LAS VEGAS – Remember when your watch just told time? Much like the phone, times are changing with watches now being transformed into a GPS, music player, health monitor, alert and message indicator and more.
Joining the crowded market of smartwatches today at CES is Fitbit, which launched its $249 (Cdn) full-color smart fitness watch, the Blaze. Available in March, Fitbit claims its watch can last five days and nights on a single charge. With the fitness-focused Blaze Fitbit is responding to growing competition to its early lead in wearable technology. At the launch Fitbit stressed that its fitness watch not only works well, but looks good doing it.
“One of the first things we learned in this industry is that fitness is personal – and if something isn’t your style, you won’t wear it,” said James Park, CEO and Co-Founder of Fitbit. “With Fitbit Blaze, we pushed the boundaries of what’s possible to create a beautiful, versatile device that can be customized to fit your personal style – while packing a powerful fitness punch to help you reach your goals. Fitbit Blaze delivers a combination of innovative features that were carefully selected with intention and purpose, designed to motivate and offer a fitness experience that is more effortless and more useful with advanced guidance and coaching.”
The Blaze is primarily a fitness band and industry observers questioned if the Blaze’s $199 (U.S.) price point as a single use device may be too high compared to other smartwatches which can access third-party apps and allow you to access your email and Twitter feed.
The Blaze’s biggest competitor at the moment comes from the Apple Watch , whose battery life is limited to 18 hours. Further crowding the market is Under Armour (UA) which announced today a new suite of fitness products, including a $180 (U.S.) fitness band, which places it in direct competition with Fitbit. Watchmaker Fossil said it would launch more than 100 smartwatches and fitness trackers this year. Huawei has gotten together with crystal maker Swarovski to make a zirconia-encrusted line of smartwatches, too.
But those looking for form over features may appreciate the Blaze’s modular design that allows you to easily remove and insert the tracker into a new frame.
The Blaze also comes with FitStar Personal Trainer on-screen workouts that deliver guided instructions and animated images to three of the most popular personal trainer workouts from FitStar. Each workout is free and can be accessed at any time with no app or smartphone required.
