Fitbit updated its Sense, Versa, and Inspire lines last year, but the Charge series still needs an update in the form of the Fitbit Charge 6. At least a slight one.
Right now, the Fitbit Charge 5 remains one of the best Fitbit models the company currently makes, striking the perfect balance between slim fitness tracker and smartwatch functionality. We think a new model is likely to launch this year, but what will it offer? And when?
A few bits of information have surfaced online that tell us about some of the essentials of the Fitbit Charge 6. For the rest, though, we'll have to rely on a bit of technical knowledge and guesswork to predict what the fitness tracker will do. will have. .
Fitbit Charge 6: Get straight to the point
- What is it? Fitbit's new fitness tracker
- When did it come out? probably this summer
- How much will it cost? It's unclear at this point, but probably around $150 / £150 / AU$220
Fitbit Charge 6: likely release date
The Fitbit Charge 5 launched in August 2021. It's not really that old, but it launched less than 18 months after the Fitbit Charge 4 in April 2020. If you copy and paste this version gap with the Charge 5 launch, you're done with a Fitbit Charge 6 release date already past, so it's likely that the Charge 6 will launch sometime this year.
However, you only have to look at the Fitbit Versa 4 and Sense 2 to see that Fitbit's old release schedule has been scrapped. There was a one-year gap between the older Versa models and a full two years between the Fitbit Versa 3 and Fitbit Sense, and the Fitbit Versa 4 and Fitbit Sense 2.
A similar gap of two years would leave the Charge 6 released in August 2023.
Fitbit Charge 6: Design
The Charge 6 will look almost identical to the Charge 5 according to "a source" cited by 9to5Google (opens in a new tab) in September 2022.
That means a curved glass top and metal edges around the OLED screen. We're very happy that the Charge 6 keeps the same look. The Charge 5 is a good-looking wearable, and the Charge 4 and Charge 3 have kept the same cute styling.
It also means the Charge 5 will occupy the same design space, somewhere between a basic tracker and a smartwatch. It's not a bad spot, and the Charge 6 fills the space in between well.
Fitbit Charge 6: No Wi-Fi, but it has the rest
A Fitbit watch believed to be the Charge 6 has also gone through the FCC process, as noted by NotebookCheck (opens in a new tab). All devices sold legally in the United States end up in the Federal Communications Commission's database, which records the wireless communication standards they use. These documents suggest that the Fitbit Charge 6 has NFC, GPS with GLONASS, and Bluetooth Low Energy, but no Wi-Fi. That's exactly what we've come to expect from the Charge 6, largely because that's what the Charge 5 has, too.
However, there is a complicating factor here. The "FB423" assignment of this device in FCC files is also mentioned in the latest version of the Fitbit Charge 5 manual.
This suggests that Fitbit may have simply switched to a slightly different formulation of the Charge 5 late last year, when the Versa 4 and Sense 2 arrived. FB423 could be a Charge 5 that uses different wireless chips. However, we believe that the wireless connections used by this watch will be the same as those of the Fitbit Charge 6.
Fitbit Charge 6: cEDA sensor
The clearest new feature for the Fitbit Charge 6 is the one introduced in the Sense 2. The Sense 2 offers the company's captivating EDA sensor. This estimates the production of sweat on your skin and considers it an indicator of stress.
Fitbit's Sense and Charge 5 have "first generation" EDA technology, which requires active participation to work. The stress tracking session begins, your hand touching the electrodes on the watch face. Wait two minutes and the Fitbit tells you how stressed you are. It's not a particularly natural interaction.
The Fitbit Sense 2 has a cEDA sensor, a continuous electrodermal activity sensor, which can work in the background. This records when there are EDA "events" and asks if there was a particular emotion associated with them.
It's a bit fiddly, confusing, but at least you don't have to derail your day to use EDA, as you currently do with the Charge 5. cEDA detection is an obvious candidate for the Load 6 feature list.
Fitbit Charge 6: Smart Features
An upgrade to Charge series wireless payments is another obvious path for a Charge 6 upgrade. The Charge 5 offers Fitbit Pay, but the tracker should also support Google Pay, just like the Sense 2 and Versa. live. Many banks support Fitbit Pay in the US, but in the UK none of the "major" banks, except Santander, are on board. Many more banks there support Google Pay.
The exact mechanics of the latest Fitbit models, like the Sense 2, is that they carry Google Wallet, rather than Pay, thanks to Google owning Fitbit. For us end-users, there isn't much of a difference, but the latest incarnation of Wallet is designed to store tickets, digital IDs, etc., along with payment methods.
Now is the time to dive into the features we think are less likely. We want some kind of music control on the Charge 6 that doesn't revolve around control via the notification system.
That means a microapp that acts as a remote to play music on your phone, a reintegration of the Spotify applet that was removed from the Charge series on the Charge 5. Or full local music playback, as seen on the Garmin Venu. Sq 2 Music and Huawei Watch GT 3.
However, we don't think that's in the cards unless we see a change in Fitbit's higher-end watches as well. The Sense 2 and Versa 4 also lost all form of control of the music. As we wrote in a recent opinion piece, the Fitbit you knew is no more. It is a sad situation.
The fact that we have another feature request present in older Charge wearables says a lot about the direction of Fitbit's devices. We want to bring the altimeter back to the Charge 6. It was present on the Charge 4, but it was lost on the Charge 5. An altimeter is used to determine how high you go when you walk or run, expressed in stairs. It's a nice feature for passive fitness tracking when you're not using the Charge 6's GPS for an active workout.
Fitbit Charge 6: Third-party apps and future features?
Will Fitbit Charge 6 have third-party apps? We don't think so.
The branch of Fitbit's operating system used by Charge watches is the Inspire and Luxe watches, not the Sense 2 and Versa 4. While Charge watches can do many things, they're not meant to be like smartwatches.
And when Fitbit has all but stripped high-end watches of third-party app support, it doesn't make sense for the stripped-down Charge 6 to head in the opposite direction.
Some of the most exciting Fitbit news in a while has also just emerged: The company has patented a method of measuring blood pressure that involves the wearer pressing against a force-measuring screen. It is a method to obtain the results of a blood pressure monitor without the need for an inflatable bracelet like the Huawei Watch D.
Could this be part of the Fitbit Charge 6? We highly doubt it. Remember, we were told the Charge 6 would look like the Charge 5, and the pressure technology probably wouldn't work well with such a small area watch face. As always, filing for patents is simply not a good way to predict future hardware.
Today's best Fitbit Charge 5, Fitbit Versa 4 and Fitbit Sense 2 deals