Fitbit has unveiled the Fitbit Ace LTE, a smartwatch designed specifically for children aged 6 and above. This new offering caters to the growing trend of keeping children active and connected, all while providing parents with peace of mind.
Source: Fitbit/Google
The Fitbit Ace LTE boasts a design that is both durable and comfortable, able to withstand the active lifestyles of young children. The secure silicone band and swim-proof construction make it ideal for everything from playground sessions to poolside adventures. The display is bright and easy to read, even for smaller wrists.
The Ace LTE tracks all-day activity, including steps, active minutes, and calories burned. This allows kids to see their progress throughout the day, motivating them to stay active. To further encourage healthy habits, Fitbit incorporates fun virtual badges, animated clock faces, and personalized avatars that kids can unlock by achieving their activity goals.
Source: Fitbit/Google
Source: Fitbit/Google
Source: Fitbit/Google
Source: Fitbit/Google
Source: Fitbit/Google
Source: Fitbit/Google
Source: Fitbit/Google
What truly sets the Fitbit Ace LTE apart from other fitness trackers for kids is its calling and messaging features. Parents can approve trusted contacts who can then communicate directly with their child through the watch. This allows for safe and controlled communication, ensuring kids can stay connected with family members while parents maintain an element of control.
Safety remains a top priority with the Fitbit Ace LTE. The watch features GPS location tracking, allowing parents to see their child’s location on a map within the Fitbit app. Additionally, parents can set school time lockouts, disabling games and notifications during school hours while still allowing calls and messages in case of emergencies.
The Fitbit Ace LTE is equipped with an OLED display, making it easy for children to see their stats and activity data. The watch is also swimproof with a water resistance rating of 50 meters. On a single charge, the battery can last up to 16 hours. In terms of connectivity, the Fitbit Ace LTE boasts 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, and GPS. It also includes an optical heart rate sensor, accelerometer, altimeter, magnetometer, ambient light sensor, and gyroscope for comprehensive activity tracking.
Pricing & Availability
The Fitbit Ace LTE is available for pre-order starting today, May 30th, 2024, and will officially go on sale on June 5th, 2024. The price is set at $229.95 USD. This translates to approximately RM1,080.26 Malaysian Ringgit and $255 USD.
The Fitbit Ace LTE also requires an “Ace Pass data plan” which will set you back about USD$9.90 (approx. RM46.95).
If you have not already known, Google completed its acquisition of Google very early in 2021. The price of that acquisition? A cool US$ 2.1 billion, with a ‘b’, yes. We thought that this could be a rather important acquisition for Google, especially in their pursuit of making an Android wearable product that can compete with the likes of Samsung’s Galaxy Watch and Apple’s Watch products.
Since the acquisition, the Mountain View giant has not exactly sat still with developing Android Wear. They introduced a new Wear OS 3. With that new Wear OS 3, they also announced a new partner in making their Google Wear. They eliminated a competition to Wear OS in tandem to that announcement. Google Wear OS 3’s new darling flagship watch would be made by Samsung into their Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, which also means the TizenOS for watches is no more. What about Fitbit?
In the two years that Google has owned Fitbit, it seems like business as usual for Fitbit. The app remains the same, the devices have not changed, the functions remain the same, they introduced their new products as Fitbit products with no association to Google or Android. Everything sort of changed when Google started making plans to integrate Fitbit into Google and consolidate the Fitbit platform into Google’s own.
Consolidating one platform to another can be a grueling and long process. Just last month, to make things easier to integrate, Google shut down one of the most unique features for Fitbit owners like community adventures and challenges. In the coming months until 2025, Google will start allowing users to log into the Fitbit app with their Google accounts. It is not the end of the story yet though for your old Fitbit login, at least for now. You have until 2025 to migrate and port your data over from the Fitbit account into your Google account though. If you are just starting out with a new Fitbit, you can only register with a Google account instead of the Fitbit accounts that are being phased out.
Source: Google
It does not mean that Google is closing the Fitbit app though. It just means that you must sign into your Fitbit app with your Google account in the future. Once you transition from Fitbit login to your Google login, Google says that you will still have access to all your Fitbit data from the past and have full access to the Fitbit app in all its glory and functions. It adds a degree of convenience for users for sure. It also allows Google to keep all your data in a single place and consolidate it into a single security structure that they have control over. According to their Google Blog announcement, Google claims that the Fitbit data you keep with Google will be safer in their hands. You also do not need to be afraid of having Google Ads targeting you, because Google is keeping the data separate and away from Google Ads.
The transition to Google apps is not a surprising one, considering that Google owns Fitbit. While it took this long for Google to finally require Fitbit users to consolidate their accounts into Google, we have also mentioned that transitioning and consolidating two platforms is no easy task. We are also expecting to see new iterations of Android Wear with elements of Fitbit’s clever platform built into Android Wear. In that case, you can expect a new Samsung Galaxy Watch with plenty of what used to be Fitbit exclusive functions.
If you are a Fitbit user still on Fitbit’s proprietary login, we would recommend you switch over as soon as possible. Although Google did say that you are in no hurry, you have until 2025 anyway. For new users looking to get into fitness tracking, you still can buy a Fitbit, but you want to keep in mind you are signing up for it with Google.
Sleep has become a crucial factor in overall health over the past few years. In fact, doctors and other medical professionals have changed their blanket from 8 hours a night to a more general 6- to 8-hour range. As our understanding of sleep develops, so too has our appreciation of its role in health. This has become so crucial that we have been seeing more and more companies gather data for research and develop ways to measure and monitor the quality of sleep.
Fitbit has been one of the few fitness trackers and smartwatches which allow you to track your sleep in detail and view a breakdown of your sleep quality in a visual way. They’re also upping the ante when it comes to tracking by introducing a new feature for Fitbit Premium users called Sleep Profiles.
After much research and study of over 1,000 features of sleep, the company has determined that there are 10 key metrics that are beneficial to the user. Using these metrics which include pre-existing ones like sleep duration, restfulness and REM sleep, Fitbit has been able to develop a more holistic view of sleep. Additionally, they’ve also identified new metrics such as schedule variability, the time before sound sleep and disrupted sleep that help paint a better, month-long picture of overall sleep quality. Users will have access to a monthly report which breaks down each of these 10 key metrics with their personalised metrics as well as their ideal ranges.
In analysing over 1.87 million sleep logs, Fitbit was able to isolate numerous sleep archetypes. They’ve chosen six major archetypes which describe a vast majority of the profiles studied. To better communicate a user’s sleep pattern, Fitbit has chosen to represent each of the six profiles with an animal. Fitbit Premium users will be able to get their profile each month which will categorise them into one of six chosen animals: Giraffe, Bear, Hedgehog, Turtle, Dolphin and Parrot. These animals share similar traits to the six archetypes that Fitbit has identified.
There is no perfect profile, nor is a sleep profile fixed. Users will see it change from month to month. More importantly, Fitbit is also giving some feedback to help improve sleep quality with their profiles. This feedback can take the form of addressing REM sleep or sleep times to improve sleep quality.
Fitbit users with a Fitbit Premium subscription will begin to see these profiles starting on July 7. After the first report, profiles will be reported on the 1st of each month. However, the feature will only work with the Sense, Versa 3, Versa 2, Charge 5, Luxe or Inspire 2 at launch.
Fitbit’s fitness band is getting a big upgrade with its latest iteration – the Charge 5. Initially announced about a month ago, the Fitbit Charge 5 is one of the biggest updates that the lineup has seen since it was first introduce. Not only is it bringing features that put it on par with the likes of the Versa 3 and Sense, it’s also the first Fitbit the company is announcing after Google’s big Wear OS announcement. That said, the Charge 5 continues to run on Fitbit’s own OS.
Source: Fitbit
The Charge 5 continues to share the same form factor as its predecessors. It’s a slim elongated design which ergnomically wraps around the wrist. However, its now comes with a 1.04-inch colour display which has always on display functionality. It’s gained a full metal chassis as well. The new metal chassis also brings ECG tracking features which were, until now, a Sense exclusive feature.
Other than that, the Fitbit Charge 5 is more of the same. It comes with sensors for blood oxygenation (SpO2), and skin temperature in addition to heart rate and built-in GPS. It also has 7-day battery life and enough memory to store 7 days of motion data.
Fitbit Premium Gets Calm-er
Fitbit’s announcement of the Charge 5’s availability comes together with announcements for new Premium features. Fitbit’s premium tier, which costs MYR38.90 a month or 329.90 a year, will now feature content from Calm. Content from the meditation, relaxation and sleep app will now be available from within the Fitbit app. Premium users will have access to 30 curated pieces of sleep and stress-reducing Calm content.
Source: Fitbit
In addition to this, Fitbit Premium will also be enable snore tracking. The new feature will use the built-in mics in the Versa 3, and Sense to detect snores. The new tracking adds a new dimension to sleep tracking. We’ve actually covered it indepth in our coverage of the feature’s announcement.
Pricing & Availability
The Fitbit Charge 5 is now available in Malaysia for MYR878 from fitbit.com and their retail partners. It is also available globally for USD$179.
Fitbit’s dominance as a fitness band and platform is becoming more and more apparent as the company continues to bolster its offerings. While the company hasn’t yet released a Wear OS-powered wearable, they are extending the functionality of two of their smartwatches. The latest feature that is making its way to the Fitbit Versa 3 and the Fitbit Sense is noise and snore detection.
The new feature will take advantage of the microphones in the Sense and Versa 3 to detect snoring and ambient noises during sleep. It will also be measuring the intensity or loudness of snoring. The data will be collected and compiled into a “Snore report” which is accessible on the Fitbit app. However, detection will not be able to discern between the user and any other person in proximity. So, if you have a partner who does snore, it will be reflected in your snore report as well.
Fitbit noted that the feature will more battery intensive than others. It is recommended that the Fitbit Versa 3 and Sense be charged to 40% when using the feature. This is most likely due to the activation of the mic every few seconds. This will happen once the Fitbit detects that you’ve fallen asleep.
Source: Adobe Stock
The feature could very well be one of the most important features that Fitbit has introduced in the past year; aside from the ECG that is. It will allow doctors and users to detect the early signs of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Snoring is a common symptom of obstructive sleep apnea but it can also occur simply cause of fatigue. In cases related to OSA, it could indicate a more serious problem that should be dealt with. With the condition becoming more common, the feature will be a welcomed addition to a doctor’s toolkit.
The new snore detection feature is accessible through the Fitbit app’s sleep tracking function. However, the feature isn’t included in the basic subscription which comes when you purchase a tracker. Instead, it’s been bundled in Fitbit’s Premium subscription which will set you back MYR34.99 a month.
Android Wear or Wear OS as it was renamed a few years ago has been a little anaemic when it comes to updates; that is until NOW. Google took the stage at I/O 2021 to announce what could be the biggest and most important update to Wear OS: Google and Samsung are partnering to push Wear OS to the next level. The announcement confirms rumours which have been making their rounds for months.
Source: Google
The new partnership sees Samsung bring their know-how, expertise and features from their successful Tizen OS to Wear OS. As the companies put it, they are bringing “the best of their platforms together into one unified experience”. So what does this mean exactly? Well, the biggest change is that Samsung’s next Galaxy Watch will be shipping with Wear OS instead of Tizen OS. While this might seems like Samsung will be leaving their older watches behind, the company reassures its users that Galaxy Watch and other Tizen OS powered wearables will be receiving updates and support for at least 3 years after their launch.
Improvements Under the Hood
That aside, the new collaborative Wear OS approach also brings a slew of improvements that will not only be improving the user experience but also making developing for Wear OS a lot easier. The collaboration’s biggest improvement comes in its improved load time. Google is touting a whopping 30% improvement in app load times. In addition, Samsung and Google have made improvements to the lower layer of Wear OS to improve battery life. If you’ve used Wear OS smartwatches, you’d know that battery life can be an issue with them.
Source: Google
Google and Samsung have optimised background processes, making them more efficient and less intensive on the processors. In fact, processor-intensive processes like continuous heart rate monitoring have been optimised to use lower power cores to conserve power. This also opens the doors to more power-efficient features for wearable devices. Samsung has also helped with power efficiency with its bundled sensors which allow them to include more than one sensor in a single module.
More Diverse User Experience
Aside from improvements under the hood, the improvements are also creating a more diverse user experience. Manufacturers are now allowed to skin the operating system to have a more unified look across their devices. This also means that we might see slightly different experiences from manufacturers like Tag Heuer, Fossil and even Samsung will have their own design language when it comes to the user interface for their wearables. Google is expecting that the new customizability will result in a more diverse Wear OS ecosystem.
Google is also opening up more features in the OS to developers. Developers will be able to bring features like tiles to their apps. They have also integrated development for Wear OS into Android’s Development Studio. They are creating a more unified development experience across Android and Wear OS with a single touchpoint for development. Development is also made easier with Google’s Jetpack development suite which allows developers to call and implement API more readily. In addition, they are bringing Kotlin APIs to Wear OS.
Wear OS is also getting more focused on health with help from Samsung. Developers will be able to create new apps and improve their current apps with a more streamlined and simplified work flow. This comes thanks to the new Health Services platform which allows developers to retrieve data without building from scratch. Developers are able to take advantage of continuous data from the sensors and other contextual metrics without impacting the battery life of the device too much.
New Apps, Better Experience
Finally, these improvements directly impact how the OS performs and how accessible apps will be for the platform. The most direct improvements that users will be benefiting from is improved navigation on wearables. Google is bringing simple improvements like a double-tap to jump to your most recent app and even simpler swiping gestures to access your information.
Source: Google / Double Tap for Recent App
Source: Google / Tiles
Google is starting the ball rolling with updates coming to its core apps like Google Maps, Google Pay, Google Assistant and YouTube Music. The first change that will be coming to these apps is the adoption of the new “Material You” design. In addition, Google Maps will be getting better, more visible turn by turn navigation to help with using the app on the go. There are plans to take Google Maps offline. The same applies to YouTube Music as well. Google Assistant and Google Pay will be getting improvements as well. The latter will be making its way to 26 countries in the next few months while the former will become more user friendly on Wear.
It isn’t just Google that is improving its offerings. Spotify has revamped its experience on wearables; allowing users to seamlessly move on the go. The simplified interface allows users to not only control their music but also seamlessly switch between speakers and their Wear OS device. Other companies like Nike, Calm and Adidas have been working on revamping their experiences on OS. Fitbit will also join the Wear OS family. Wear OS apps will also be more visible on the Play Store with a dedicated section and recommendations.
The new Wear OS will be making its way to the market in the coming year. Current Wear OS devices find out if they are getting the big update in the coming months.
Fitbit has always been a company that has focused on being functional wearable; putting fitness and health tracking before form and style. However, with the new Fitbit Luxe, they’re turning that approach on its head. The Fitbit Luxe takes a hard turn left and focuses on marrying style with fitness to bring a chic, functional wearable that stays true to Fitbit’s own fitness first paradigm.
Source: Fitbit
Taking inspiration from a bracelet, the Luxe takes it queues in being a fine piece of jewellery. It comes with a metal unibody with a pristine finish making it seem like you’re wearing a refined, handcrafted bracelet. Within the body, Fitbit is packing the wearable with an abundance of sensors for all the health metrics you’re used to from a Fitbit. The Fitbit Luxe comes in three colours: graphite, platinum and soft gold with a soft, silicone band. The Luxe is also the first tracker from Fitbit which comes with an AMOLED touchscreen with a built-in ambient light sensor. This allows the display to automatically adapt to ensure you’re seeing all the information under all lighting conditions. The Luxe also comes with up to five days battery life on a single charge.
Source: Gorjana
Of course, Fitbit, being Fitbit, ups the ante with a collaboration with Gorjana. The new Fitbit Luxe Special Edition comes with a gold stainless steel Parker Link Bracelet designed exclusively for the Luxe. The link bracelet is also adjustable to fit most wrists. It also comes with a soft peony band for an additional look in your pocket. The bands are, of course, available as separate accessories.
The Luxe is only half the equation. Like other Fitbit wearables, the tracker works in tandem with the Fitbit app. The app brings a unified, accessible dashboard where the data collected by the Luxe is displayed in an easy to understand format. Everything from sleep tracking, steps tracking and active zone minutes can be viewed on the app. If you need additional metrics, the Luxe comes with a 6-month trial of Fitbit Premium which gives you access to more personalised data.
Pricing & Availability
The Fitbit Luxe will be available in Malaysia starting from June 2021 for MYR648 (USD$157.40). Pre-orders are open today in the U.S. where the Luxe is being sold at USD$149.95 (MYR617.31).
Fitbit has announced the Fitbit Ace 3 with a swimproof design. The new Fitbit Ace 3 is designed for kids ages 6 and above, and is aimed at helping develop healthy habits in kids. Everything from getting enough sleep for their age to staying active throughout the day.
The Fitbit Ace 3 encourages a kid to get active by giving them goals to achieve. The watch will remind the kids to move around to take at least 250 steps within an hour and reach at least 60 daily active minutes. Parents can even set different goals for their children when it comes to school hours. Unlike other fitness trackers, the Fitbit Ace 3 focuses on steps with its pedometer instead of a heart rate monitor. This due to the varied heart rate in children at different stages in their life.
That said, the Ace 3 is an incremental update to the Ace 2. This time, the Ace 3 comes with a timer, sleep tracking, bedtime reminder, silent alarm as well as do not disturb and sleep modes. To ensure kids stay active every day and practicing healthy habits, the watch will remind the kids to develop a consistent sleep schedule. Additionally, there are new animated clock face characters including a bunny, a cat, a martian, and a spaceship. Aside from these, there are up to 20 clocks to choose from.
To make things even more kid friendly, Fitbit is partnering with Illumination to bring Minions to the Fitbit 3. The two companies have created two new bands called Despicable Blue and Mischief black which allow the kids to have more self expression with their favourite minions on their wrist. The bands are simply the beginning of the partnership as Fitbit promises that there is more to come.
As always, the Fitbit wearable is only half the equation. Parents are able to add their kid’s devices to a family account on the Fitbit app on Android and iOS. This allows parents to manage the apps shown on their kids, and even approve kid’s friend requests on the app. Parents are also able to view their Kid’s recent activity in the app. Kids can also access the app on their devices with a view that focuses on the development of healthy habits and customisations.
The Ace 3 also allows kids to receive call notifications directly on-wrist from their smart devices. Even with these features, the smartwatch is able to last up to 8 days compared to 5 days of the Ace 2.
Price and Availability
The Fitbit Ace 3 will be available in Black with a Sport Red clasp and Cosmic Blue with an Astro Green clasp. It will retail for MYR328.00.
This watch is available to preorder now at fitbit.com. First sales start on March 29, 2021 with all major retailers in Malaysia including on Lazada and Shopee.
Fitbit’s health-centric devices have been some of the best fitness devices on the market to date. The company has successfully developed sensors and an intuitive interface that allows users to not only collect data but view them in a way that is easy to understand. However, in 2019, Fitbit saw the opportunity to bring even more insights to their users at a premium.
Fitbit Premium has been up and running since late 2019. It provides deeper insights into the data that is already collected by your Fitbit device – some of which could even be used to detect COVID-19 without the PCR test. Just recently, the company extended the availability of a limited version of Fitbit Premium available to users of the Versa 3 and Inspire 2. Now, it seems like that may be more behind that.
Source: Fitbit
Fitbit has recently sent out a customer survey which asks users to consider an cheaper tier of their Fitbit Premium service. According to Android Central, the theoretical new tier would be priced at USD$2.99 (MYR12.09); less than half the price of the current plan at USD$9.99 (MYR40.38). However, it seems like the offerings would be significantly less than the current Premium plan which offers not only user data but also guided workouts and more. The new plan would allow users to “see your activity, sleep, stress, and health metrics for the last month, year, forever with unlimited historical data.”
It seems like this may be Google gauging users’ valuation of the data and insights they get from Fitbit devices. This comes as no surprise as the sale of Fitbit to Google essentially limited what Google could do with the data collected from Fitbit devices. Senior Vice President of Devices and Services, Rick Osterloh, mentions the issue of data privacy and Google’s acquisition of Fitbit stating that the acquisition was about hardware and never the data.
PR asset of Fitbit Premium on Android, showing Today screen with insights. For placement into renders or lifestyle imagery only.
This deal has always been about devices, not data, and we’ve been clear since the beginning that we will protect Fitbit users’ privacy. We worked with global regulators on an approach which safeguards consumers’ privacy expectations, including a series of binding commitments that confirm Fitbit users’ health and wellness data won’t be used for Google ads and this data will be separated from other Google ads data.
Rick Osterloh, Senior Vice President, Devices & Services at Google
However, Google being a data company understands that there is an inherent value to all the data being collected. Hence, this straw poll to see if users are willing to spend to get access to their data and insights is just an exercise of how much value users place in the data collected by their Fitbits.
That said, we have always been in the camp where users should be given access to their data regardless of a “Premium” fee – the other goodies in the premium subscription are definitely worth the investment, if you see the need or want to make better sense of the data that’s being collected.
Fitbit is bringing a limited version of their Health Metrics dashboard to more users free. The feature was initially made available for Versa 3 and Sense users with the purchase of the new smartwatch last year. Now, it’s being offered to users of the Versa 2, Inspire 2 and Charge 4.
The Fitbit Health Metrics dashboard is a feature in the Fitbit companion app which allows users to get valuable insights from some of the metrics collected. Data like skin temperature, blood oxygenation, heart rate variability and a few more are analyzed and plotted to give deeper insights into health. Medical professionals are able to use these insights to create plans for action to help improve the users overall health.
With the change, users of the Versa 2, Versa 3, Sense, Charge 4 and Inspire 2 are able to access the Health Metrics dashboard. However, the version that they have access to limits their trends and data to only 1 week. The data available in the dashboard will vary based on the features of the fitness tracker used. That said, the 1 week of data could be more than enough for some.
While it seems like a no-brainer for Fitbit to include this feature in their app, the Health Metrics dashboard has been placed behind the Fitbit Premium paywall. The new update brings a crucial function of fitness trackers to the forefront. This comes in light of research that the company has recently published study which found that critical trend data such as this can help diagnose COVID-19. In addition, Fitbit has begun rolling out the ECG feature in the Sense in more countries.
