How to Set Up and Get the Most from a Fitbit Charge

Fitbit Charge trackers are among the most popular fitness devices sold in the United States, and for good reason — they are straightforward to use, last about a week on a charge, and give you genuinely useful information about your daily activity and sleep.

Before wearing your new Fitbit Charge, charge it fully using the magnetic charging cable included in the box. Attach the cable to the back of the tracker and connect the other end to a USB port or phone charger. A full charge takes about two hours, and a small icon on the screen shows when it is complete.

Download the Fitbit app on your iPhone (from the App Store) or Android phone (from Google Play Store) and create a free Fitbit account. The app is where all your health data lives — the tracker collects it and syncs automatically when it is within Bluetooth range of your phone.

During account setup, you will enter your birthday, height, and weight. Fitbit uses this information to estimate calorie burn based on your activity level. Getting these right makes your calorie data more accurate.

Your main daily dashboard in the app shows steps toward your daily goal (the default is 10,000 steps, but you can change this), Active Zone Minutes (time spent with your heart rate elevated enough to count as exercise), your resting heart rate, and a sleep score from the night before.

On the tracker itself, swipe left or right to move through different stats. Tap the screen to interact with each one. The tracker vibrates to remind you to move if you have been inactive for an hour — these hourly reminders can be turned off in the app if you find them disruptive.

For sleep tracking, wear the tracker to bed. The Fitbit measures movement and heart rate throughout the night to identify light sleep, deep sleep, and REM stages. The sleep score in the morning summarizes how restorative your night was. Fitbit Premium (about $10/month or $80/year) provides more detailed sleep analysis and a library of guided workouts and mindfulness sessions — but the free version gives you enough information for most people's needs.