Fitbit Charge 2 - Smart Fitness Band Manual

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Welcome to Fitbit Charge 2, the smart fitness band that helps you reach your goals in style. Take a moment to review our complete safety information at http://www.fitbit.com/safety.

What you'll find in the box

Your Fitbit Charge 2 box includes:

The top and bottom detachable wristbands can be swapped for other colors and materials sold separately.

Set up the Device

Your fully charged Charge 2 has a battery life of up to five days. Battery life and charge cycles vary with use and other factors; actual results will vary.

Charge your unit

To charge your tracker:

1. Plug the charging cable into the USB port on your computer or a UL-certified USB wall charger.
2. Clip the other end of the charging cable to the port on the back of the tracker. The pins on the charging cable must lock securely with the port.
   
3. Make sure the button on your tracker is aligned with the button opening on the charging cable. You'll know the connection is secure when the tracker vibrates and you see a battery icon on your tracker's display. The battery icon disappears after three seconds.
   

Charging fully takes about one to two hours. While the tracker charges, you can tap it to check the battery level. A fully charged tracker shows a solid battery icon.

Set up with your phone

Set up Inspire HR with the Fitbit app for iPhones and iPads or Android phones. The Fitbit app is compatible with most popular phones. See fitbit.com/devices to check if your phone is compatible.

To get started:

1. Download the Fitbit app:
   • Apple App Store for iPhones
   • Google Play Store for Android phones

2. Install the app, and open it.
   • If you already have a Fitbit account, log in to your account tap the Today tab your profile picture Set Up a Device.
   • If you don't have a Fitbit account, tap Join Fitbit to be guided through a series of questions to create a Fitbit account.
3. Continue to follow the on-screen instructions to connect Inspire HR to your account.

When you're done with setup, read through the guide to learn more about your new tracker and then explore the Fitbit app.

See your data in the Fitbit app

Open the Fitbit app on your phone to view your activity and sleep data; log food and water; participate in challenges; and more.

Get to know the Unit

This section tells you how best to wear, navigate, and charge your tracker. If you bought an accessory wristband, you'll also find instructions for taking off the original band and putting on a different one.

Wrist placement

Review these tips to make sure you're wearing your tracker for optimal results.

All-day wear and exercise

For all-day wear when you're not exercising, your Charge 2 should usually rest a finger's width below your wrist bone and lay flat, as you would normally wear a watch.

For optimized heart rate tracking keep these tips in mind:

1. Experiment with wearing the tracker higher on your wrist during exercise. Because blood flow in your arm increases the farther up you go, moving the tracker up a couple inches can improve the heart rate signal. Also, many exercises such as bike riding or weight lifting cause you to bend your wrist frequently, which is more likely to interfere with the heart rate signal if the tracker is lower on your wrist.
   
2. Do not wear your tracker too tight; a tight band restricts blood flow, potentially affecting the heart rate signal. That being said, the tracker should also be slightly tighter (snug but not constricting) during exercise than during all-day wear.
3. With high-intensity interval training or other activities where your wrist is moving vigorously and non-rhythmically, the movement may limit the sensor's ability to provide a heart rate reading. Similarly, with exercises such as weight lifting or rowing, your wrist muscles may flex in such a way that the band tightens and loosens during exercise. If your tracker does not show a heart rate reading, try relaxing your wrist and staying still briefly (about 10 seconds), after which you should see a heart rate reading.

Wrist choice and dominant hand

For greater accuracy, your tracker needs to know which wrist you wear it on (right or left) and which hand you consider dominant (right or left). Your dominant hand is the one you usually write or throw with.

During setup you're asked to choose the wrist where you're going to wear your tracker. Should you later decide to move your tracker to the other wrist, change the Wrist setting. You can also change your dominant hand at any time with the Handedness setting. Both settings are found in the Account section of the Fitbit app or in the Personal Info section of your fitbit.com dashboard settings.

Navigation

Charge 2 has an OLED tap display and one button.

Wake a dimmed screen

When you're not using Charge 2 the display is off. To wake it up:

• Press the button
• Turn your wrist towards you. This behavior, known as Quick View, can be turned off in your tracker settings.
• Double-tap your tracker.

Use the clock and menus

The default or "home" screen is a clock, which is available in several styles. On the clock screen you can:

• Tap to see your steps taken, heart rate, distance, calories burned, floors climbed, active minutes, and hourly activity.
  
• Press the button to move to through the menus.
• Press and hold the button to turn on or turn off notifications, including reminders to move.

You can customize the both the stats and menus shown on your tracker. For more information, see help.fitbit.com.

After viewing the clock screen, you can cycle through the different menus to see information or use different functions on your tracker. The following menus are available:

• Heart rate—Shows your current heart rate. Tap to see your resting heart rate.
  
• Exercise—Tap to move through your exercise choices, then press and hold the button to start the selected exercise. Press and hold the button again to end the exercise.
  
• Relax—Tap to choose a guided breathing session. Press and hold the button to start the session.
  
• Stopwatch—Press and hold the button to start the stopwatch. Press the button to stop and resume the stopwatch. Press and hold the button again to reset the stopwatch.
  
• Alarms—Tap to scroll through any alarms you've set. Press and hold the button to disable or enable any alarms. The alarm screen appears only when you have alarms set.
  
• Notifications—Press and hold the button to turn on or turn off notifications. If you turn off notifications, your tracker will not alert you when you receive a phone call, text message, or calendar alert on your phone, nor will you receive reminders to move.
  
• Battery—Shows the percentage of battery life remaining on your tracker. The battery screen appears only if you turn it on in your tracker settings.
  

Tap your tracker

For best results, tap your tracker where the screen meets the band as shown. To wake up your tracker, double-tap it; to flip through your stats or the menus, single-tap it.

Charge 2 doesn't respond to swipes. You must use the button or firmly and quickly tap the screen.

Check your battery level

If your battery is low, when you wake up your Charge 2 you'll see a low battery icon after a few seconds. If you see a critical battery icon you'll be unable to navigate to any of the tracker screens until you charge your tracker. Your tracker continues to track your activity until your battery runs out.

You can check your battery level at any time on the battery screen on your tracker or on your Fitbit dashboard. To see the battery screen you must turn on the battery menu item in the Fitbit app.

Care

It's important to clean and dry your Charge 2 regularly. For instructions and more information, see http://www.fitbit.com/productcare.

Change the wristband

The wristband has two separate bands (top and bottom) that you can swap with accessory bands sold separately.

Remove a wristband

To remove the wristband:

1. Turn over your Charge 2 and find the band latches—there's one on each end where the band meets the frame.
2. To release the latch, press down on the flat metal button on the strap.
   
3. Slide the band up to release it from the tracker.
   
4. Repeat on the other side.

If you're having trouble removing the band or if it feels stuck, gently move the band back and forth to release it.

Attach a new wristband

Before you attach a new wristband, first identify the top and bottom bands. The top band has a watch buckle at the end of it. The bottom band has notches and should be attached on the side closest to the charging port.

To attach a band, slide it down on the end of the tracker until you feel it snap into place.

Automatic tracking with the Device

Your Charge 2 continuously tracks a variety of stats whenever you have it on. The information is transferred to your dashboard every time you sync your tracker.

See all-day stats

Press the button to wake up your Charge 2 and see the time of day. Tap the screen to see each of these all-day stats:

• Steps taken
• Current heart rate
• Distance covered
• Calories burned
• Floors climbed
• Active minutes
• Hourly activity

On your Fitbit dashboard you can find other information captured by your tracker, such as:

• Your sleep history, including hours slept and sleep patterns
• The hours of your day that you were stationary vs. active (walked at least 250 steps)
• Your exercise history and progress towards a weekly exercise goal
• Your beats per minute (BPM), average resting heart rate, and time spent in heart-rate zones

Note: Charge 2 resets at midnight to begin a new day.

Check your heart rate

Charge 2 allows you to view your real-time heart rate and your resting heart rate on your tracker. To view your heart rate, press the button until you get to the Heart rate screen where you'll see your current heart rate. Tap to see your resting heart rate.

Use heart-rate zones

Heart-rate zones help you target the training intensity of your choice. Your tracker shows your current zone above your heart rate, and on your Fitbit dashboard you can see your time spent in zones during a particular day or exercise. Three zones based on American Heart Association recommendations are available by default, or you can create a custom zone if you have a specific heart rate you're targeting.

Default heart-rate zones

Default heart-rate zones are calculated using your estimated maximum heart rate. Fitbit calculates your maximum heart rate with the common formula of 220 minus your age.

The heart icon you see above your current heart rate tells you your zone. Refer to the following table for an explanation of the different heart rate zones.

Icon	Zone	Calculation	Description
	Out of Zone	Below 50% of your maximum heart rate.	Your heart rate may be elevated but not enough to be considered exercise.
	Fat Burn	Between 50% and 69% of your maximum heart rate.	Low-to-medium intensity exercise zone. This zone may be a good place to start for those new to exercise. It's called the Fat Burn zone because a higher percentage of calories are burned from fat, but the total calorie burn rate is lower.
	Cardio	Between 70% and 84% of maximum heart rate.	Medium-to-high intensity exercise zone. In this zone you're pushing yourself but not straining. For most people this is the exercise zone to target.
	Peak	Greater than 85% of your maximum heart rate.	High-intensity exercise zone. This zone is for short intense sessions that improve performance and speed.

Custom heart-rate zones

Instead of using the default heart-rate zones, you can configure a custom zone or a custom max heart rate if you have a specific target in mind. For example, elite athletes might have a target that differs from the American Heart Association's recommendations for the average person. When you're in your custom zone you'll see a solid heart on your tracker. When you're not in the zone you'll see an outline of a heart.

For more details about heart rate tracking, including links to relevant American Heart Rate Association information, see help.fitbit.com.

Track a daily activity goal

Your Charge 2 tracks your progress towards a daily activity goal of your choice. When you reach your goal, the tracker vibrates and shows a celebration.

Choose a goal

By default your goal is 10,000 steps per day. You can change the goal to distance traveled, calories burned, active minutes, or floors climbed and select the corresponding value you prefer. For example, you may want to keep steps as your goal but change the target from 10,000 to 20,000 steps.

See goal progress

A goal progress bar helps keep you motivated. The filled in portion of the bar shown below indicates that you're more than halfway to your goal.

Track hourly activity

Charge 2 helps keep you active throughout the day by keeping track of when you're stationary and reminding you to move.

If you haven't walked at least 250 steps in a given hour, at ten minutes before the hour you'll feel a vibration reminding you to walk. When you meet the 250-step goal after receiving a reminder, you'll feel a second vibration and see a congratulatory message. You'll also see a daily celebration if you meet your goal every hour.

Sleep Tracking

Wear your Charge 2 to bed to automatically track both your time spent asleep and your sleep quality. To see your sleep information, sync your tracker when you wake up and check your dashboard.

For more details about sleep tracking see help.fitbit.com.

Set sleep goals

By default, you have a customizable sleep goal of 8 hours of sleep per night. For more information about your sleep goal, including how to change it, see help.fitbit.com.

Set up bedtime reminders

Your Fitbit dashboard can recommend consistent bedtimes and wake times to help you improve the consistency of your sleep cycle. You can even choose to be reminded nightly when it's time to start winding down for bed.

For more information about setting up bedtime reminders, see help.fitbit.com.

Learn about your sleep habits

Your Charge 2 tracks several sleep metrics including how long you're asleep and time spent in each sleep stage. When used with the Fitbit dashboard, your Charge 2 can help you understand how your sleep patterns compare to others of the same sex and age range. For more information about what happens when you're asleep, see help.fitbit.com.

Exercise with the Unit

Charge 2 uses SmartTrack to automatically detect and record select exercises. For more precision or to see real-time stats and a workout summary right on your wrist, you can tell your tracker when exercise starts and stops. All workouts appear in your exercise history for deeper analysis and comparison.

Use SmartTrack

SmartTrack ensures you get credit for your most active moments of the day. When you sync your tracker after a SmartTrack-detected exercise, you can find several stats in your exercise history including duration, calories burned, impact on your day, and more.

By default, SmartTrack detects continuous movement at least 15 minutes in length. You can increase or decrease the minimum duration or disable SmartTrack for one or more exercise types. For more information about customizing and using SmartTrack, see help.fitbit.com.

Use the Exercise menu

You can choose from over a dozen exercise types to customize the Exercise menu with your favorites. Some exercises, like running, biking, and hiking have a GPS option.

For more information about customizing your Exercise menu, see help.fitbit.com.

Note: Charge 2 does not have built-in GPS. Its connected GPS feature works with the GPS sensors on your nearby phone to give you real-time pace and distance information, as well as recording a map of your route. Turning on connected GPS enables more precise tracking of your exercise stats.

GPS requirements

For more information about setting up connected GPS, see help.fitbit.com.

1. If you're going to use connected GPS, make sure Bluetooth and GPS are both enabled on your phone and that your tracker is paired to your phone.
2. Make sure the Fitbit app has permission to use GPS or location services.
3. Verify that connected GPS is turned on for the exercise in the Fitbit app.
   1. Find the Exercise shortcuts in the Fitbit app. For more information see, help.fitbit.com.
   2. Tap the exercise you want to track and make sure Connected GPS is turned on.

Track exercise

To track an exercise:

1. On your tracker, press the button until you get to the Exercise screen and then tap to find the exercise of your choice.
2. Press and hold the button to start the exercise. If you see a phone icon at the top, that exercise offers connected GPS and your device is connected to a GPS signal. If the phone icon is crossed out, a GPS connection isn't available. An animated dashed line means your device is trying to find a GPS signal.
   
3. During your workout, tap your tracker to scroll through your real-time stats or check the time of day.
4. To pause your workout, press the button. Then press the button again to resume the exercise."
5. When you're done with your workout, press and hold the button to stop recording. You'll see a flag icon and a congratulatory message.
6. Press the button to see a summary of your results. With each button press you'll cycle to a different set of stats. You can view your exercise summary one time.

Syncing your tracker stores the workout in your exercise history. There you can find additional stats and see your route if you used connected GPS.

Practice Guided Breathing with the Unit

Charge 2 provides personalized guided breathing sessions on your tracker to help you find moments of calm throughout the day. You can choose between two-minute and five-minute long sessions.

To begin a session:

1. On your tracker, press the button until you get to the Relax screen.
2. The two-minute session is the first option. Tap to choose the five-minute session.
3. Press and hold the button to start.
4. Remain still and breathe deeply during the calibration period, which lasts 30-40 seconds. You'll see the phrase "sensing your breathing" on your tracker's screen.
5. When prompted, inhale and exhale deeply.
   Sparkles will appear on your tracker's screen to indicate how closely you're following the guide. If you feel dizzy or uncomfortable, stop the guided breathing session.
   
6. After you've completed the session, press the button to return to the clock.

All notifications are automatically disabled during the session. If you've set a silent alarm, your Charge 2 will vibrate at the time specified.

For more information about guided breathing sessions, including the benefits of practicing deep breathing and safety information, see help.fitbit.com.

Set Silent Alarms

Charge 2 can gently vibrate to wake or alert you with its silent alarm feature. You can set up to eight alarms to recur every day or on particular days of the week only.

For more information about customizing and using silent alarms, see help.fitbit.com.

Turns alarms on or off

Once an alarm has been set, you can disable or re-enable it directly on your Charge 2 without opening the Fitbit app. You can only set an alarm in the Fitbit app.

1. Press the button on your tracker until you find the Alarms screen.
   
2. Tap your tracker until you find the alarm you're looking for.
3. Press and hold the button to disable or enable the alarm.

Dismiss alarms

The tracker flashes and vibrates when an alarm goes off. To dismiss the alarm, press the button on your tracker or walk 50 steps. If you don't press the button during the alarm, it will automatically repeat once.

Receive Call, Text, and Calendar Notifications

Over 200 compatible phones let you receive incoming phone call, text message, and calendar event notifications on your Charge 2 when your phone is nearby. To determine whether your device supports this feature, go to http://www.fitbit.com/devices.

Calendar requirements

Your tracker will show calendar events and any information sent from your calendar app to your phone. Note that if your calendar app does not send notifications to your phone, you won't receive notifications on your tracker.

If you have an iPhone, Charge 2 shows notifications from all calendars synced to the default Calendar app. If you have a third-party calendar that is not synced to the default Calendar app, you won't see notifications from that calendar.

If you have an Android phone, Charge 2 shows calendar notifications from the calendar app you choose during setup. You can choose from the default Calendar app on your phone or several third-party calendar apps.

Set up notifications

Before you turn on notifications in the Fitbit app, make sure that Bluetooth on your phone is turned on and that your phone is capable of sending notifications (often under Settings > Notifications).

For more information about making sure your phone permits notifications, see help.fitbit.com.

Call and text notifications are on by default. To turn on calendar notifications:

1. With your tracker nearby, on the Fitbit app dashboard, tap the Account icon ( ).
2. Tap the Charge 2 tile.
3. Tap Notifications and turn on or off any combination of text, call, or calendar notifications.
4. Follow the onscreen instructions to connect (bond) your phone with your tracker.

After notifications are enabled, "Charge 2" appears in the list of Bluetooth devices paired to your phone.

Note: If this is your first time setting up notifications on your Android phone, for detailed instructions, see help.fitbit.com.

View incoming notifications

If your tracker and phone are within 30 feet of each other, a call, text message, or calendar event causes the tracker to vibrate. Your screen will remain off until you wake it up to view the notification. To wake up your tracker and view the notification, turn your wrist towards you or press the button. The notification is only available for one minute after you receive it. If you have more than one unread notification, you'll see a plus sign (+) indicator.

For phone calls, the notification scrolls four times with the name or number of the caller while an animation plays. To dismiss the notification, press the button.

For text messages the message scrolls one time and then disappears. The sender's name scrolls once and remains static.

For calendar events, the name of the event scrolls one time and then disappears. The event time scrolls once and remains static.

If the text message, calendar event, sender or event time, is short enough to show on the screen, the information does not scroll. The character limit for notifications is 40.

Customize the Device

This section explains how to change your clock face and modify certain tracker behaviors.

Change the clock face

Charge 2 comes with several clock faces. Some examples include:

You can change your clock face using the Fitbit app or the fitbit.com dashboard. For more information, see help.fitbit.com.

Use Quick View

To preserve battery your screen turns off when not in use. It wakes up automatically when you turn your wrist towards you (known as Quick View), or you can wake it up by pressing the button or double tapping.

For more information about turning Quick View on or off, see help.fitbit.com.

Adjust the heart rate tracker

Your Charge 2 uses PurePulseÒ technology to track heart rate automatically and continuously. The Heart Rate setting has three options:

• Auto (the default)—Heart rate tracking is active when you're wearing your tracker.
• Off—Heart rate tracking is off.
• On—Heart rate tracking is on regardless of whether you're wearing your tracker.

For more information about adjusting the heart rate tracker, see help.fitbit.com.

Update the Unit

We occasionally make free feature enhancements and product improvements available through firmware updates. We recommend keeping your Charge 2 up to date.

When a firmware update is available you'll see a notification in the Fitbit app prompting you to update. When the update starts, a progress bar appears on the tracker and in the Fitbit app until the update is complete.

Keep your tracker and phone close to each other during the update process.

Note: Updating your Charge 2 takes several minutes and may be demanding on the battery. For this reason we recommend updating while your tracker is fully charged or plugged into the charging cable.

Troubleshooting

If your tracker is not working properly, review our troubleshooting guidance below.

Visit help.fitbit.com more information.

Heart-rate signal missing

Charge 2 continuously tracks your heart rate while you're exercising and throughout the day. Occasionally the heart rate tracker may have difficulty finding a good signal. When this happens you'll see dashed lines where your current heart rate usually appears

If you're not getting a heart rate signal, first make sure you're wearing your tracker correctly, either moving it higher or lower on your wrist or tightening or loosening the band. After holding your arm still and straight for a short wait, you should see your heart rate again. If the heart rate signal is still missing, check your Heart Rate setting on your Fitbit dashboard and make sure it's set to On or Auto.

Unexpected behavior

If you experience one of the following problems, it may be fixed by restarting your tracker:

• Not syncing despite successful setup
• Not responding to button presses or taps despite being charged
• Not tracking your steps or other data

Note: Restarting your tracker reboots the device but does not delete any data.

To restart your tracker:

1. Plug the charging cable into the USB port on your computer or a UL-certified USB wall charger.
2. Clip the other end of the charging cable to the port on the back of the tracker. The pins on the charging cable must lock securely with the port.
   
3. Make sure the button on your tracker is aligned with the button opening on the charging cable. You'll know the connection is secure when the tracker vibrates and you see a battery icon on your tracker's display. Your Charge 2 will begin charging.
   
4. Press and hold the button on your tracker for four seconds. When you see the Fitbit logo and the tracker vibrates, this means the tracker has restarted.

After your tracker restarts you can unplug it from the charging cable and put it back on. For additional troubleshooting or to contact Customer Support, see help.fitbit.com.

Device General Information and Specifications

Sensors

Your Charge 2 contains the following sensors:

• A MEMS 3-axis accelerometer, which tracks your motion patterns
• An altimeter, which tracks altitude changes
• An optical heart rate tracker

Materials

The wristband that comes with Charge 2 is made of a flexible, durable elastomer material similar to that used in many sports watches. It does not contain latex. Accessory wristbands are available in genuine leather.

The buckle and frame on Charge 2 are made of surgical-grade stainless steel. While all stainless steel contains traces of nickel and can cause an allergic reaction in someone with nickel sensitivity, the amount of nickel in all Fitbit products meets the European Union's stringent Nickel Directive.

Wireless technology

Charge 2 contains a Bluetooth 4.0 radio transceiver.

Haptic feedback

Charge 2 contains a vibration motor, for alarms, goals, notifications, and reminders.

Battery

Charge 2 contains a rechargeable lithium-polymer battery.

Memory

Charge 2 stores most minute-by-minute stats and exercise data for seven days. It stores SmartTrack data for three days and summary totals for 30 days. Heart rate data is stored at one-second intervals during exercise tracking and at five-second intervals at all other times.

Refer to the following table for information on how long Charge 2 stores your stats and data in between the times you sync your tracker. Stored data consists of steps, distance, calories burned, floors, active minutes, heart rate, exercise, sleep, and stationary vs. active hours.

Note that Charge 2 can store a maximum of 10 hours of exercise data. This means that if you exercise for more than 10 hours and don't sync your tracker, your exercise history will not include everything. We recommend syncing your tracker at least once a day.

Type of data	Days stored
Minute-by-minute stats	7
Sleep data	7
Sleep stages	5
SmartTrack data	7
Summary totals	30

Display

The Charge 2 has an OLED tap display.

Size

Wristband sizes are shown below. Note that accessory wristbands sold separately may vary slightly in size.

Small wristband	Fits a wrist between 5.5 and 6.7 inches in circumference
Large wristband	Fits a wrist between 6.7 and 8.1 inches in circumference
Extra large wristband	Fits a wrist between 8.1 and 9.3 inches in circumference

Environmental conditions

Operating Temperature	14° to 113°F (-10° to 45°C)
Non-operating Temperature	-4° to 140°F (-20° to 60°C)
Water Resistant	Splash proof. Do not shower with the device or submerge it in water.
Maximum Operating Altitude	30,000 feet (10,000 m)

Learn More

To learn more about your tracker and dashboard, visit help.fitbit.com.

Documents / Resources

References

• Fitbit Important Safety and Product Information
• Fitbit Supported Devices
• App Store - Apple
• Google Play
• http://help.fitbit.com
• Fitbit Wear & Care
• Fitbit Supported Devices
• Fitbit Official Site for Activity Trackers & More

Download manual

Here you can download full pdf version of manual, it may contain additional safety instructions, warranty information, FCC rules, etc.

Download Fitbit Charge 2 - Smart Fitness Band Manual