Two of the most popular fitness trackers are the Fitbit Charge HR and the Fitbit Surge. In the battle of Fitbit Charge HR vs Surge, which should you choose? This post compares these two activity trackers in depth to help you decide. It includes a table comparing all of the key features on these two fitness trackers.
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Table comparing Fitbit Charge HR vs Surge
This table shows you all the key features of the Fitbit Charge HR vs Surge, so you can decide which one is right for you.
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| Continuous heart rate monitoring? | Yes, with an optical heart rate monitor, so you don't have to wear a chest strap | Yes, with an optical heart rate monitor, so you don't have to wear a chest strap |
| Simplified heart rate zones? | Yes, so you can see at a glance how much of your workout was in peak HR zone, cardio zone, and fat-burning zone | Yes, so you can see at a glance how much of your workout was in peak HR zone, cardio zone, and fat-burning zone |
| Date and time display? | Just the time. The display is too small for anything else. | Some of the clock face choices include date and time. All include the time. |
| Automatic sleep monitoring? | Yes - accurate and very helpful. Very useful for anyone with sleep issues. | Yes - accurate and very helpful. Very useful for anyone with sleep issues. |
| Calories burned | Seems to be accurate. Works with METs (metabolic equivalents) and lets you know all day long how many calories you have burned (even if all you have done is napped!) | Seems to be accurate. Works with METs (metabolic equivalents) and lets you know all day long how many calories you have burned (even if all you have done is napped!) |
| Silent alarm | Yes | Yes |
| Caller ID? | Yes | Yes |
| Built-in GPS? | No | Yes, and the GPS function is excellent! You do have to select "Hike" "Walk" or "Ride" so it knows to switch the GPS on. |
| How long does the GPS take to pick up satellites? | n/a - no GPS | I was happily amazed at how quickly the Fitbit Surge connected to satellites - much quicker than my expensive Garmin Edge bike computers |
| Can you link it to your Strava account? | n/a as there is no GPS to track your movements | Yes, you can link it up, and then it automatically uploads your runs, hikes, or bike rides to your Strava account. Excellent! |
| Does it have a multi-sport feature? | No. | Yes, you can tell it that you are now about to Hike, Bike, Walk, Workout, etc. It then records this time as active minutes, and records the activity in your daily record. You set up your favorite exercises in your dashboard. For activities such as Run and Bike, you can also record the route you took. |
| Sensors and components: | Optical heart rate monitor, 3-axis accelerometer, altimeter, vibration motor. | Optical heart rate monitor, 3-axis accelerometer, 3-axis gyroscope, altimeter, digital compass, vibration motor, and ambient light sensor. |
| Does it track active minutes? | Yes, but you have to tell it that you are starting a workout (it won't figure out that you are walking just because you are racking up steps) | Yes. The default is that elevated HR does not count as exercise until you have had an elevated HR for 15 minutes. 2 minutes of elevated HR is probably just you trying to update Windows, not a workout. You can change this default. Also, by default it won't track GPS for all active minutes. You have to tell it that you are starting a workout that has a GPS symbol. Once you tell it you are starting a bike ride, for example, it starts searching for a satellite. Once it finds it, you press the start button, and it will record both active minutes and a map of your ride until you press stop. This will use more battery power, of course. |
| Counting steps | More accurate on the Charge. It comes preset with a daily goal of 10,000 steps, but you can change this. | It is accurate during the day, but does this strange thing of showing between 100 and 400 steps when I wake up. After that, it counts correctly. Am I sleep walking ? It comes preset with a daily goal of 10,000 steps, but you can change this. |
| Counting floors | Sometimes it over-estimates | Over-estimates slightly more |
| Tracking sleep | Does this extremely well and automatically. This is extremely useful for people dealing with sleep problems. | Does this extremely well and automatically. This is extremely useful for people dealing with sleep problems. |
| Can you use it to lose weight? | Yes, you can set up a weight loss plan on the dashboard. Fitbit will calculate how many calories you should eat to lose weight. Then all day long it monitors how many calories you are burning, against how many you are expending. You do of course have to input what you eat. Once you do that, it has an excellent database of calories that it uses for its calculations. | Yes, you can set up a weight loss plan on the dashboard. Fitbit will calculate how many calories you should eat to lose weight. Then all day long it monitors how many calories you are burning, against how many you are expending. You do of course have to input what you eat. Once you do that, it has an excellent database of calories that it uses for its calculations. |
| Operation | Done with one button; you can click your way through to review stats on the way | Better - three buttons and touch screen; it is effortless to swipe through to review stats on the go. |
| Display | Tiny display; easy enough to read | Big display with choice of four screen formats; very easy to read even in bright light. Monochrome touchscreen LCD with backlight |
| What's on the display | It's a narrow little face, but it is able to give you caller ID notifications if synched with your smart phone, daily stats, and of course, time of day | Much bigger face. It is able to give you caller ID notifications if synched with your smart phone, daily stats, and of course, time of day. It also gives you previews of your text messages. |
| Resting HR measurement | Seems to be excellent; nice that you can check your heartbeat at any time, plus your stats over time. | Seems to be excellent; nice that you can check your heartbeat at any time, plus your stats over time. |
| Distance walked per day | Seems to be consistent and reliable. | Seems to be consistent and reliable. |
| Can you control music with it? | No. | Yes. Just push the top right button twice, and a screen pops up where you can stop and start music, fast forward and rewind. Very handy. When you first use it, you have to pair the BlueTooth on your Surge with your smart phone. Designed for iOS devices. Fitbit Blaze is also compatible with Windows mobile devices for music control but Fitbit Surge is not. |
| What colors does it come in? | Black, teal, plum, orange | Black, blue, orange |
| Does it measure active minutes accurately? | Seems to be accurate - it's fun to look back on the day and see a record of the times when you were active | Seems to be accurate - it's fun to look back on the day and see a record of the times when you were active. |
| Automatic synching? | Yes - syncs stats wirelessly and automatically to your computer and over 120 leading smartphones. | Yes - syncs stats wirelessly and automatically to your computer and over 120 leading smartphones. |
| What is it like to wear? | It is very small, so most people could probably tolerate it, and it won't disrupt your cuffs much at all. It is made of an elastomer material that is flexible, durable and lightweight, so it feels comfortable on your wrist. | It's quite a bit larger than the Charge, and can disrupt your shirt cuffs. It does have a very nice, quality feel against the skin, though. It is made of an elastomer material that is flexible, durable and lightweight, so it feels comfortable on your wrist. |
| Sizing | Small! Choose a larger size than you might usually do. Especially as you are supposed to push it up to a finger widths above your wrist to get an accurate HR reading when exercising. Maggie is average size and needed a Large | Small! Choose a larger size than you might usually do. I am average size and needed a Large |
| Can you swim with it? | Absolutely not! It's splash proof, not water proof. | Absolutely not! It's splash proof, not water proof. |
| How do you monitor your activities? | On the go, you have a few basic functions you can review on the tracker - such as steps taken. You can review an indepth dashboard of all your activities on your smart phone and on your computer. The Fit.com connection is one of the HUGE strengths of Fitbit. It's a great way to monitor your activities and your progress | On the go, you have a few basic functions you can review on the tracker - such as steps taken, current heart rate, miles walked today, calories burned today, and floors climbed today. You can review an indepth dashboard of all your activities on your smart phone and on your computer. The Fit.com connection is one of the HUGE strengths of Fitbit. It's a great way to monitor your activities and your progress. |
| How long does the battery last? | About 3 days. Manufacturer's specs: Rechargeable Lithium-polymer, up to 5 days | About 5 days - less if you use the GPS function. Manufacturer's specs: Rechargeable Lithium-polymer, up to 7 days for daily tracking and 5 hours for GPS running |
| How do you charge it? | You connect it with a micro USB cable to your computer; it takes about an hour to charge. | You connect it with a micro USB cable to your computer; it takes about an hour to charge. |
| Challenge features | You can set goals, invite friends to challenges, etc. | You can set goals, invite friends to challenges, etc. |
| Does it cause you to make smarter choices? | Absolutely! It's very motivating. It also sometimes sends you an encouraging message when you are close to your goal, or congratulates you when you reach it! | Absolutely! It's very motivating. It also sometimes sends you an encouraging message when you are close to your goal, or congratulates you when you reach it! |
| Reviewing data | Gives you access to Fitbit.com, on which you can review a comprehensive dashboard of everything - steps, activity minutes, activities over time, heart rate over time, etc. | Gives you access to Fitbit.com, on which you can review a comprehensive dashboard of everything - steps, activity minutes, activities over time, heart rate over time, etc. |
| Syncing | We had some problems with the Fitbit Charge just refusing to sync, even when plugged into the computer | No syncing problems experienced - it syncs well and automatically with phone and computer. |
| Dongle required to connect with computer? | Yes - comes with a dongle that has to be plugged into a computer before you can sync wirelessly. It's a very tiny dongle that would be quite easy to lose if you carried it around, so this pretty much limits you to synching with just one computer. | Yes - comes with a dongle that has to be plugged into a computer before you can sync wirelessly. It's a very tiny dongle that would be quite easy to lose if you carried it around, so this pretty much limits you to synching with just one computer. |
| What can you see on your wrist? | Screens on the watch face are fairly limited; as you scroll through you will see: Time/HR/Steps/Calories burned/Floors climbed | Home (clock face); Today (Steps/HR/Miles walked/Calories burned/Floors climbed); Exercise (choose your activity to record); Fitstar (choose a built in workout); Timer (Stopwatch, Countdown, Timer, Alarms); Settings |
Why get a Fitness Tracker at all?
A great activity tracker that correctly matches your needs is a really strong motivator to exercise. It provides you with goals, feedback and encouragement. Plus you can review your day/s and be encouraged or motivated. You can get a quick overview of activities, calories, sleep, steps, etc. on your desktop, as below.
You can also get this overview on your cell phone, as shown below (I cannot get the whole overview into one shot – on your cell phone, you have to scroll down):
I find the cell phone dashboard really easy to read and user friendly. And of course, you can click on any of these on-screen snapshots, to get more details. For example, as you can see in the screen shot below, you can review your activities.
Personally I have found that wearing my fitness tracker causes me to make more good choices all day long. I choose to walk upstairs instead of riding the escalator; I choose to park further away from stores; I choose to ride my bike more; I choose to take a walk at lunchtime; and I even offer to walk the dogs in the evening if I haven’t hit my daily quota of steps!
This effect seems to be ongoing – it has not worn off after the novelty of my new tracker wore off. In fact, both Maggie and I found we quickly became very fond of our trackers, and that over time they continued to motivate us.
I used to take the dogs for a 30-minute walk every morning, but gave up that habit about two years ago – out of sheer laziness, to be honest. Just this morning I started those walks again. Why? Because it’s the only way I can be sure I will meet my steps goal for the day. And I rediscovered how good it is for my mental health to start the day with an energizing walk in the park with two creatures who are just plain overjoyed to greet another day!
Having said that, it is essential to have a fitness tracker that matches your needs.
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Fitbit Charge HR vs Fitbit Surge: the Test
Maggie bought a Fitbit Charge HR and I chose a Fitbit Surge.
Both of these offer optical heart rate monitors, and those were essential for us. We wanted to be able to record our heart rates without wearing chest straps.
Then we put our trackers to a grueling test: we took them with us on a week-long trip to New York. During that week we hiked miles and logged hundreds of subway steps. We were in the unusual situation of doing exactly the same thing every day, so it was a great way to check their accuracy. We compared notes every evening to see how well they had tracked us.
A note about the Fitbit Surge vs Garmin Fenix 3 HR
In the dazzling new world of fitness trackers and sports watches, there is an entire smorgasbord of features – but none of the devices offer all of them. So you end up having to decide which features are most important for you. For example, Maggie chose the Fitbit Charge HR because it has a built in optical heart rate monitor. But it doesn’t have a built in GPS. I chose the Fitbit Surge because as a cyclist, a built-in GPS is very important to me.
Similarly, I nearly got one of the brand new Garmin Fenix 3 HR sports watches instead of a Fitbit Surge, because as a multi-sport device it seems to offer everything an active person could want. It tracks all sports, and you can swim with it. And it syncs with Garmin Connect to track your activities. Why did I decide against it?
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Because the Fitbit Surge has one thing that the more expensive Garmin Fenix 3 HR does not have – an optical heart rate monitor. This basically means that the Fitbit Surge (and the Fitbit Charge HR) monitor your heart rate all the time, without you having to wear a heart rate monitor strap around your chest. This makes it easy to track your heart rate 24/7, and to monitor your sleep patterns. For me, as someone who has sleep issues, this was more important than having a precise record of every sporting event I do ( or knowing how I performed crossing the pool) . But I can certainly see how an athlete would give up the optical heart rate monitor in order to have the more advanced sports tracking abilities of the Garmin Fenix 3 HR sports watch. So it comes down to your individual needs.
Luckily, the Fitbit Surge DOES have a multi-sport feature – for example, you can tell it that you are now about to Hike, Bike, Walk, Workout, etc. It then records this time as active minutes, and records this in your daily record. Unfortunately, the Fitbit Charge cannot really do this. As far as it is concerned, if you are not logging steps, you are not exercising. This can be irritating.
Related content: Indepth review of the Fitbit Charge HR
Bottom Line on the Fitbit Charge HR vs Surge
These are both excellent fitness trackers, and I can honestly recommend either one. You can get cheaper fitness trackers, but then you do have to give up the built-in optical heart rate monitor – which I am not willing to do. Monitoring your heart rate is just such an excellent fitness tool, and also enables you to monitor your sleep patterns. Being able to do so without a strap around your chest – priceless! And note that these are just as accurate as any dedicated HR monitor we have tried. In fact, Fitbit tracker are now being used in medical studies and trials. All in all, no wonder that Fitbit owns 75% of the activity tracker market. It’s hard to find anything that competes.
There is quite a big size difference between these two Fitbit trackers, as you can see in this photo.
The Fitbit Charge HR is excellent, and well deserves its position as Amazon’s no. 1 bestseller in fitness trackers. However, it may disappoint if you are a runner or a cyclist and want the convenience of a device that combines activity tracking with GPS recording of your athletic achievements. For that, you need to pay the extra for the Fitbit Surge.
The Fitbit Surge is a great little all-in-one activity tracker, fitness motivator, and GPS recorder. For me, the automatic synching with Strava really sealed the deal! But if you don’t need that, consider the Fitbit Charge HR instead.
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