Fitbit has unveiled a major new update that brings new stats on Charge 4 – and some of the best Premium features from behind the pay wall.
The Charge 4 – Fitbit’s premium fitness tracker – gets the most love and increases it to the Fitbit Sense health watch with temperature detection and extensive blood oxygen data.
And the company has also revamped Health Metrics, which was previously behind the payment wall Fitbit Premium service. It is now available for free to more people, and it enhances the feature to help people better understand their health data.
What’s more – users in Canada, New Zealand and US territories can now get the ECG feature on their Fitbit Sense.
The new features have already landed on our accounts, so let’s show you around.
Download 4 new features
The most exciting thing for Charge 4 users is that the company is adding skin temperature data for this device. The temperature gauge has so far only been found on the Fitbit Sense, so it’s a great new addition to the range.
And Charge 4 users can also see a blood oxygen reading on the wrist. Previously, readings from the SpO2 sensor were only apparent in the graph of the estimated oxygen variation as part of the device’s sleep tracking.
But just like the Versa 3 and Sense, which debut the SpO2 watch, Charge 4 users will be able to see oxygen saturation on the device itself for the first time.
The form factor of the fitness tracker is synonymous with the Fitbit experience, even in the smartwatch era, so it’s no surprise that Fitbit does not want to see the Charge 4. It is now even more powerful and even surpasses the Versa 3 as a health device.
Health statistics for more users
Health statistics are available for non-Premium users for the first time
If that wasn’t enough, users of Versa 2, Charge 4 and Inspire 2 can now access the data Health Metrics dashboard without a Fitbit Premium subscription.
Health Metrics is part of the Fitbit app that displays raw biometric data from the range of sensors on your Fitbit device – and many are not available elsewhere in the app.
For the first time, the above devices show breathing rate and heart rate variability – along with old favorites such as resting heartbeat.
However, this is not quite the same experience that Premium users get. Those who do not pay the subscription can only see one week’s data – while those who pay $ 79.99 per month can see an entire month.
You can see the screenshot above, which shows Health Metrics from a non-Premium account on Charge 4.
Health statistics move to disease detection
Health statistics showing personal ranges
But the changes are not all for non-Premium users. Those who use health statistics will now see their personal ranges, designed to make the data meaningful.
Anyone who uses health calculations may be a little embarrassed by large increases or decreases in data such as breathing rate and variable heart rate. Fatigue, tiredness or alcohol can be factors that can lower the heart rate variability – and in our review of the Fitbit Sense, we criticized this part of the app because it is unclear to users trying to make sense of the numbers.
Now Fitbit is adding a clearly marked personal range to the Health Metrics chart – to try to add context to what our body’s natural rhythm is, and what it can pay attention to.
The company’s COVID-19 study showed that abnormal changes in respiratory rate and HRV could be early signs of an infection, so adding a personal range is the first step toward something that looks like the detection of illnesses.
Fitbit adds support for tracking blood glucose
Fitbit also added blood glucose tracking to the app for the first time.
Although not detected by any Fitbit tracker (non-invasive portable glucose detection is still a long way off), it does mean that those monitoring blood sugar levels can enter their readings via the Fitbit app.
On the face of it, it will behave in a similar way to features like hydration and nutrition tracking in the Fitbit app, which is not connected to the device itself.
With the Fitbit glucose detection feature, users can set high and low ranges for blood sugar and also related symptoms. And users may see trends over time to help identify patterns in blood sugar behavior.