There’s been rumblings of Fitbit preparing new smartwatches, and a new leak gives us a hint of some top new features.
Images of a possible Fitbit Versa 3, all-new Fitbit Sense and Inspire 2 have popped up on WinFuture, and there are plenty of details to be gleaned.
We’re going to caveat everything by saying that we’re assuming these leaks to be genuine because of the quality of the images, and that Fitbit devices always leak before IFA every year. But of course, this could all be nonsense.
Fitbit Sense
Most exciting is the Fitbit Sense, a brand-new line for Fitbit.
It looks like the Versa 3, but with a more premium looking design.
Some conveniently placed icons on the rear of the device give us clues to a high-end, wellness-orientated feature set.
We can’t be sure what they mean, but the first looks like it could be electrocardiogram (ECG), the second temperature, with GPS and 50m water resistance looking like dead certs at the end.
This would be a great feature set for a Fitbit device. Adding ECG would catch up with the Apple Watch Series 5 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 3, and tracking body temperature would be hugely compelling considering the global pandemic.
Body temperature has been a key focus of wearables being trialled for early warning devices for COVID-19, and can also be used for fertility tracking, which is already part of the Fitbit feature set.
Of course, getting FDA clearance for these features is another matter.
Fitbit struggled with getting SpO2 regulatory clearance for its Estimated Oxygen Variation features, and it took years for the sensor to be turned on.
However, back in May Fitbit revealed it was working on ECG and launched a huge heart health study, so there are encouraging signs that it could be ready for launch.
We really hope that if the Fitbit Sense has the features we predict, that we’re not stuck waiting for them to go live.
Fitbit Versa 3
The Versa 3 is the company’s flagship smartwatch currently, but it looks like the Sense will break out to be the leader of the pack.
But the leaks point to an update to the Versa 3 to add some much-wanted features.
The icons on the rear show a microphone, so we can safely assume that a voice assistant will again be present on the device.
The only question is will it still be Alexa, or will there be a move to Google Assistant given the pending buyout. Or, will there be both?
Then we have a clear GPS logo, which is a new addition for the Versa 3, although it’s not unexpected given the feature landed on the Charge 4 earlier this year.
Finally, we see a 50m water resistance icon. No change there.
Fitbit Inspire 2
Completing the trio of leaks is an update to the Fitbit Inspire HR, the company’s budget tracker.
There’s almost nothing to note here, the design hasn’t changed at all. Anything we can glean is pure speculation.
We’re going to assume we’ll see these devices before IFA, given that the Versa 2, Ionic, Flyer and Charge 3 were all announced around the last week in August between 2017 and 2019.
How we test
James is the co-founder of Wareable, and he has been a technology journalist for 15 years.
He started his career at Future Publishing, James became the features editor of T3 Magazine and T3.com and was a regular contributor to TechRadar – before leaving Future Publishing to found Wareable in 2014.
James has been at the helm of Wareable since 2014 and has become one of the leading experts in wearable technologies globally. He has reviewed, tested, and covered pretty much every wearable on the market, and is passionate about the evolving industry, and wearables helping people achieve healthier and happier lives.