The better fitness device? Fitbit Surge vs Apple Watch – 5 Differences

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Need help choosing between the Fitbit Surge and Apple Watch?

(Scroll down for the written review)

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Fitbit Surge vs Apple Watch – Which is better for you heart?

So between the Fitbit Surge and the Apple Watch, which is the better fitness device? We’re going to give you 5 differences between the Fitbit Surge and Apple Watch to help you choose the best smart device for your fitness needs.

Now, if you own an iPhone, there aren’t too many smartwatch options out there right now as you’re pretty much stuck with either a Pebble, Fitbit Surge and the Apple Watch and to be fair, Fitbit doesn’t really call the Surge a smartwatch as its a “fitness super watch” (it really sucks as a smartwatch).

Based on our time with both of these smartwatches, we’ve given the Fitbit Surge a score of 3.8 Eh’s out of 5 and the Apple Watch a score of 4.1 Eh’s out of 5. This comparison is based on our time with both of these devices so if you need more information, check out the full reviews for the Fitbit Surge and the Apple Watch.

The question you need to ask yourself when choosing between these two devices is this:

How serious are you about your fitness?

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Difference #5 – The Fitbit Surge has the stamina to last

The Fitbit Surge will last longer. Their website claims that it has a 7 day battery life which we have seen with the Fitbit Surge (this included 3 workouts per week). This is almost a magnitude better than the Apple Watch as 2 hour workout will take approx. 25% of your battery on that device.

The extra battery power also means that the Fitbit Surge is a better sleep tracker than the Apple Watch and from a fitness standpoint, we do believe that how well you sleep does have an impact on how hard you can push yourself.

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Difference #4 – Its easier to track your fitness with the Fitbit Surge

The Surge is a little easier to track what you’re doing in my opinion. I’m primarily a cross-training and weight lifter and the Surge has all those options. On the Apple watch, my weight lifting goes under “Other”. Now, we’ve given this some thought and don’t think what the device calls it makes a big difference since both are just measuring your heart rate and calculating the calories from that but being able to differentiate different types of exercises is nice.

On the flip side, the Apple Watch has the ability to track outdoor cycling whereas the Surge doesn’t so cyclists may say that the Apple Watch is better in that regard.

Now tracking your fitness is most likely going to change with the Apple Watch as developers find better/smarter ways to capture what you’re doing exactly. We’ll elaborate on this a bit more in difference #1.

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Difference #3 – The Apple Watch will get lost

Despite all the hardware magic that Apple has placed into the Apple Watch, they didn’t put a GPS into the device. To get directions and to track the user, the Apple Watch relies heavily on the GPS of the tethered iPhone.

On the other hand, the Fitbit Surge will track wherever you’ve gone (if you’ve set it to the right workout). This is a benefit to those who don’t feel the need to bring their massive iPhone 6 Plus’s with them while then try to run.

This difference is really only a deal breaker if you’re big into running.
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Difference #2 – The Fitbit App is easier to use

The Fitbit Surge has one purpose. To track how well you’re doing.

The Fitbit app reflects that singular purpose as its much easier to use than Apple’s Health app. The Fitbit app doesn’t have the depth of the Health app but all the basics are there and the layout of the app is much easier to deal with.

Apple’s Health app, despite having the potential to store way more information but looks like something a typical engineer would love (aesthetically bleak with lots of numbers and graphs).