Should i get fitbit

And, for those who use Spotify, the Charge 4 now has controls for that music service, though you still can't load music onto the device itself. The Charge 4 was comfortable to wear, and its GPS was accurate when we took it on runs. It's also pretty good at measuring sleep, and thanks to its SPO2 sensor, is able to warn you if you're at risk for conditions such as sleep apnea.

The Charge 4 will last up to 7 days, but that number drops to 5 hours when using GPS. That's not as good as the best GPS watches, but good for a fitness tracker. Our Apple Watch 3 vs. Fitbit Charge 4 face-off explains why it's the most capable fitness trackers you can get for the price. Read our full Fitbit Charge 4 review. The Fitbit Charge 5 is Fitbit's latest tracker and it has a number of exciting features, usually reserved for Fitbit's more expensive trackers, an ECG heart rate monitor being one.

The bright, always-on color touch screen is a massive improvement — it is easy to read in bright sunlight and is great to use during a HIIT workout or on a hike, although we found the lack of physical buttons made it a little fiddly to navigate around when running.

The Fitbit Charge 5 will also be able to give wearers a "Daily Readiness Score", which is based on three different metrics — fitness fatigue activity , heart rate variability HRV , and recent sleep. This isn't currently available on the tracker but will be rolling out later this year. At the moment, the ECG monitor also isn't available on the tracker. If you're looking for a tracker that looks beautiful against your wrist, is easy to read in the bright sunlight and has some impressive features for the price tag, this is a good buy.

Also, if you're using a Fitbit Charge 3 or older, the upgrade is worth it for the color screen alone. Read our full Fitbit Charge 5 review. It also comes with a free year of Fitbit Premium. Fitbit rates the Inspire 2 battery life for 10 days, which makes it the longest-lasting Fitbit. There's no GPS or music storage, so you'll need your phone nearby for working out. But it does have Active Zone Minutes, which is a feature on Fitbit's pricier options that monitors the time you spend in the fat burn, cardio or peak heart-rate zones while exercising.

Read our full Fitbit Inspire 2 review. The Fitbit Charge 3 was previously our top pick as the best Fitbit, but it's been supplanted by the Fitbit Charge 4, which has GPS and a few other features.

Designed for those who want to keep healthy and stay in shape, but aren't going to be running marathons, the Charge 3 has a fairly large, grayscale touchscreen display that shows your heart rate, distance traveled, and notifications from your smartphone, if connected.

The Charge 3 is also swim-proof, and can track your laps in the pool. The Charge 3 comes in three sizes, so it should fit most wrists Fitbit has a sizing chart on its site. In addition, the Charge 3's strap is removable and Fitbit, as well a a number of third parties makes straps in different colors, patterns, and materials. The Fitbit Charge 3 also has an SpO2 sensor that will be used to diagnose breathing disturbances while sleeping and week-long battery life.

It still requires a smartphone to connect to GPS, but it's still a good Fitbit for the money — while supplies last. Read our full Fitbit Charge 3 review.

The best Fitbit midrange smartwatch is the Fitbit Versa 3, the next-generation of the Fitbit Versa 2. Now, even when you leave your phone at home, the Versa can finally track your location during outdoor exercise. A curvier, larger display is welcome, too. Plus the Versa 3 has gained a great motivational workout feature, Active Zone Minutes. Introduced with the Charge 4, Active Zone Minutes monitors the time you spend in the fat burn, cardio or peak heart-rate zones while exercising.

Read our full Fitbit Versa 3 review. Unlike some of the best Fitbit models, the Fitbit Luxe introduces elevated, jewelry-inspired elements with a color touchscreen and stainless steel casing with metallic finishes. We wish it offered GPS and contactless payments for the price, but it's still the most attractive fitness tracker we've seen in a while. Read our full Fitbit Luxe review. If you've ever wanted Alexa on your wrist, the Fitbit Versa 2 is the best Fitbit for you.

This second-generation Versa has Amazon's assistant built in, which lets you do such things as control smart home devices, look up the weather and news, and a lot more. It comes with advanced sleep-tracking features, which, when combined with the Versa 2's ability to monitor blood oxygen saturation levels, could help alert you to conditions such as sleep apnea. You can also download up to songs to the Versa 2 itself, as well as from Pandora and Deezer, so you can leave your phone at home if you want to listen to some tunes.

Sadly, the Versa 2 lacks on-board GPS, so you will need to tote your phone if you want that feature. Check out our Fitbit Versa 2 vs. Fitbit Charge 4 face-off for more on the advantages and disadvantages to the brand's smartwatch, as well as everything we know about its possible predecessor, the Fitbit Versa 3. Read our full Fitbit Versa 2 review.

With built-in GPS as well as a large, colorful touchscreen, the Fitbit Ionic is the best Fitbit for those who want a device with all the bells and whistles. The Ionic is the only one of Fitbit's devices with GPS, onboard music storage, and mobile payments, making this truly a device that lets you leave your smartphone at home when you want to go out and exercise.

The Ionic also supports Fitbit's small app store, which lets you add such things as Starbucks and additional watchfaces. Plus, the Ionic's display can also show on-screen workouts, handy for those times when you don't want to have to look at another screen to know if you're doing your yoga poses correctly.

Our biggest criticism of the Ionic is its design; it looks more like a first-generation smartwatch than a fully capable fitness tracker, and its size makes it bulky on smaller wrists. Read our full Fitbit Ionic review. Like the Versa 2, the Versa Lite has a rounded circle shape with a bright and colorful touchscreen.

After hearing success stories, maybe you've considered purchasing one for yourself to help lose weight or make healthier choices. However, before you do, you should figure out if a Fitbit is worth it for you. While they're useful in many cases, the devices aren't for everyone. No matter which Fitbit model you choose, you're making an investment. So before you buy one, ask yourself some simple questions to decide whether you really need a Fitbit.

This is the first question to ask yourself because it's a trap that many people fall into. Simply put, a Fitbit is not a magic solution that will suddenly give you the motivation to exercise. Some people give every excuse imaginable for why they don't work out. They claim that they can't begin until they have suitable clothes, or that they'll start once the weather changes, or when they have the right gadget.

But the truth is that these secondary aspects don't prevent them from startingpeople keep themselves from exercising. If you don't have the motivation to consistently work towards your exercise goals without a Fitbit, buying one is not going to suddenly change your ways.

A fitness tracker is meant to track your habits and give you actionable data. Know yourself and whether you'll actually commit to a plan. Someone who won't go for a walk today because they're waiting for their Fitbit to arrive tomorrow will always find an excuse to avoid exercising. In short: If you don't exercise regularly and plan on a Fitbit alone motivating you to do so, don't buy a Fitbit.

Once you're committed to exercising, you need to decide if you'll actually wear your Fitbit regularly. If you dislike the feeling of wearing a watch or bracelet, you won't like a Fitbit either. For a fitness tracker to do its job, you have to wear it almost all the time. Failing to wear it during a walk means it won't record your steps. And if you care about sleep tracking, you'll need to wear it at night, too. If you buy a Fitbit only to have it sit in a drawer, what's the point?

The smaller Fitbit Zip clips onto your pocket, but since that device is discontinued, you'd have to find it second-hand.

Plus, that basic Fitbit can only tell you so much. The modern lineup of Fitbit devices, such as the latest Versa and Charge models, all use strap setups similar to a watch. You'll have to pay extra for an alternative-style band. Those with sensitive skin could end up with irritations from wearing the Fitbit all the time.

If your job prevents you from wearing a watch, you can't wear your Fitbit during the day either. Additionally, no matter which Fitbit tracker you use, you'll need the free app to access all the information it collects. Will you install the app on your phone to keep up with your progress, or ignore them?

The best Fitbit tips and tricks won't matter if you don't regularly interact with your device and app. It takes around 10 to 15 seconds to lock onto a signal if using built-in GPS, and in my testing it was accurate with route and distance information when compared to a control phone. When you start an activity you can also set a goal, like duration, distance or active zone minutes: Fitbit's way of calculating moderate to intense physical activity.

The Charge 5 can also buzz when you reach different heart-rate zones, which I found pretty motivating while on a run so I knew if I was actually at my peak, or just cruising in cardio.

Fitbit's app is nicely laid out and it's easy to see workout stats like your splits on a run, heart rate zones and calorie count after you sync the tracker, along with VO2 max level. Bear in mind there's no altimeter on the Charge 5 so it will use GPS data to calculate elevation. You can't see elevation gain in the Fitbit app either, so you'll need to review your activity on Fitbit. I did test the heart-rate sensor against a chest strap, which is considered the gold standard in consumer heart-rate tracking, and was pleasantly surprised at how well the Charge 5 matched up overall.

It took two minutes for the Charge 5 to catch up to the strap's readings at the start of every run that I did though, so hopefully a software update can address that.

It will notify you when a call or text message comes through, and you can also choose which apps can push notifications to your wrist. Android users can send quick replies to notifications from the Charge 5, but iPhone owners can only see notifications on-wrist.

Fitbit offers a fairly limited selection of clock faces you can swap in and out of the app. The Charge 5 is missing music storage, music playback control, a speaker and mic. That means you can't take quick calls from your wrist and there's no voice assistant. There's also no third-party apps. That's not a deal-breaker for me considering this is a fitness tracker, not a smartwatch, but I would have liked to see a "find my phone" app to ring it within Bluetooth range.

That will depend on how hard you push your watch and what display settings you use. For basic use, including notifications, step tracking, sleep tracking and some EDA scans, you can expect to get up to seven days with the display set to raise-to-wake.

I'm a bit more of a heavy user, so when adding a daily minute GPS workout to the mix I managed to get four full days. Using the always-on display drains the battery even further, so expect to get two full days out of the Charge 5 in this scenario. The device also comes at a formative time for Fitbit, now fully owned by Google.

The Charge 5 does not run WearOS, and we're waiting to see how the Fitbit apps will appear on that operating system, or if a standalone Fitbit watch running WearOS is on the way.

Only time will tell. Until then, the Charge 5 is the best Fitbit for most people right now, including the best of Fitbit's tracking technology at a price that's lower than most smartwatches. The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

CNET editors pick the products and services we write about. When you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Lexy Savvides. Don't Like No altimeter for elevation tracking No music playback control Fitbit Premium subscription needed for in-depth health metrics. Delivered Tuesdays and Thursdays. Text replies Android.