Fitbit has come out with a new health/fitness smartwatch, the Fitbit Versa. Closely resembling the Apple Watch in appearance, the lightweight Versa has three physical buttons on its sides and a 1.34-inch, 300 x 300 LCD touchscreen that together allow users to navigate Fitbit OS.
The Versa has a standard suite of sensors for tracking fitness, including an accelerometer, gyroscope, and altimeter for detecting orientation and movement. The new device has an optical heart-rate monitor, onboard storage for music, up to 50 meters of water resistance, and on-device coaching with Fitbit Coach like the company’s first smartwatch.
For wellness addicts, the Versa has many features. It measures steps, stairs climbed, calories burned, distance traveled through the day, heart rate, resting heart rate, cardio score and many specific exercises. The Versa includes Fitbit’s new menstrual-cycle tracking. This summer, the Fitbit app will let female users track their cycle by inputting when they have their period and cycle symptoms, such as headache and cramping. Eventually, Fitbit’s software will be able to predict the time of future cycles and give users information about how their cycle may be affecting other aspects of their lives.
Also included is a personalized health center. Users can view daily health and fitness data on the wearable. There are personalized alerts, reminders, celebrations and other notifications of the user’s meeting goals and progress reports. Automatic sleep tracking is another feature of the Versa. It records interesting data about sleep. Using the heart rate sensor and accelerometer, the Versa tallies the time spent in REM, light, and deep sleep. Stats can be compared over 30 days. Users can benchmark their data against other men or women of similar age. It can also set sleep goals, and program alarms.
In a related development, Fit bit unveiled the Ace, its first tracker for children eight years old and over. It monitors daily movement and sleep. Parents can monitor the kids’ physical activities from the Fitbit app. Kids can view their own stats on a kids-friendly page.
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