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Fitbit Charge 4 goes official w/ built-in GPS, mobile payments, more for $149

In its first product launch since being acquired by Google last year, Fitbit has today launched a new fitness tracker, the Fitbit Charge 4. Here’s what you need to know.

The Fitbit Charge 4 offers the company’s “most advanced combination of sensors and features” that includes the usual suite of sensors used for tracking a user’s heart rate and other vitals, along with a few new additions.

Perhaps the biggest add on the Fitbit Charge 4 is the arrival of built-in GPS. This allows Fitbit owners to track their workouts on a map while leaving their phones behind. When using the Fitbit app after a run, the data can be shown on a map that includes how intense the workout was at certain points and showing pace and distance. GPS will take a tremendous toll on battery life, though, with continuous use only lasting five hours.

GPS also enables a new “Activity Zone Minutes” feature that should help users better reach their daily goals and promote being active for at least 30 minutes per day. Fitbit explains:

Fitbit developed Active Zone Minutes to help you understand how your activity contributes to your overall health, beyond the number of steps you take. With Fitbit’s PurePulse 24/7 heart rate tracking, Active Zone Minutes uses your personalized heart rate zones to track your effort for any energizing activity, whether doing a HIIT workout, power yoga, or taking a vigorous walk outside. Earn credit for each minute of moderate activity in fat burn zone and double the credit for vigorous activity in cardio and peak zones — Active Zone Minutes does the math for you so you can quickly understand how many you need to reach your daily and weekly goals.

Beyond the inclusion of GPS, the Fitbit Charge 4 also features some other upgrades. The tracker includes Spotify integration (pictured below) for controlling your music, Fitbit Pay for NFC payments without using your phone, and there’s also an SpO2 sensor. That sensor is used to power Fitbit’s “Estimated Oxygen Variation Graph” in the Fitbit app.

As you’d expect, features from previous Fitbit trackers such as sleep tracking, 24/7 heart rate tracking, and different exercise mode are all available on the Charge 4. Battery life is rated at 7 days, too.

All of these features come standard, too, on the base model Fitbit Charge 4. There is an “SE” model, but that option only throws in an additional reflective band for $20 more. You can pre-order Charge 4 from the company’s official site and Best Buy now, orders are set to ship April 13. The tracker also includes a 90-day trial to Fitbit Premium.

Fitbit Introduces Fitbit Charge 4, its Most Advanced Health & Fitness Tracker with Built-in GPS, Active Zone Minutes, Spotify, Sleep Tools, Fitbit Pay and More

  • Launches Active Zone Minutes, a new personalized heart rate metric that tracks your physical activity beyond steps to help you move efficiently every day and improve your overall health
  • Fitbit Premium delivers new programs, challenges, workouts and mindfulness tools, plus free 90-day trial, giving users support and guidance to stay healthy in any environment

SAN FRANCISCO — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Fitbit (NYSE: FIT) today announced the latest evolution of its most popular family of devices,1Fitbit Charge 4™. Featuring Fitbit’s most advanced combination of sensors and features, now with built-in GPS and Spotify – Connect & Control,2 Charge 4 delivers what you want most in a health and fitness tracker, paired with essential smart features and up to seven days of battery life3 in a sleek, swimproof4 design — all at an approachable price. Charge 4 includes Fitbit’s latest innovation, Active Zone Minutes™, a new personalized standard based on your resting heart rate and age that tracks any workout that gets your heart pumping, from indoor biking to yoga, measuring the time you spend in each heart rate zone toward a weekly goal of 150 minutes.5 For more guidance and motivation in today’s environment, new content has been added to Fitbit Premium, including programs, workouts from brands like barre3, Down Dog and Physique 57, mindfulness tools, challenges and more. Along with 40 new pieces of free content, Fitbit is offering a free 90-day trial for new Premium users. With the launch of new tools, software and content, being “on Fitbit” offers even greater value for users looking to manage their overall health.

“Our mission has always been to help people around the world get healthier. In today’s extraordinary times, that mission is more important than ever, but we realize how hard it is to focus on your health and wellness. However, staying active, eating well and getting enough sleep can help reduce stress and boost immunity,” said James Park, CEO and co-founder. “To help support our users, we’re offering a free trial of Fitbit Premium and added content so our users have the right tools at home to help them stay healthy; and, with Active Zone Minutes, we are giving users a new personalized standard for health and fitness so they can get the most out of any activity that works for them and help to keep them motivated.”

Fitbit’s most advanced designed tracker uplevels fitness and deepens health

Active Zone Minutes will launch first with Charge 4, with an innovative design made to optimize GPS performance plus house other advanced sensors and capabilities while maintaining a slim, lightweight tracker form at the same approachable price and battery life. Its premium, lightweight, swimproof4 design is comfortable for all-day (and night) wear, featuring an inductive button, a scratch-resistant screen and a bright, crisp touchscreen display that is easy to view in natural light.

As the first Fitbit tracker with built-in GPS, you can leave your phone at home and get optimal performance for activities like running, walking and other outdoor excursions. Now with the ability to track your pace and distance in real-time, in addition to the 20+ goal-based exercise modes, you can access seven GPS-enabled exercise modes, including a new outdoor workout mode for any outdoor activity like hiking, running or a brisk walk. After completing a GPS-enabled workout, sync your device for a GPS-powered heat map6 in the Fitbit app® where you can see your workout intensity, based on your different heart rate zones along your route, to help you visualize and improve how you are performing against different terrain.

Active Zone Minutes helps you workout more efficiently and unlock better health

Because activity looks different for everyone, Fitbit developed Active Zone Minutes to help you understand how your activity contributes to your overall health, beyond the number of steps you take.With Fitbit’s PurePulse® 24/7 heart rate tracking, Active Zone Minutes uses your personalized heart rate zones to track your effort for any energizing activity, whether doing a HIIT workout, power yoga or taking a vigorous walk outside. Earn credit for each minute of moderate activity in fat burn zone and double the credit for vigorous activity in cardio and peak zones — Active Zone Minutes does the math for you so you can quickly understand how many you need to reach your daily and weekly goals.5 Get real-time alerts on your wrist each time you change zones so you can push harder or scale back to make your workouts more efficient. After a workout, see a detailed summary of your heart rate zones in the Fitbit app, including progress toward your goals, so you can continue challenging yourself to make every minute count.

Active Zone Minutes is based on recommendations from leading health organizations, including the World Health Organization and the American Heart Association, who recommend getting 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous activity each week, which has been linked to better overall health and well-being, disease prevention, improved cognitive function, less anxiety and better sleep.5

Sleep better and achieve your goals with Charge 4

Sleep is a critical component to maintaining overall health and wellness, and boosting immunity. As such, Fitbit’s leading sleep features are included withCharge 4 to help you understand and improve your sleep. Previously only available on Fitbit smartwatches, smart wake (coming soon) uses machine learning to wake you at the optimal time. Sleep Score provides deeper insights into your sleep with a daily look at the quality of your sleep, now available on-wrist for Charge 4. Other sleep features on Charge 4 make it easy to improve your sleep, all from your wrist: quickly set alarms and activate Sleep Mode to maintain routines and sleep schedules.8

Charge 4 also features a relative SpO2 sensor, which powers Fitbit’s Estimated Oxygen Variation Graph in the Fitbit app. With the graph, see an estimate of the oxygen level variability in your bloodstream, which may indicate variations in your breathing during sleep.

In addition, Charge 4 comes standard with the health and fitness essentials you know and love from Fitbit, including SmartTrack® automatic exercise tracking, Cardio Fitness Level and Score, floors climbed, Reminders to Move every hour, female health tracking, food, water and weight logging, motivation from the global social fitness network of nearly 30 million like-minded individuals around the world to help you stay connected, and free educational insights about activity and sleep in the Fitbit app to better understand how your health and wellness tie together.

Improved motivation and convenience with all the right smarts

For an even more powerful health and fitness coach, Charge 4 has added convenience and smart features to manage your day and stay connected but not distracted, right from your wrist. The first Fitbit tracker with Spotify — Connect & Control, Charge 4 helps you stay motivated with your favorite playlists and songs with easy-to-access music controls that let you choose the music output, play, shuffle and skip content, and like songs right from the wrist.2 Never miss an alert with on-screen call, text, agenda and app notifications, and keep in touch with family and friends with quick replies on Android to respond on-the-goor mute alerts with Do Not Disturb mode. Now standard on all Charge 4 devices, make secure payments from your wrist with Fitbit Pay™ with nearly 500 issuers at retailers in 44 countries and 10 transit systems worldwide, including New York MTA.10

Charge 4 is powered by up to seven days of battery life11 so you can stay motivated and connected. It provides an intuitive touchscreen experience with interactive graphics that allow for seamless navigation so you can access the most important information you need, right from your wrist.

Expanded offerings from Fitbit Premium add even more value to the Fitbit platform

For users looking to build on the device experience with extra guidance, support and motivation, which is even more critical these days, Fitbit Premium is a paid subscription service in the Fitbit app that you can access conveniently from your phone, whenever you need it and no matter where you are. Leveraging insights from 10+ years of data along with academic and medical expertise, Premium delivers customized guided programs, advanced sleep tools, personal insights, thousands of workouts, new challenges and a health report to help you move more, sleep better and eat well.

“Since launching Fitbit Premium last year, consumer retention and engagement results are improving, and we’re seeing positive health and wellness benefits for our users,” said Jonathan Oakes, EVP of Product & Design. “For example, users who took less than 5,000 steps per day before trying Premium took 16,000 more steps per week during the first two weeks of joining12 — a testament to the power of our Premium experience in improving users’ health and fitness.”

To support our users and help people stay active at home during today’s difficult times, Fitbit is offering 40 new pieces of Premium content free in the Fitbit app. In addition, anyone new to Fitbit Premium can get a 90-day free trial of this paid subscription, which includes personalized health insights, guidance, advanced sleep tools, customized programs and 200+ workouts from brands like barre3Daily Burnobé fitnessPhysique 57POPSUGAR and Yoga Studio: Mind & Body. If Premium is not available in your region and you have not tried Fitbit Coach yet, we are offering a 90-day free trial so you can stream video workouts on your phone or computer. To access Premium or Coach, visit the Fitbit app.

Fitbit now has 16 programs available to Premium users. New guided programs include strength training, gym cardio and mindful eating, tailored based on your goals, fitness level, schedule and preferences. In addition to a wide range of workouts categorized by time, activity and fitness level to easily find what’s right for you, Premium members have access to new mindfulness content from brands like Ten Percent Happier, in one single, convenient place. Coming soon, Fitbit will also offer workouts for both free and Premium users to help you reach your Active Zone Minutes goal.

Three customizable challenges are also available to Premium members, including Get Fit Bingo, where users can compete with family and friends on a health and fitness bingo board with different activities such as meeting your step or Active Zone Minutes goal for the day. Premium will continue to add more content to support users on their health and wellness journeys.

Pricing, availability and accessories to match your style

Pre-order for Charge 4 and Charge 4 Special Edition begins today at Fitbit.com and select retailers online such as Amazon.comBestbuy.com and Walmart.com; available online at all retailer sites worldwide and in stores in markets where they are still open, starting April 13, 2020. Charge 4 is available for $149.95 USD in black, rosewood and storm blue/black.13 Charge 4 Special Edition is available for $169.95 USD in an exclusive granite reflective/black woven band plus a classic black band to easily swap out for workouts or a sportier look.14 Charge 4 will also be added later this year to UnitedHealthcare Motion®, a wearable device walking program available to employers. Charge 4 is also available as a fitness benefit in certain UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans across the country.

Customize Charge 4 with a variety of new accessory bands and colors including REPREVE® recycled woven reflective bands in midnight and rosewood; breathable silicone sport bands in evergreen and frost white; and premium Horween® hand-crafted leather in black.15 Charge 4 accessories are sold separately in store and online, and are compatible with Fitbit Charge 3 devices, starting at $29.95 USD.

Active Zone Minutes will be available first on Fitbit Charge 4, then will roll out to all Fitbit smartwatches, coming soon.

Fitbit Premium launched late last year and is available now for $9.99 USD/month or $79.99 USD/year.

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Avatar for Ben Schoon Ben Schoon

Ben is a Senior Editor for 9to5Google.

Find him on Twitter @NexusBen. Send tips to schoon@9to5g.com or encrypted to benschoon@protonmail.com.