Do you want an activity tracker but are unsure whether to buy a Fitbit or an Apple Watch? In this comparison, we put the Apple Watch and the Fitbit head to head to see which is better in several aspects: physical activity tracking, heart rate monitoring, design, battery life etc…
Apple is known for its smartwatches, while Fitbit is known for its activity bracelets and fitness and health smartwatches. But the lines are blurring: Fitbits increasingly look like watches with attractive touchscreens, and Apple Watches increasingly have health features.
Even the smarter Fitbits Sense and Versa don’t support multiple apps like a smartwatch, but they are comparable in many of their fitness measurement features, design themes, and features.
All of them are excellent, but which one is best for you?
Activity monitoring
To stay in shape you don’t have to be a gym rat or a marathon runner. Being active during the day has benefits for everyone’s health and the Fitbit and Apple Watch activity trackers help you be active.
Both the Apple Watch and Fitbit activity trackers are capable of measuring steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned, and the minutes in which you have been active so far during the day. It also shows you your progress and allows you to define personal goals.
In addition to all this, the Apple Watch Series 6 or later and Fitbit smartwatches (with the exception of the Versa Lite ) have a barometric altimeter that counts the distance traveled on sloping surfaces.
Fitbits can also sync weight information collected by Fitbit Aria scales, while Apple Watch is compatible with health apps that sync with the Apple Health app on your iPhone.
It can be concluded, therefore, that Fitbits are ideal both for daily physical activity (like the Apple Watch) and for more demanding sports activities. The Charge 5, Sense and Versa 3 and 4 models have workouts dedicated to running, corset-training, cycling, and strength and cardio exercises.
In fact, there are many professional runners who initially completely ruled out using an Apple Watch in favor of the Fitbit Ionic or other watches such as those from Garmin or Suunto. This changed slightly with the appearance of the Series 2 with integrated GPS (like the Fitbit Charge 4, the Versa 2, 3 and 4, and the Sense).
The SE 2, Series 8 and Ultra models have faster processors than previous generations, so apps load faster. All Apple Watch models, except the Ultra, continue to have poor battery life, with a maximum of 18 hours on average (the Ultra reaches 36 hours, but loses the comparison with the Fitbit). A version with integrated 4G is also available so it can work without having to carry the iPhone when exercising.
This brings them significantly closer to the Fitbit Sense and the Versa 3 and 4, which also include a music player, shows you notifications from your smartphone, and is capable of making contactless payments. This way, you can leave your cell phone and wallet at home. Unfortunately, Fitbit removed many apps and music controls with the Versa 4 and Sense 2.
Obviously, fitness is at the center of how Fitbits work, while in the case of the Apple Watch, activity tracking is just one of its functions. In this sense, it has two apps: ‘Activity’ and ‘Training’.
With the ‘Activity’ app, you can track your health, movement, well-being and daily routine. With the ‘Training’ app, you will track whenever you go running, cycling or walking. You will find all the information in both the ‘Activity’ app and the ‘Health’ app on your iPhone, although you can use the Health app on your iPhone for more information.
Apple uses movement and calorie burning rather than steps, which is Fitbit’s primary metric, although Fitbit also measures calories and other metrics. Apple also counts steps, but they’re not a primary metric like Fitbit. Apple sticks more to movement than calories for users under 13 years old.
Fitbit’s movement reminders work the same way and are found on all models.
The Apple Workout app offers real-time statistics on exercise time, distance traveled, calories burned, and pace, and while it was frustrating at first, its redesign not only makes it easier to use, but it now works with the 80% of gym equipment.
Heart rate monitoring
All Apple Watches and Fitbits that measure heart rate use something called photoplethysmography. To do this, green LEDs are used at the bottom of the bracelet that detect changes in blood volume and capillary size under pressure.
When the heart beats, capillaries expand and contract based on changes in blood volume. LED lights reflect on the skin to detect these changes. Blood is red because it reflects red light and absorbs green light. When the heart beats, blood flow to the wrist (and green light absorption) is greater.
Fitbits monitor your heart rate continuously, 24 hours a day. They can store heart rate data at 1-second intervals during exercise tracking and at 5-second intervals at other times. On the other hand, the Apple Watch checks your heart rate only every ten minutes during the day. However, it records your heart rate continuously when the Training app is activated, so you get constant information during training sessions.
Apple has improved the Heart Rate app, which now measures your resting heart rate and your recovery heart rate, and can send you notifications if something doesn’t seem quite right.
The Apple Watch Series 8 comes with watchOS 9 preinstalled. watchOS 9 includes a number of new features and improvements, such as traffic accident detection; heart rate zones; customizable workouts; a multisport training; running route; medication registration and reminders; sleep stages; and much more.
Fitbit says the Sense and Versa 3 have also improved heart rate measurement, as the LED sensors have closer contact with the wrist.
Design and Screen
There are many different combinations of Apple Watch types, sizes, and bands, from the simple Sport to the Watch Hermès Edition.
Fitbit’s trackers are much more minimalist, with simple screens and austere straps, available in a range of various colours. You can wear Fitbits like the Inspire 3, Luxe, or Charge 5 with your regular wristwatch, but you wouldn’t wear an Apple Watch with a regular watch on the same arm, although the same goes for the Fitbits Versa and Sense.
The Apple Watch is your main watch, not another bracelet. The Fitbit Charge 5 or Inspire 3 can also easily be worn as a single watch, of course, but they can go higher on the wrist if you still want to wear a traditional watch.
Choose a band: The Fitbit Versa and Sense look a lot like the Apple Watch, but have a smaller but decent range of bands, with a selection of colors in small and large sizes. There are also more luxurious straps available at an additional cost.
If you want a watch that looks like a watch, then the Apple Watch and the Fitbit Versa or Sense are for you. In our experience, the thinnest Fitbits are the most comfortable of all the smartwatches we’ve tested.
The Fitbit Inspire 3, Luxe and Charge 5 are also comfortable and, in fact, you almost never notice you are wearing one as they are so light.
GPS
The original Apple Watch did not have built-in GPS: it paired with the iPhone and used its GPS. That posed a problem for runners not on an indoor treadmill. Yes, you can take your phone with you when you run, but the Watch is sold as a dedicated exercise device, and without GPS it’s not one for runners.
That problem was solved with the Series 2, so the current Series SE, 8 and Ultra have integrated GPS.
With the ViewRanger hiking app you can choose from nearby routes, receive notifications about vantage points along the way, make sure you stay on trail, and record your activity tracking, all with the watch’s GPS.
The high-end Apple Watch Ultra incorporates dual-frequency GPS for greater precision.
Running GPS consumes battery power, and that’s something the Watch doesn’t have in abundance. Serious runners would probably prefer a running-specific watch from the likes of Garmin, but the Apple Watch is now a real contender.
The Fitbit Versa, Sense and Charge 5, which are not smartwatches, also have built-in GPS.
The Fitbit Versa Lite, Versa 2, Luxe, and Inspire 2 and 3 need to connect to your smartphone to use GPS, although they will work with iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone compared to the Apple Watch’s iOS-only compatibility. The Ionic has a built-in GPS and will activate automatically when it recognizes that you have started running.
To get similar features with other Fitbits you can use the MobileRun app, which gives you the ability to track runs, walks, and hikes using GPS. The MobileRun feature is available to all GPS device users using the Fitbit apps for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone.
The Apple Watch can also link to other iOS apps, such as MotionX GPS and RunKeeper, which use the iPhone’s GPS. Fitbit’s Multi-Sport Mode also lets you track your cycling (distance, location, average speed, heart rate, and calories burned).
The Maps app on the Apple Watch, however, lends itself to long runs, especially in new places. Both the Watch and Fitbit smartwatches have Weather apps so you can know if you should put on a coat before leaving the house.
The Apple Watch Series 6 introduced a built-in compass to the range, with additional location data such as heading, inclination, latitude, longitude and current elevation. Apple’s compass has been improved in the latest watchOS 9.
Newer Apple Watch models also offer International SOS, which works by holding down the side button to call emergency services.
Battery Life
The Apple Watch has an infinite number of possible uses: you can make calls, view photos, send and receive messages, control your music, check the weather or time, monitor your physical activity and make payments. All of this causes your battery to drain very quickly.
Apple claims you can use its device for up to 18 hours of active and passive use with the SE and Series 8: that’s 90 time checks, 90 notifications, 45 minutes of uninterrupted app use, and a 30-minute workout with video playback. Bluetooth music from the watch.
That means that you will inevitably have to charge it at least once a day. It is true that if you only use it to tell the time, its battery can last about three days. With the launch of the Apple Watch Ultra, we reach 36 hours of battery life. According to Apple, that’s up to 60 hours on the lowest settings.
As we’ve already mentioned, the battery life of the Apple Watch has improved a lot and with light use (activity tracking, time and notifications like on a Fitbit), it can last almost two full days and, most importantly, a couple of nights for sleep tracking.
However, Apple acknowledges the shorter battery life by not including sleep tracking as a built-in app.
The Apple Watch is smart when it comes to saving its remaining battery. The watch face always turns off every 15 or 20 seconds. When you lower your arm, the screen goes black (or dims if you have a model with an always-on display). When you raise your wrist, the screen turns back on.
You can also turn on Low Power Mode in the Workout app on your phone to completely disable heart rate tracking while you run, although this isn’t very useful. Serious runners will want this type of information before, during and after the race, and they won’t want to carry their iPhone and Watch with them.
As for the Fitbit, you can use it for more days between charges: an average of five days. The Charge 5 can run for up to a week; the Inspire 3, 10 days.
If you are a regular user of tracking monitors, you will have felt the sudden fear when you are warned that the battery is running low. You have to count each step. If you wear your watch too much, it may run out during a workout or just moving around during the day.
WaterProof
The Apple Watch SE and Series 8 are water resistant, “up to 50 meters,” although they really shouldn’t be used in deep water.
Apple explains: “It can be used for shallow water activities, such as swimming in a pool or in the sea. However, it should not be used for diving, water skiing, high-speed water activities or deep dives.”
Additionally, stainless steel and leather straps are not waterproof.
Divers will prefer the rugged Apple Watch Ultra, which can reach depths of 100 meters (according to ISO 22810), although Apple should not be used for diving below 40 meters.
The Depth app makes it suitable for snorkeling or occasional underwater activities. With it, you can see the time, current depth, water temperature, duration underwater and the maximum depth you have reached.
Fitbits are swimmer-proof and safe in water up to 50 m. Fitbit also recommends removing bands before showering because, as with any wearable device, it’s better for your skin if the band stays dry and clean.
Apple Watch and Fitbit smartwatches offer swim tracking features. Both the Watch and Fitbit Sense incorporate a gyroscope for more accurate swimming measurements.
Rewards
When they hit personal bests or achieve milestones, Apple Watch users receive a special badge for each achievement, which is stored in the Fitness app on their iPhone.
Fitbit used to hand out a bunch of fun achievement badges, tying them to comparative distances, so you’d get a Sahara badge when you’d walked the equivalent distance (not all in one day!).
Unfortunately, Fitbit removed these badges and challenges in early 2023, claiming that they were barely used.
A real motivational plus of Fitbit (and many other activity trackers) is the possibility of competing against friends. It’s a fun way to push yourself a little further: walk down that escalator, leave the elevator, and take the stairs.
Apple Watch users can share their activity circles with their friends to motivate each other, but this isn’t as easy as with Fitbit, and you’re less likely to have many Watch-wearing acquaintances unless you spend a lot of time in an Apple Store.
With Apple, you can invite your friends to participate in a seven-day competition in which you will both earn points by filling your activity rings.
Apple offers achievement badges for the first time you do new exercises, workout records, 7-workout weeks, and movement goals and streaks. There are also monthly challenges.
Compatibility
The compatibility battle is hands down won by Fitbit, as its products can be used with Android, iOS and even Windows Phone smartphones. It is not necessary to have a specific mobile phone to be able to link it and it can also be connected to a computer.
On the other hand, it goes without saying that the Apple Watch from the apple company can only be used with an iPhone. There are those who will prefer it if they have this model as their main smartphone.
As for compatible applications, it is true that Fitbit bracelets do not integrate apps themselves, but it is possible to link them with applications such as MapMyRun, MyFitnessPal, Runkeeper, Endomondo or Strava.
Apple Watches, on the other hand, can be used alongside apps such as Nike+Run Club, Runtastic Pro, Pocket Yoga, Map My Run, Endomondo and Cyclemeter GPS. It is expected that in the future the Apple Watch will be compatible with many more applications.