Help deciding to purchase charge 4 or charge 5 for parents

[Fitlifed]

Hi everyone,

Question: Would you recommend charge 2 to charge 4 or charge 2 to charge 5? If you transitioned from charge 2 to charge 4 or charge 2 to charge 5 what transitions took some time to get used to? 

Background:

I love Fitbit! I purchased a charge 2 for myself back in 2016 and loved it so much I purchased it a couple years later for my parents on sale. I wasn’t sure if they would use it but they love it!!! They use them daily. I’m so proud of how active they remain. I was planning to buy the charge 5 for them for Christmas this year. I purchased it for myself to check it out and in part because not being able to see my charge 4 in sunlight was driving me crazy. My mom recently said if one day her fitbit stopped working she’d be really sad. I hadn’t realized until recently they have the charge 2. My mom said don’t get them the charge 5 because she doesn’t want ecg. I know you don’t have to use that so I was going to surprise them with charge 5’s anyway. 

My parents are mid to late 60’s. Mom is tech savvy, dad not so much. They are walkers. 3-5 miles 3-4 times a week.

There was a bit of adjustment for me from charge 4 to 5 with no haptic button all touch screen and so many settings on the Fitbit screen vs app. (This is only my first day with charge 5). So I started getting concerned that the setup and swipe only for charge 5 might frustrate them. On the other hand the lack of readability in sunlight on the charge 4 makes me think twice about getting them the charge 4. I’ll be present to help w setup regardless of which one I purchase. I thought about going to versa for my dad but I think they enjoy simplicity of having the same Fitbit. My mom can help my dad more easily and bands and chargers work on both of theirs. 

Trying to decide if I should purchase charge 4’s or charge 5’s for my parents. Would you recommend charge 2 to charge 4 or charge 2 to charge 5? If you transitioned from charge 2 to charge 4 or charge 2 to charge 5 what transitions took some time to get used to? 

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or recommendations. 

[Wibby]

Hello @Fitlifed 

Thank you for your post.  It’s beautiful and lovely to see such a caring person’s thoughts.

I had the Charge 4 and loved it, then quickly switched to the Charge 5 and love it too.

The biggest question with your parents is: Do they like the stair tracker part?  It has been removed in the Charge 5 (there is no altimeter so it can’t be put back with an update).  If they enjoy tracking stairs, they’ll be sad if it’s suddenly gone.  In which case getting the Charge 4, which is probably cheaper now because of the 5, is the best option.

If they don’t care about stairs, the field is open.

As you’ve just got your Charge 5, try using it for about a week and see if anything frustrates you too much or if something’s amazing that you love.  That way you’ll be able to think whether your parents would love/hate it too.

 I would probably say the Charge 4 is the safest option (apart from visibility outdoors) and the Charge 5 has more whistles and bells but no stairs.

 I think whatever you get them they will love because it’s from you.  

[alexthecat]

I think any new tracker you buy them is going to take some getting used to. They learned to use their Charge 2 though, so I bet they'll figure out a newer device in no time. Plus, they'll have you to help them get set up. 

If they do lots of walking outdoors, I think they would really like the Charge 5. The screen is so bright and easy to see, even in direct sunlight. That is my favorite thing about that device. 

[Guitarplayer]

@Fitlifed 

@Giampi71 made this very good spredshet for comparison betwen the diffetrent Fitbit devises. You can compare C4 and C5 side by side just hiding some column.

[Fitlifed]

 Very helpful! Thank you so much.

[Fitlifed]

You are so kind. Thank you for taking the time to respond. I really appreciate it. Will definitely take note this week of my experience. 

[Fitlifed]

Thank you so much responding. That’s what I was thinking. They primarily walk outside and I’m switching from 4 to 5 in less than a year for that reason. It was so nice to be able to see on my run this morning.