Charge 3 - Review
My wife and I both have the Charge 3 for a year now and love it!
We both love the Fitbit Charge 3 because of the size and functions. However, there are many fine models and we I three of the best Fitbit reviews on this page for your evaluation. We use the following functions and features regularly and are very satisfied with the Fitbit Charge 3. See the Amazon link bellow to purchase.
Watch Bands:
One of the things I love most about the Fitbit is the ability to change out the band and customize it to your needs. I’m not a fan of the rubber or silicone bands and I wanted a more professional look for wearing to work. I opted for a metal-like watchband that looks professional. To change the band, you just press a tab on the watch. The links can be removed on the band I bought to allow for a customizable size. There are hundreds of different styles available on Amazon.
Cleaning the Fitbit
I have found that dust builds up at the location where the band connects to the watch. If you don’t clean the dust out, the watch band can come loose from the watch. I set a reminder on my phone to clean the connection once a month. The Fitbit Charge 3 is water proof (not all models are), so I pop the band off and clean it with water and a Q-tip. This keeps the band from coming loose unexpectedly, and can save you from damage, or worse, losing the device. See watch bands under on menu of this page for reviews and picks.
Screen Protectors:
At the time I’m writing this, the Fitbit Charge 3 sells for around $125. With that in mind, please purchase a screen protector with your watch. You will want to protect your investment; we installed the screen protectors the first day. My wife learned her lesson the hard way – after a couple months, her protector came off and she didn’t put another one on right away. Her watch band popped off, causing the device to drop. It landed just right and cracked the edge of the screen (remember the tip about cleaning the band connector in the watch band section). Lesson learned! Keep extra screen protectors on hand and when they need replaced, don’t procrastinate, do it right away. A pack of ten is less than $10; I have had the same screen protector on my watch for over a year now. See recommended screen protectors under the accessories on the top menu of this page for reviews and picks.
Water Proof:
The Fitbit Charge 3 is swim proof and water resistant to fifty meters. This makes it a great watch for active people. This also comes in handy for cleaning the device. Remember the examples about the band coming loose (see watch band section).
Heart Rate Tracking:
The Fitbit tracks your heart beats per minute, which gives you real time information as you exercise. It is important to check your heart rate while exercising, because when your heart rate is too high, you’re over working your body and heart. If your heart rate is too low, then you’re not getting a quality workout. This relates to the MET levels I talked about earlier, which are important in getting enough active minutes each day.
Resting Heart Rate
The resting heart beats per minute varies from person to person, but according to the American Heart Association, the average resting heart beats per minute is sixty-eight to eighty. By no means is this the only rate a healthy person’s pulse can be. The more you exercise on a regular basis, the lower your resting heart rate will be and your heart won’t have to work as hard. Your heart is a muscle and the more you use it, the stronger it will become. That’s why this feature of the watch is important, as it gives you a historical view in graph form of your resting heart rate, allowing you to see improvements over time as you become more fit. As I have mentioned before, you should consult your doctor before taking on new exercise routines.
Sleep tracking:
The Fitbit Charge 3 is amazing at tracking your sleep and giving you a sleep score. You enter your goal for the sleep you wish to get each night, as well as the time you would like to go to sleep and wake up. This device monitors the four stages of sleep (awake, REM, light, deep) and reports your sleep score with the amount of time spent in each of the four stages. Like all the data it tracks, it gives you graphs along with the date for a visual representation. I didn’t realize the quality of sleep I was getting until we starting tracking it with the Fitbit. This is another area of my health that has improved with the use of this device.
Timers:
I personally use the countdown timer frequently as mentioned earlier in this book. It is useful to set the timer for twelve minutes when you start an activity to ensure you get your active minutes (see active minutes section for more details). I also time things for work and having this function on my watch is helpful so I don’t have to grab my cell phone.
Weather:
The Fitbit Charge 3, when linked to your phone, can give you a simple weather update. I like to use it to check the temperature and weather conditions quickly without having to get my cell phone out. This is handy when I’m in meetings at work because I don’t want to appear disrespectful by looking at my phone.
Texts and Alerts:
Similar to the comments above, when you are linked to your cell phone, you can receive texts and notifications. This helps me at work to get reminders of upcoming meetings and events that are on my calendar, as well as texts and incoming calls. Again, this is handy when in meetings or places when pulling out your phone would be frowned upon. It is very easy to sneak a glance at your watch when you feel the vibration.
Screen Awake:
This is a cool and useful function. When you turn your wrist to see the face of the Fitbit, it wakes the device screen. This is a handy feature that saves your battery life by not having your screen on all the time. You can turn this feature on or off. If it is off, you will have to depress a button on the side of the device to wake the screen. I like using this, because whatever screen you viewed last is the one it stays on.
Clock Faces:
There are a number of clock faces to select from that make the Fitbit more personalized. I love the one that shows the hands of the clock with the date at the top of the screen and my step count at the bottom. You can customize this face to your liking.
Summary of Charge 3 features:
- Made in the USA
- Better measure calorie burn, understand resting heart rate & more with 24/7 heart rate tracking and a battery life of up to 7 days (varies with use and other factors); charge time (0 to100 percent) 2 hours
- Choose from 15 plus exercise modes like run, bike, swim, yoga, circuit training and more, set a goal, and get real time stats during your workouts to see how you can keep getting better
- Automatically record time spent in light, deep and rem sleep stages, see activity trends, health insights, and personalized guidance in one place with Fitbit today. Operating temperature is -10° to 45° Celsius
- Swim proof and water resistant to 50 meters so you can track swims and wear in the shower; we do not recommend wearing charge 3 in a hot tub or sauna; also connect to smartphone gps for real time pace and distance during outdoor runs and rides
- Stay connected to your day with everyday apps for weather and more and get call, text and smartphone app notifications on your wrist; small wristband fits a wrist between 5.5 to 7.1 inches; large wristband fits a wrist between 7.1 to 8.7 inches
- Fitbit’s female health tracking feature is available for all mobile app users aged 13 and older. It will only display notifications for upcoming period cycles on the Versa, Versa 2, Versa Lite, Ionic, and Charge 3
- Radio transceiver: Bluetooth 4.0. Syncing range up to 6 meters
Fitbit Reviews: Versa Lite & Versa 2
As much as I love the Fitbit Charge 3, I have to admit that I have been investigating the Fitbit Versa family of watches lately. There are a few features on the Fitbit Versa watches that the Fitbit Charge 3 doesn’t have, which makes me stop and think about upgrading. For instance, the Fitbit Versa family of smart watches have much bigger screens, making it easier for someone my age to see the stats better. They have a color touch screen, which makes allowances for more customizations of the watch face.
I am huge fan of Fitbit products thereby making a case for the Versa family of watches, there are competitors out there selling smart watches for twice as much. I don’t need a high dollar smart watch on my wrist to duplicate what my phone can do, which we all carry all the time anyway so what is the point of having that tiny screen on your arm to run the same apps you have on your phone. The Fitbit products do an excellent job of tracking your fitness activities, some aspects of your health leveraging your phone with their App to store and display large amount of data.
Take a close look at these two Versa family of watches and compare some main features:
Fitbit Versa summary of features:
These are by no means all the features of these two smart watches. I wanted to focus on some of the main features and compare the two models side by side. The battery life on the Versa Lite is only 4-days while the Versa 2 is 6-days. They both have sleep tracking but only the Versa 2 gives you a sleep score a feature that I do enjoy if you are trying to track your sleep. The Versa 2 allows you to store and play music, which to me is not as valuable tool as I always have my phone with me. The Versa 2 is also equipped with Fit Pay, which is a handy feature.
Okay if you are keeping score, you can see we have a close tie really coming down to personal preferences and how you are going to use the watch. If you are undecided at this point let’s talk about a couple of other features that may point you to a clear choice. I do like the fact the Versa 2 display is on all the time, which is handy if your hands are full, but not a huge deal. The Versa 2 also has the ability to run Apps, which I would only use if related to something it was tracking for me, again a personal choice. Okay the last feature I will mention is controlling Alexa, which we use frequently in our home and adding more things all the time, I could see myself using this feature quite often.
We have yet to talk about colors both watches offer a variety of choices plus you have an endless selection of bands to fully make the watch yours. You won’t go wrong with either watch as they are both great devices. If these differences noted are not important to you then go for the Versa Lite and save around fifty dollars. However if you want a little more capability and the longer battery life you will go for the Versa 2, which is my personal pick.
Purchase Watches
Watches are available in different colors
  | Fitbit Charge 3 | |
  | Fitbit Versa Lite | |
  | Fitbit Versa 2 |
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