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Add to SafariWhen comparing Fitbit Charge HR vs Fitbit Flex, the Slant community recommends Fitbit Charge HR for most people. In the question“What are the best fitness trackers that pair with iPhones?” Fitbit Charge HR is ranked 9th while Fitbit Flex is ranked 12th. The most important reason people chose Fitbit Charge HR is:
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.
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
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.
Pro Replaceable wristband with lots of style options available
The fitness tracker itself is a separate part from the wristband that can be taken out and put in a different band. There is 10 wristband colors to choose from in the official store, and custom bands available from third-party vendors.
Pro Comprehensive reports of your daily activities
The fitness tracker offers stats such as distance traveled, steps taken, calories burned, weight changes, calories consumed from foods and drinks, restless and awake states of sleep, etc.
Pro Integrates with over 40 apps so you can get the info that's most important to you
The fitness tracker can be integrated with a variety of apps that together can offer more in-depth and complete overview of your health and fitness patterns.
Pro Visually displays your daily progress using LED lights
There are 5 LED lights that, after double-tapping the wristband, display progress towards a goal. Each light indicates 20% progress towards the goal and the tracker allows choosing between steps, calories or distance to display this way.
Pro Tracks weight goals
Fitbit Flex lets users create a meal plan and log their progress from the dashboard menu.
Pro 5-7 day battery
Fitbit Flex will last up to a week on a single charge.
Pro Real-time Bluetooth syncing
Flex constantly shares data over Bluetooth, meaning that the device doesn't need to be taken off in order for the data to sync to an iOS or Android device.
Pro Social layer can increase motivation
Information regarding goals and progress can be shared with friends, and users can even challenge each other with goals.
Pro Quick food and drink logging
Because of Fitbit's database of foods' nutritional information, food and drink logging is easy.
Pro Comfortable
The lightweight rubber band is very comfortable to wear.
Cons
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.
Con Oversensitive pedometer overestimates your step count
The fitness tracker's step counter often counts movement unrelated to walking or running as steps. It ends up reporting more movement than has actually happened.
Con Hard to get the tapping right to active LED display
The double tap to activate the LED display lights must be the appropriate pressure and timing in order for it to work correctly. This can be frustrating to some users.
