Fitbit Smartwatches – Your Fitness Companion
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About Fitbit Smartwatches
Fitbit’s first fitness tracker that looked more like a watch than a tech gadget, forever altered how people perceived watches and demonstrated that watches could serve a much broader purpose than simply telling time. The latest Fitbit smartwatches are tailored to manage stress and sleep better while providing on-the-go navigation and payments via Google Wallet. Furthermore, these watches boast long battery lives to allow for overnight wear.
History
Fitbit has been an industry leader since it first entered the fitness tracker space in 2007. But its journey hasn’t always been smooth: late into its entry to the smartwatch market – initially categorizing smartwatches under another product type – Fitbit struggled to convince customers they needed one of its devices.
In 2014, Fitbit Force was recalled after customers reported skin irritation and rashes. Although its replacement, the Charge and Charge HR, was intended to be less irritating, complaints continued nonetheless. To address these concerns, the company introduced its ‘FitForFood’ program in 2015, where users could exchange calories burned for donations to Feeding America through calories exchange programs like this one; later the Charge 2 came with an internal waterproofing feature which proved popular among many users of its successor device, the Ionic.
Fitbit’s first “proper” smartwatch, the Ionic was created using their new OS created in partnership with Pebble’s team. Additionally, this was also the first device that offered wireless music streaming, providing up to 2.5GB of internal storage available for storing and playing back audio on Bluetooth-compatible headphones. Furthermore, its touchscreen and GPS support made running, cycling and swimming easy while its lack of NFC was surprising given that contactless payments are already part of other smartwatches such as Apple Watches.
Google acquired Fitbit in 2021 and folded it into their hardware division, marking a bold move as Fitbit had been losing ground to rivals in wearable tech space. Some were concerned that this might result in reduced support or feature upgrades being provided to devices; fortunately, changes seem minimal and it will continue to remain an effective presence within wearables industry.
Fitbit’s Most Popular Watch Models
Fitbit is one of the leading US fitness tracker brands and their smartwatches range from slim trackers designed for simple activity tracking to feature-packed models offering advanced functionality.
All are capable of recording daily steps taken on foot, distance covered in floors climbed, calories burned and vigorously active minutes; some models even can monitor heart rate to assist weight loss or manage heart disease risk.
Recent models (Inspire HR, Inspire Lite, Charge 5 Versa 3, Sense) also allow you to control music on your phone using built-in microphones, as well as use Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant voice commands from your wrist. They even work well for handling calls. Phone functionality works surprisingly well on smaller screens.
All modern devices (with the exception of Ace 3 devices) can recognize workouts like running, cycling and sports such as football or tennis and can log your activity in the Fitbit app with details about time spent being active, calories burned and heart rate zones. In addition, older Versa 2s may recognize aerobic exercises such as Zumba or cardio-kickboxing and provide appropriate statistics.
The Fitbit Versa 3 smartwatch is an excellent option for active individuals such as runners, cyclists and swimmers. Its long battery life – lasting a full day and night without needing charging – and waterproof design make this smartwatch great for runners, cyclists, swimmers and more.
Furthermore, there’s an impressive array of fitness and health features such as waterproofness and beautiful screens to accompany its robust fitness features – with just two small drawbacks: its lack of GPS functionality and its lack of being incompatible with third-party apps or Bluetooth headphones.
Features Which Set Fitbit Smartwatches Apart
Many fitness trackers can become complex in terms of metrics and features, but Fitbit takes an innovative approach with its devices. Their latest models, the Sense and Versa 3, include customizable watch faces to choose from as well as shortcuts that appear on the main screen for faster use of different features and main screen content. They can even automatically recognize walking, running, hiking cycling as well as basketball or tennis activities and then generate an exercise summary including calories burned as well as heart-rate zones used.
Electrodermal Activity (EDA) Sensor
The Sense and Versa 3 can monitor stress levels with an electrodermal activity (EDA) sensor that tracks skin temperature changes that indicate increased anxiety or depression. They also offer guided relaxation and meditation sessions designed to aid sleep such as Quick Scan sessions lasting two minutes or longer Guided Sessions; additionally the Sense can use its sensors to track menstrual cycles while at the same time monitoring oxygenation throughout the night.
All Fitbit smartwatches (with the exception of Ace 3) are water-resistant up to 50 metres, offering watersport enthusiasts access to these sports watch. Each has GPS built in, enabling users to log distance, pace, laps as well as to see a map of their route.
In addition, three models (Sense, Sense 2 and Ionic) feature six-axis gyroscopes for swimming stroke detection as well as measuring oxygen levels in your blood with an SpO2 sensor.
All newer models, save for the Ace 3, come equipped with built-in speakers and microphones that allow users to make and receive calls without leaving their wrist. In addition, models such as the Sense, Sense 2, Versa 3, work with Alexa voice controls as well as calendar events to provide caller ID notifications and calendar events on wrist.
Latest Innovations
Millions of people worldwide use Fitbit devices to track their fitness, sleep quality and stress scores. Every year, Fitbit releases new models with enhanced hardware and innovative software features that reflect current wellness and health trends; some models even come equipped with exclusive features only found therein.
Some of the new features include daily readiness scores, an improved menstrual tracker, more accurate heart rate monitoring and enhanced workout tracking. Some advanced Fitbit watches also include an altimeter that tracks stairs climbed. Furthermore, Ionic, Versa 3, Sense 2 and Charge 4 offer built-in GPS which works without smartphone connection while both models provide automatic wrist-based heart monitoring capabilities.
The Fitbit Luxe represents a step in terms of style for the brand with its elegant stainless steel body and color AMOLED display. Furthermore, its dedicated SpO2 sensor monitors blood oxygen saturation levels. Additional features set it apart from other models: daily stress score tracking; breathing session guidance and noise/snore detection capabilities.
Fitbit has released several smartwatches with larger displays for those seeking enhanced functionality. The Versa 4, Charge 4 and Sense 2 boast large, vibrant touch-screen displays for easy navigation and support for Android, iOS, Bluetooth calls, GPS navigation, fast charging capability and six months of Fitbit Premium service which provides new features like guided meditation sessions and more detailed sleep data – while the latter also comes equipped with an ECG sensor for added features like ECG monitoring.
Who should use the Fitbit Smartwatches?
Fitbits are popular health trackers among users interested in tracking sleep, heart rate and other fitness metrics. In addition, they’re useful for encouraging healthy habits like eating better, getting more exercise and losing weight. Fitbit’s trackers and bands come in different colors, materials shapes sizes styles that complement many outfits – they also make an ideal present for health-minded friends or colleagues!
Fitbit smartwatches provide consumers with an advanced smartwatch experience, yet lack certain features found on other devices. For instance, their limited access to apps and only support for a handful of payment services like Fitbit Pay are two examples of such limitations. Their notification system also lacks functionality compared to competing products; no images from chats or cameras appear when notifications come through while canned responses and voice dictation can still be performed on Android phones using these features respectively. They do feature music apps but these only act as remotes without providing onboard storage capacities.
Google’s acquisition of Fitbit will likely accelerate innovation in wearable technology and expand adoption of Wear OS platform. Furthermore, this may enable Google to sell more ads on smartwatches; although they have pledged to protect our personal information.
See the overview of all Fitbit Smartwatch models here with Amazon.
I wish you much Fun with your new Fitbit Smartwatch!