The Best Fitbit in 2024

May 2024 · 5 minute read

FAQs

Are Fitbits worth it?

Yes, especially if you want a reliable fitness wearable. A Fitbit can be beneficial for anyone who keeps active each day, even if that activity is walking a few blocks around the neighborhood or lifting weights at home.

They do an excellent job of counting steps, tracking a wide range of activities, and providing other useful health information like sleep insights and calories burned. You don't need to be an avid fitness pro or athlete to get a lot out of a Fitbit and with so many options in the brand's lineup, finding one that's "worth it" means just picking out the option that best fits your lifestyle.

Plus, Fitbits are device agnostic, so they're compatible with devices running iOS or Android. This makes them one of the best Android smartwatches you can buy, as well as one of the best fitness trackers

Is a Fitbit better than an Apple Watch?

This ultimately comes down to personal preference. The Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 are undoubtedly more powerful and full-featured but if you don't need access to a suite of apps, then a Fitbit will suffice. Both watches offer deep tracking capability for activities like running, cycling, and lifting weights, and each comes standard with a user-friendly interface. 

One area where Apple outdoes Fitbit is in terms of its ecosystem. Anyone using an iPhone can get more out of an Apple Watch compared to a Fitbit (but as touched on below, it's not always enough to be considered a dealbreaker). 

And although the Apple Watch now offers a deep well of fitness and activity tracking capability, it still leans more heavily toward being a smartwatch (similar to Fitbit's Versa line), so if it's basic fitness tracking you're after without the frills, something like Fitbit's Charge would be more your speed. 

What are the advantages of owning a Fitbit?

Perhaps the biggest advantage of a Fitbit is that no matter the price point or type (tracker versus smartwatch), it comes with all the foundational features you want in a health and fitness tracker. This includes the ability to automatically track sleep and activity, which is the best thing about the brand, in my opinion.

Then, all the models track pace, distance, and calories burned during your workouts, and calculate your heart rate training zones, including fat burn, cardio, and peak. For sleep, you not only get the total hours you slept, but the time you spent in deep and REM sleep, plus the percentage of time you spent below your resting heart rate. 

With some models, these stats are easier to access than others — namely, the Sense 2 and Versa 3 because their larger screens are easier to read at a glance. But even with the smaller, more narrow faces of the Charge 5, the numbers are very large which is nice to have. The Inspire 3 is the hardest to glance stats quickly off of.

The Fitbit app, accessed via your phone, is easy to navigate and displays steps, miles, active zone minutes, daily calorie burns, mindfulness days, exercise, and activity per hour. It also reminds you to take 250 steps per hour. Additionally, you can track your menstrual cycle, food and water intake, and weight (though these require more manual entries). 

What are the disadvantages of owning a Fitbit? 

The main disadvantage of owning a Fitbit would be its lack of ecosystem outside of the wearable itself and the Fitbit app. The Apple Watch or, for instance, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, each offers advanced compatibility with iOS- and Android-compatible smartphones, respectively. That allows each to offer features specific to those devices and operating systems.

However, this shouldn't be seen as a total dealbreaker. Not being able to customize text responses or notifications doesn't have to preclude you from buying a Fitbit. 

What's the battery life like on a Fitbit?

Each Fitbit in the line has top-notch battery life, lasting days even with auto-activity and auto-sleep tracking turned on, so you don't have to worry about charging it every night. 

Officially, the battery for all Fitbits featured lasts six to 10 days, depending on the device and your usage. In my experience, the Versa 2, Versa 3, and Sense last an average of six days on one charge, the Charge 5 for seven days, and the Inspire 3 for up to 10 days.

Are Fitbits customizable?

Almost all Fitbits offer plenty of customization options. Each wearable comes with a basic band but all have different colors and material bands you can purchase, from stainless steel mesh for a professional look to expressive prints to more breathable sports bands. The only watch on our list that doesn't offer a sport-specific band is the Inspire 3.

You can also customize the watch faces for aesthetics and readability, and to personalize shortcuts on the devices and what's displayed on the main app page. The Sense 2 and Versa 3 have the most options for watch faces; you can even download third-party designs or use your photos, which you can't do with the other models.

What's the lifespan of a Fitbit?

This depends on the model. While Fitbit releases new models annually, that doesn't always mean the prior generation version becomes unusable. For example, when the Fitbit Versa 4 was released in 2022, the prior generation Versa 3 was still available for purchase and, in some ways, was the better wearable overall (which is why it's in our guide and the Versa 4 isn't). 

So, even if you own a Fitbit that's a generation or two older than the current model, rest assured that it's only outdated by its model number and not regarding its actual performance or capability. 

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