Images of Fitbit's next smartwatch have been obtained by Wearable, following the fitness firm's recent confirmation of a new device launch later this year.
During an investor's call yesterday revealing weaker-than-expected results, Fitbit CEO James Park said the company will introduce a smartwatch in 2018 that will have "mass appeal", seemingly confirming lackluster sales of its Ionic smartwatch (reviewed here).
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According to Wearable, the new device will be the successor to the two-year-old Fitbit Blaze and will run the same Fitbit OS that first showed up on the Ionic – software that was largely the result of Fitbit's acquisition of Pebble back in 2016.
The actual name of the new smartwatch remains unclear, but Fitbit is said to want to appeal more to the female market, which is one reason why this device will be smaller than the Ionic and closer to the dimensions of the original Blaze.
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Otherwise, the new smartwatch is said to be water resistant to 50 meters and will have an Sp02 sensor for monitoring sleep apnea, but GPS won't be included. The watch will be more affordable than the Ionic, according to Wareable's sources, and will come in four colors: black, silver, rose gold, and charcoal, with a range of straps available.
Top Rated Comments
(View all)The form factor is so familiar... I know I’ve seen a square smartwatch somewhere...
No kidding. I guess if your own designers can’t come up with anything good, just copy Apple’s. Seems to be the trend these days.There's still the entire Android market that Apple can't reach with the Watch. If it's priced low enough it'll sell.
You mean the cheap junk market they don't even want?No kidding. I guess if your own designers can’t come up with anything good, just copy Apple’s. Seems to be the trend these days.
Totally. And part of that trend also seems to be manufacturers copying features that they mocked before (square screen, notch, animoji, no headphone jack, etc.). Hard to think of another company that has taken more guff about decisions that eventually proved to be trendsetting and widely accepted.The best thing that Fitbit had going for it was the battery life of its products. But consumers seem to care less about that now.