Update: The Fitbit Blaze is now available for pre-order at Mobile Fun! Choose Small or Large.
Fitbit is the market leader of fitness wearables, and at CES this year it added another element to its wide range: a fitness watch called the Blaze. It’s not a real smartwatch — it doesn’t have apps, per se — but it is pretty close. It connects to your phone to display notifications, lets you skip tracks or answer calls, and of course it tracks the heck out of your activity. Let’s take a closer look at the Fitbit Blaze.
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The core of the Blaze is a octagonal block of glass, silicon and stainless steel, made to slip into watch straps of different colours and materials. The Blaze looks less sophisticated and more real than its peers, with its unique shape lending it a bit of character in a growing sea of round or square lookalikes.
Like other Fitbits before it, the Blaze sells itself primarily through its capabilities: it promises to be an excellent fitness tracker, first and foremost. It’s able to track steps, calories and sleep, and it even automatically tracks different aerobic activities — ensuring you never lose track of a workout because you forgot to hit ‘start’. The Fitbit app is available on all major platforms (including even Windows Phone and PCs), and even provides FitStar guided workouts.
The Blaze doesn’t include GPS, but it can pull location data from any smartphone that’s with you as you exercise. It has a heart rate sensor on the bottom, and five days of battery life inside. That’s impressive, given that it’s actually the first Fitbit to have a colour touchscreen display.
The Fitbit Blaze hits stores in March, with the stainless steel band model costing $100 and the leather band model costing $130. UK pricing and availability is yet to be confirmed, but we’ll update you once we have details!
Update: The Fitbit Blaze is now available for pre-order at Mobile Fun! Choose Small or Large.