Google acquired Fitbit in 2019, and since then, the renowned brand has improved and added many worthy watches with various advanced features, competing in the wearables market.
In the comparison, we’ll delve into the key differences between the Fitbit Charge 5 and Versa 4 in design, pricing, health and fitness tracking, features, and battery life to help you find the one that fits your style and needs.
Fitbit Charge 5 vs Versa 4: Quick review
The choice between the Fitbit Charge 5 and Fitbit Versa 4 comes down to looks; they include many of the same features and functions. This is also the first thing you will notice on these smartwatches. The Fitbit Charge 5 has a long, rectangular shape designed for fitness enthusiasts and athletes. While the Fitbit Versa 4 has a squarish shape appealing to more casual users and individuals with a shorter wrist.
How do they differ in looks?
The Fitbit Charge 5 has a long, rectangular design more like a fitness type of watch. The 1.04-inch AMOLED display has a screen resolution of 450 x 250 pixels and a pixel density of 326 PPI and is surrounded by anodized aluminium along with surgical-grade stainless steel. It doesn’t have any buttons or a crown for navigation, which is available in the Versa 4. The screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3 to protect the watch from scratches.
Measuring 36.7 x 22.7 x 11.2 mm and weighing only 28 grams, the Fitbit Charge 5 comes in black with a graphite band, soft gold with a Luna white band, and platinum with a steel blue band. The straps are 20mm in length.
To personalise the look, the watch offers 21 clock faces to choose from, plus two new faces: Analogish and Aura.
The Fitbit Charge 5 comes with a lithium-polymer battery, which can last for around 7 days between charges; however, with the always-on display enabled, it only survived for two and a half days and five days with it disabled. It takes approximately two hours to fully charge the device.
The Fitbit Versa 4, meanwhile, has a squarish shape more like a regular smartwatch. It comes with a larger 1.69-inch AMOLED display with a screen resolution of 336 x 336 pixels and a pixel density of 268 PPI. However, it has a button on the right side that you can use for multiple purposes, like waking up the screen, opening apps, shortcuts, custom features, and quick access (Alexa, Fitbit Pay, etc.). It also uses the same aluminium bezel and polycarbonate case on the back. It doesn’t have Corning gorilla glass; instead, it only has curved glass for screen protection.
At 40.4 x 40.4 x 11.2 mm and 37.6 grams, it has a slightly bigger display but weighs a little more than the Fitbit Charge 5. It comes in black graphite with a black band, platinum aluminium with a waterfall blue band, copper rose aluminium with pink sand, and copper rose aluminium with a beet juice band. It offers a more feminine type of colour suitable for women’s but looks good on men’s too. It offers two strap sizes to choose from: the small band is”5.5″–7.1″ and the large band is”7.1″–8.7″ in circumference, which might be appealing to more users.
For customisation, it only has five available clock faces to choose from, and Fitbit also released two new watch faces for premium subscribers, Trials and Streaks.
In terms of battery life, the Fitbit Versa 4 also offers the same 7 days of battery life; however, with always-on display enabled, it cuts down to 2-3 days, and with GPS enabled, it drops down to 2 days, which is decent for a smartwatch in this price range in my opinion. One thing to consider is that battery life is highly dependent on the users and what features and how they are using them, so it can be up or down depending on your usage. It also takes approximately two hours to fully charge the device.
Both devices can withstand being submerged underwater up to 50 metres, which means you can use these watches for swimming too.
Let’s break down the specs.
| Specifications | Fitbit Charge 5 | Fitbit Versa 4 |
|---|---|---|
| General | ||
| Brand | Fitbit | Fitbit |
| Model Name | Change 5 | Versa 4 |
| Design and Body | ||
| Weight | 28 grams | 37.6 grams |
| Material | Aluminium | Aluminium |
| Shape | Rectangular | Square |
| Display | ||
| Type | AMOLED | AMOLED |
| Touch | Yes | Yes |
| Size | 1.04 inches | 1.69 inches |
| Resolution | 450 x 250 pixels | 336 x 336 pixels |
| Features | Always-on Display | Always-on Display |
| Connectivity | ||
| Bluetooth | Yes | Yes |
| GPS | Multi-band GPS | Multi-band GPS |
| Extra | ||
| Sensors | Pedometer, Heart Rate Monitor, SpO2 (Blood Oxygen) Monitor, Calorie Count, Step Count, Sleep Monitor | Pedometer, Heart Rate Monitor, SpO2 (Blood Oxygen) Monitor, Calorie Count, Step Count, Sleep Monitor |
| NFC | Fitbit Pay | Fitbit Pay |
| Camera | ||
| Camera | No | No |
| Technical | ||
| Compatibility | Android, iOS | Android, iOS |
| Multimedia | ||
| Music | Yes | Yes |
| Battery | ||
| Backup | Up to 7 days | Up to 7 days |
| Features | ||
| Water Resistant | Yes | Yes |
| Water Rating | IP68 | IP68 |
| Water Depth | 50m | 50m |
| Extra Features | Alarm Clock, Stopwatch, Timer, Reminder | Alarm Clock, Stopwatch, Timer, Reminder |
| Price | $127 | $229 |
Fitness, workouts, and activities
If we talk about fitness, workouts, and activity tracking, both devices have identical features but have a few differences too. The Fitbit Versa 4 can track over 40 sports modes, whereas the Charge 5 can only track 20, including running, swimming, cycling, and yoga. You can simply log these activities into the Fitbit app and get deeper insights into your fitness activities, allowing you to switch and change things up according to your goals and needs. However, one of the downsides of the Fitbit watch is that most workouts will require a premium subscription, which many users will find annoying, including me.
They can automatically detect multiple sports modes, including walking, running, swimming, and bike riding, but start recording after you have been doing these activities for at least 10 minutes. Additionally, you can track distance, steps, and calories as well.
If we talk about health tracking, both devices offer a heart rate monitor and a SpO2 (blood oxygen) tracker that detects your resting heart rate, which can help you determine how healthy you are depending on how low your heart rates are. Additionally, they also feature heart rate variability, which tracks time between heartbeats, and if it is getting downward, potentially it can be due to overtraining, lack of sleep, stress, and more. They also have a skin temperature sensor that identifies changes in your skin temperature, which could be a sign of illness, activity, the menstrual cycle, and more.
On top of that, they also have a breathing rate, which can help you detect changes in your well-being by tracking your breathing. You can also get a pdf of all your health metrics through the wellness report features, which you can show to your health professionals. Plus, they also have a blood glucose tracker; however, you need to be connected to the Fitbit app for this feature. For women, they also have menstrual cycle tracking, in which you can log periods, record symptoms, find patterns in your cycle, and estimate your ovulation window.
Both devices offer advanced sleep tracking, which tracks how long you slept and time spent in light, deep, and REM stages. They also have a sleep score, a sleep profile, a stress management score that can track how well your body is handling stress, and EDA to relieve stress.
One of the most important features is the ECG capability, which is only available in the Fitbit Charge 5, which tracks your heart rate rhythm and can detect early signs of atrial fibrillation. However, the Fitbit Versa 4 does track irregular heart rate rhythm, which can provide the same benefit, but it’s not as good as the ECG itself. Other than that, they also have high and low heart rate notifications to help you get full insights into your health.
In conclusion, both devices have almost identical features in terms of health and fitness tracking; however, the Fitbit Versa 4 has more sports modes, which athletes and fitness enthusiasts will find appealing. On the other hand, the Fitbit Charge 5 has ECG capability, which is a must-have feature for both general and health-conscious users.
What else can they do?
Both devices come with built-in GPS, which means you will not need your phone for GPS and can see pace and distance directly on your wrist. Along with that, they also have a daily readiness score to find out if your body recovered well from the previous workout, which is a beneficial feature if you are an athlete to get better insight into your body.
Both smartwatches can see call, text, and smartphone notifications from your phone but can’t place calls directly from the wrist. This feature is only available in the Fitbit Versa 4, but it also requires your phone nearby to make and receive calls on your wrist. The Fitbit Charge 5 does let you reject and accept calls, but you cannot speak into the tracker. They have Bluetooth v5.0, which is not the latest version but works fine to sync your data across apps and devices and to receive calls (Versa 4).
Additionally, they also have Fitbit Pay for contactless payments and a built-in voice assistant (Alexa). However, only the Fitbit Versa 4 has Google Maps for navigation and Google Wallet for contactless payments. Other than that, they have always-on mode, which means your device will show something instead of a black, dark screen. Plus, find my phone and do not disturb mode for peace of mind.
In terms of compatibility, these devices can connect to both Android and iOS, allowing you to connect and track your data with a wide range of devices.
Which should you choose?
Given how similar these two smartwatches are when it comes to the Fitbit Charge 5 vs. Fitbit Versa 4, which should you buy? It comes down to your preference. If you prefer a more tracker-type, long rectangular watch, the Charge 5 will be a better choice for you, but if you prefer a more squarish shape or typical smartwatch-type look with bigger straps and a larger screen, then you can look for the Versa 4.
Feature-wise, they are almost identical, so choice comes down to a few key differences: you’ll get a bigger screen size in the Versa 4, more colour options, on-wrist Bluetooth calls (requires a phone), extra sports mode, and Google Maps and Google Wallet.
If you prefer a slimmer tracker type of look, more clock faces to customise your watch, ECG capability, and more durability, then the Fitbit Charge 5 could be the way to go.
If you prefer an extra button on your watch, then the Versa 4 might look more appealing to you, plus, considering that they have the same price range, the only thing that sets them apart is the key differences I mentioned, other than that they have the same set of features.