Altimeter / Floor Counter for Charge 5?

[marcusdeshaun]

Does Charge 5 have an altimeter or some other way to count floors climbed? I bought the Luxe without fully investigating all the specs and want to make sure. 

[Odyssey13]

Hi @marcusdeshaun  don't see an altimeter or flights of stairs listed in the specs and features - click to view

[N8teGee]

Historically the Charge line has featured an altimeter, so personally I don't see that changing.

The following overview from DC Rainmaker (usually reliable) does mention floor tracking being available. Obviously until this can be fully confirmed by Fitbit, I wouldn't base any purchase decision on it.

I would recommend keeping an eye on the Fitbit press release website (here). Usually that goes into more detail, although at the moment it hasn't got a press release published for the Charge 5.

moderator edit: updated link

[KateFitbit]

@marcusdeshaun good question. Charge 5 does not have an altimeter so it does not count stairs/floors. 

@Odyssey13 thanks for the link. @N8teGeeinteresting callout! I suppose he will correct this after he reviews the product. 

[N8teGee]

Thanks for confirming this @KateFitbit, although it's rather disappointing to learn that the altimeter has now been dropped from the Charge line. 

[Goldblum57]

Yeah, looks like they got rid of the altimeter, per Kate's post. Also, no altimeter is mentioned among the list of sensors. Bummer, and pretty strange considering all the Charges before it had it (even the first Fitbit had it, I think). I live in a townhome so tracking floors climbed is useful for me.

[tiuri]

No altimeter plus it's not compatible with Charge 3 and 4 bands (as far as I can tell). I guess they're hoping everyone is blinded by the colour display and ignores everything else.

[Odyssey13]

Hi @Goldblum57  I'm just the opposite of you. Went from a two story house a one level house. Most of my friends are more into the health metrics of things, but not so much stairs. The Charge 5 sure looks like it has a lot of good features.

@tiuri not all bands Charge 3 and 4 are interchangeable, so I'd have to think the Charge 5 will be compatible with another style yet to be designed or released. The color display is worth noting, but people don't ignore things, they seem to notice them. 

[Akore]

I could not anything about stairs here: https://www.fitbit.com/global/us/products/trackers/charge5

 

[Odyssey13]

@Akore  look for specs and features - click to view

[Giampi71]

To me it sounds a feature removal that Fitbit is not highlighting hoping the users don't realize before to purchase it. Such kind of regression honestly is something like users doesn't even consider as it is taken for granted that the newest model has at least the same features of the model it is going to replace.

However Fitbit is not new to such kind of regressions, not properly highlighted:

Example 1

Versa 1 had gyroscope (needed to count swim laps in real time) while Versa 2 and 3 don't

Example 2

Versa 2 had music storage while Versa 3 (and even Sense, the top product by Fitbit) doesn't

[N8teGee]

@Akore as confirmed by @KateFitbit above (marked as best answer), the Charge 5 doesn't have the ability to count floors as It's missing the required hardware (altimeter). So it's correct that you wouldn't see it in the screenshot you posted. 

[Ziga]

Well thats a bummer, I was afraid thats true. You made an outstanding device but remove one of the sensors to make a room for new ones. But galvanic skin response and skin temperature are less meaningful in real life and fitness then the info the altimeter provides. Anyway my next question would be is the altitude information provided via GPS when mountain hiking or mountain biking ? That would on some level mitigate the missing altimeter sensor.  

[leewoods651]

Why would they choose to leave out the altimeter? I have bought every generation of the Charge except fort the 4, i decided to go with the Sense but I really prefer the form factor of the Charge. So now by going with Charge 5 i miss our on tracking this metric, this is a silly move from Google/Fitbit. You ask should be adding health tracking features not removing them. 

[BaldEagle74]

As there is no hole to see anywhere on the Charge 5 I guess there will be no altimeter, no microphone and no speaker!

[N8teGee]

@Ziga From my own experience GPS is terrible for providing altitude elevation data, I wouldn't rely on it alone. This is where GPS + Altimeter really come into play. I don't think people realise it's not just a floor count they will be missing, but actually an essential sensor if any type of elevation tracking is important to you. 

[kurryboi]

@marcusdeshaun @KateFitbit 

Wouldn't the 

• Sensors & Component: 3-axis accelerometer

Be able to track activity on stairs?

[SQUEAKY]

Does anyone know if the FB Charge 5 counts stairs.  I'm on the go most of the stair and it involves a lot of stair climbing so I really like this feature.  TYIA.  

[Danissa.xo]

No it doesn’t have stair count. 

[N8teGee]

@SQUEAKY Good to see you in the community.

I've merged your thread with an existing one as this has an official response from a Fitbit Moderator. Please see the best answer - here.