I really thought Fitbit would have made some major improvements with the charge 5, but it really is not a good watch, let alone a fitness tracking.
Both heart rate and GPS accuracy are severely lacking.
I tried to give it a real shot and compared performance on known bike trails (MTB) and on stationary intervals. The trail ride GPS dropped whether on device, phone, or dynamic. Phone connection Bluetooth connection drops throughout even though it is less than 3 feet away at any one time.
Interval tracking on a stationary bike was extremely lacking (1 min all out/3 min rest). Heart rate tracking would not change throughout the entire 1 minute high outputs, level ~140 hr instead of the 190 actual values.
Given that I am dissatisfied, I decided to return the product. However, I am 45 days and ~12 hours since the shipment date (not receipt date) -- I was informed that these handful of hours more means I am completely disqualified from any meaningful customer support and stuck with the devices. At least I'll now how a watch that can sit a an drawer and remind of the experience, should I ever mistaking consider Fitbit options in the future.
If you are on the fence about ordering one of these I'd highly recommend against it. If you have ordered and you are on the fence about keeping it, return before that clock runs up.
