By now, you might have heard of the surprise Fitbit announcement, where the brand revealed updated versions of its popular fitness trackers and smartwatches. Coming to Singapore are the Inspire 3, Versa 4, and Sense 2. Let’s get right into them.

Fitbit Inspire 3

The Fitbit Inspire 3 is the follow-up model to the Inspire 2 fitness tracker launched back in 2020. Fitbit itself calls it an entry-level device but packs improvements that indicate otherwise. New additions include blood oxygen tracking (SpO2). The device received a full-colour AMOLED touchscreen with an option to make it always-on (at a significant battery life cost, from 10 to 3 days of standby if enabled).

All these new additions are layered on top of pre-existing, yet advanced features like Active Zone Minutes, breathing rate, 24/7 heart rate monitoring, stress monitoring, skin temperature variation tracking, and many more.

The Fitbit Inspire 3 retails at $148 with six free months of Fitbit Premium (a monthly subscription that also grants other advanced readings like Daily Readiness Score, Sleep Score breakdown, and Sleep Profile). You can pre-order it at Fitbit’s official website, with an estimated shipping date of 15 September 2022.

Fitbit Versa 4

The Fitbit Versa 4 opted for a thinner and lighter design, while retaining core features like the built-in GPS that was first introduced in its predecessor. It still offers its 40+ exercise modes and 6+ days of battery life (without the always-on display enabled).

What’s also new to the Versa 4 is Google Maps and Google Wallet access on-device. Fitbit Singapore said that these features are also coming to Singapore, albeit "in the coming months".

The older Versa 3 had Fitbit Pay, but it was limited to public transport use and a few banks here. It also had a maximum of 20 workout modes. 

Fitbit Versa 4 is available for pre-order too, at $358. Like the other new Fitbit wearables, it has six free months of Fitbit Premium. Pre-orders have already begun, but the Versa 4 has a later shipping date of Sept 29, 2022. 

Fitbit Sense 2

Fitbit’s Sense 2 sits at the top of Fitbit’s chain of products, following up on the flagship Fitbit Sense that packed all of its latest and greatest health-tracking tools into one smartwatch.

New and unique to the Sense 2 is a Body Response sensor. It tracks electrodermal activity (cEDA) to give better all-day stress management readings. 

Its electrocardiogram (ECG) readings are also more sophisticated, since it uses a photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor and accompanying algorithms to assess heart rhythm for signs of atrial fibrillation (AFib). While it has already received regulatory approval from the FDA in The States, it is not yet available in Singapore, said the local Fitbit team.

As the top-of-the-line Fitbit wearable representing the brand, it also has built-in Google Maps, Google Wallet, GPS, and all the other features that exist on its other smartwatches.

The Fitbit Sense 2 retails at S$428, with six free months of Fitbit Premium. Pre-order has begun, with an expected shipping date of 29 September 2022. 

Which new Fitbit is better for me?

With how vague Fitbit gets when it comes to hard specifications (you can see how they present their spec sheets on the website), it can get a little confusing when looking for the right fit (bad pun, we know).

Fitbit has a little quiz hosted on its website for users to discover and find an ideal Fitbit device that suits their needs. That might be a good starting point for users who want to find the most appropriate Fitbit wearable when making comparisons to other brands. 

So what else was going on with Fitbit?

If you haven’t heard much about Fitbit recently, it’s likely a deliberate move by its new owners. Google completed its Fitbit acquisition in 2021, where the search engine firm has been trying to reassure users that their health data will be managed separately from Google’s grasp. 

Google itself may be competing in its wearables space since it announced a Pixel Watch made for the same launch period as the three new Fitbit devices. Continuing two separate product lines (Fitbit and Pixel wearables) can be construed as Google’s method of keeping health data independent from each other – but all this remains to be seen.

This article was first published in HardwareZone.