The Apple Watch is largely considered to be the best smartwatch out there, and for good reason. It works seamlessly with the iPhone, is quite a stylish device, is water-resistant (for those who want to swim with it), and offers excellent fitness tracking capabilities. Of course, it’s not the only wearable around — there are some other extremely capable devices out there, and some of them might be more suitable to your needs. Like, for example, the Fitbit Blaze, which is far cheaper than the Apple Watch, and also offers some great fitness tracking features.
But which smartwatch is better? And which one should you spend your hard-earned money on? We put the two devices head to head to find out.
Specs
Fitbit Blaze
|
Apple Watch Series 2
|
|
| GPS Enabled | No | Yes |
| Processor | Unknown | S2 |
| Operating System | Fitbit OS | watchOS3 |
| Body (Dimensions) | 1.58 x 1.58 x 0.31 inch | 1.52 x 1.31 x 0.45 inch
1.67 x 1.43 x 0.45 inch |
| Resolution | 240 x 180 | 272 x 340
390 x 312 |
| Weight | 45.36 grams | 70 grams |
| CPU | Unknown | Dual Core |
| Screen | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 | Ion-X strengthened glass (aluminum cases)
Sapphire crystal glass (stainless steel and ceramic cases) |
| Waterproof | Sweat and splash proof | Waterproof up to 50 meters |
| Available Ceramic Casing | No | Yes |
| Display | LCD | Second-generation OLED Retina display with Force Touch (1,000 nits) |
| Battery | 5 days, charges in 1 to 2 hours | 18 hours, charges |
| Base Price | $199.95 | $370 |
| Review | 4.5 out of 5 stars | 4 out of 5 stars |
Comparing the specs of a wearable is often a little different than comparing a smartphone. While the smartphone is largely considered to be the center of your digital life, the smartwatch is really only an extension of that — and needs to handle a lot less than the smartphone. Still, better performance can help future-proof a smartwatch in the same way it can a smartphone.
So which device is more powerful? Well, we don’t really know. Fitbit hasn’t told us exactly what’s under the hood of the Fitbit Blaze. We can, however, assume that the Apple Watch is a little more powerful than the Fitbit. There are a few reasons for this. For starters, the Apple Watch needs to be able to take advantage of a growing range of apps available to it through the Apple Store. Not only that, but Apple has a history of building top-quality processors to power its devices.
We’re giving this one to the Apple Watch.
Winner: Apple Watch
Design, display, and durability
Love it or hate it, the Apple Watch has been paving the way in smartwatch design for the past few years. It’s a sleek and stylish device that looks modern, yet classic. Some argue that it would be better if it was round — but even if that’s true, it’s still a far more stylish device than the Fitbit Blaze. Like the Apple Watch, the Fitbit Blaze offers a square design, but it’s also a little chunkier and a lot less sleek in how it looks.
The trend of the Buy at Amazon beating out the Fitbit Blaze continues when it comes to the display. On the Apple Watch, you’ll get an OLED display with a resolution of 272 x 340 or 390 x 312, along with Force Touch compatibility. The display on the Fitbit, on the other hand, is an LCD display and sits in with a resolution of 240 x 180.
Last but not least is durability, and perhaps unsurprisingly the Apple Watch wins again. The device is waterproof up to 50 meters, meaning you can use it to track swimming. The Fitbit, however, is only really splash-resistant. You won’t want to wear the Blaze while taking a swim — it may not last. The Fitbit does offer Gorilla Glass 3, which helps with durability, but the Apple Watch uses various different strengthened glasses too.
There’s a very clear winner here.
Winner: Apple Watch
Battery life and charging
Traditionally speaking, watches have had batteries that allow them to last for months on end, but that’s not necessarily the case when it comes to smartwatches. A longer battery life can certainly be nice, especially for those who like to camp or go hiking, when charging may not necessarily be available.
This is a category in which the Fitbit Blaze can regain a few points from the Apple Watch — while the Apple Watch will only last around 18 hours on a single charge, the Fitbit Charge will last a hefty 5 days — and it’ll get a full charge in between one and two hours of charging.
It’s worth mentioning it’s harder to charge the Fitbit than the Apple Watch — while you can just pop the Apple Watch on a wireless charging cradle, you actually have to remove the Blaze from the wristband and insert it into a cradle that closes when the device is charging.
Despite that, we’re still awarding this one to the Fitbit Blaze for its much longer battery life.
Winner: Fitbit Blaze
Software
A big part of how the Apple Watch works is its integration with your iPhone, and Apple’s watchOS is arguably the most advanced and easy to use smartwatch operating system currently available. Using the Apple Watch, you can control a number of your phone’s features straight from your wrist, as well as easily track a number of fitness metrics, and even make use of Siri.
The Fitbit, however, is much more built for fitness tracking rather than anything else. You can get limited notifications from your phone, but you won’t be able to install apps on the device.
Fitness tracking is arguably the most important aspect of either of these watches, and both of them are pretty good at it. Despite that, however, there are a few things missing from the Fitbit. While the workouts that come with the watch are generally decent workouts for those on the go, those more serious about their workouts may need something more. Of course, the Apple Watch won’t be there to help in that aspect — while the Apple Watch can track your workouts, it won’t offer pre-built workouts without the use of a third-party app.
In general, while the Fitbit is fine in the software department, Apple has put a lot of work into watchOS, and it has paid off.
Winner: Apple Watch
Price and availability
There’s a trend in this comparison of the Apple Watch beating out the Fitbit Blaze, and for good reason. It comes at a cost — while the Fitbit Blaze starts at $200, the Apple Watch Series 2 starts at a whopping $370. That’s a lot to pay, though for that price you get a much better watch.
Availability is pretty much the same on these two devices. You can get the Fitbit Blaze from the Fitbit website, as well as Amazon and other retailers — and you can do the same for the Apple Watch on the Apple website.
Because of how much cheaper it is, we’re awarding this one to the Fitbit.
Winner: Fitbit Blaze
Overall winner: Apple Watch
The Fitbit Blaze has fought a good fight — it’s both cheaper than the Apple Watch, and it has a much better battery life. Still, there’s no avoiding the fact that the Apple Watch Series 2 is simply a better device. It’s more powerful, it’s waterproof, it’s better-designed, and it has better software.
That’s only true if you have an iPhone. The Apple Watch really only works with the iPhone, and while you can get standalone apps for it, its usability is limited without an iPhone. If you’re an Android user, you may instead want to opt for the Fitbit, or one of the many Android Wear watches out there.
