Fitbit’s latest fitness tracker, the Charge 6, continues to blur the lines between a dedicated fitness tracker and a smartwatch as Google continues to integrate its services into Fitbit’s products.

In many ways, the Charge 6 is closer to being a baby Pixel Watch than it is to its predecessor, the Charge 5. For instance, you can use Google Pay for mobile payments, fire up YouTube Music to stream music, and it even has Google Maps integration built into the relatively small tracker.

It’s been a couple of years since the Charge 5 was released, so I was eager to see what Fitbit (and Google) would bring to the Charge 6. I tested the new fitness tracker over a couple of weeks, and it’s fantastic for those who don’t want a full-fledged smartwatch.

Pricing, specs and availability

Google announced the Fitbit Charge 6 during the Made by Google event in early October. Preorders started for the Charge 6 that same day, with deliveries beginning October 12.

The Charge 6 is $160/£140 and available in Coral, Porcelain or Obsidian.

Design and display

At first glance, the Charge 6 looks identical to the Charge 5. It has a vertical color display that has 1.04 inches of viewable space. The display is full of vibrant colors and has plenty of brightness for me to check the time quickly, get an update on my progress towards my daily active minutes, or even look at my current heart rate.

The aluminum housing flanks both sides of the display in black, silver or champagne gold.

Unlike the Charge 5, which lacked a physical side button, the left side of the Charge 6’s housing is once again equipped with a physical button; at least, that’s what Google and Fitbit claim, but try as I might, I can’t seem to press the button and feel it move. However, it does take a touch of pressure for the side button to register being pressed.

The bottom of the Charge 6 is where you’ll find the heart rate sensor and the connectors for the included charger.

There are two different sizes of silicone bands included in the box when buying the Charge 6, and if you’re a former or current Charge 5 user with plenty of bands to accessorize with, I have good news – Charge 5 and Charge 6 bands are interchangeable. So you can use your old bands on your new tracker without issues.

If you liked the design of the Charge 5, then you’ll love the design of the Charge 6 with the addition of the side button. It’s a minimal design, putting the screen and all of the information you’d want or need front and center at all times.

And with the number of additional bands and designs you can pick from on Fitbit’s website, you’re sure to find a look that fits you.

Features

The Charge 6, of course, does everything you’d expect a Fitbit to do. You can track your heart rate, which is reportedly 60 per cent more accurate during intense workouts than it was on the Charge 5. Additionally, the Charge 6 will track your sleep and workouts, monitor for low and high heart rates, has an ECG app built in and can even measure your body’s stress level with an EDA app that also provides breathing exercises.

The Charge 6 will even auto-recognize workouts and can connect to compatible gym equipment to display your heart rate and sync workout stats.

All of that is typical stuff for a Fitbit and stuff the company has been doing for years, save for some of the advanced heart and stress monitoring features.

The integration of Google’s apps and services makes the Charge 6 different from previous models. More specifically, there’s a dedicated Google Wallet, Google Maps, and YouTube Music app.

I did my testing with the Charge 6 connected to an iPhone 15 Pro Max, so I was unsure if the new apps would even be available, and, if so, how well they’d work.

Setting up Google Wallet was relatively painless. I had to sign into my Google account. After that, I was asked to set a PIN code on the Charge 6 to prevent people from putting it on and using it to buy stuff. Next, I was presented with the cards I already have linked to my Google Wallet account. After entering some information to verify the card, it was added to the Charge 6.

Google Maps setup was a little different. Once I opened the Google Maps settings page in the Fitbit app, I was asked to link my Google account to it by launching the Google Maps app on my iPhone. After that, I was able to set if I wanted the Charge 6 to mirror navigation instructions when I’m walking, cycling or driving.

YouTube Music was similar to Google Maps in that I had to have the full iPhone app installed on my phone. Once it was installed, I was able to select playlists in my YouTube Music account and control playback directly on the Charge 6.

Essentially, the Google Maps and YouTube Music apps for the Charge 6 are doing nothing more than mirroring the phone’s app, giving you morsels of information and controls. Which, for someone who doesn’t want a big smartwatch, is perfect.

Navigating the watch and its apps is done through a series of taps and swipes on the touch screen and using the side button. I found using apps like YouTube Music to be a little cumbersome due to the size of the display, limiting the number of buttons and controls that can be shown at any given time.

Outside that lone example, I found getting around the Charge 6’s operating system, using its various apps and viewing all of my health data, including reading notifications that were synced from my phone, to be smooth. Cramped at times, but smooth overall.

Fitness and performance

Fitbit pioneered fitness trackers, so it’s no surprise to see something as small as the Charge 6 (and Charge 5, for that matter) equipped with the same core health and fitness features Apple and Samsung pack into their smartwatch lines.

When wearing the Charge 6, you get 24/7 heart rate tracking instead of an HR measurement once every 10 minutes on the Apple Watch (when you’re not working out). The Charge 6 will monitor for high and low heart rates, alerting you when it drops outside either parameter. There’s also an ECG app you can use to run a quick ECG to check your heart’s rhythm, and if the app finds something wrong, it’ll direct you to visit your doctor.

When you’re sleeping, the Charge 6 monitors your Sp02, or blood oxygen level, along with your skin temperature and the number of breaths you take per minute.

Going beyond the sensors and recordings, a Fitbit Premium subscription grants you access to more health metrics and features, such as your readiness score, which combines your daily activity and sleep history, among other factors, to give you insight into how hard or easy you should push yourself on any given day based on the signs your body is exhibiting, according to Fitbit.

I’ve tried to follow Fitbit’s readiness score numerous times, pushing myself when it says my body is rested and ready to be tested and resting when it says I need it, but like Garmin’s body battery feature, I find it to be all over the place. The other day, my readiness score was one. Yes, one. I had done a lot the previous day, but I woke up feeling restored and ready to work just as hard.

In Fitbit’s defence, the longer you wear one of its trackers every day and overnight to monitor your sleep, the more accurate the readiness score gets. My Fitbit usage is typically in one to two-week increments, with big gaps in between.

The Charge 6 has built-in GPS to track workouts without requiring a nearby phone’s GPS connection. However, I started several walks during my time wearing the Charge 6, and none of them used the GPS feature to track my route. That’s frustrating.

Outside that lone hiccup, the Fitbit Charge 6 collects more health information about me and my body every second of the day than I know what to do with. The Fitbit app does a good job of presenting it to me too, but I’m still not sure how to interpret it. It’s the same problem I have with all fitness trackers.

Battery life

Fitbit states the Charge 6’s battery should last 7 days with average use. In my testing, with the always-on display feature disabled, the battery lasted 6 days. During that time, I also took four walks with GPS turned on.

After turning the always-on display feature on, the battery life for the Charge 6 dropped to 4 days.

Either result is much better than charging your watch every night or every other night, as is the case with most smartwatches.

Verdict

Fitbit and Google have slowly blurred the line between smartwatch and fitness tracker for years now, and with the Charge 6, it feels as if the line is nearly gone. The Charge 6 boasts a lot of the core features that smartwatch users love – notifications, directions, music controls, and mobile payments – but in a form factor that’s a fraction of the size and at a price that’s half of what you can expect to pay for a decent smartwatch.

If you’re looking for a fitness tracker built with smartwatch DNA, the Charge 6 is as good as it gets.