Fitbit Announces October 1 Launch Date for New Ionic Smartwatch and Flyer Headphones

[MacRumors]

It's been almost one month since Fitbit unveiled the new "Ionic" smartwatch and "Flyer" Bluetooth headphones, which at the time were given an unspecific October launch window. Today, the wearables company announced that both devices will be available in retail stores across North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America on October 1.

The Fitbit Ionic is the company's first smartwatch and includes improved GPS, heart rate tracking, water resistance up to 50 meters, contactless payments with "Fitbit Pay," on-board music storage, and more. The smartwatch syncs with the new Fitbit Coach personal training app coming later in October and featuring 90 video and audio workouts, priced at $7.99/month or $39.99/year.

Starting on Sunday, October 1, users will be able to purchase the Fitbit Ionic at Best Buy, Dick's Sporting Goods, Kohl's, Macy's, REI, Target, Verizon, and Amazon for $299.95. Fitbit said that retailers will also have a variety of accessory bands in Classic and Sport ($29.95) and a perforated Horween leather band ($59.95).

"We defined the fitness tracker market 10 years ago and look forward to doing the same with the smartwatch category, delivering what consumers want most and have not yet seen in a smartwatch. Ionic offers up to 5 days battery life for 24/7 health tracking and insights, advanced health and fitness features, enhanced heart rate and dynamic sleep tools paired with the smart functionality consumers need on the go to stay in touch and simplify their life," said James Park, co-founder and CEO of Fitbit. "These features, coupled with Ionic's broad compatibility across Android, iOS and Windows platforms, means consumers around the globe never need to choose between their watch and their phone."

The company's first wireless headphones are also going on sale this Sunday. Called the Fitbit Flyer headphones, the device features a sweatproof design, customizable ear tips, six hours of battery life, and is meant to sync with the new Ionic smartwatch to enable truly wireless workout sessions. The company said that users will be able to buy the headphones at "major global retailers" including Best Buy, Brookstone, Nordstrom, Target, and Amazon for $129.95.

A specific launch date for the new Fitbit Aria 2 Wi-Fi Smart Scale wasn't confirmed, but users can pre-order now on Fitbit.com for $129.95, with retailer availability "beginning Fall 2017."

To prepare developers for the launch of the Fitbit Ionic, the company is debuting the new Fitbit SDK tomorrow, September 26, as a developer preview. The SDK will include resources that developers need to "quickly and easily" design and share apps and clock faces to Fitbit users.

Article Link: Fitbit Announces October 1 Launch Date for New Ionic Smartwatch and Flyer Headphones

 

[WitneySi]

[shudders]

 

[iDento]

The hardware is nothing special but their app is the best, there's simply no app in the App Store that can mimic what Fitbit does.

I might consider these along with a Fitbit Aria to replace my Apple Watch Series 1, I just hope Apple can do better with their Workouts, Activity and Health apps.

 

[44267547]

Fitbits design is rather unsightly with the large bezels and Fitbit logo on the front of the Watch. To each their own on the Ionic.

 

[johnfrombeyond]

Takes a lot of guts to go toe to toe with Apple at this price point. Prior to these products, the primary competitive advantage has been price, but these are right up there with Apple Watch prices. Good luck to them!

 

[justiny]

I want Fitbit to be successful, if for no other reason than to keep Apple honest and to continue making the WATCH better.

Unfortunately, there is a small part of me who believes Fitbit will turn into the modern-day BlackBerry by RIM.

 

[Iconoclysm]

I want Fitbit to be successful, if for no other reason than to keep Apple honest and to continue making the WATCH better.

Unfortunately, there is a small part of me who believes Fitbit will turn into the modern-day BlackBerry by RIM.

Competition hasn't forced Apple to do anything but keep refining that original design over and over. I'm not sure it has any impact at all to tell the truth.
[doublepost=1506356644][/doublepost]

The hardware is nothing special but their app is the best, there's simply no app in the App Store that can mimic what Fitbit does.

I might consider these along with a Fitbit Aria to replace my Apple Watch Series 1, I just hope Apple can do better with their Workouts, Activity and Health apps.

What does the fitbit app do so well? I haven't used it since maybe 2013. I find that where Apple lacks, apps like Strava more than make up for it.

 

[BruceEBonus]

They'll do well this Xmas with a product that's on course and available now and not a half way house product that's overpriced and needs charging every day. Well done.

 

[TwoBytes]

Dead in the water. I mean great all in one with 4 day battery life but their premium nutrition site runs on Flash, bands fall apart. Ionic vs a used S2? S2 every time! So much more you can do with it. Fitbit are not even providing music for non USA people. It's a joke.

Someone should buy out their app or they should ditch their hardware and make their app compatible with the Apple Watch and sell that.

 

[Michael Goff]

Six hours battery life? Are they serious?

 

[Fabmac]

That watch is made from the old pebble team they left us all alone with the pebble 2 after getting the support from the backers.

I will go with an apple warch from here

 

[redavis41]

I really think Fitbit priced themselves out of the market. If anything their price point helps Apple here. At the end of the day do I spend $299 for a Fitbit Ionic or spend $30 more for an Apple Watch S3 w/o cellular and get 8GB of onboard storage vs 2.5GB. Fitbit's clock is ticking and this was a huge miss IMO. Their only saving grace is that this might be the best smartwatch option for Droid users at this time. But I still think these will be marked down $50-$75 by Christmas.

 

[iDento]

I really think Fitbit priced themselves out of the market. If anything their price point helps Apple here. At the end of the day do I spend $299 for a Fitbit Ionic or spend $30 more for an Apple Watch S3 w/o cellular and get 8GB of onboard storage vs 2.5GB. Fitbit's clock is ticking and this was a huge miss IMO. Their only saving grace is that this might be the best smartwatch option for Droid users at this time. But I still think these will be marked down $50-$75 by Christmas.

1. 4 to 5 days battery life, which also means better sleep tracking.
2. Fitbit community.
3. Fitbit app is like 100 times better than Health, Workouts & Activity.
4. Works with Mac, iOS, Android & Windows (back to XP).
5. The icons layout is the best, that honeycomb layout is a mess.

 

[Breezygirl]

Reading the posts on the Fitbit forum, it’s not working very well. Lots of unhappy customers.

 

[OneMike]

Fitbit has the best health tracking but looking at specs and info this Watch is not the one.

 

[TwoBytes]

Great app...but for the price of a second hand or price reduced S2, I know what i'd get. When Fitbit fail as a company, i'm hoping they just make the app work on iOS and make money from IAPs.