Is a Charge 5 better than getting a replacement for my charge 4

[Jett2022]

My Charge 4 has a broken clip on the strap.  Is the Charge 5 a better version than the 4?

[lmccallan884]

It you really want water lock and a few other minor changes go for the charge 5 but there isn’t a lot of changes

[poruatokin]

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@Jett2022 wrote:

My Charge 4 has a broken clip on the strap.  Is the Charge 5 a better version than the 4?

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I'd have to say a resounding NO!

I have a Charge 4 for over a year that has had problems, the worst of which is the quality of help and customer support from FitBit which quite frankly sucks.  When it dies, I planned to buy a non-FitBit device.

Then the Charge 5 was announced so I started monitoring the Charge 5 "help" forums just to see if the new version was in any way improved.  Sorry to say that my research tells me the Charge 5 appears to be plagued with quality issues at least as bad, if not worse than the Charge 4. 

They have put a flashy color screen but they deleted useful features such as the the altimeter hardware while other features they "claim"exist such as ECG which are not available in most countries.  Numerous problems with straps and clips still being reported.

I'd suggest doing the same research, many people reporting dozens of hardware and software issues and there's lots of complaints about poor support and denials of warranty claims.  You don't need to believe me, just go take a careful read - but be warned, you may have to dig deep as threads with too many dissenting comments have a habit of being closed down.

[Jett2022]

Thank you for the information. I had been doing research myself, but I
like the candid responses from the Fitbit Community.

[Jett2022]

Thank you for your response. 

[poruatokin]

As an addendum to this I just noticed today that the Charge 5 no longer supports the weather app, and Spotify control has also gone.

The marketing of the Charge 5 is very odd.  They should have called it the Charge 4 Lite.

[Rich_Laue]

I moved this Charge 5 question to the Charge 5 board. 

[SunsetRunner]

Hi @Jett2022 - here’s a good comparison of the Charge devices. Is it better to upgrade to a 5? It depends on what is important to you. 

[Jett2022]

I opted to stay with the free replacement Charge 4.  I see how long this one lasts.  Thanks for the response.