LAS VEGAS — Fitbit today showed off its newest fitness tracker at the Consumer Electronics Show, unveiling a $199 fashion-focused smartwatch that will compete with the Apple Watch.
Called Fitbit Blaze, the new device is Fitbit’s most fashionable fitness tracker to date and comes with a bevy of features like activity tracking, on-screen workouts, heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking, and basic smartphone notifications like call, text and calendar alerts. While it’s not the company’s first smartwatch — that would be the Fitbit Surge, which is President Barack Obama’s favorite — it is certainly its first that places an emphasis on fashion while maintaining the tracking technology Fitbit has developed over the past several years.
“It’s our most advanced, smartest, most motivating, most stylish product yet,” Fitbit Chief Business Officer Woody Scal said at the company’s keynote today. “It is a smart fitness watch built to help you make the most of your workouts, get the notifications you need, with the style and versatility you’re looking for.”
The device, which features Fitbit’s first color touchscreen and a 5-day battery life, has interchangeable bands and frames that Fitbit will sell as accessories.
“It can easily evolve throughout your day,” Scal said. “It’s an incredibly versatile product that changes with your needs.”
Fitbit brought out former NFL star tight end Tony Gonzalez to help introduce the Fitbit Blaze and talk about the on-screen workouts available on the new device, which coaches users through different exercise routines.
“As an athlete, nothing gets me more motivated than a great coach,” Gonzalez said. “Now, you have one with you at all times.”
The Fitbit Blaze, which does not have a GPS, is available for pre-sale today and will arrive in stores this March. It will compete directly with the $349 Apple Watch, which launched this past April. Scal took a slight dig at Apple during his remarks today, noting that “what you really need when you maximize workouts is a tool, not a toy.”
“It’s not about all the extras or putting everything from your phone on to your wrist,” he said. “It’s about the essentials and what you really need.”
Investors don’t seem too thrilled with the new product, though, as Fitbit’s stock is down more than 10 percent today. The company, which has shipped more than 30 million units since 2009, went public this past June, starting with an IPO price at $30.40. The stock is trading at $27 a share as of Tuesday morning.
