Fitbit was in the news earlier this year when there was a leak of some information regarding the new Fitbit Smartwatch however it didn’t contain too much exciting information or at least not enough to get us too excited. This has now changed. An online source has managed to obtain some more information as well as pictures on the new model and as of this morning there has still not been any word from Fitbit regarding launching the product early due to the leak.
Fitbt have been talking about their new product but nothing like this has been revealed ‘officially’ anyway. The source who obtained these images was informed that these are the final images of the fitbit smartwatch / activity tracker which is being officially launched later this year.
The watch comprises of three main colour variations which are; silver case with navy strap, rose gold case with blue strap, and a darker case with a black strap. The images also reveal the button layout which is; two on the right side, one on the left which means that the watch will also have the same button configuration as the Fitbit Blaze. Another similarity to the Fitbit Blaze is the back of the watch which protrudes we are presuming this is to get a better lock on that optical heart rate sensor.
One of the most intriguing aspects of the watch from the images we can see is that there seems to be a red light sensor rather that the green optical sensors that they used previous for measuring heart rate. This hints at a host of extra features including a pulse oximeter which is used for measuring oxygen levels in the blood, obtaining a more accurate read on heart rate, heart rate variability, or other physiological parameters that green PPGs have often struggled with.
The watch is expected to have all the same functionality of the Fitbit Charge 2. It will need all the functionality it can get as it is going up against the Apple watch, the only problem is Fitbit needs better apps to be able to beat the Apple Watch and rumour have been spreading about the companies issues and problems arising with its apps which isn’t good news at all.
The Fitbit will also be having to fight against Garmin who are releasing the Vivoactive 3 later this year too! However Fitbit has fought back claiming that 2017 is its ‘transition year’ and that there is much to come from the brand.
We have found out from Weareble that the name of the project is ‘Project Higgs’ however this is just an internal name and we are yet to find out if it is associated to the actual release name.
“We know there is a lot of interest in our entry into the smartwatch category. We don’t have news to share at this time and do not comment on rumours or speculation. We can confirm that development of our smartwatch is on track and that it will be available for the holiday season.” – Fitbit
