Fitbit Launches Fitness-Focused Smartwatch, Headphones, Weight Scale
Fitbit today unveiled Ionic, a new fitness-focused smartwatch.
The struggling company’s latest contribution to the saturated wearables market is priced at $300, which gets you a square touchscreen, heart-rate monitor, GPS tracking, and multi-day battery life.
It’s too early to observe market demand, but investors seemed satisfied with Ionic as shares in Fitbit climbed on the news. However, shares remain down dramatically from the company’s IPO price, which means Fitbit will actually need to push Ionic units if it hopes to complete a full recovery.
Fitbit’s brand is built on healthy living and the features of Ionic make it no exception. The watch will ship with several pre-installed apps, many of which utilize the device’s fitness-first features. Still, Ionic aims to be versatile, like Apple Watch, offering payments, music, and weather apps too.
“Ten years ago, Fitbit pioneered the wearables category with the introduction of its first health and fitness tracker,” said James Park, CEO of Fitbit. “With Ionic, we will deliver what consumers have not yet seen in a smartwatch: a health and fitness first platform that combines the power of personalization and deeper insights with our most advanced technology to date, unlocking opportunities for unprecedented health tracking capabilities in the future.”
Fitbit also upgraded its smart scake to the Aria 2, which syncs with Fitbit devices to track progress over time.
“Our users have great success when using our app, trackers and scale together to help achieve their health and fitness objectives, with 70% of daily Aria users losing weight in the first six months,” said Jon Oakes, VP of product at Fitbit. “With a simplified set-up and best-in-class accuracy, Aria 2 is a complement to the Fitbit portfolio of leading health and fitness products, giving you another tool to stay accountable and be empowered to achieve your goals.”
In addition to the Aria 2, Fitbit released a new pair of Bluetooth headphones. Called Flyer, they feature a hydrophobic nano-coating that is rain, splash, and sweatproof.
“As we launch our first smartwatch with on-device music, providing quality wireless headphones to better help users reach their goals is a natural extension of our product offerings,” said Park.
“Coupled with research that shows 64% of fitness tracker owners are interested in purchasing wireless headphones, it makes sense for us to bring our unparalleled health and fitness expertise to this space to deliver what our consumers are looking for most: great fit they can count on all day and for any workout, along with high quality sound to keep them motivated.”
The Aria 2 and Flyer are available for preorder today.
