Fitbit (NYSE:FIT) announced Fitbit SenseTM, the company’s most advanced health smartwatch, bringing innovative sensor and software technology with the world’s first electrodermal activity (EDA) sensor on a smartwatch to help manage stress, along with advanced heart rate tracking technology, new ECG app, and an on-wrist skin temperature sensor, all powered by 6+ days of battery life. Paired with a free six-month trial of Fitbit PremiumTM, it can help you track key trends in your health and wellbeing, like heart rate variability (HRV), breathing rate, and SpO2 with the new Health Metrics dashboard.
Fitbit is also introducing Fitbit Versa 3TM , with exciting new health, fitness, and convenience features, including GPS and the addition of Google Assistant. Last, Fitbit has enhanced its most accessible tracker, Fitbit Inspire 2TM, increasing battery life up to 10 days, adding more health and fitness features like AZM, and adding a one-year free Premium trial.6 By making these powerful tools and resources available and more accessible to everyone, the Fitbit platform helps you better understand and take control of your wellbeing during this unprecedented time.
“Our mission to make everyone in the world healthier has never been more important than it is today. COVID-19 has shown us all how critical it is to take care of both our physical and mental health and wellbeing,” said James Park, co-founder and CEO, Fitbit. “Our new products and services are our most innovative yet, coupling our most advanced sensor technology and algorithms to unlock more information about our bodies and our health so you can be in control. We are breaking new ground with our wearables, helping you better understand and manage your stress and heart health, and pulling your key health metrics together in a simple and digestible way to track things like skin temperature, heart rate variability, and SpO2 so you can see how it’s all connected. Most importantly, we are making health accessible, surfacing new data that you may only get once or twice a year at the doctor’s office that you can use to focus on your holistic health and wellness, at a time when it’s needed most.”
Manage Your Stress for Better Health
Stress is a global issue, with one in three people experiencing a lot of worry or stress, as well as psychological and physiological symptoms caused by stress. Over time, the physical strain from stress can contribute to a variety of health problems if unmanaged, like an increased risk for high blood pressure and heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and mental health disorders like anxiety or depression. The combined on-device and in-app experience with Fitbit Sense gives you insights into your body’s response to stress with tools to help you manage both your physical and mental stress. This innovative stress management experience was built by Fitbit’s team of behavioral health experts, with decades of expertise in diagnosing and treating mental health, along with guidance from medical experts at leading academic institutions.
The new EDA sensor on Fitbit Sense measures electrodermal activity responses. Using the EDA Scan app, place your palm over the face of the device to detect small electrical changes in the sweat level of your skin. Measuring your EDA responses can help you understand your body’s response to stressors and help you manage your stress. You can do a quick EDA Scan session on device to see your responses, or pair it with guided mindfulness sessions in the Fitbit app to see how your body responds during meditation or relaxation. At the end of your session, you will see an EDA response graph on-device and in the mobile app to gauge your progress over time and reflect on how you feel emotionally.
Fitbit’s new Stress Management Score calculates how your body is responding to stress based on your heart rate, sleep and activity data. Available with Fitbit Sense, it can be found in the new stress management tile in the Fitbit app. Ranging from 1-100, with a higher score indicating your body is showing fewer physical signs of stress, the score is coupled with recommendations to better manage stress, like breathing exercises and other mindfulness tools. Fitbit Premium members will get a detailed breakdown on how the score is calculated, which consists of over 10 biometric inputs, including exertion balance (impact of activity), responsiveness (heart rate, heart rate variability and electrodermal activity from the EDA Scan app), and sleep patterns (sleep quality).
All Fitbit users will have access to the new mindfulness tile in the Fitbit app. Here, you can set a weekly mindfulness goal and reminders, reflect on your stress, log your mood after sessions, and meditate as a part of your mindfulness practice. Premium members can choose from more than 100 meditation sessions from popular brands like Aaptiv, Aura, Breethe and Ten Percent Happier, 13 listen to a variety of relaxing sounds from Fitbit, and see how your practice correlates with your moodover time.
“A regular meditation practice has both physical and emotional benefits, from reducing stress and symptoms of anxiety and depression, to helping cardiovascular health such as improving blood pressure and heart rate,” said Dr. Helen Weng, Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. “Meditation is exercise for your mind. Just like physical exercise, you need a consistent practice to cultivate your mental capacity for it. Finding a meditation practice that works for you is important for building long-term health and wellness benefits. Fitbit can help you achieve this through its mindfulness and measurement tools, including the new Stress Management Score and EDA Scan app, so that you can see your progress and build a personalized meditation practice that is impactful and sustainable.”
Understand and Manage Your Heart Health
Fitbit Sense also ushers in the company’s next era of heart health innovation, a space Fitbit pioneered from offering the first 24/7 wrist-based heart rate tracking in 2014 to the launch of Active Zone Minutes™ earlier this year. Fitbit Sense is the company’s first device with an ECG app to assess your heart rhythm for signs of atrial fibrillation (AFib), a condition that affects more than 33.5 million people globally. Simply hold your fingers on the corners of the stainless steel ring around the watch while being still for 30 seconds to receive a reading that can be downloaded to share with your doctor.
Fitbit’s new PurePulse 2.0 technology, with an all-new multi-path heart rate sensor and updated algorithm, delivers the company’s most advanced heart rate technology yet. It also powers another critical heart health feature: personalized, on-device high and low heart rate notifications. With 24/7 continuous heart rate tracking, Fitbit Sense can detect and send a notification if your heart rate is outside your thresholds. While many factors can affect your heart rate, like stress or temperature, a high or low heart rate may be an indication of a heart condition that requires medical attention, such as bradycardia (heart rate that is too slow) and tachycardia (heart rate that is too fast).18
Track Your Key Health Metrics for Better Wellness
Beyond being able to aid in the detection of heart conditions like AFib, Fitbit is bringing together new health metrics in the mobile app that can help you uncover trends and changes to your wellbeing. Fitbit Sense adds a new skin temperature sensor to detect changes that may potentially be a sign of a fever, illness or the start of a new menstrual phase. Wearing your device when you’re asleep each night lets you regularly measure your skin temperature variation to see trends, versus looking at your temperature at a specific moment in time.
Fitbit Premium’s new Health Metrics dashboard goes further, helping you track breathing rate (average breaths per minute), resting heart rate (an important indicator of cardiovascular health), heart rate variability (variation of time between each heartbeat), and skin temperature variation (surfaced through the dedicated sensor on Fitbit Sense and through existing sensors on other Fitbit devices). If you are a Premium member with a compatible device, you will see these daily metrics and trends over time to see potential changes to your wellbeing. For Fitbit smartwatch users, we are also providing new insight into your nightly average SpO2 levels (amount of oxygen in your blood). A series of free SpO2 clock faces show both your previous night’s SpO2 range and nightly average, and Premium members can track SpO2 trends over time in the Health Metrics dashboard to see indications of important changes to their fitness and wellness.
Early findings from our COVID-19 study suggest that changes in some of the metrics included in the new Premium dashboard (breathing rate, resting heart rate and heart rate variability) can be detected by Fitbit devices simultaneously with the onset of COVID-19 symptoms, and in some cases even before.
“Wearables may be able to play an important role in the early detection of infectious diseases by acting as an early warning system for our bodies, which is critical to slowing the spread of COVID-19 and to better understanding disease progression,” said Eric Friedman, co-founder and CTO of Fitbit. “Over 100,000 Fitbit users joined the study so far, and we’ve found that our algorithm can detect nearly 50 percent of COVID-19 cases a day before the onset of symptoms with 70 percent specificity. This research shows great promise to help us understand and detect COVID-19, but can also serve as a model for detecting other diseases and health conditions in the future.”
Get the Best of Fitbit
Fitbit Sense also combines all of the key health, fitness and smart features found on Fitbit’s other smartwatches, including on-board GPS, 20+ on-device exercise modes, SmartTrack® automatic activity tracking, Cardio Fitness Level and Score, and advanced sleep tools. Stay connected with a range of smart features for added convenience, including a built-in speaker and microphone to take calls and reply to texts with voice commands, choice of Amazon Alexa or Google voice assistants, contactless payments, thousands of apps and clock faces and more, while still maintaining an impressive 6+ days battery life.
Intelligent Design for Maximum Performance, Style and Comfort
Fitbit Sense was created through a series of unique and innovative design processes, including miniaturized nano-molding and laser bonding technology, to create Fitbit’s most powerful and intelligent device to date. Fitbit Sense features a new design language that is inspired by the human body, combining friendly silhouettes and a graceful form with purposeful materials. Finishes are physically and visually lightweight, premium and built to last, with aerospace grade aluminum and stainless steel for a polished, high-tech look. New infinity bands are flexible and comfortable, while the quick-release attachment makes it easier to swap looks from day to night. The robotically-crafted body features a fusion of glass and metal, and the watch is water resistant up to 50M. The biosensor core within has been configured to house the most sensors of any Fitbit device, while maintaining a sleek aesthetic and long battery life.
The larger AMOLED display features an integrated ambient light sensor to automatically dim the screen for easier viewing, along with an optional always-on display mode. The near edge-to-edge display is more responsive, with increased resolution. The user interface and faster processor has been completely redesigned, delivering our most intuitive, focused on-screen navigation. This includes the introduction of new customizable widgets, redesigned notifications and on-screen apps for a cleaner look, while letting you customize your favorite tools and shortcuts to feature more personalized information for a seamless smartwatch experience.
Fitbit Versa 3, More to Love
Fitbit is also launching Fitbit Versa 3, adding new health, fitness and convenience features to the company’s most popular smartwatch family. On-device GPS, in-app workout intensity map, enhanced PurePulse 2.0 technology, and Active Zone Minutes make it easier than ever to stay on top of your fitness goals, beyond tracking your daily steps. Fitbit Versa 3 has even more smart features to add convenience to your day, including a built-in speaker and microphone to take quick phone calls, send calls to voicemail and adjust call volume – all from the wrist. You also have a choice of voice assistants with the addition of Google Assistant alongside Amazon Alexa Built-in, so you can set reminders for your workout, mindfulness practice or bedtime, check the weather, add hand sanitizer to your shopping list, control your smart home devices and more just by speaking to your watch. Use Fitbit Pay™ to make quick, secure payments while avoiding public surfaces, and get access to thousands of apps and clock faces. New curated playlists from music partners Deezer, Pandora and Spotify, make it easy to pick the right music for your workout intensity level. Its updated design and interface take a cue from Fitbit Sense, including softer lines, increased comfort, greater responsiveness, and faster, more effortless interactions.
For the first time, both Fitbit Versa 3 and Fitbit Sense will utilize the same magnetic charger. With an already long battery life of 6+ days on each device, if you find yourself running low, a 12-minute quick charge provides one full day of use. Cross-compatible accessories feature an easy, quick-release band attachment and come in a wide variety of colors and styles, including designer partnerships with Pendleton® and Victor Glemaud. Pendleton™ bands reflect the brand’s ties to nature and iconic designs with a patterned woven aesthetic, while the Victor Glemaud collection channels the Haitian-American designer’s joyful, gender-neutral, body positive approach in bold, sustainable knits.
Get Even More with Fitbit Inspire 2
Building on the success of the company’s stylish yet affordable Fitbit Inspire and Inspire HR trackers, Fitbit Inspire 2 adds advanced features like Active Zone Minutes, an enhanced stylish, slim design, and a brighter, more vibrant screen with the longest battery life of any Fitbit device at 10 days.5 The easy-to-use fitness tracker helps you build healthy habits with motivating features like 20+ goal-based exercise modes, advanced sleep tools, 24/7 heart rate tracking, menstrual health tracking, and visibility of your food and hydration intake, along with your weight – all with daily encouragement right on your wrist. The addition of a one-year free trial of Fitbit Premium6 provides incredible value to Fitbit Inspire 2, giving you added guidance and motivation to reach your wellness goals.
Fitbit Premium – Get More from Your Fitbit Device
Fitbit Premium uplevels your Fitbit experience when paired with any Fitbit device, unlocking deeper analysis of your data and more personalized insights that connect the dots across your activity, sleep and heart rate. It delivers advanced sleep tools, hundreds of workouts from popular brands like Aaptiv, barre3, Daily Burn, Down Dog, obé, Physique 57, POPSUGAR and Yoga Studio by Gaiam, as well as celebrities, trainers and influencers like Ayesha Curry, Charlee Atkins and Harley Pasternak. You’ll also get mindfulness content from Aaptiv, Aura, Breethe and Ten Percent Happier, motivating games and challenges, guided programs for activity, sleep and nutrition, and a wellness report to share with your care team – all in the Fitbit app.
Fitbit Premium continues to build on its offerings and broaden its reach. With over 500,000 paid members less than a year after it was introduced, Premium will expand to Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish and Swedish by the end of September, increasing the potential for even more Fitbit users around the world to benefit from its service.