The Fitbit Charge line has produced some of our favorite fitness trackers on the market since the original model’s debut in 2014. Now in its fourth generation, Fitbit builds on what we like about the Charge family with the addition of GPS to map your exercise route without a phone, Spotify support, more sleep tools, and a motivating new metric called Active Zone Minutes. Plus Fitbit Pay is now available on all Charge 4 models, not just the more expensive Special Edition. Though we'd like to see a color screen, the $149.95 Charge 4 is an excellent update, and an Editors’ Choice. Design, Navigation, Battery Life, and Setup The Charge 4 looks sleek, measuring less than half an inch at its thickest point. I especially like the styling of the Special Edition (pictured in this review), which costs $20 more than the standard model, but comes with a reflective granite/black woven band, plus a classic black flexible plastic band you can use for sweaty workouts. Swapping out the bands could...

The Fitbit Charge 4 fitness tracker builds on its predecessors with the addition of standalone GPS, Spotify support, more sleep tools, and Fitbit Pay.

Built-in GPS; Robust companion app; Spotify support; More sleep tools; Fitbit Pay available on all models (not just Special Edition); Motivating Active Zone Minutes metric; Stylish design

Lacks a color display; Screen wake can be finicky; Basic interface

Tracking my health is important to me. I use MyFitnessPal to track what I eat, Sleeptracker to monitor my sleep, and the Apple Watch to track my fitness and activity. All that information is tied together in the Apple Health app. The Apple Watch even alerted me to the fact that I might have atrial fibrillation — a diagnosis that was later confirmed by cardiologists. In a world with all these ultra-high-tech, artificially intelligent tracking systems, the humble Fitbit can feel a little old-school. While the Fitbit Charge 4 isn’t going to compete with the Apple Watch in many areas, for the price, it’s pretty much the best fitness tracker you can buy. That’s especially true given that the device now finally offers built-in GPS and new heart-monitoring features. Let’s take a closer look. The Fitbit Charge 4 looks almost identical to the Fitbit Charge 3 — and while the Charge 3 did offer an updated design, it does still feel a little dated at this point. That’s not to say that it’s ugly. T...

Excellent fitness tracking; Some smart features; Good battery life; GPS built in; Solid value;

Limited music support; Slightly dated design; Display could be better;

Close to being the complete fitness tracker for beginners but let down by a poor screen, hit and miss accuracy and a short GPS battery life

Easy to use; Good for motivation; Built-in GPS; Best app for beginners

Poor screen; No mid-workout Spotify controls; Hit and miss accuracy; Short GPS battery life; Quite pricey

Fitbit is one of the companies that have made fitness trackers famous and a name that is popularly associated with lifestyle accessories. This expertise can be seen in many aspects of the Fitbit Charge 4.

Long battery life (almost 7 days); Discreet and light; Precise heart rate sensor; GPS and Fitbit Pay on board

Full range of functions available only with a paid subscription; GPS not very accurate; Music control is available exclusively for Spotify; Fitbit Pay accessible only via credit card in Europe

The Charge 4 is a clever, compact motivational fitness tool with plenty to offer anyone looking for some basic tracking and support. If you won’t want a watch, it’s among the best fitness trackers you can buy. It offers a big range of insights and paints a digestible picture of your overall health and fitness. And the Active Zone Minutes concept is hugely addictive. It’s incredibly easy to use and syncs seamlessly with the well-presented app. However, it’s let down badly by a sub-standard screen, some accuracy issues and a few own goals – like Spotify controls that don’t work during a workout. And those undermine what otherwise is a pretty decent tracker.

Easy to use ; Good for motivation; Built-in GPS; Best app for beginners;

Poor screen; No mid-workout Spotify controls; Hit and miss accuracy; Short GPS battery life; Quite pricey;

Easy to use ; Good for motivation; Built-in GPS; Best app for beginners;

Poor screen; No mid-workout Spotify controls; Hit and miss accuracy; Short GPS battery life; Quite pricey;

With GPS and new health features, the Fitbit Charge 4 is the best fitness tracker for most people. With the addition of GPS, the Fitbit Charge 4 represents a big improvement over the Charge 3. Now, you can track your running, biking and swimming as accurately as you can with a bona fide GPS watch.

Accurate, fast GPS, Big community of users, Good design

No onboard music storage

The Fitbit Charge 4 looks almost identical to its predecessor, including the grayscale touchscreen, but the addition of built-in GPS makes a huge difference, and helps make it a viable alternative to fully-fledged running watches if you enjoy working out for fun and health, but don't need a torrent...

No price increase from Charge 3; Built-in GPS; Heart rate zone tracking

Monochrome display; No design update

For many people, Fitbit is synonymous with fitness trackers, but the company has faced new challenges from smartwatches in recent years. The Fitbit Charge 4 signifies a change, even if it doesn't look too different from its predecessor.

Battery life Even with an always-active connection and notification mirroring, I got more than seven days of usage out of the device without GPS tracking; Built-in GPS Combined with the NFC payment service, the band makes it possible to stop by a bakery or café when you're out running without...

Display While the necessity of a colored interface on a fitness band is debatable; competitors like the Garmin vívosport and the Xiaomi Mi Band 4 reach similar battery life with colored OLED displays and lower prices.

The Fitbit Charge 4 is the best fitness tracker you can buy, period. Fitbit didn't need to do much to achieve this title again, but it managed to fix all our gripes with the Charge 3 and keep it at the same price point. The built-in GPS is welcome, as is Fitbit Pay being standard across all models.

Sleek; customizable design Good battery life Built-in GPS Fitbit Pay now standard on all models Sleep tracking is fantastic (Mostly) accurate GPS and heart rate sensors

Finicky inductive button GPS can take its time to lock on Heart rate sensor can be laggy