ConnectedArena One stop shop for everything on Wearables and Internet of Things!
It has been a tough year for Fitbit, which sort of revolutionized the fitness tracking wearables, but sort of stagnated with innovation ever since. The company is on the verge of making a strong comeback with its latest model, the Fitbit Surge which has been making rumors for the past several leaks. Now, Brookstone has prematurely published a pre-order page for Fitbit Surge detailing several new features added and the looks of the fitness watch. Interestingly, the page is still live at the time of writing this article.
Below are the list of features mentioned on the pre-order page:
- Built-in GPS tracking gives you pace, distance, routes and elevation climbed—without needing your smartphone nearby.
- Automatic, continuous heart rate monitoring gives you more accurate fitness stats
- Eight-sensor technology measures steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned, floors climbed and active minutes to maximize performance
- Advanced smartwatch features for receiving call and text notifications right on your wrist—control your music, too
- Record running, cross-training, biking, strength and cardio workouts
- Touchscreen display offers easy access to fitness stats
- Monitor how long and how well you sleep, and wake with a vibrating alarm
- Set goals, see progress and analyze trends on your phone or computer via the Fitbit® dashboard
- Share and compete with friends and family in challenges on the leaderboard—earn badges, and log food, weight and workouts
- Sync stats wirelessly and automatically to your computer and over 60 leading smartphones
- Compatible with iPhone® 4s and later, iPad (3rd generation) and later and all leading Android devices, as well as Windows Vista and later and Mac OS 10.6 and later
- Android user? Launch the free Fitbit App instantly by tapping Surge on your NFC-enabled Android phone
- Works with Fitbit Aria Wi-Fi Scale
- Water resistant
This is a significant upgrade from Fitbit. Built-in GPS will ensure that Fitbit Surge can function as a standalone device without having to rely on the Smartphone’s GPS all the time. Fitbit has also enhanced the sensor technology to me sure the steps, distance, calories and other parameters more accurately, something which still plagues most fitness trackers we have tested till date.
Although, Fitbit isn’t marketing Surge as a smartwatch (they call it a fitness super watch), it does let you receive calls and SMS by pairing up with your smartphone. Sadly, there’s no mention of the battery capacity or expected battery life which has become a very important parameter these days.
Fitbit Surge is priced at $249, which looks a little too steep for a fitness watch, considering it doesn’t run complex smartwatch OS like Android Wear. But then, Fitbit isn’t even trying to compete with Android Wear or Apple Watch. If the continuous heart rate monitoring works as advertised, and if Fitbit’s apps help push people to achieve their fitness goals, this can be a decent product to look forward to.
[via] Verge
