James Park, CEO of Fitbit, toyed with fitness freaks all over the world a few weeks ago by stating that they’re right on the cusp of releasing multiple new devices.
This was proven true at this year’s CES 2016 conference where the Blaze fitness watch was unveiled officially by Fitbit.
Fitbit has grown to be recognized as a cutting edge provider of ‘not’ smartwatches, but smart fitness watches per se, as claimed by the brand itself.
Much like its earlier release, Fitbit Blaze comes packed with an abundance of new additions and exciting features which will definitely attract a lot of first time buyers. As trends suggest, this is one thing which hasn’t changed in the fitness watch industry, which has recently faced somewhat of a boom, so much so that a behemoth of nascent brands are coming up everyday to be a part of an ever growing herd.
Where Fitbit Blaze has improved vastly are the areas of design and looks. The brand has duly locked horns with Apple considering the department of sleekness and appearance. Also, the watch supports a unisex design.
Basic Information:
- Fitbit Blaze has been made available in a plum and blue coloured strap apart from the custom black strap.
- In terms of sizes, it will be released in small, medium and large sizes.
- Battery life can last up to no less than five days.
- Fully charged in approximately 2 hours.
- Gives you the most basic phone notifications like calls, texts and calendar alerts.
Additional Bands:
- Metal Luxe Collection Band – Comes equipped with a durable steel frame laden with metal links priced at $129.95.
- Leather Luxe Collection Band – Comes equipped with a steel frame along with a leather band. Can be bought in three different colours, being priced at $99.95.
- Get your hands on the classic band at a price of $29.95, available in three colours as well.
Major Specs:
- Fitbit comes with the same old elastomer band.
- Room to customize in the form leather or classic bands, metals and stainless steel frames as well.
- Provision of fast-release spring bars which allows the band to be released quickly.
- The tracker module pops out seamlessly
- Gorilla Glass 3 has been used for the screen which is the industry standard.
- Colour touchscreen LED screen which is 1.66 inches in dimensions and supports 240 x 180 pixels.
- On the back of the fitness watch, you’ll find Fitbit’s self-owned PurePulse heart rate sensor technology which will successfully calculate BPM heart rate readings [beats per minute].
- Encapsulates motion sensors to ensure automatic activity and sleep tracking.
- In order to track elevation, the watch comes with a gyroscope, a 3-axis accelerometer and an altimeter.
- An ambient light sensor is present which helps screen visibility.
- To make use of the incoming notifications and silent alarms, a vibration motor is present.
- Includes music control playback.
- Choice of varied clock faces to choose from.
Software Specs:
- Dedicated modes which are meant for running, cycling, weight training and cross training sessions.
- Automatically recognizes and records exercises using the cutting edge SmartTrack software technology introduced just recently.
- Comes equipped with an on-screen workout mode just like the Band 2 by Microsoft. This will efficiently take the user through a bunch of exercises stepwise.
- View all the essential data on the web portal or the Fitbit companion app. The app s available on Windows 10 mobile, iOS and Android.
Missing Specs:
- The Fitbit fitness smart watch comes without an on-board GPS. Hence, utilise the phone’s GPS for viewing record runs and routes.
- The watch isn’t waterproof essentially, but is well suited to tackle sweaty workouts.
- Mobile phones running on Microsoft’s highly unified operating systems won’t get access to text and call notifications just yet. This might be changed before or during launch.
- Third party apps aren’t supported yet. This seems like one of the biggest losses for this fitness smart watch.
The Fitbit Blaze is expected to be shipped in the month of March available for a pre-order rate of $249.95. Ask yourself, is it worth it?
