FITNESS

Fitbit Charge 6 Review

January 2024

Olivia | Author

A couple years ago we reviewed the Fitbit Charge 5. However, in September Fitbit released the Charge 6 which we managed to get our hands on. And so, as the New Year comes in, we thought we’d review it just in time. Whether you’re an experienced fitness fanatic or have made a new year’s resolution to either keep track of your health, or get into your fitness a little more, this Fitbit is for you.

As with all our reviews, you can expect it to be honest and detailed. I’ll take you through the key specs, what I thought of the design, features and more. And if by the end of this you’re still unsure, hopefully you’ll feel a little more inspired.

Fitbit Charge 6 - Obsidian / Black

free standard delivery

Key Features:

40+ exercise modes
24/7 heart rate
Active Zone Minutes
Cardio fitness level
Built-in GPS
All-day activity tracking
Workout intensity map
SmartTrack®
Timer and Stopwatch

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£139.99

From £23.34 per month
or 0% for 4 months
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Quantity to buy of Fitbit Charge 6 - Obsidian / Black

Fitness motivation, anywhere.

The start of a new year always means that fitness becomes a big topic of conversation. ‘New year, new me’ is the phrase that everyone hears. And most of the time, it relates to fitness. Me personally, I’m not one to have fitness goals, I like to move my body as and when I can, but I don’t like to add any pressure to it. For you, it may be different, you may have goals you want to achieve, or you may just want to make fitness part of your everyday routine. Whatever it is, the Fitbit Charge 6 helps you on your journey and you can still benefit from all the brilliant features it has to offer.

The Fitbit Charge 6 has over 40 exercise modes, so you can be sure that whatever fitness you’re into, it’ll have it. From running, to golf, to dancing, to rollerblading and more. It also has a built-in GPS so you can see your pace and distance during your outdoor workouts, with no phone necessary. And, if you’re not sure where you’re going, it has built-in Google Maps! So, you can be sure to never get lost

Over the weekend, I did a parkrun. I’m not a runner, but I wanted to experience the Fitbit at its full capabilities. And I’m really glad I did. Before I started the run, I linked it to my Strava, just so I had complete accuracy, and my friends could also see my run. FYI, Fitbit does also have a social aspect, I just have no friends on Fitbit. Honestly, I didn’t realise how much motivation the little smart watch could give me. Little ‘keep going’ and ‘well done’ messages here and there really gave me the push I needed sometimes.

It also told me when my heartrate was in peak which was great; knowing when to push myself and when to slow down. After your run, you can also see it broken down. Because of the GPS features, you can see a map afterwards showing where you were at peak heart rate level, vigorous, moderate and light. It also gives a breakdown of your laps and your pace throughout each one. Setting me up for my next run nicely. I’ll be able to compare, see where I’ve improved, see where I need to improve, and more.

Something else I really love about all the Fitbit smartwatches, is that they have smart tracking. Meaning, if you forget to start a workout, SmartTrack automatically recognises and records your workout. Even if it’s just a walk. You’ll then get plenty of insights. For example, you’ll be able to see your heart rate level (which you can always see, but it’s important during a workout), letting you know when you’re in fat burn, cardio, or peak zones. This means you can see how hard you’re working, so you know when to slow down, and when you can comfortably push yourself.

Another great thing about the Fitbit Charge 6, is that if you’re sat at a desk all day, like me, it gives you little reminders to move. Whether it’s a stretch, or a walk to the kitchen, anything to take a break from looking at a screen. It’s a healthy habit to get in to as we often lose sight of moving our body when we’re busy at work. And, if you’d rather not have those reminders for some reason, you can turn them off easy-peasy.

It really does have all the fitness tools to smash your goals.

Make sense of it all.

Everyone has their own way of dealing with stress, and it’s one thing to manage it, and another to really understand it. With the Fitbit Charge 6, you can start to really understand your triggers. Knowing your heart rate level isn’t just good for when you’re working out, but also when you feel yourself becoming more stressed. I’ve had a couple instances where my heart rate has been at 145bpm, and let me tell you, I wasn’t working out. Let’s note, my resting heart rate is usually around 67bpm. But being able to see my heart rate at that level and take note of my environment along with what was playing on my mind meant I could understand my stress. And then I was able to further this by using my Fitbit to do an EDA Scan along with a mindful meditation on the app, allowing me to be calmer and slow my heart rate down.

Still unsure? Check out this video from Fitbit. (Though it’s the Fitbit Charge 5, it still works the same)

There are many other health metrics you’re able to see. You can look at your breathing rate, oxygen saturation (SpO2), resting heart rate and if you’re a lady, your menstrual cycle. You can see these daily, over the course of a week, a month or 90 days.

You also get advanced sleep insights which I personally love. Fitbit will recognise sleep patterns, gain a sleep score, and build an overall sleep profile for you. All you need to do is wear the smart watch overnight and in the morning. When you wake up, your sleep analysis will be ready for you. The more you wear it during the nights, the more beneficial it’ll become. It can understand your time in light, deep and REM sleep. It’ll tell you how restful or restless your sleep was. The Charge6 also has a ‘do not disturb’ mode so no texts will wake you in the middle of the night. As well as a silent alarm so you can wake up peacefully with just a nice vibration on your wrist which I love. Another great feature that I love, is the Smart Wake. Between certain times in the morning the Fitbit will go off during your optimal stage of sleeping, so you never wake up feeling groggy and as though you’ve woken from a deep sleep.

Other features.

There are plenty of other features that don’t include your health and fitness that are just a bit of fun. One of them being Google Wallet. I have to say, I keep forgetting I can pay with my smart watch, I’m so used to using my phone, but that’s not to say it’s not a great feature. And, there’s a pin so if your watch ever got stolen, they couldn’t use it without your pin; hopefully by the time you realised it’s gone missing you’ll have removed that specific card from your Google Wallet. As a little sidenote, I do have an iOS phone, and so even though I have Apple Wallet, popping my card onto my Google account for their Wallet, was super simple.

Ok a big thing for me, the battery life. Fitbit weren’t kidding when they said it. I wear my Fitbit all day, and all night and it only needs a charge about once a week. Sometime if it’s getting low, around the 30% mark, I may pop it on charge while I’m getting ready or in the shower etc and usually by the time I’m done, it’s back to full charge. Also, if you notice it’s running low when you’re about to head out to do whatever workout you enjoy, by the time you’ve finished making that pre-workout shake, or changing into your workout clothes, it will be ready for you.

Third party apps. Something that was missing for me was the ability to control my music from this little smartwatch. Yes, it does have YouTube music and I’m pretty sure you can listen without a subscription, you just may have ads. So, this may not be a deal breaker for you, but I already pay for a subscription on Spotify and have all my playlists on there, so I didn’t really want to go into switching.

You do also get text notifications which I love. Seeing your notifications on your wrist means that anything emergency-related you can see immediately.

Final Thoughts

I love this little health smartwatch. Whether you’re thinking of a smart watch solely for fitness purposes, wellbeing purposes, or because you want to keep track of your day-to-day life, this smartwatch suits everyone. I love that I have a detailed sleep analysis, can understand my stress, manage my breathing, and see my texts. Plus, like I said, the charge lasts a lifetime. Sure, it has some…well one, minor downsides, but they’re just that, minor. This honestly has everything you need to smash your fitness goals, improve your fitness and more. I would definitely recommend.