In its tidy and neat package, the Fitbit Sense is packed with various sensors. This smartwatch has 1.58-inch OLED display that shows not only time, but also other important details. The case is 12.35mm thick and 40.5mm wide. The operating system is Fitbit OS 5.1 and the weight of the wearable is 45.9 grams. Sensors include skin temperature, altimeter, GPS, GLONASS, light, blood oxygen, EDA, ECG, HR sensor and gyro. Connectivity options are microphone, speaker, NFC, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5. If you have an iPhone or Android smartphone, the smartwatch should connect via Bluetooth with Fitbit app. You also need Wi-Fi connection to download apps and updates.
iFixit awards the Fitbit Sense 5 out of 10 for its repairability value. Unfortunately, there seems to be no out-of-warranty services for battery replacement or broken screen. Google has recently bought Fitbit and this makes the brand more sustainable. We could expect that future Fitbit wearables will continue to improve due to much larger financial backing.
Software
Fitbit Sense has Fitbit OS 5 operating system that includes calendar, health monitoring, alarms and timers. Unfortunately, there are only a few third-party apps available for Fitbit OS 5. This means, there’s limited customization option for Fitbit Sense. Even so, the software is quite slick and it works quickly. If you want to get various notifications, you can swipe down the display. If you want to access apps, music and other actions, you can press the side button twice. You can quickly go back to the watch face by pressing the side button once.
Battery
It will charge to 50 percent in 26 minutes and 100 percent in 77 minutes through the small USB-A port. With GPS enabled and after running for 30 minutes, it will consume around 7 percent of battery life. This means, the charge should last the entire marathon. Just like in other smartwatches, the battery should last around 500 charges and maintain around 80 percent of the original capacity.
Health and fitness tracking
The Fitbit Sense comes with built-in ECG feature and it works like any other smartwatch. To do this, hold the metal band of the display with your fingers for 30 seconds. There are other fitness and health tracking features. You could set up activity goals, get alerts for unusually high or low heart rates, count steps and track physically active time. For health tracking, you can get advanced monitoring for sleep quality, blood oxygen saturation, breathing rate, skin temperature and heart rate variability.
Workouts
If you do exercises regularly, you could wear Fitbit Sense while performing them. The functional display of the Sense has three stats. If you tap the middle one, you can get information about active minutes, laps, calories steps, heart rate during exercise, pace and distance. It supports 20 types of physical exercises, including tennis, golf, circuit training, yoga, cycling, swimming, running and walking. If you do a physical activity, even as light as walking, the smartwatch will automatically track it if you have been doing it for 15 minutes.
