I’ve always had a soft spot for Fitbit — after all, I started health tracking because of a Fitbit. But, as we enter the age of better-looking smartwatches and more advanced wearables, how do Fitbits fare?

In this article, I work out … and test Fitbit’s latest wearable, the Charge 3.

Warming up

Before anything else, it has to be said: The Charge 3 is a health tracker and not a smartwatch. This means that its main function is tracking your health stats. But, because it’s 2018, it, of course, does more than that. Paired to your phone via the Fitbit App, it also gives your smartphone notifications for calls, messages, and some apps — but that’s about it.

On Android devices, you get the luxury of quick replies from the watch but nothing fancy like voice typing or replies other than what you’ve pre-set on the app. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; this thing is for fitness purposes and is not to be used as another shiny thing to distract you from the ultimate goal which is exercising.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The best wearable is one you enjoy wearing so much that you keep it on your wrist, which means it can actually do its job and track the fudge out of those calories you’ve burned and steps you’ve taken. To do that, it has to look good enough, or in some cases, discreet enough so that it stays on you.

The Charge 3 looks like your typical fitness wearable and it’s pretty thick to be unnoticeable on your wrist but different strap options help with that. The special edition that I tested came with a black strap that’s great for casual looks and a fresh white band that looks sporty but oh so good.

Of course, there are many other strap options available; you can literally mix and match to suit your mood. And speaking of trackers that stay on your wrist, you’ll rarely have to take it off for charging, as the battery lasted me almost a week with heavy use. Now, on to the actual exercising!

Let’s go!

The Charge 3 boasts a wider screen than its predecessor’s and no physical buttons. It’s responsive enough and the wider surface area gives a better feel when swiping through. The default screen shows you the time, your steps, and your heart rate. Though you can pick different themes, most of them are pretty basic and give you the same info. You navigate through the menu with swipes on the screen and an inductive button on the screen’s left side. Swipe down for notifications, swipe up for stats, and swipe right to get to exercising!

This wearable will automatically record any activity you do. Ideally, you keep it on all the time so you get a complete picture of your fitness progress with all the information at hand. You can also start your exercises depending on a number of pre-set activities like running, treadmill, weights, workout, or even yoga.

Picking a particular exercise session means the wearable will guide you through your chosen exercise with updated stats like time, calories burned, and your heart rate. For science, I worked out. If you’re a frequent traveler, feel free to save this routine for your next trip. 👍🏽

1. HIIT exercise

I did a 10-minute HIIT routine with jumping jacks and high knees. For this type of exercise, it’s especially great to have timer notifications on your wrist instead of having to stop and use a timer on your phone — a gentle vibration just lets me know when it’s time to move on to the next set. This quick and easy routine is a great way to get your heart pumping.

2. Basic exercises with exercise bands

When I travel, I work out with fitness bands: They’re so portable and weigh next to nothing so you can bring them anywhere. It’s a great way to stay fit while on the go. On the Charge 3, I tapped “Workout” under “Exercises” and just allowed it to alert me every time I burned 100 calories. (It’s a great motivator. 😂)

3. Beginner Yoga

Trust me, this exercise is not only good for the body; it’s also great for your mind. Yoga is included on the list of pre-set exercises you can track. This time around, I set my goal on the Fitbit at the 20-minute mark. Now let me warn you: I’m no pro at this but I sometimes do Yoga workouts as a way to meditate and stretch. I’ve found these sessions to be therapeutic.

Because it’s a basic wearable, you don’t see actual workout tutorials on the band as you go (something the Fitbit Ionic and Fitbit Versa offered). And, though useful, that’s a feature that I’ve only ever used once because if you want to follow along to exercises, you will, most definitely, just end up watching on your phone.

Findings were: Fitbit, as always, does a great job of tracking activities. It even lets you decide how to track your exercise — either via calories burned or time elapsed; it also gives these updates in real-time. There are exercise summaries after each activity that help give you a picture of how many calories were burned and real-time heart rate checking throughout to make sure you’re not literally dying during exercise. This activity told me that I wasn’t as fit as I thought I was — multiple exercise takes to shoot this video killed me. 😅

Cool down

No doubt about it: The Fitbit Charge 3 is a great fitness tracker and awesome workout motivator. For those who want a basic wearable that you can trust, this is a great option.

I also love how easy the Fitbit interface is. Even beginners will be able to figure this out. Trust me, I didn’t know crap when I tested my very first Fitbit. Another great function, which not a lot of wearables have, is the built-in female health tracking: a period tracker that’s finally integrated into all your health data.

All in all, the Fitbit Charge 3 is a great way to make sure you’re on track to meet your fitness goals. Just remember that wearables can only do so much. It will give you all the data you need but without you getting off your butt to do the heavy lifting, your nice fitness tracker simply becomes a high-tech bracelet.