The new Fitbit Edge is a follow-up to 2023’s Fitbit Charge 6, one of my favorite wearables and one of the best fitness trackers of all time. But is the Edge actually a worthy successor?
I’ve been wearing the Fitbit Edge for just over 24 hours, and three things are immediately clear. While I’ll save my hardcore test results and comparisons to the competition for the forthcoming review, here’s why the Fitbit Edge already has me impressed.
1. It borrows the Pixel Watch 5’s best health features
Google's Pixel Watch 5 is one of the best smartwatches for health and safety features thanks to groundbreaking tools like Loss of Pulse Detection, Breathing Emergency Alerts, and monthly insulin resistance/blood pressure trend reports.
Fortunately, you don't need to spend $399+ to unlock them. The new Fitbit Edge offers all these same features in a smaller, lighter, and perhaps most importantly, more wallet-friendly $179 package.
These features are in addition to other essentials, like continuous heart rate and body temperature monitoring, dynamic sleep and readiness scores, blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) and ECG readings, heart rate variability insights, and breathing rate/quality tracking.
The Edge also supports Google's AI-powered Health Coach for personalized training plans, nutrition insights, and deeper dives into sleep and workout recovery. It's part of the brand's Google Health Premium subscription, which will run $9.99 a month or $99 for the year.
Not sure if Google Health Premium is worth it for you? The Fitbit Edge comes with a three-month free trial, so you can try before you buy.
2. It’s just as comfy as its predecessor, dimensions be damned
Sometimes, specs can be deceiving. For example, on paper, the Fitbit Edge is taller, wider, thicker, and even a bit heavier than the Fitbit Charge 6. But on the wrist, you'd be hard-pressed to tell.
Despite a slight increase in case real estate, the Fitbit Edge is incredibly comfortable, just like its predecessor, and this is coming from a guy who strongly dislikes wearing any wrist-based wearable to bed. (Thank goodness for the best smart rings)!
There's also a good reason for the bigger case: the Fitbit Edge sports a 1.34-inch AMOLED screen, which is noticeably roomier and easier to interact with than the 1.04-inch display on the Charge 6.
3. Physical buttons > haptic buttons
While the Fitbit Charge 6 is one of my fitness trackers of the past three years, there's one design element I still loathe: the haptic button on the side of the case that vibrates (sometimes) when you press it.
Clearly, I'm not the only one who's anti-haptics, because Google ditched it for a proper clickable physical button on the Fitbit Edge, a small but meaningful user interface improvement I'm thrilled to see.
What are your thoughts on the new Fitbit Edge? Do you think it's a worthy replacement for the Fitbit Charge 6? Let me know below.