popular Charge family since its inception. It’s the first of the charge series to have a colour display and with its rounded off edges, it draws plenty of inspiration from the Luxe series, another of Fitbit’s products. The physical hardware of the Charge 5 is about 10% thinner than the Charge 4 and there’s also new stainless steel accents on the side, which house the ECG (electrocardiogram) and EDA (stress management and other features) sensors. There’s no buttons, which means you’ll interact with the device exclusively from the screen. Most impressively of all, the ECG features are the same as the ones on the Fitbit Sense. This might seem inconsequential to a lot of people but it’s a big statement from Fitbit to include the same advanced health features that has mostly been reserved for flagship watches. To put it into perspective, not even the Fitbit Versa 3 has ECG. Aside from the usual health features, the Charge 5 also squeezes in everything you’d expect from a tracker at this price point. There’s NFC payments, an SpO2 sensor, skin temperature variance, built-in GPS, and sleep-related features like a daily Sleep Score, Sleep Stages, and SmartWake Alarms. Android users will be able to respond to messages from their wrist and there’s also Google’s Fast Pair. In terms of battery, users can expect it to last around seven days with normal use. But, if you opt for the always-on display, that cuts down to just two days, which isn’t a whole lot unfortunately. The Fitbit Charge 5 will go on sale in the autumn, the company said, and will cost £169.99, which includes a six-month membership to its Premium subscription service.