Best Fitbit for seniors 2022

Best
Fitbit for seniors
iMore
2022

Best overall: Fitbit Charge 5

Fitbit Charge 5 is Fitbit’s newest, most advanced health and fitness tracker. A few standout features include ECG monitoring, EDA scans, built-in GPS, and blood oxygen monitoring. On top of these new, advanced sensors, it has you covered when it comes to all-day activity and sleep tracking. Plus, it offers up to seven days of battery life.

Keep track of your heart health with a compatible ECG app that assesses your heart for atrial fibrillation — a heart rhythm irregularity. Track and store these stats with Fitbit Premium and maintain the ability to share any results with your doctor. This is a valuable feature at any age, but especially for seniors that want to keep close tabs on their heart health.

An on-wrist EDA sensor detects tiny changes in your skin’s sweat level, which indicates your body’s response to stress. View this data in the Fitbit app to help monitor and better manage stress over time. Built-in GPS can pinpoint your location and map walking routes. You can view how your heart rate changed along your routes in your workout intensity map in the Fitbit app.

Sp02 monitoring is another valuable feature for seniors. It measures the level of oxygen in your blood to help you learn when there may be an indication of important changes to your overall wellness. Pulse oximetry can provide early warnings for many lung-related issues including COVID-19. It’s a fast, easy way to flag potential health concerns.

Keep in mind that you’ll need a Fitbit Premium membership (sold separately) to access all the features this Fitbit has to offer. Also, learning how to use this wearable and the app may be a steep learning curve for some.

We’re big fans of Fitbit Charge 4, and it’s easy to see why. It’s outfitted with all the great things we knew and loved about its predecessor Charge 3, with the addition of built-in GPS, Sp02, and Fitbit Pay. Its price tag makes it an excellent value and worthy wearable for any senior.

Built-in GPS enables the wearer to map locations and workout routes completely phone free. This makes the Charge 4 less reliant on your smartphone for properly tracking activity. Active Zone Minutes (AZM) give your wrist a buzz when you reach personalized heart rate zones and workout intensity maps show how your heart rate changed along workout routes in the Fitbit app.

Sp02 monitoring is a quick and easy way to flag important changes with your health. Low Sp02 numbers could be an indication of COVID-19 or other illnesses that require immediate attention. It’s nice and provides peace of mind to be able to measure Sp02 whenever you’d like with an Sp02-specific watch face.

Charge 4 is equipped with Fitbit Pay so users can make purchases phone and wallet free. Less things to carry! Contactless purchases can be made at coffee shops, grocery stores, and more. This wearable delivers up to seven days of battery life depending on usage.

Fitbit Charge 4 has a slim, sleek watch face which may be difficult to read for some. It has the capability of tracking 21 different workouts, but only six can be shown on the screen at one time.

When it comes to all-day activity, heart rate, and sleep tracking, Fitbit Inspire 2 has you covered. It’s a great option for those looking for something low-profile and budget friendly. It doesn’t have the newer, advanced features Fitbit offers, but for some seniors, those might not be necessary.

Let’s talk heart health. You can track heart rate variability with Inspire 2. This is the variation of time between each heartbeat to see if your body is showing signs of stress, illness, or fatigue. View your nightly trends over the past week in the Health Metrics dashboard.

The device also features Active Zone Minutes which give your wrist a buzz when you reach target heart rate zones. It personalizes heart rate zones based on your age and resting heart rate to show whether you’re in fat burn, cardio, or peak zones. This little tracker is small but mighty, and delivers up to 10 days of battery life.

If you want all the latest and greatest features that Fitbit has to offer, plus smart capabilities, you’re going to want to go with Fitbit Sense. On top of all-day activity and sleep tracking, this smartwatch offers ECG, EDA, Sp02, Fitbit Pay, smart assistant, and audio play, stream, and storage.

ECG monitoring detects any heart rhythm irregularities so you can share concerns with your doctor. An EDA sensor measures your body’s response to stress so you can better manage it over time. Sp02 is an easy way to detect important changes to your health. Low blood oxygen numbers could indicate COVID-19 or other serious illnesses that you’ll want to address immediately.

Make contactless purchases at any compatible seller with Fitbit Pay, sans phone. Fitbit Sense is outfitted with a smart assistant (Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa) so you can set important reminders, and check the weather and news. You’ll also get media play, stream, and storage with this savvy smartwatch. Download, play, or stream your favorite audio books, music, and podcasts.

On the downside, this Fitbit wearable is pricey — but certainly worth the investment if you’re keen on advanced features. Getting to know this wearable may take some time; there could be a steep learning curve for some.

Fitbit Luxe is a new fashion-forward fitness and wellness wristband that tracks all the essentials. Boost your mind, body, and health with this stylish wearable.

Luxe offers 24/7 heart rate to help keep close tabs on your heart health. It can help maximize exercise sessions, understand resting heart rate trends, track sleep stages, and better estimate calorie burn.

It offers Sp02 monitoring which can indicate important changes to your overall wellbeing. Having low blood oxygen numbers could be a sign of a serious respiratory illness.

This elegant wristband covers all the basics like all-day activity and sleep tracking. Plus, it’s low-profile, and offers up to five days of battery life.

Bottom line

Track and monitor health and fitness at every age with one of the best Fitbits for seniors. We feel 24/7 heart rate monitoring, ECG, heart rate variability, Sp02, and EDA are valuable features for the senior community to have.

Fitbit Charge 5 is our pick for best overall because of its built-in GPS and advanced sensors. ECG and HRV keep track of heart health, while Sp02 indicates important changes to health, and EDA scans help track and manage stress over time.

Whether you’re looking for an advanced tracker, smartwatch, or just need to cover the basics, these are the best Fitbits for seniors.