There’s been rumors of new Fitbit fitness trackers coming out and today Fitbit made it official. Fitbit announces the Charge, Charge HR & Surge. Only the Fitbit Charge is available now for $129.95 in black and slate colors with blue and burgundy coming soon. The Charge HR will be released in early 2015 for for $149.95 in black and plum colors with blue and tangerine coming later. The Surge will also be released in early 2015 for $249.95 in black only with blue and tangerine coming later. Fitbit has put together a comparison page to help you decide which is right for you.
Fitbit Charge
– Accurate tracking of steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned and floors climbed
– A bright, OLED display showing time of day and real-time stats
– Automatic sleep detection monitors sleep quality using motion analysis to understand sleep and wake times; also features a silent, vibrating alarm
– Caller ID to helps users stay connected to incoming calls; the wristband vibrates and shows the caller’s name or number when a smartphone is nearby
– Exercise tracking to easily record workouts, see real-time exercise stats and have summaries appear automatically on the Fitbit dashboard
– A high-quality, water-resistant, comfortable new textured wristband design with an improved clasp
– Up to 7 days of battery life
Fitbit Charge HR
– Includes all features of Charge:
– Continuous 24/7 heart rate right on the wrist to get more accurate all-day calorie burn, reach target workout intensity and maximize training
– All-day insights into overall heart health including resting heart rate and heart rate trends, alongside stats like steps, distance, floors climbed, calories and active minutes
– Up to 5 days of battery life – Charge HR is specially designed with battery efficient technology, so you can spend more time tracking and less time charging
Surge
– Includes all features of Charge and Charge HR, plus:
– Built-in GPS delivers stats like pace, distance, elevation, split times, route history and workout summaries for smarter training
– Records multi-sport activities like running, cross-training and strength workouts; see comprehensive summaries with tailored metrics, workout intensity and calories burned
– Smartwatch features including Caller ID, text alerts and mobile music control let users train smarter and stay focused right from the wrist
– Eight sensors—3-axis accelerometers, gyroscope, compass, ambient light sensor, GPS and heart rate—working harmoniously to give users the most advanced tracking in the thinnest, lightest design on the market
– Backlit LCD touch screen display with customizable watch faces, makes it easy to navigate through real-time stats, workout apps, sleep and alarms
– Up to 7 days of battery life – Surge is specially designed with battery efficient technology, so you can track a work week or a marathon on just one charge
Editorial
I’ve been the proud owner of a Fitbit Flex for over a year now. I have a few friends that use them, including my wife. It is fun to have friendly competition within the app and see how many steps you do per day and have a weekly leaderboard. Fitbit recently added a Challenges feature to its app which lets you challenge any of your friends to daily competitions.
With the number of fitness trackers and smartwatches flooding the market right now, I think now is a good time for Fitbit to release a new product. They had an allergy recall with their Force band which made it almost non-existent shortly after launch.
If I was going to purchase one of these, it would be the Surge because of the extra features it offers. The problem is the other smartwatches coming out soon, like the Apple Watch. Not knowing the release dates or price point of some of the competition makes it a hard decision right now. The impulse buyer in me wants to order the Surge as soon as it is released, but the smart shopper in my wants to wait and see what other options are out by then.
What will you do?
