Companies that only make fitness tracking wearable devices tend to see their devices get a tough time from smartwatches in the market since many of them have fitness tracking features built right into them. Fitbit has tried to work around this by launching a new fitness tracker which it says is actually a “smart fitness watch.”
At first glance the Fitbit Blaze looks like any other smartwatch but it’s not as capable as one. It doesn’t run third-party applications or provide cellular connectivity, however it does provide smart notifications aside from tracking fitness, and most importantly it tells the time.
This is the first Fitbit product with a color display, the watch face is hexagonal with a stainless steel casing, and it’s not a unibody design. It can actually pop out and be snapped into various bands and frames as per the usage scenario. It’s good at what it’s meant to do and that’s tracking fitness metrics.
Fitbit Blaze tracks 15 different types of exercises aside from tracking sleep, calories burned and steps taken throughout the day aside from other metrics. The watch has a native FitStar app that guides the user through workouts, the Blaze is also capable of automatically tracking activities and sports like tennis, basketball, soccer, walking and running as well as elliptical machine workouts. All activity data from the Blaze is synced to companion apps available for mobile and desktop platforms.
Since it’s not a proper smartwatch other functionality is limited. It provides notifications for calls, texts and calendar events from a synced smartphone and allows users to control music playing on their device.
Fitbit Blaze is available for presale today through the company’s website for $199.95, from tomorrow it will be available at all major North American retailers including Amazon and Best Buy. Genuine leather bands with stainless steel display frame cost $99.95 and the stainless steel link band costs $129.95.
Filed in . Read more about CES, CES 2016, Fitbit and Wearable Tech.