The Fitbit Charge Hr is a device that helps you monitor your general physical activities, letting you stay fit and healthy. The conveniently small gadget is an enhancement of the Fitbit Charge activity tracker wristband which was released in November 2014. With both devices keeping track on daily activities, the Fitbit charge guesses these trackings by measuring the movement of the arm while the Fitbit Charge HR keeps track by monitoring the heart rate. Is this portable technology worth the hype? We put it through a close observation to find out.
Appearance.
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The Fitbit Charge HR looks very elegant, bearing a typical sports watch appearance. It comes in three stylish colors: Black, Plum, and Tangerine, that gives its wearers a trendy look. It looks identical to the Fitbit Charge with soft, textured band except for its normal watch-type buckle clasp that lets it wraps itself around your wrist tightly, and is so comfortable to wear that you can wear it to sleep without feeling a constant tug on your wrist even though you might have to wear it slightly above the wrist for adequate heart rate reading.
The monitor of the device documents distance traveled, steps are taken, time is taken in sleeping, amount of calories burned, nutrition intake and the number of steps climbed, but what makes this device stand out is its ability to track your heart-rate. It has a monochrome LED monitor that is not always lit but allows to see the time or any other data every time you raise your arm or tap the screen. The device comes with its own USB cord for charging. The gadget also comes in different sizes from the range of 5 inches to 9 inches.
Features.
- Get continuous, automatic, wrist-based heart rate and simplified heart rate zones
- Track workouts, heart rate, distance, calories burned, floors climbed, active minutes and steps
- Monitor your sleep automatically and wake with a silent alarm
- See call notifications, daily stats and time of day on the OLED display
- Sync stats wirelessly and automatically to your computer and over 150 leading smartphones
- Utilize the sizing tool in Product Details below to ensure proper fit.
Heart rate reading.
The Charge HR has LED lights underneath that immediately comes on when worn. This green light lets the device read your heart rate adequately which allows it to monitor all your physical activities with the help of a built-in accelerometer and a barometer. The heart rate feature which is valuable for athletes allows you to to keep track of your exercise progress and improve your speed and endurance.
The device which doubles as a watch detects heart rates by recognizing blood volumes and capillary size changes under pressure and algorithms are used to continue the process of calculation. When the heart beats, Capillary size expands and contracts due to the blood volumes being pumped by the heart. The gadget’s LED light underneath shines against the skin to reflect these changes.
The monitor bears a heart-rate icon that lets you aware of the heart zone you are in, which it calculates based on the percentage of your maximum heart rate. The device uses the common formula: 220 minus your age to calculate your maximum heart rate and further calculates which heart rate zone you are in, allowing to optimize your exercise sessions. You can, however, set your own heart rate zones instead of using the default zones.
Battery Life.
Some customers have complained of the battery life of this gadget as compared to the Fitbit Charge device which is more of a manufacturing problem. Although Fitbit Charge boasts of longer battery life as it does not have the heart rate feature, the Charge HR can solidly last for five days and would last more, if the heart rate feature is turned off. The battery life, however, would be determined by usage frequency and settings. Alarms, frequent pressing to check statistics, frequent call notification, leaving the heart rate feature constantly on, among other things shorten the lifespan of the battery. You can set the heart rate feature on auto, or completely put it off when not in use to save battery.
Also, when syncing, turn off the ‘always connected’ feature in your tracker setting to increase the battery life.
The Fitbit App.
Fitbit Charge HR has one of the simplest apps as it supports easy navigation. Information is displayed on the screen in a single column that is categorized into different sections. Apart from the automatic activities, the device lets you manually log in other information like food intake and water consumption. It is well suited with smartphone platforms like mac and windows, and data is wirelessly synced as long as your phone or computer supports the latest Bluetooth standard.
The device lets you receive call notification with caller ID and the app lets you sync data with other health apps like MapMyRun and WeightWatchers. However, the app does not allow you to share information with Apple health and Google Fit platforms but if you do want to get all your health data in one place, there is an option for Apple Health of using the Sync Solver for the Fitbit Application.
Overall Conclusion.
Fitbit Charge HR is the best heart rate fitness band, giving you the right motivation to keep fit and stay healthy. It is lightweight and stylish in a discreet way that lets you wear it in place of a watch. It’s rubber straps also provide with a cushy comfortable feel that allows you relaxed enough to sleep with it.
Also, you do not have to let it know when you want to go to bed as you do the previous Fitbit Charge, it just reads your heart rate and discerns that you are asleep. The Fitbit Charge HR is ideal for anyone who is concerned about their fitness plan and health in general. Furthermore, it is very valuable for its price.
