This is one of the closest fitness tracker comparisons we’ve seen yet: Polar’s new midrange A300 fitness tracker watch, and industry giant Fitbit’s mid-level Charge model. Both are excellent trackers with near-identical prices (Approximately $125 for the Charge and $120 for the A300 – prices are subject to change).
The trackers are truly neck-and-neck here, but we think that the Fitbit Charge has a slight edge over the Polar A300 thanks to its much better form and build as well as a few small features that separate the two.
Form and Appearance
The recent trend among fitness trackers like the A300 and Charge has been a matte, minimalist design, which both these devices feature. The A300 is offered in more colors and also sports interchangeable wristbands, giving it a wider range of choices for the fashion-conscious than the Fitbit Charge.
While the A300 does offer more in style, the Charge features a much better size and material than its competitor. Both are solidly built, but Fitbit’s model is much more comfortable and less imposing on the wrist than Polar’s, and this makes the Charge widely preferred given both watches’ somewhat limited capability.
Software
Polar created the FLOW app and web service for tracking fitness and workouts, and this system is compatible with the A300. Fitbit’s own app is more mobile oriented and social than Polar’s, and with the Charge’s compatibility, we think that the Charge’s software is much more suited to a fitness tracker than the A300’s.
Fitness Features
Probably the biggest advantage the Polar A300 has over the Fitbit Charge is that it can track your heart rate during a workout. Still, this isn’t huge—the A300 requires Polar’s H7 chest strap heart rate transmitter, which when combined with the cost of the A300 itself is actually more expensive than Fitbit’s Charge HR, the next model up from the normal Charge and featuring a built in heart rate tracker on the wrist.
Apart from that, the two trackers’ fitness features are nearly identical. Both track steps, movement, calories, type of exercise, and sleep, with the only significant difference besides heart rate tracking being the Charge’s monitoring of floors climbed.
Other Features
While the A300 boasts a larger screen than the Fitbit, this contributes to its bulky size (which we’ve complained about earlier), isn’t as defined as the Charge’s smaller display, and doesn’t bring much advantage given the limited features of both. The Fitbit Charge provides a caller ID option for Bluetooth-compatible smartphones, while the A300 offers full waterproofing and swimming operation as well as inactivity alarms if you haven’t moved for too long.
Apart from this, the two trackers are once again very similar, both featuring silent alarms, sleep monitoring, and stopwatches.
Conclusion
The Polar A300 and Fitbit Charge are very similar, but the slight feature advantage as well as much better size and form put the Fitbit ahead of the Polar for us. Unless you’re planning on swimming with your tracker or need heart rate monitoring and already have a Polar H7 transmitter, we highly recommend the Fitbit Charge.
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Polar A300 vs Fitbit Charge
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