First look: Fitbit guns for Apple Watch Series 3 with Ionic smartwatch
Long rumored but now finally here, the Ionic is Fitbit's first step beyond fitness trackers into full-fledged smartwatches, putting it in direct competition with the Apple Watch.
On a basic level the Ionic is much like other options from Fitbit, with sensors for tracking steps, sleep, heart rate, and mapping, the latter via GPS or GLONASS. A SmartTrack feature will automatically detect certain forms of exercise, though it's best to manually launch a workout whenever possible. There are also onboard coaching options, which can tailor themselves to recent activity.
Another similarity is the watch's dependence on the Fitbit iPhone app, since there's no HealthKit compatibility to speak of. The app does however include a very comprehensive dashboard, and hooks for third-party platforms like calorie counter MyFitnessPal.
Where the Ionic begins to differ is in support for onboard apps. The number of titles is extremely limited at the moment but does include ones from Pandora, Starbucks, and Strava, as well as first-party options for weather, timers/alarms, and locally-stored music. There's even a "Relax" app similar to "Breathe" on the Apple Watch.
There are many parallels with the Apple Watch in fact, among them the inclusion of Fitbit Pay, an Apple Pay competitor which is still expanding U.S. bank support but should work anywhere NFC payments are accepted. Apple Pay often requires specific support by merchants.
The Ionic also offers a handful of different watchfaces and swappable bands, and will soon come in a special Adidas version with a perforated band, much like the Apple Watch Nike+. Like the Watch Series 3, the Ionic has a bright 1,000-nit display, and water resistance to 50 meters, enabling swimming workouts.
AppleInsider is working on a full review, coming soon.
On a basic level the Ionic is much like other options from Fitbit, with sensors for tracking steps, sleep, heart rate, and mapping, the latter via GPS or GLONASS. A SmartTrack feature will automatically detect certain forms of exercise, though it's best to manually launch a workout whenever possible. There are also onboard coaching options, which can tailor themselves to recent activity.
Another similarity is the watch's dependence on the Fitbit iPhone app, since there's no HealthKit compatibility to speak of. The app does however include a very comprehensive dashboard, and hooks for third-party platforms like calorie counter MyFitnessPal.
Where the Ionic begins to differ is in support for onboard apps. The number of titles is extremely limited at the moment but does include ones from Pandora, Starbucks, and Strava, as well as first-party options for weather, timers/alarms, and locally-stored music. There's even a "Relax" app similar to "Breathe" on the Apple Watch.
There are many parallels with the Apple Watch in fact, among them the inclusion of Fitbit Pay, an Apple Pay competitor which is still expanding U.S. bank support but should work anywhere NFC payments are accepted. Apple Pay often requires specific support by merchants.
The Ionic also offers a handful of different watchfaces and swappable bands, and will soon come in a special Adidas version with a perforated band, much like the Apple Watch Nike+. Like the Watch Series 3, the Ionic has a bright 1,000-nit display, and water resistance to 50 meters, enabling swimming workouts.
AppleInsider is working on a full review, coming soon.
Comments
Were we supposed to get excited about this?
And they're going to do a perforated band like the Nike one too?
Spare me.
FYI: I know, for running, the series one is basically a fancy pedometer, but I'm impressed w/ it's accuracy. Out on known distance trails it's within a tenth of mile, consistently.
Looking fwd to getting the GPS feature.
Best.
I did everything they suggested: never got it wet, took it off and charged every night, babied it essentially.
Never again will I own a fitbit piece of junk, not even their stock which everyone was so high on when they IPO'd. They are junk and only worth their cost if they were 1/3 what they charge.
Correct it, AI. Thanks!
Every Apple category needs a new knockoff competitor otherwise Android will fill the void.
Citrently:
Mac - Windows
iPhone - Android
Apple TV - Roku
iPad - Android again (smh)
Apple Watch - Fitbit
There are some merchants that accept contactless cards but reject Apple Pay. These merchants (or their banks) have installed explicit software designed to look for and disable Apple Pay. Usually for political/ideological reasons (don't want to support Apple, wants to promote a competing mobile wallet tech, etc.) Convincing a merchant to remove their Apple Pay-disabling firmware is not "requiring specific support", no matter how many press releases to the contrary the merchant may make.
There are. And every time I've looked closely, I've found that the merchant (or bank) in question is an investor in some competing mobile payment technology and is deliberately looking for, and disabling, Apple Pay thinking it will somehow boost popularity of the tech they are promoting.
WalMart is one of the worst examples. To be fair, they are blocking all contactless/NFC transactions, not just Apple Pay, but they definitely fall into this category. They and 14 other companies explicitly decided to block mobile payments in order to promote "CurrentC", their own mobile payment system (which requires granting the service direct access to you bank account) that after 4 years of vaporware was shutdown and abandoned. Today, WalMart still won't support NFC, but is instead trying to convince customers to make their in-store purchases through the WalMart app, which doesn't work anywhere else.
Why not just accept NFC payments? Because WaMart's CEO has some personal vendetta against Visa and MasterCard and is looking for some excuse to get rid of them, so they are using passive-aggressive BS to try and make customers pay with other mechanisms (like direct debits from checking accounts) instead.
Agreed. Looking at their website, those are the best images they have? It looks like the glass was put on as an afterthought, with the ridges visible above the watch that look like you could pry it off with your fingers. Looks like the weird lines of the first-gen stealth planes.