The Fitbit Charge 5 is finally fulfilling its potential with ECG and Daily Readiness activation
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In theory, Fitbit pushed the boundaries of affordable activity trackers back in August by unveiling its most impressive such wearable device ever. But in reality, two of the important things that made the feature-packed Charge 5 so great were not actually available right off the bat.
Speaking of, it's worth remembering that the Fitbit Sense, Versa 2, and Inspire 2 are all deeply discounted as part of Amazon's awesome early Black Friday deals, which will hopefully expand to the Charge 5 in the near future as well.
Well, they are now, which means this bad boy can finally replace the popular Charge 4 in earnest on our list of the best fitness trackers out there.
ECG monitoring is a feature that needs little to no introduction after saving countless lives of Apple Watch owners and expanding to select Samsung smartwatches last year. 2020 was also when the Fitbit Sense broke cover with built-in ECG technology, but what's obviously special about the Charge 5 is that $179.95 recommended price.
By no means crazy cheap by activity tracker standards, this thing is an activity tracker, thus undercutting most full-fledged smartwatches, including the aforementioned Fitbit Sense, as well as the hot new Apple Watch Series 7 or Samsung's Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic.
With the on-wrist ECG app enabled at last, the Fitbit Charge 5 can keep an even closer eye on your health, alerting you when it detects possible signs of atrial fibrillation, which is a dangerous and far more common form of heart rhythm irregularity than you might think.
Unlike ECG, which is slowly becoming a standard health tool for high-end wearables, Fitbit's Daily Readiness Score aims to set the Charge 5, Sense, Versa 3, Versa 2, Inspire 2, and Luxe apart from otherwise similar devices manufactured by different companies.
The idea behind this proprietary Fitbit feature is as simple as it is prospectively handy for a very large number of users who would like to gain more insight into how their body works.
By combining activity, sleep, and heart rate variability analysis, Daily Readiness will try to anticipate the perfect time to intensify your workout... and the ideal time to take a break.
Instead of constantly pushing yourself to the limit, which can often lead to extreme fatigue and injuries, the goal is to truly help you live a healthy life and maximize those periods of "excellent readiness."
That almost sounds too good to be true free, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that only Fitbit Premium subscribers willing to pay $9.99 a month (or $79.99 a year) can actually use the Daily Readiness tool on the devices listed above.
Get a cheaper than ever Fitbit ahead of Black Friday
Speaking of, it's worth remembering that the Fitbit Sense, Versa 2, and Inspire 2 are all deeply discounted as part of Amazon's awesome early Black Friday deals, which will hopefully expand to the Charge 5 in the near future as well.
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