Fitbit has unveiled its new Fitbit Luxe – an elegant fitness tracker for women (predominantly), which brings for the first time an AMOLED screen in band format.
Fitbit’s latest wearable items have focused on providing value (Fitbit Inspire 2) or offering more technology (Fitbit Charge 4) – but Luxe is certainly designed to provide a better wearable device.
While we were big fans of the two devices, the screen technology was a reason for criticism. When the tastes of Amazfit Band 5 and Xiaomi Mi Band 6 can offer a week of battery life with glorious AMOLED displays, they have seriously overshadowed the Fitbit monochrome screens.
But this is an aggressive comeback by Fitbit, offering most of its top features and premium materials and specifications for GBP 129.99.
Luxe boasts the same AMOLED screen as Versa 3 and Sense. And it still manages to offer the same 5 days of battery life as the rest of its line.
Fitbit Luxe in orchids
However, it is much smaller than you will find on the Mi Band 6. It is a 124×206 pixel display with a density of 326 PPI – and measures 0.76 inches. Mi Band 6 has risen to a 1.56 “screen, so Luxe is relatively small. This is good for portability, but we’ll be interested to see how the touch screen control works, as there are no physical buttons.
And it’s not just the screen that gets luxury treatment. The Fitbit Luxe case is made of stainless steel, so it is a visual and high quality step compared to the rest of the Fitbit tracking line. Luxe comes in white, black and orchid (pink) and there is a special edition Fitbit Luxe Gorjana with gold bracelet available at a price of 179.99 GBP
And under the hood are many of the best features of the Fitbit Sense.
Special edition Fitbit Luxe Gorjana with gold bracelet
There is skin temperature, HRV and SpO2 (for respiration rate and oxygen saturation), which are all reported in Fitbit Health Metrics – although skin temperature comes after release.
It is water resistant up to 50m and will watch swimming in the pool. You can calibrate your Fitbit to the size of the pool for accurate tracking of lengths.
And stress detection comes from Fitbit Sense, and the stress score will be part of the mix. However, there is no EDA sensor on the Fitbit Luxe, which allows users to check the stress response using electrodermal activity.
There’s also no GPS on board (though you can use GPS connected from an associated smartphone) and it also supports the new Active Zone Minutes metric, which rewards you for your time at a higher heart rate. There are 20 built-in exercise modes and they will automatically follow the workouts.
The Fitbit Luxe comes with six months of Fitbit Premium, which means Luxe can access all the joys of the Fitbit app – from advanced sleep monitoring, guided workouts and attention, including Deepak Chopra content and manual blood glucose tracking.
Luxe comes with a top price: it costs GBP 129.99, along with Charge 4. It is scheduled to be launched in “Spring 2021”. For those interested in GPS style, it’s not a brainer.