When comparing Fitbit Flex vs Fitbit Charge, the Slant community recommends Fitbit Flex for most people. In the question“What are the best fitness trackers?” Fitbit Flex is ranked 10th while Fitbit Charge is ranked 26th. The most important reason people chose Fitbit Flex is:
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.
Specs
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Pros
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.
Pro Integrates social features
Users can see their friends' activity, compete one-on-one, and earn badges.
Pro Battery lasts a week or more on a single charge
The battery is rated for 7 days, and has been tested up to 9 days by reviewers.
Pro Multifunction display
In addition to fitness metrics, a Fitbit Charge synced with a phone will display time and caller ID.
Pro Smart alarm wakes you up at the optimal time
The Charge tracks sleep cycles, and its alarm can be configured to take this into account, attempting to select an optimal wake time.
Cons
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.
Con Flimsy two-prong wrist strap
Fitbit was expected to update their wrist strap with the Charge, but an upgraded buckle can only be purchased with Charge HR.