Fitbit wants to democratize fitness wearables with latest line of smartwatches

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Fitbit is the leading company in fitness trackers. Fitbit has evolved from offering smart pedometers to making popular fitness trackers and has been trying its hand at more functional smartphones.

The core of Fitbit's focus has always been a well-rounded approach at fitness. The company doesn't only track steps or specific exercises, they stress the importance of tracking sleep and sleep quality, nutrition and a range of exercises. Now the company is aiming to democratize fitness solutions for all users. The Fitbit Versa is available for preorder, it costs $249.95 and will be coming to market by April 19.

Fitbit representatives launched new smartwatches in Toronto earlier today. The Fitbit Alta, which they say is the smartwatch for everyone, and the Fitbit Ace which is designed for children aged 8 years and up. Other announcents today were features for tracking women's health (menstrual and ovulation cycles) as well. Fitbit also has the exceptional Aria scale which takes care of measuring weight, body fat percentage and BMI.

More importantly, Fitbit lays claim to the largest active fitness network with 25.4 million active users. These are engaged users who have made Fitbit wearables and the class leading software a part of their fitness routine and lives.

The Fitbit Versa which is designed to suit the widest range of users is reminiscent of the friendly Pebble smartwatches (Fitbit absorbed Pebble a few years ago and has a lot of their patents and people). While the Fitbit Ionic was an ambitious attempt at a smartwatch with fitness as its focus, the Fitbit Versa is a more casual yet similarly capable (not to mention more affordable) option.

Fitbit seems to be listening to users and integrating this input into their devices. For example, one of the sore spots of the Fitbit Ionic was that while it would receive messages and notifcations, there was no way to reply. That's changing as the company has promised the ability to reply to text messages provided users have an Android device. Fitbit Versa will be able to store up to 300 MP3 files and work directly with Bluetooth headphones, Fitbit has also teamed up with upstart streaming service Deezer to enable downloading curated playlists.

Now, the Apple Watch may have the lead of the smartwatch market but Fitbit's Versa is looking good as a more immersive fitness solution plus it can match the Apple Watch in the fashion department, now that it has a range of rubber, metal and leather bands to change the look. Stay tuned for my review of the Fitbit Versa.