Still the best fitness tracking band for the active person, the Fitbit Charge 4 adds accurate GPS tracking to its roster of good heart rate insights, best-in-class sleep tracking and Active Zone Minutes. With this mix of features, it’s now pretty unique on the fitness tracker market.

GPS on board; Comfortable design; Accurate

The Fitbit Charge 4 gains GPS, Fitbit Pay and Spotify controls and it's a much better tracker for it

Easy to use; Active Zone Minutes works nicely; Waterproof to 50m;

Pricey; GPS not the most accurate;

The Fitbit Charge 4 gains GPS, Fitbit Pay and Spotify controls and it's a much better tracker for it

Easy to use; Active Zone Minutes works nicely; Waterproof to 50m;

Pricey; GPS not the most accurate;

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;

The Fitbit Charge 4 is a modest yet important update to the Charge 3, the company’s most capable fitness band. The addition of built-in GPS makes the Charge 4 an even better fitness device for serious athletes and active zone minutes gives all users a new motivational tool by quantifying time spent...

Accurate GPS; Active zone minutes is a good motivator; Fitbit Pay as a standard feature; Multi-day battery life; Finally has Sleep Mode; Good price

Dated design; Can only control Spotify music playback; Limited on-device apps; Not compatible with Apple Health or Google Fit

An evolution for the series, this fourth-gen device adds GPS for more advanced exercise tracking. So if you're looking for a fitness band that's a fully accomplished device, the Fitbit Charge 4 is hard to beat.

Comfortable and unobtrusive to wear; Great sleep data; Added GPS makes it more complete for exercise tracking; Fitbit app is easy to interpret

GPS use will drain the battery more quickly; Doesn't stand-up against proper sports watches; Display hasn't evolved

Thanks to the addition of GPS connectivity and a SpO2 sensor, the Fitbit Charge 4 is an excellent fitness tracker that will meet any entry-level or semi-serious athletes needs.

Easy to use; Great battery life; Solid tracking; Free 40 day subscription to Fitbit Premium

No local music playback; Music controls only works with Spotify Premium

With the Charge 4, Fitbit improves its best tracker with built-in GPS, Active Zone Minutes and Spotify controls

My first wearable products were bands, the Microsoft Band and Jawbone UP trackers, but over the past few years I've moved on to using watches. Bands are generally designed for daily activity tracking while watches tend to be more powerful.

Lightweight and comfortable for 24 hour wear; Integrated GPS; Detailed sleep and heart rate data; Fitbit ecosystem well supported; Fitbit Pay support

Limited battery life when using GPS; Display tough to see in some conditions