Fitbit has released a major update, bringing new metrics to Charge 4 – and some of its best Premium features behind the paywall.
Charge 4 – Fitbit’s premium fitness tracker – attracts more attention, elevating it to the Fitbit Sense health watch with temperature control and expanded blood oxygen data.
And the company also reviewed Health Metrics, which was behind the Paywall Fitbit Premium service. It is now freely available to more people and its feature has been enhanced to help people better understand their health data.
What’s more – users in Canada, New Zealand and U.S. territories can now get the ECG feature on their Fitbit Sense.
The new features have already reached our accounts, so let us show you.
Upload 4 new features
Most exciting for Charge 4 users, the company is adding skin temperature data to this device. The temperature metric has only been found in Fitbit Sense so far, so this is a great addition to the range.
And Charge 4 users will also be able to see a blood oxygen reading on their wrist. Previously, SpO2 sensor readings were evident only on the estimated oxygen variation graph as part of the device’s sleep tracking.
But, like Versa 3 and Sense, which debuted the SpO2 watch face, Charge 4 users will be able to see oxygen saturation on the device itself for the first time.
The fitness tracker form factor is synonymous with the Fitbit experience, even in the era of the smartwatch, so it’s no surprise that Fitbit doesn’t want to see the Charge 4 behind. Now it is even more powerful and even surpasses Versa 3 as a health device.
Health metrics for more users
Health Metrics is available to non-Premium users for the first time
If that wasn’t enough, users of Versa 2, Charge 4 and Inspire 2 can now gain access to the Health Metrics data panel without a subscription to Fitbit Premium.
Health Metrics is a section of the Fitbit app that displays raw biometric data from the sensor range on your Fitbit device – and many are not available elsewhere in the app.
The devices above will show respiratory rate and heart rate variability for the first time – alongside old favorites, such as resting heart rate.
However, it is not exactly the same experience that Premium users have. Those who do not pay the subscription can only see data for a week – while those who pay $ 79.99 per month can see an entire month.
You can see the screenshot above, which shows the health metrics of a non-Premium account on charge 4.
Health Metrics moves towards disease detection
Health metrics showing personal banners
But not all changes are for non-Premium users. Those using Health Metrics will now see their personal ranges, which are designed to help make sense of the data.
Anyone using Health Metrics can be a little confused by large increases or decreases in data, such as respiratory rate and heart rate variability. Tiredness, fatigue or alcohol can all be factors that can cause heart rate variability to drop – and in our Fitbit Sense review, we criticize this part of the app for not being clear to users trying to understand the numbers.
Now Fitbit is adding a personal band clearly marked on the Health Metrics chart – to try to add context about what our body’s usual natural rhythm is, and what could be something to watch for.
The company’s COVID-19 study showed that abnormal changes in respiratory rate and HRV may be early signs of an infection – so adding a personal break is the first step toward something similar to detecting disease.
Fitbit adds support for blood glucose tracking
Fitbit also added blood glucose tracking to the app for the first time.
Although this is not detected by any Fitbit tracker (non-invasive wearable glucose tracking is still a bit far away), it does mean that those who monitor blood sugar levels can enter their readings through the Fitbit app.
On the surface, this will work in a similar way to features like hydration and nutrition tracking in the Fitbit app, which are not connected to the device itself.
Fitbit’s glucose tracking feature will also allow users to set high and low blood sugar ranges and related symptoms. And users will be able to see trends over time, to help identify patterns in blood sugar behavior.