fitbit
Today, Fitbit announced the availability of three new fitness trackers: the inspire 3, Versa 4Y sense 2. All successors to the previous generation devices, the three run the gamut from Fitbit’s most well-equipped to the most basic fitness wearables.
“Basic” is a relative term among fitness trackers, as they all continually approach full-fledged smartwatch functionality. The Inspire 3, in particular, adds sleep blood-oxygen monitoring and a full-color AMOLED touchscreen to the entry-level tracker, which can already receive phone alerts such as texts, calls and app notifications. Setting the display to the optional “always on” setting drops battery life estimates from 10 days to just three, which is much more in line with full-featured smartwatches, though less than Fitbit Sense watches and Versa.
By contrast, the Sense 2 and Versa 4 are the two most capable trackers Fitbit offers. Both are rated for about six days of use (without the always-on display enabled) and now feature a fast-charging capability that Fitbit says can give you a day of battery life with just 12 minutes of charging.
fitbit
The Sense 2 sits at the top of the Fitbit family, with ECG sensors for atrial fibrillation (AFib) detection, EDA (electrodermal activity) for stress measurement, GPS, blood oxygen, and heart rate tracking. . The previous Fitbit Sense also had all of this. But the Sense 2 builds on this by incorporating new hardware and software for continuous (and therefore more useful) monitoring of AFib and stress.
Fitbit calls the new hardware a “Body Response” sensor, which will monitor your stress levels throughout the day and alert you when you’re under stress. If you detect stress, you’ll get recommendations for guided breathing or meditation exercises that you can do on your wrist or in the Fitbit app. The Sense 2 can actually take EDA readings on demand through the display “using a technique that turns metal into vapor, allowing [them] to embed the metal electrodes of these sensors directly into the device’s display glass,” according to Fitbit. Sounds high-tech, but ultimately it just means a slightly smaller bezel without the surrounding ring for EDA readings .
The new algorithm for continuous AFib monitoring has, in some form, been in the works since 2020, when Fitbit released a study of the heart focused on AFib detection. Before coming to the new Sense 2, the company demonstrated that its algorithm could detect 98% of AFib cases in a sample of more than 450,000 people.
Passive AFib detection is available on the Sense 2, Sense, Versa 4, Versa 3, Versa 2, Inspire 3, Inspire 2, Charge 5, Charge 4, and Luxe trackers. But it only works while the user is sleeping. It uses photoplethysmography (PPG) to detect changes in blood volume (and therefore heart rate) that could indicate signs of atrial fibrillation (AFib). That’s in addition to the Sense’s still-included spot check AFib sensor that existed on the previous generation Sense. Spot checks require users to stand still with the palm of their hand covering the screen, while passive monitoring does not. Both the sensor and the PPG algorithm have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and CE markingmeaning they have met US and EU safety, health, and environmental protection requirements.
The Versa 4 doesn’t add any new hardware over the Versa 3, meaning there’s no body feedback sensor here. Instead, it received a minor physical update, becoming slightly thinner and lighter and bringing back the physical button for more reliable use.
As for the user interface, both the Sense 2 and Versa 4 have been tweaked to offer customizable data tiles, compared to the static presets of yesteryear. Fitbit says Google Wallet and Google Maps will also be coming to these devices “in the coming months.”
fitbit
Meanwhile, users can enjoy twice as many activity modes (more than 40) on their new devices. This introduces modes for high-intensity interval training, weightlifting, CrossFit, ski/snowboard, and dance, among others. Fitbit says it has no plans to bring these new activity modes to previous generation Fitbits, but will “continue to evaluate the opportunity.”
One thing remains true for all these new devices, though: Many of Fitbit’s most useful tools and insights (beyond raw data collection) are locked behind the company. premium subscription. that includes daily preparation scores to assess your physical recovery and recommend suitable training options for each day, sleep profiles to help users understand their sleep patterns and how they may change over time, and wellness reports Y health metricsprovides graphs, trends, and longer-term averages (30 days to a year) for a variety of biological data including heart rate variability, skin temperature, blood oxygen levels, sleep, weight fluctuations, and activity levels.
The growing trend of paid data in the world of fitness/wellness trackers is the bane of my existence. It only reinforces that access to wellness and health can be measured with one metric: wealth. Fitbit is offering six free months of Fitbit Premium for new users who purchase a Sense 2, Versa 4, or Inspire 3. Unfortunately for the Inspire, that’s six months less than Fitbit used to offer.
All three devices are available for pre-order starting today. the Sense 2 sells for $300 ($50 more than its predecessor), the Versa 4 for $230 ($30 more than the launch price of the Versa 3), and the Inspire 3 for $100 (matching the original price of the Inspire 2).
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Listing Image by Fitbit
