Fitbit’s Cheap New Trackers Undercut the Apple Watch by a Ton

Apple might dominate when it comes tosmartwatchsales , but Fitbit ’s looking to make a dent in its jumper cable by launch four new gimmick today : the Fitbit Versa Lite Edition , the Inspire and Inspire HR , and the Ace 2 . As its name suggest , the Versa Lite is a aerodynamic variant of its popular Versa smartwatch . Meanwhile , the Inspire and Inspire HR will replace Fitbit ’s lower end tracker , and the Ace 2 is an updated version of its tike - well-disposed tracker . But the real kicker is that none of them cost over $ 160 — less than half the cost of a GPS - onlyApple Watch Series 4 .

Leading the pack is the Fitbit Versa Lite Edition . It ’s fundamentally the same thing as the popularFitbit Versaif you subtract a few characteristic , ping $ 40 off the toll to $ 160 , and add in a few fresh color options . Functionally , you still get most of what crap the original Versa good—4 + days of approximate battery life , activity and eternal sleep stage trailing , female health tracking , uninterrupted heart rate monitoring , smart notifications , apps and clock font , relate GPS ( intend you have to use your phone ) , and VO2 Max measurements to gauge your cardio seaworthiness . Missing are more advanced features like floors climbed , swim tracking , on - screen workouts , medicine storage , and NFC payments . pattern - wise , it ’s almost identical to the Versa as well . The only major change is it opts for a single button user interface , as opposed to the three buttons on the original Versa . It also come in some new eye - pop colors , include marina blue and mulberry ( fancy speak for REALLY BRIGHT BLUE and EXTREMELY PURPLE ) , as well as more subdue white and lilac options .

Moving on , if the Inspire and Inspire HR look familiar , they should . The slim shape and narrow light-emitting diode screen appear an awful lot like the Alta andAlta 60 minutes . The main difference is the Alta ’s stainless blade body has been exchange by plastic and overall , it does n’t look quite as elegant . Some of that is due to the gigantic bezels on the Inspire — they’re literally the breadth of my pinky finger on the top and bottom of the screen . A Fitbit representative at the society ’s NYC briefing effect told me the large bezels were so it could ram in more components while maintain costs down . And while I oppugn the design choice , from a budget point of view . it worked : The Inspire will be a simple $ 70 , while the Inspire HR is a whit pricier at $ 100 . Comparatively , the Alta is $ 100 , while the Alta HR is $ 130 .

The Fitbit Versa Lite and Inspire HR offer lots of features, but for a much lower price.

The Fitbit Versa Lite and Inspire HR offer lots of features, but for a much lower price.Photo: Victoria Song (Gizmodo)

Those prices are private-enterprise when you consider the feature of speech set . Both Inspire gadget have an estimated five solar day of battery life , sopor tracking , and automatonlike drill recognition . They ’re also swim - proof and feature a touchscreen , though as the “ HR ” terminology suggests , the $ 100 gimmick has a bit extra with heart rate monitoring , real - time metrics via connected GPS , and more advanced eternal rest tracking .

polish up out the Modern products is the kid - centric Fitbit Ace 2 , which tweaks and marginally meliorate upon theAce . Most observably , it tot up a goofy bumper around the screen for added protection because those gosh darn children are potential to get up to hijinks that might scuff , or otherwise damage their tracker . The Ace 2 also expands its age range , so now josh as new as six geezerhood old can use it . Again , Fitbit ’s let down the toll from $ 100 to $ 70 . But interestingly , Fitbit enjoin part of the Ace 2 ’s charm is that once your kids get “ too honest-to-goodness ” for the admittedly youthful design , they can pop the tracker out and opt for Inspire circle and accessories . I suppose this is an attempt to commercialise the Ace 2 as a long - full term investment , though it ’s hard to ideate a stripling would n’t need to upgrade to something else by then .

Clearly , the common paper here is ‘ more for less . ’ you may tell apart because when looking at these devices , there ’s really nothing raw in terms of features — we’ve seen this all before . What ’s ‘ raw ’ here is Fitbit ’s clear scheme shift to aim the lower last of the damage scale . And that ’s in reality a savvy move , peculiarly with wish to smartwatches . allot to arecent IDC report , smartwatches grew 54 per centum in 2018 and report for 29 percentage of all wearable load . But even as more multitude buy into wearables , there ’s way more rivalry at the high - end of the grocery store and Fitbit was much afterward to the game than its master competitors , Apple and Samsung . Fitbit OS is still playing catchup to Watch OS , Tizen ( Samsung ’s operating system ) , and assume group O in terms of pattern and third - political party app offerings — and , unlike the quietus , it does n’t have an extensive hardware ecosystem . That can be dependable because all Fitbits are chopine agnostic , but it also means no theoretical luxury Fitbit is going to be as good as say , a Series 4 orSamsung Galaxy Watch , at seamlessly integrating with your smartphone . That ’s basically the problem with Fitbit ’s high - close smartwatch , theIonic . While it get out the challenger on fitness features and battery life — I’ve gotten about a week on a single heraldic bearing — its design is clunky , there ’s no standalone LTE , and the o just is n’t there yet . Even though it ’s slightlydiscountedfrom its original $ 300 retail price , and you could just spend a little more to get the sleeker Galaxy Watch or Series 4 .

Photo: Victoria Song

It is extremely blue.Photo: Victoria Song (Gizmodo)

On the lower end , however , its main competitors are Xiaomi and Huawei , which have a pretty limited reach in the U.S. and nowhere near the samelevel of firebrand credit .

“ Devices are an important pillar of what we ’re seek to do , ” say Fitbit CEO James Park at the launch event . “ wear are uphold to grow , particularly around smartwatches . We encounter to be the No . 2 player in the U.S. A large part of what we ’re trying to do this year is make our equipment approachable . ”

“ [ First - time buyers ] may not have one C of disposable dollars to grease one’s palms a smartwatch , ” added Melanie Chase , frailty United States President of product marketing .

Photo: Victoria Song

The Inspire HR looks sort of like the chintzy cousin of the Alta HR.Photo: Victoria Song (Gizmodo)

The push button to grab more first - meter emptor is also bolstered by Fitbit ’s focus on prioritizing its community . At the event , Fitbit also announced it plans to give its app a major redesign that highlights data insights , makes it easier to take in challenge , and encourages more engagement with its social medium - esque community feed . This is on equivalence with Fitbit ’s app scheme . The Fitbit app has always been one of the better fitness apps around , with a streamlined dashboard and regular updates to contemplate the changing need of its drug user . Adding more information context , as it plans to do with the redesign , is a good move for keeping users motivated . As is its move to extend globally to 80 Modern market in the Community Feed , along with nine Modern languages . It also announce its launching a Rewards genus Beta course of study which will allow users merchandise in make points from activity for discounts and rewards from political platform married person like Adidas , Blue Apron , and Deezer .

Whether this all pans out depends on how open consumer are to the new Mary Leontyne Price point , and whether the excogitation and characteristic tradeoffs are worth it . If the original Versa’sstellar salesare any indication , there ’s a definitely a hearty probability it might . Both the Versa Lite Edition and Inspire / Inspire HR will be available for preorder today , while the Ace 2 is slate for summer 2019 .

First LookFitbitFitness TrackersSmartwatcheswearables

Photo: Victoria Song