When comparing Fitbit Charge 2 vs Fitbit Charge HR, the Slant community recommends Fitbit Charge 2 for most people. In the question“What are the best fitness trackers that pair with iPhones?” Fitbit Charge 2 is ranked 1st while Fitbit Charge HR is ranked 9th. The most important reason people chose Fitbit Charge 2 is:
It gives you a lot of stats on your activities thanks to the GPS, altimeter, and heart rate monitor. It can track your sleep, show you alerts directly on the display, and offers a variety of helpful features such as reminders to move and a breathing function that helps you relax.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Gives you a lot of features for the price
It gives you a lot of stats on your activities thanks to the GPS, altimeter, and heart rate monitor. It can track your sleep, show you alerts directly on the display, and offers a variety of helpful features such as reminders to move and a breathing function that helps you relax.
Pro Reminds you to move throughout the day
The fitness tracker will give you hourly reminders to get up and move for a few minutes, so you're not spending your whole day hunched over a desk.
Pro Great choice of replacement bands
Including regular vinyl bands, leather, metal, luxury, etc.
Pro The large display is easy to read
The Charge 2 has a very clear black and white display that's easy to read in both light and dark settings. It gives you a lot of activity stats directly on the display, which keeps you from needing to frequently check the smartphone app.
Pro Only needs to be charged every 4-5 days
Compared to other fitness trackers with large display screens, and Charge 2 has an impressive battery life. It can go 4-5 days without needing to be recharged, so there is minimal interruption to your tracking.
Pro Great ecosystem
Lots of users, nice apps (Win10 UWP app as well), etc.
Pro Continuously measures your heart rate and intensity level to give you 24 hour stats
Throughout the day (and night), the Charge HR fitness tracker continuously measures your heart rate.
On the app, graphs show your heart rate throughout the day, providing stats such as time spent in the different zones (peak, cardio, and fat burn) as well as your average resting heart rate for that day.
Pro Can track your elevation so you know how high you've hiked
When connected to the GPS on your phone, the Charge HR is able to keep track of elevation. This is a great feature for hikers who often like to know how much elevation was gained over the course of the hike.
Pro The app and web platform do an excellent job of keeping you motivated
The Fitbit app lets you set goals and milestones which reward you with badges and trophies when reached.
You can also challenge friends and family, competing against them for top spot on the leader board.
Pro Compatible with nearly every smartphone
In addition to Android and iPhone support, the Charge HR fitness tracker also supports Windows Phone which is fairly rare.
While not an issue most of the time, when upgrading your phone you won't have to worry if your fitness tracker will work with it or not.
Cons
Con Weak vibration causes alerts to easily go missed
The Charge 2 has a very weak vibration that is easy to miss, especially when you're active. As a result, it's easy to miss silent alarms or reminders to get up and move.
Con No smart alarm
Although the feature has been requested by the community since 2014.
Con No actionable notifications / call and text only
You can only see call and text notifications, no Facebook, Twitter, email, etc. And you can only see them, you cannot reply, delete, dismiss, etc.
Con App is not intuitive and terrible on Android
It is clunky and annoying, but works part time. There's a report on another Android that it just doesn't work. No alerts for 250 steps per hour. Not accurate. Clunky non intuitive functionality.
Con No water resistance
It is not water proof or even water-resistant. The watch will still function if you get a little splash of water on it, but you definitely can’t take it if you go swimming,
Con Lower quality screen that scratches easily
Rather than gorilla glass which is commonly used in the more expensive trackers, the Charge 2 fitness tracker uses a thick plastic display screen. It makes the device appear lower quality and scratches very easily.
Con Lavender band turns blue after a short period of wear
The specific color of band can start to turn blue after only the first day of wear. It very quickly looks stained and dirty.
Con Band is poorly made and tends to fall apart
Usually after a few months of wear, people start having issues with the band falling apart. Bubbles will appear under the top layer of the band and then the layers start separating.
The Fitbit Charge HR does not have a replaceable band, so you have to replace the whole device if it is no longer wearable.
Con Notifications are easily missed
While the Charge HR fitness tracker will vibrate to notify you of incoming messages on your phone, the vibration is subtle and short. Sometimes you won't notice the buzz and you'll miss the notification.
Con Stats aren't always accurate
While good enough for most users, the data can be skewed because of physical limits of the fitness tracker. For example, an elevated pulse may just be because you chugged back a coffee, but the Charge HR may interpret this as physical activity. Also, measuring a pulse and steps from the wrist can only be so accurate.