Fitbit tips, tricks and hidden features

So you've bagged yourself a Fitbit, whether that's a shiny new Versa 3 smartwatch or you're sticking to the band life with the Charge 5. The good news is that what makes Fitbit trackers and watches in so good at what they do is that they are some of the easiest devices to get to grips with.

As features evolve and new sensors are added into the mix so do the possibilities of how they operate when it comes to keeping tabs on your health and fitness and being useful outside of that workout time.

We've spent big testing time with all of the latest Fitbits, getting to know what they're made of and finding out about some features and modes you might not spot when you first pull it out of the box.

Here's some useful things we've found along the way that we think will help you use your Fitbit to the fullest. Whichever new Fitbit you have, we've got some tips for you.

Check out our Fitbit reviews:

Fitbit Inspire 2 tips and features

The Inspire 2 is the most cheapest fitness tracker you can pick up for Fitbit offering staple tracking features and the best battery life you can get on a Fitbit right now. Here's some useful things we think are worth knowing about the Inspire 2.

How to change Inspire 2 band

Like all of Fitbit's devices, you do have the ability to switch things up in the band department with the Inspire 2. Thankfully, it's also very easy to do.

Look for the metal quick-release lever on the back of the band and press it inwardly to release. We've picked out a few Inspire 2 bands you can swap in if you want to style things out.

How to restart Inspire 2

If you're having a buggy experience like syncing data for example, giving things a restart might remedy the issue. Crucially, doing this shouldn't delete data you've tracked.

If you want to reset the Inspire 2, go to the settings menu and tap Reboot Device.

If for some reason you can't use the screen, do the following:

1. Plug Inspire 2 into charging cable
2. Next, press and hold the buttons on the tracker for 5 seconds
3. Let go of the buttons.
4. You should see a smiley face icon after which the tracker will send a small vibration to indicate that it's successfully restarted.

Change the watch face

The Inspire 2 might not have the same level of smartwatch features as the likes of the Charge 5 or the Versa 3, but it does offer a few including the ability to tinker with the watch faces. You have a few options to pick from and it's nice and easy to go with a new watch face. Here's how to do it:

1. Go to the Fitbit phone app and then go to the Today screen

2. Tap your profile picture and then select your device

3. Go to Gallery and then select Clocks

4. Once you've found a face you like, tap to install. It will then sync to your Inspire 2.

Use Tile to find your Fitbit

Fitbit recently introduced that the Inspire 2 was packed with tech that supported the location tracking smarts provided by Tile to help you relocate your tracker if it's gone walkies. if you want to use it, there's a little bit to do to get things set up, but here's how to do it.

1. Make sure the Tile app is installed on your Inspire 2. To do this, go to the Fitbit phone app, go to the Today tab and tap profile picture and then your paired device.

2. Go to Apps, search for the Tile app and tap to install

3. Your next step is to download the Tile phone app (available on Android and iPhone) and create a Tile account, which is free to do.

4. Once that's done, do the following in the Tile app:

5. Tap the + icon to add a new Tile

6. Look to activate a tile enabled device and search for Fitbit to connect the two services together.

When you've misplaced your Inspire 2, go to the Tile app, look for Inspire 2 and tap to start looking for it. The tracker will vibrate to help you locate it.

Check your Cardio Fitness

While it might not look like the kind of Fitbit that seriously track your exercise, you do have features like connected GPS, to use your phone's GPS to track outdoor runs and rides. You can also measure heart rate during exercise, which can feed into your Cardio Fitness. This is an insight into your VO2 Max and an assessment of you current state of fitness. To view your Cardio Fitness:

1. Go to the Fitbit app and head to the Today tab

2. Tap on the tile on the dashboard displaying heart rate stats

3. Next, swipe left from the screen where heart rate data is displayed on a graph. The following screen will display your more recent Cardio Fitness reading.

Fitbit Luxe tips and features

The Luxe is a new tracker that sits between the Inspire 2 and the Charge 5, offering a more stylish look and features like fitness tracking, heart rate monitoring, skin temperature and stress tracking. Here's how you can make the most of your Luxe time.

Smash your Active Zone Minutes

This is a relatively new feature for Fitbit and is available on other devices, but it's nice to see that the Luxe will also reward you when you spend time in heart rate zones where you're really toughing it out or in that fat burn zone.

If you want to secure Active Zone Minutes, you need to make sure you stay in the fat burn, cardio or peak heart rate zones. if you stay in the fat burn zone for 1 minute, you get 1 point. Stay in cardio or peak heart rate zones for the same amount of time and you'll get 2 Active Zone minutes.

When you're using the Exercise mode, you'll get a single vibration when you hit fat burn, two vibrations for cardio and three for hitting that peak.

Create custom heart rate zones

This is an important feature, particularly for making the best use of features like the one mentioned above. Heart rate zones are all about better indicating the intensity of your workout time and are made more personalised based on your maximum heart rate and resting heart rate data.

If you're not sure the default ones are quite right, you can make your own custom zones instead. To do this:

1. Go to the Fitbit companion phone app and go to the Today tab

2. Tap your profile picture and then go to Heart Rate Zones

3. From here you can start to set up your custom heart rate zones.

Turn off the notification noise during exercise

On the Luxe, you do have the option of a series of do not disturb modes including one that's specifically designed for when you tracking exercise. It's called Exercise Focus and to turn it on:

1. Go to your Luxe and head to Settings.

2. Search for for Exercise Focus to disable notifications when you're working out.

Quickly reply to messages

You can view messages on the Luxe and if you've got it paired to an Android phone as well, you can send customised responses when you don't have time to chat. To respond to a message with a quick reply:

1. When a message appears on your Luxe swipe to select the icon with three lines to send a quick reply.

2. If you want to customise responses, go to the Fitbit companion app, select your paired device go to Notifications and then choose Quick Replies. Tap Default Replies to choose the one you'd like to edit.

3. If you want to alternatively send an emoji as a response, hit the emoji icon and get picking.

Turn off heart rate monitoring

If you actually don't care about keeping tabs on your heart day-to-day, during sleep or exercise, there is a way you can disable the monitoring. To turn off heart rate monitoring on the Luxe:]

1. Simply go to Settings on the Luxe and look for Heart Rate.

2. From there you will see the option to disable heart rate monitoring, which may end up having a positive impact on battery performance.

Fitbit Charge 5 tips and features

This is Fitbit's flagship tracker and with the Charge 5, it's added features from its smartwatches like a color AMOLED screen and health sensors like ECG to offer richer and more serious health insights.

Turn on do not disturb

While the Charge 5 is a comfortable tracker to wear all day and night it doesn't mean it needs buzzing 24/7. Like most Fitbits, you do have the option here to turn on a do not disturb mode, which means no notifications, progress celebrations or any reminders you've set up.

If you want to turn on the do not disturb mode on the Charge 5:

1. Swipe down from the main clock screen on the Charge 5 to reveal quick settings

2. Look for the icon with the circle and a line running through the middle of it

3. Tap to illuminate and indicate that you're now in do not disturb mode.

Switch on the water lock before you get in the shower

One thing we've noticed wearing the Charge 5 in the shower is that when the water hits the screen it can send it into.a frenzy. Thankfully, Fitbit does offer a feature that locks the device when you hit the water. It will automatically lock the device when you're swimming but for all other times:

1. Swipe down from the main clock face screen

2. Tap to select Water Lock and then tap the screen twice

3. When you want to turn off the water lock, double-tap on the centre screen. It's as simple as that.

Go for an always-on display (or not)

It might be surprising to find that the Charge 5 does off the option to keep the screen on 24/7 or only come alive when you really want it to. Whether you're part of the always-on brigade or not, here's how you can choose:

1. Swipe down from the main clock face screen

2. Go to Settings and then tap Display Settings. Tap Always-on display.

3. You can also select an Off Hours mode where the screen will turn off at certain hours during the day and night.

Keep your Charge 5 locked

You can add a layer of security to the Charge 5 by locking the screen behind a simple pin code. It's a feature that's turned on when you set up Fitbit Pay support. If you're not setting up Pay and still want to add that lock:

Head to the Fitbit companion app

1. Go to the Today tab and tap your profile picture or icon. Select Charge 5 and you should see the option for a Device Lock.

2. From here you can set up the device lock and it's also the place you can reset the lock as well if you need to change if for any reason.

Fitbit Versa 3 and Sense tips and features

The Versa 3 and the Sense are the two newest smartwatches in Fitbit's family and along with bigger displays offers richer smartwatch features like apps and access smart assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. The software both use offers a near identical experience, so here's some useful things to know about the two.

How to make a call on Fitbit Sense/Versa

Both the Versa 3 and the Sense have speakers and microphones opening up the ability to handle calls. If you're a Versa 2 owner, sadly your smartwatch doesn't include a mic so doesn't offer that support. Making calls on the compatible watches require being paired to your phone over Bluetooth and you'll need the phone app running the background too. You need to make sure your Fitbit is running on Fitbit OS 5.1 or later to enable calls.

There's also a little setup process you need to negotiate as well. This is what you need to do:

1. Go to the Fitbit app, head to the Today tab then select your profile picture and tap the image of your paired watch.

2. Select On-Wrist Calls and then tap Start Setup. This will take you through the process of making sure you have all that's needed to get chatting into your watch.

When calls start to come through to the watch screen, you'll be able to adjust call volume, mute yourself and hit the red phone icon to end that call.

Control music during workouts

Fitbit offers the ability to pile on music to its smartwatches and control music that's playing back on your paired smartphone. Thankfully, if you want to get to your music features during exercise time, Fitbit does let you do that. If you want to access music controls while tracking in the exercise mode, simply double tap the button built into the case to open your Shortcuts where you'll find music controls.

Check your SpO2 data

Both of Fitbit's smartwatches offer the ability to measure blood oxygen levels, but it's only done during sleep. While these don't offer serious medical insights, it could offer an insight into your general wellbeing.

You can view SpO2 data via a a dedicated SpO2 clock face, which is available in some but not all countries where you can pick up the Versa or Sense. To install the SpO2 watch face:

1. Go to the Fitbit companion app, go to the Today tab, tap your profile picture or icon and select your paired device.

2. Go to Apps and use the search function to look for SpO2 Tracker. Tap Install.

Once you've synced the watch after a night's sleep, you'll be able to view those most recent SpO2 stats on that dedicated watch face. Ultimately though, Fitbit is monitoring this data largely in the background and reporting trends in the companion app for you to look over in more detail.

Useful Amazon Alexa commands for Versa 3 and Sense

Fitbit now gives you the option to pick between using two smart assistants. Amazon Alexa arrived first and now Google Assistant has joined the party too. If you opt to go with Amazon's assistant, there's some useful commands to get to know. Once you're all set up, you can ask the following:

• Alexa, check the weather
• Alexa, set a reminder
• Alexa, start an exercise

Perform a factory reset

This might be an action you need to take if you're smartwatch is playing up or you're passing it onto someone else as you're eyeing up another Fitbit or smartwatch and want to clear your data and settings from it.

To perform a factory reset on the Versa 3 or Sense:

1. Go to the Settings menu on your watch and then go to About Versa/Sense.

2. Tap factory reset and that will kick off the resetting process.