Fitbit Launches Three New Fitness Trackers
- Monday, October 27th, 2014
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Fitbit has unveiled three new models for its fitness and activity tracking wearables range, each with an array of different features.
The cheapest of the trackers, the Fitbit Charge, is the only one immediately available in the US, and retails for $130 (£80). It track everyday fitness metrics, measuring steps, distance travelled, and calories burned, as well as alerting users of incoming call alerts and enabling them to manually log other workouts to the Fitbit dashboard.
The Fitbit Charge HR, scheduled for early 2015, is a more advanced model that includes continuous heart rate monitoring to deliver more accurate calorie burn figures and data on users pulse, such as resting and peak rates. It will cost $150 once it arrives in stores.
The most advanced (and most expensive) of the announced devices is the Fitbit Surge, which adds a GPS chip to the features of the previous trackers, enabling it to record pace, distance, elevation, route history and more. Termed a fitness super watch by the company, it can record multi-sport activities such as cross-training and strength workouts, and produce summaries with comprehensive metrics. It features caller ID, text alerts and a mobile music controls, and up to 7 days of battery life. It will be released around the same time as the Fitbit Charge HR, and will cost $250.
Fitbit opting for a more watch-like form factor is an interesting move in light of the GfK figures released today, showing that traditional fitness trackers dominate the wearables market in the UK, while smartwatches accounted for just 11 per cent of sales.