It’s been a weird few years for Fitbit. After defining the fitness tracking space, the company was a little behind the trend of the smartwatch, but still managed to lead the wave to a comeback. But while watches have received most of the press, now the Google-owned company has gathered in recent years, troops are still a substantial part of its business.
Today Fitbit announced the arrival of Luxe. It’s a strange product. There is definitely a market for this, but it’s hard to say how much niche there was here. The company called its demonstration “a unique set of buyers whose needs were not being met.” Specifically, the product is a “fashionable” tracker for people looking for something a little more beautiful than a plastic tape to wear.
Honestly, it’s hard not to see some of Misfit’s reflections on the category. Maybe the company owned by Fossil was ahead of its time. At $ 149, the device is priced between Charge and Versa, but certainly closer to the former. That is, it is expensive in the great scheme of fitness trackers, but more or less in line with other Fitbit products.
It is, indeed, a beautiful tracker, in terms of these things, with a color touch screen surrounded by a stainless steel housing. It is paired with a wide range of accessories, from leather to gold-colored stainless steel.
Here’s co-founder Fitbit and GM (under Google) James Park:
In the last year, we have had to think differently about our health – from taking into account the possible symptoms of COVID-19 to managing the stress and anxiety of today’s world. Even though we are beginning to see positive change, it has never been more important to manage your holistic health. That’s why we were determined to introduce products to help you stay mentally and physically active. We have made major technological advances with Luxe, creating a smaller, thinner, beautifully designed tracker with advanced features – some of which were previously only available with our smart watches – making these tools accessible to more people around the world.
Certainly, physical and mental health have been the focus of attention in the last year, even though the number of steps has dropped dramatically. The device has a regular range of Fitbit sensors, tracking activity, sleep and stress. It also works with a number of different mindfulness / meditation applications, including the company’s recently announced partnership with Deepak Chopra.
The band is ready for pre-order starting today and starts delivery in the spring.