News sponsored by Republic of Gamers ROG Zephyrus M16

It’s a good market for smartband buyers, with some decent competition coming from the Huawei Band 6, Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6, and Samsung Galaxy Fit2. Fitbit feels confident to crack this market with something the rest don’t have - built-in GPS, and a bit more. 

The new Fitbit Charge 5 is a definite step up from the previous version, containing not only GPS, but also an ECG (Electrocardiogram) app that checks your heart’s atrial fibrillation and an EDA (Electrodermal Activity) Scan app that tracks changes in sweat level that might indicate stress. Another first for a Fitbit smartband is a full colour 1.04” AMOLED display and SpO2 monitoring. 

What we’ve always appreciated about Fitbit is the easy to digest way all your data is presented in the app. This includes steps, heart rate, recent fitness activities and sleep. Fitbit tracks all this well and has steadily improved since we’ve first tested the Fitbit Flex way back in 2014.  

A few extras are the ability to make contactless payments, receive/send notifications from/to your smartphone (quick replies with Android only), and 20 clock faces to customise what information you want to see most. Fitbit also includes six months of Fitbit Premium for deeper insights, actionable guidance and a range of more than 500 workouts, plus mindfulness and nutritional content to empower you to do what’s best for your body each day.

Also new is the Daily Readiness experience, coming soon to Charge 5, as well as Sense, Versa 3, Versa 2, Luxe and Inspire 2 devices, which tells you if your body is ready for a  workout or if you should prioritise recovery instead. 

The extra functionality on the Charge 5 essentially takes the Fitbit Sense (R6k) smartwatch and converts it to a smartband. Here’s the catch though - the Charge 5 is set to retail for R3 999, the same price as the Versa 3 smartwatch. This is more than double the R1 699 for the impressive Huawei Band 6’s, noting that the Band 6 doesn't include built-in GPS nor the ECG app and EDA monitoring. The exact date for release is not yet know, although it's expected to be in September.