Samsung Gear Fit vs. Fitbit Charge: Which is Best?

Last Updated on August 6th, 2019 by Natalia Bickell

If you’re in the market for a fitness tracker that has plenty of features, then you’ve come to the right place. The Samsung Gear Fit and the Fitbit Charge are two devices that allow you to track your workouts while providing plenty of features.

Both of these high-quality trackers offer great displays and slim design. You’ll also get your fair share of features like GPS support, heart-rate monitoring and more. Plus, both will ensure you’re sleeping well at night and track your steps throughout the day.

However, most people only wear one fitness tracker on their wrist at a time. So which one should you choose? That’s where we come in. Let’s take a look at how these two trackers compare with one another so you can determine which one makes the most sense for you.

Primary Differences Between the Samsung Gear Fit and the Fitbit Charge

• Alerts – While both devices share many of the same functionality when it comes to receiving notifications, the Fitbit Charge will also send you weather updates and email alerts. Unfortunately, the Samsung Gear does not offer this support.
• GPS – Built-in GPS is quickly becoming a must-have feature for many who use fitness trackers on a daily basis. The benefit here is that you don’t need your phone to track your activity, which means you can leave it at home. Samsung offers built-in GPS, while the Fitbit Charge does not.
• Wireless Support – Again, Samsung comes out on top as it supports wireless protocols. If you need to run a few errands, but don’t want to take your phone, just strap on your Gear Fit. As long as you’re in a location with wifi you can connect to, you’ll get all your notifications, just like you would on your smartphone.

Samsung Gear Fit vs. Fitbit Charge

Let’s take a closer look at how these two high-quality fitness trackers compare with one another.

Design

Both the Gear Fit and the Charge have a unique sporty look given that they come with textured rubber wrist straps. Even though Fitbit is finally starting to get on board by offering wearables with a little flair, when it comes to deciding between the two, the Gear Fit is the more attractive of the two.

Samsung usually offers an excellent screen on their wearables, and the Gear Fit is no exception. It’s 1.5 inch AMOLED display offers multi-touch, which is where it really dominates the design of the tracker. This vibrant, bright, and elegant screen outshines what the Fitbit Charge has to offer, which is a simple OLED display.

If you’re planning on using your fitness tracker as your primary wearable, then you’re going to encounter problems regardless of which one you choose. Both devices are comfortable, however, the clasp on the Gear Fit comes loose on occasion. Comparatively, Fitbit goes with a watch-style band, so you know it’s not going anywhere.

At times, you may encounter some problems with the screen on the Fitbit Charge. The biggest problem is that oftentimes the screen does not respond when you tap. This is unfortunate since you’re required to tap the device to change the information on the screen.

From a customization perspective, Fitbit provides its users with plenty of choices. You can choose between a wide range of colors for your strap, plus the device itself comes in four different finishes. Samsung doesn’t offer as many choices, only providing three different strap sizes and colors from which its users can choose.

Lastly, neither the Gear Fit nor the Charge are completely waterproof. That means if you’re going for a swim or hopping in the shower, you’ll want to take your wearable off. While the Gear Fit is IP68 rated, it’s only water resistant, and that’s only for 30 minutes. Be sure to remove your tracker before going for a dip.

Tracking Activities

Let’s start this section by talking about what each device delivers, then we’ll move on to how they track your activity. The Fitbit Charge provides users with a 3-axis accelerometer which tracks your steps and sleeping behavior, an altimeter for measuring elevation, and an optical heart rate monitor.

Samsung’s Gear Fit has an accelerometer as well, plus a barometer which measures altitude. The Gear Fit also includes a heart rate monitor and as mentioned, supports built-in GPS capabilities. While the Charge does have the ability to track with GPS, it required your smartphone to do so.

When it comes to the basics, you won’t notice much of a difference for sleep tracking and step counting. For sleep tracking, both the Gear Fit and the Charge offer baseline information, although the Gear Fit is not as intuitive than the Charge in this area. As a result, from a fitness tracker perspective, we’d have to give the nod to the Charge at this point.

If you’re looking for a fitness tracker that automatically detects and begins tracking activities, then you’ll be fine no matter which of these two devices you select. The detection is highly sensitive, so the moment you start walking or running, don’t be surprised when it starts recording your activity. However, you do need to make sure you work out for 10 minutes to take full advantage of the automated tracking feature.

For additional features, Samsung offers a new option that automatically counts reps for you as you work out. This is ideal for exercises like squats and crunches. Unfortunately, the Charge does not support this functionality.

However, Fitbit does have a few extra features of its own, like a VO2 Max tracker. This type of benefit is usually found on high-quality sports watches, so it’s nice to see it on a Fitbit. Your VO2 is the amount of oxygen which is moved to your blood as you work out. The more in shape you are, the higher your O2, so you can use this tool to determine how you’re performing.

Heart Rate Sensor and GPS

As long as you’re not doing a lot of high-intensity interval training, then you can count on your heart rate sensor to be pretty accurate. This is true for both the Gear Fit and the Charge. Unfortunately, the sensors aren’t designed to provide reliable feedback from your wrist if you’re going all out.

If heart rate accuracy during those types of workouts is important to you, then you might want to consider purchasing a chest strap. Unfortunately, neither fitness tracker will successfully connect to an external heart rate tracker.

We mentioned earlier that GPS is only available on the Gear Fit. The Charge will track your workout via GPS, however, you’ll have to have your phone with you for it to work properly. Its counterpart, however, offers a tracker with built-in GPS, so you don’t have to mess with connecting your phone every time you want to go for a run. One drawback here is that the Gear Fit does not pick up GPS very quickly, so you might spend a few minutes waiting for it to pick up a signal before heading out.

If GPS isn’t a concern when you work out, then you’re fine with either device. They both provide excellent accuracy when tracking your heart rate while you work out (so long as you’re not doing HIIT training). But if you need GPS, then the clear winner in this department is the Gear Fit. It’s not perfect, but at least you don’t have to lug your phone around with you while you go for a run.

Features and Notifications

For all intents and purposes, the Gear Fit is essentially a smartwatch. It will allow you to pick your notifications and alerts. These include email, texts, calendar alerts, and third-party applications. While there are some limitations to how you can choose to interact with your messages, the Gear Fit offers more than the Charge in this category.

By comparison, the Charge isn’t a smartwatch, which most Fitbit users are aware of. You’ll get calls, however, text messages and email notifications are clipped on the screen. Additionally, you don’t have a way to respond through the Charge. You have to do that through your smartphone.

Additional features for the Gear Fit include the ability to play music from Spotify as well as store it directly on the device itself. The Charge offers a feature that provides guided breathing, which helps you stay calm and relaxes throughout your day.

Fitbit also offers an Adventures feature in the Challenges section of its mobile app. It adds a bit of enjoyment to your device by integrating a type of augmented reality to your daily step tracking. Samsung also offers some fun interaction, letting you compete with your friends on its Together app. You can see who has taken the most steps each day through the leaderboard section, then give your friends a hard time when you beat them.

Both the Gear Fit and the Charge provide methods to encourage you to get up and get moving if you remain sedentary for too long. The Fitbit will send you reminders by vibrating. This is to get you to 250 steps before the hour is up. On the other hand, the Gear Fit will tell you that you’ve been inactive and that it’s time to start moving around.

For the most part, these two devices offer similar features. However, if you’re looking for something more along the lines of a sports watch with a robust notification alert, the Gear Fit is your best bet.

Battery Life

While both of these fitness trackers claim that their batteries last up to five days, the winner in this category is the Fitbit Charge. Since it doesn’t have to power a big screen like the one on the Samsung Gear Fit, you can go nearly a week without needing to charge it.

The Gear Fit will give you a solid three or four days of usage before it needs recharging. It’s 200 mAH battery gives it plenty of juice, however, it just doesn’t compare to the Charge when it comes to longevity. The tradeoff here is that you’re getting features like GPS, which quickly drain the life out of your battery.

OS Support

Supporting certain operating systems isn’t really a deal breaker when both devices can connect to both iOS and Android devices. You’ll get the same experience on iOS as you will on Android with either device. That means you get support regardless of the OS you choose. Plus, if you decide to switch over to another operating system at a later time, you won’t have to buy a new fitness tracker.

Specifications

Which Fitness Tracker is Best?

Honestly, when it comes to these two fitness trackers, it’s really tough to pick one. They’re both great options if you’re in the market for a wearable that will monitor and record your workouts. The Gear Fit is the better option if you want a device that looks good and offers a few extra features like GPS and Wifi functionality.

However, the Charge is designed to be a fitness tracker, which means you’ll get a better overall experience with it. Plus, you won’t have to charge it up near as often as the Gear Fit.

Really it boils down to what you prefer. Samsung has made a solid effort in climbing back into the fitness tracker market. It’s a device you’re sure to enjoy wearing and using. If you’re looking for a device that doubles as a smartwatch and fitness tracker, then you can’t go wrong with the Gear Fit.

For our money, we’re going with the Gear Fit. The Fitbit Charge is a great device and you’ll have a great experience when you use it. However, the Gear Fit lets you exercise without carrying your phone around with you, which is a huge plug in our opinion. The built-in GPS and wifi make it a winner in our eyes.

Further read:

• Fitbit Blaze vs Fitbit Surge
• Fitbit Versa vs Samsung Gear S3
• Samsung Gear Sport vs Fitbit Ionic