Fitbit Launches Newest Smartwatches & App Features
Fitbit is demonstrating its commitment to making healthy choices more convenient and accessible to everyone with the release of two new products today, including its first-ever activity tracker for kids, and the introduction of female health tracking for all FitBit app users starting in Spring 2018.
FitBit Releases Two New Products
The new FitBit Versa, billed as “your personalized daily health and fitness companion,” is the lightest metal smartwatch available in the United States. The waterproof device offers heart-rate and sleep-tracking abilities, offline music streaming and payment capabilities (in some models).
Designed specifically for kids ages 8 and up, the FitBit Ace helps children achieve the World Health Organization-recommended 60 minutes of daily physical activity a day for children ages 7 to 17. With the new Fitbit family account, parents control who their kids connect with and what information they see in the Fitbit app, allowing them to safeguard their privacy and stay on top of their activity.
“The challenge of inactivity with our children is not going away and is only estimated to get worse as they get older, dropping almost 40 minutes per year from ages 9 to 15,” said Chris Watts, executive director of the National Fitness Foundation. “It is essential to provide parents with tools to help their kids be more active. Fitbit’s solution offers more than just a way to track activity—it helps instill healthy habits from an early age, making it fun and rewarding to move more and empowers parents to make health and fitness a family affair.
Unveiled earlier this month, the brand also debuted the Fitbit Ionic: adidas edition which offers running-specific workouts and exclusive personal training programs to help athletes improve their performance. Among its training regimens are six workouts constructed by a team of adidas performance experts that range between five to 15 minutes. Each exercise provides step-by-step coaching to ensure users are doing each movement correctly.
Fitbit’s New Female Feature
Created for all adult FitBit users who identify as female, the brand’s newest app feature lets you log your menstrual cycle data, and record symptoms such as headaches, acne and cramps. According to a recent Fitbit survey, 80 percent of women did not know how many phases are in a menstrual cycle and more than 70 percent were unable to correctly identify the average length of a cycle, demonstrating a lack of awareness about women’s health.
The female health tracking feature lets users view holistic data in one place to reveal connections between your cycle and other stats in the Fitbit app, such as activity, sleep and weight trends to help you better manage your activity and sleep needs during certain times of the month.
“Female health tracking will empower women with a greater understanding of their menstrual cycles in conjunction with their physical and mental health, as they start to recognize what are normal trends over time versus what could be an issue to share with their doctor,” said Dr. Katharine White, MD MPH, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Boston University School of Medicine and Fitbit Advisor. “The nuances of the menstrual cycle have not been as widely studied across populations as have other areas in healthcare. This exciting development by Fitbit could help potentially create one of the largest databases of menstrual health metrics in the world, providing healthcare and research professionals with an unprecedented ability to study menstrual cycles and women’s health with real world data.”
Fitbit Versa and Ace are available for presale today on Fitbit.com for $199.95 and $99.95, respectively. Versa will hit retailers starting this April and Ace will follow later in 2018. Fitbit Ionic: adidas edition is offered in four colors and is available for pre-sale online and in retailers starting March 19, 2018 for $329.95.