Reasons We’re Excited About the New Fitbit Ionic Smartwatch

Here is everything you need to know about the new Fitbit smartwatch, including how much it costs, when it will be available and what features it will bring with it. The new smartwatch is priced at $299.95 which is a bit above Apple Watch’s starting price of $269.

With water resistance up to 50 metres, users can wear their watch in the pool or rain, and use it to track swim workouts with stats such as lap counting, duration and calories burned.

Fitbit has unveiled the Ionic, its first smartwatch – and its first device built on the Pebble platform. Extra sensors embedded on the underside of the device allow the Ionic to estimate changes in oxygen in the blood over time. It’s expected in September and will likely pack advanced new health features. It has a square touch screen similar to the one on the Apple Watch.

But can the Fitbit Ionic put a fight against the competition? If you use Global Positioning System and/or listen to music, though, that battery life can be expected to drop to just 10 hours. With Fitbit Pay, Visa and Fitbit are meeting demand amongst the majority of wearable owners who, according to the recent “How We Will Pay” survey* by PYMNTS and Visa, see the opportunity for wearables to improve the way they pay throughout their day with a more secure and seamless cashless payment experience.

Fitbit reports that the Ionic features “multi-day battery” that will easily get through 4 days or more. The Ionic can also hold music on it (about 300 songs, or as many as the watch’s 2.5GB will allow). In addition to replaceable wrist bands the company will also be selling new “Fitbit Flyer” wireless headphones ($130) and the “Fitbit Aria 2” smart scale ($130). The Blaze, although it does not offer third-party applications, offered many other smartwatch features including notifications.

“Ten years ago, Fitbit pioneered the wearables category with the introduction of its first health and fitness tracker”, Fitbit co-founder and CEO James Park says in a prepared statement. It will let customers pay for their items right from the smartwatch anywhere contactless payments are accepted.

Ionic will pair with your phone and use the Fitbit app, which is free to download and use. The headphones will go on sale in October alongside the Ionic.

Like most modern operating systems, Fitbit OS includes an app marketplace – dubbed the ‘App Gallery ‘ – which will include both first- and third-party developed apps.

The Iconic will include partner apps at launch, including Pandora, Starbucks, Strava social network, and AccuWeather.

You’ll immediately receive an alert from the Fitbit app when your transaction is approved. After spending close to a week with the Ionic, I’m impressed by what it offers and also what it promises. Here, you can really see the influence of Pebble, which Fitbit bought out previous year, to the delight of Pebble owners everywhere, ho ho.

Fitbit Ionic is available for pre-sale on Fitbit.com for $299.95 United States dollars and will be available at a number of retail stores in October. It starts shipping in October 2017, but you can pre-order early.

At launch, Ionic will be available in three different colour combinations. Audio coaching sessions created to increase endurance, speed and form are coming in 2018, we’re told. Fitbit is building upon the Pebble platform to provide developer tools such as fast development on an open platform using JavaScript and Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG). The app will also be available on iOS, Android and Windows devices.