Fitbit Charge 6 : 0 out of 5 For GPS Accuracy
Is the Fitbit Charge 6 accurate when it comes to GPS tracking? unfortunately the answer is no, when using the full GPS mode. In my experience, the GPS accuracy has not improved since the Charge 5, which is a real shame because the device offers some great features.
From a testing perspective, I normally do three different test’s that would challenge the device in terms of accuracy. However, the Charge 6 did very poorly in the easy level GPS test conducted, therefore I didn’t see the point in conducting the harder level test’s. Anyway here is a full summary of the GPS accuracy test for the Charge 6.
| Test Level | Rating |
| Easy | 0/5 |
| Hard | No result |
| Very hard | No result |
If you are someone that’s looking to buy the Charge 6 and you’re someone that prioritises GPS tracking accuracy, unfortunately the device may not be for you. You can connect to your phone for improved GPS accuracy, which is a option you can use.
Overall the Charge 6 deserves its final rating of 0 out of 5 for GPS accuracy. The device takes a long time to connect to a satellite, and sometimes GPS activity will end if a GPS connection has been lost for a period of time. I will show you how I test and rate a device for GPS accuracy so that you can understand how I arrived to these final conclusions.
What GPS Satellites The Charge 6 Can Connect to.
They say that the more satellites that a device can connect to, will greatly improve GPS accuracy. In my experience there is no guarantee, but if GPS matters to you, then you have to take necessary steps to achieve accuracy. Here is a summary of what the Charge 6 can connect to.
| Satellites | Available | Assisted | Dual Band |
| GPS | Yes | – | – |
| GLONASS | – | – | – |
| Galileo | – | – | – |
| BeiDou | – | – | – |
| QZSS | – | – | – |
I have tested some great devices over the year’s, and what those smart watch’s have in common is having the ability to connect to other satellites to support GPS accuracy. Based on that, I do believe is one of the reason’s why the Charge 6 preformed poorly in the tests. The only other form of support, is that the Charge 6 can use your phone’s GPS as support, but the device cannot support itself.
How Do I Test and Rate a Device
How I test and rate a device is a little unorthodox but it can provide results and more importantly context. What I do is, I complete the GPS activity, then I review the tracking results. Any errors found I would then measure out the distance, and categorise it using the image below.
Once the results are all tallied up, I am then able to rate the device. The image below is how I use the information gathered during testing into a rating.
Easy Level Test Results
The easy level test is where I have chosen my planned path where there are very little obstructions or problems when tracking. The blue line is the Fitbit Charge 6 tracking and the red dotted line is the planned path that I have taken. There is a clear separation between both lines, and the distance in error is extremely big.
In the end, I was very lucky that the GPS activity was successfully tracked. The Charge 6 only started very late and the device does warn you that it will end the activity if a connection cannot be made over a period of time. The result is really the best one out of five, and the results are completely way off.
Where Does The Charge 6 Rank in The Market.
With a 0 out of 5 rating, the Fitbit Charge 6 is on the bottom of my list. Please note that the table you see are devices that I personally own and tested. Devices that are ranked one to eight are some of the top devices that I have tested.
If GPS tracking matters to you, a great alternative that within the same price range as the Charge 6 is the Huawei Watch Fit 2 and the Xiaomi S1 Active.
Conclusion
Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have learnt a lot about the Fitbit Charge 6 GPS accuracy capabilities. Unfortunately it wasn’t the greatest result, but at least you know when you make a decision.
The Charge 6 really struggled through the easy level test, and I could feel the watch vibrate to let me know that the connection is getting weak. Based on the results in the easy level test, you can understand why I decided not to continue doing the other two test’s I do for GPS accuracy.
I will be doing a future article when using GPS mode called dynamic. This mode works really well and in my experience, this GPS tracking mode is way better. Anyway, I have also created a video on this article as well. You can check that out too. Thank you for reading.
