Fitbit Sense Debuts With Health Features Missing on Apple Watch, Including Stress, Skin Temperature, and Blood Oxygen Tracking

[MacRumors]

Fitbit today introduced the Sense, its most advanced health smartwatch ever.

Following in the footsteps of the Apple Watch, the Sense is the first Fitbit with an ECG app that can detect an irregular heart rhythm known as atrial fibrillation. To receive a reading, users must hold their fingers on the corners of the stainless steel ring around the watch while holding still for 30 seconds. FDA clearance of the feature is still pending.

Going a step further, the Sense offers several health features that the Apple Watch does not yet have, including an electrodermal activity (EDA) sensor for stress management, a skin temperature sensor, and blood oxygen monitoring. (Apple Watch Series 6 models are rumored to support blood oxygen monitoring later this year.)

Fitbit shared details on how the new EDA sensor works:

Using the EDA Scan app, place your palm over the face of the device to detect small electrical changes in the sweat level of your skin. Measuring your EDA responses can help you understand your body's response to stressors and help you manage your stress. You can do a quick EDA Scan session on device to see your responses, or pair it with guided mindfulness sessions in the Fitbit app to see how your body responds during meditation or relaxation. At the end of your session, you will see an EDA response graph on-device and in the mobile app to gauge your progress over time and reflect on how you feel emotionally.

Based on its ongoing research study, Fitbit says the Sense can also track three metrics that could help with earlier detection of COVID-19, including average breathing rate, resting heart rate, and heart rate variability.

"Over 100,000 Fitbit users joined the study so far, and we've found that our algorithm can detect nearly 50 percent of COVID-19 cases a day before the onset of symptoms with 70 percent specificity," said Fitbit's co-founder and CTO Eric Friedman. "This research shows great promise to help us understand and detect COVID-19, but can also serve as a model for detecting other diseases and health conditions in the future."

Fitbit is making the Sense available today for pre-order for $329.95 on its website and online at select retailers, with broad worldwide availability to follow in late September. Some health features require a Fitbit Premium subscription for $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year, with a free six-month trial included with the Sense.

Article Link: Fitbit Sense Debuts With Health Features Missing on Apple Watch, Including Stress, Skin Temperature, and Blood Oxygen Tracking

 

[brock2621]

Apple's are FDA approved as a class II medical device... which takes on some additional scrutiny and time for that seal of approval. Didn't old Samsung phones have blood oxygen monitors on them with your fingertip but they were super inaccurate? (My memory is fuzzy)

 

[JM]

PSA: Google owns Fitbit.

Caveat Emptor.

 

[LiE_]

My wife had a FitBit charge 2 and it broke within 7 months. She then asked her friends about their experience with FitBit, all of them were on replacements as they broke within 1 year, some on their 2nd replacement.

She has ordered a Fossil Gen 5.

 

[satchmo]

This part of the press release wasn't reported in MacRumors' post. Let's see if this bears fruit, but 6 days is impressive.

Stay connected with a range of smart features for added convenience, including a built-in speaker and microphone to take calls and reply to texts with voice commands,21 choice of Amazon Alexa or Google voice assistants,7 contactless payments22, thousands of apps and clock faces and more, while still maintaining an impressive 6+ days battery life.

 

[steve knight]

I tired a fitbit and it was good at auto detecting my bike riding. but then it stopped getting my heart rate accurately. the apps on the apple watch only get your heart rate every minute. and the gps and the speed and average speed and such were always off with my garmin bike computer. fiannly bought a garmin watch it gets accurate info about my ride far more info on heart rate and how hard your training and such.

 

[GadgetBen]

Apple you need to launch the next AW quickly as I am seriously considering this switch.

 

[locovaca]

Sorry, any watch that needs a monthly payment is a hard pass. For $10 a month it better be able to predict when I’ll get Covid within a 30 minute accuracy.

 

[Dremmel]

Sorry, any watch that needs a monthly payment is a hard pass. For $10 a month it better be able to predict when I’ll get Covid within a 30 minute accuracy.

There's an amazing dashboard in place without having to pay $10. However it's the AW that I want, but I can't live with the battery life. New battery tech is coming.

 

[GeoStructural]

My wife had a FitBit charge 2 and it broke within 7 months. She then asked her friends about their experience with FitBit, all of them were on replacements as they broke within 1 year, some on their 2nd replacement.

She has ordered a Fossil Gen 5.

I have a hard time believing you because your name is "Lie".

 

[Rogifan]

This part of the press release wasn't reported in MacRumors' post. Let's see if this bears fruit, but 6 days is impressive.

Stay connected with a range of smart features for added convenience, including a built-in speaker and microphone to take calls and reply to texts with voice commands,21 choice of Amazon Alexa or Google voice assistants,7 contactless payments22, thousands of apps and clock faces and more, while still maintaining an impressive 6+ days battery life.

Do you have instances where you don’t have power for days? I top off my Apple Watch before I go to bed and then again when I wake up.

 

[LiE_]

I have a hard time believing you because your name is "Lie".

It's short for Life is Epic

 

[icanhazmac]

Stay connected with a range of smart features for added convenience, including a built-in speaker and microphone to take calls and reply to texts with voice commands,21 choice of Amazon Alexa or Google voice assistants,7 contactless payments22, thousands of apps and clock faces and more, while still maintaining an impressive 6+ days battery life.

All that plus the focus on consumer privacy that we have all come to know and love from FitBit Google. /s

Hard pass!

I really don't want google involved in anything health related.

 

[Baymowe335]

Apple's are FDA approved as a class II medical device... which takes on some additional scrutiny and time for that seal of approval. Didn't old Samsung phones have blood oxygen monitors on them with your fingertip but they were super inaccurate? (My memory is fuzzy)

Yes, and it was garbage. I had a Samsung phone with it. Didn’t work 75% of the time and was never accurate.
[automerge]1598371455[/automerge]

Do you have instances where you don’t have power for days? I top off my Apple Watch before I go to bed and then again when I wake up.

Maybe he lives in California.

 

[TheSkywalker77]

Sorry, but I'll stick to my Apple Watch.

The technology is cool, but the company (Google, not FitBit) is what I can't get behind.

Plus, I don't need a subscription to fully use my Apple Watch.

 

[satchmo]

Do you have instances where you don’t have power for days? I top off my Apple Watch before I go to bed and then again when I wake up.

Sure, I can certainly find time to recharge.

But that doesn't mean Apple shouldn't be looking to improve battery life. Again, this 6 day claim from Fitbit could be just marketing fluff or best case scenario. But if Apple can even get a solid 3-4 days, it would just make it so much more convenient in case you forget to top up one day.

 

[alexhardaker]

This part of the press release wasn't reported in MacRumors' post. Let's see if this bears fruit, but 6 days is impressive.

Stay connected with a range of smart features for added convenience, including a built-in speaker and microphone to take calls and reply to texts with voice commands,21 choice of Amazon Alexa or Google voice assistants,7 contactless payments22, thousands of apps and clock faces and more, while still maintaining an impressive 6+ days battery life.

I’ve always wondered why other smartwatches/fitness bands etc last days before needing to be put on charge & the Apple Watch doesn’t.

 

[MacOH21]

I've never had a fitbit that didn't fail or break in some way. My Apple Watch Series 1 still goes strong and I only updated to a Series 5 when there was a steep discount on Amazon.

 

[Yammabot]

I had two fitbits in the past and liked them both especially the stair climbing count but alas they didn’t last very long and as much as I miss the stair climb count I never looked back from my Apple Watch.

 

[btrach144]

Now you can give even more health data to Google!

 

[jerryk]

My wife had a FitBit charge 2 and it broke within 7 months. She then asked her friends about their experience with FitBit, all of them were on replacements as they broke within 1 year, some on their 2nd replacement.

She has ordered a Fossil Gen 5.

Mine also broke in 6 months or so. I now use a Galaxy Active 2 watch.

 

[John Lobert]

No. Just no.

 

[sundog925]

I wish the Apple Watch looked like the Fitbit Charge. The current design IMO is ugly and I would love to see a sleeker design, even if they make a delineation between watch and PRO watch.

 

[rgbrock1]

PSA: Google owns Fitbit.

Caveat Emptor.

Thanks for that. I was unawares of the little tidbit.

 

[drcre8tive]

The Apple Watch needs to improve on several fronts, one being the ability to customize workout criteria or exercise length, but at least there is no subscription required.