Fitbit Blaze Release Date and Features

Fitbit were showing off their latest wearable last month at CES, the Fitbit Blaze. Up until now, the world’s leading fitness tracker firm have been lambasted by people who believe wearable tech should be made with looks and functionality as equals, and let’s be honest, previous Fitbits haven’t exactly been the Frida Gustavsson of weararbles.

However, the humdrum aesthetics of the Fitbit Flex, Surge and Charge HR hasn’t stopped Fitbit from becoming the trendiest wearable tech brand.. Strange really, it must be the catchy name. Anyway, it seems Fitbit have taken the fashion element onboard as their new Blaze smart fitness watch is far more retina-friendly than its predecessors.

Some websites are saying the shape of the new Fitbit Blaze is a hexagon, maybe Geometry isn’t their forte as I would swear it’s an octagon.. The watch case is made from stainless steel and a decent selection of straps will be available, including a stainless steel chain link to match the case, and leather options in black, mist grey and camel. Unlike the all-in-one Surge and Charge, the new Blaze has a modular tracker so you can easily swap straps to match your garb.

With a color LCD touchscreen, the Blaze has moved on from the monochrome number found on the Surge. It comes with a variety of watch faces and color schemes to match the array of straps.

Unlike the Fitbit Surge, there’s no GPS onboard the Blaze, but it can can take data from your smartphone if you want to track your outdoor activities – Fitbit’s two-way integration with Strava is the way to go for GPS tracking.

Fitbit’s new fashion statement features a PurePulse optical heart rate monitor so you can track your BPM with pretty decent accuracy. It will track your steps, distance, calories, floors climbed and active minutes. There’s a feature called SmartTrack that auto detects your activities, and a Multi-Sport feature that allows you to choose from 15 different sports, such as running, cycling, tennis and yoga.

It also wants to be your bedtime buddy – with automatic sleep monitoring, analysis of your sleep quality and a silent vibrating alarm. Fitbit have dubbed the Blaze as a “Smart Fitness Watch” so you’d expect some smart features. It can be used to control music on your smartphone and delivers incoming caller ID, text messages and unlike its predecessors – calendar reminders. You can also use the Blaze to reject incoming calls if you’re busy admiring your new wearable in the mirror.

Fitbit plays nicely with many popular third-party apps, although not Apple Health. If you do want to sync your Fitbit with Apple Health there are a few workaround apps available: Sync Solver or Wristband Manager.

Another cool thing about the Fitbit app is IFTTT integration which opens up a portal of possibilities and connections, including controlling gadgets around your smart home.

Fitbit claim their new smart fitness watch has a battery life of 5 days, which is not too different from last year’s Charge HR and Surge. It is only splash proof, like previous Fitbits it’s not partial to being dunked..

The Fitbit Blaze is compatible with iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and you can access your account on your laptop for the full shebang.