Is the Fitbit Sense the complete health smartwatch?

Are smartwatches becoming table stakes for modern health? Chatting with Fitbit's VP of product, Larry Yang, about the new Fitbit Sense.

Arguably the first smartwatch was invented in 1927 ... you could buy little map scrolls and find your way around. The first digital watch came out in 1972 … calculator watches in the 1980s … and fitness trackers on your wrist launched in the early 2010s … including Fitbit.

Apple Watch launched 2015, and now about 1 in 4 wear a smartwatch and/or a fitness tracker. Now Fitbit is launching the Fitbit Sense … which is widely viewed as a full-on assault on the Apple Watch.

In this episode of TechFirst with John Koetsier, we dive into health and smartwatches and get the story behind the Fitbit Sense ...

[K-tin]

I’ve considered getting the Apple Watch few times before but the short battery life always gives me second thoughts. After analyzing what I can get from a Fitbit and an Apple Watch, I can say this is the difference: an Apple watch is mainly an extension of your phone so you can get updated, get calls etc while yes also tracking your activities, but fitbit is focused on being a health watch that gathers all the info from your body and pushing it to your phone so you can keep track of your health. And for my purposes I choose fitbit. I don’t even turn on all app notifications because I don’t want my wrist buzzing all the time so I don’t think Apple watch is for me.

[littlebirdblue]

I have an iPhone but choose to wear fitbit products. The fitbit app is very user friendly and I very much appreciate how they put out a much more economical device that is geared towards both android and apple iPhone users. Plus, I track my sleep patterns and my heart rate, which fitbit excels at. I’m leaning towards the fitbit sense for my next purchase. I’m already a premium subscriber. I wish they would offer some sort of discount to current subscribers with the purchase of a new device. Seems fair to me.

[mattshep]

How accurate is electrodermal activity measurement in tracking stress?

[rachelhelman]

Great video, really good to hear from fitbit themselves. I woukd also be interested in hearing about how the fitbit app is going to look and how they will change the app to accommodate these new metrics. Also where are fitbit thinking that they will go with future software updates for the Sense.

[Drrck]

I luv my Fitbit Ionic, but that Fitbit Sense is really nice. Seriously considering getting that.

[sherwyncosta]

Great video. Would have loved to know how the Fitbit sense would compare to a band like whoop and bootstrap.

[tminusfiveequals]

-Why are they using such big bezels which are outdated in 2020 ?
-The competition does not require subscription for extra data.
-How would a subscription help in a country that does not yet approve some functions of the smartwatch ? Will the 6 month trial period be wasted on such users ?

That doesn't have to do with the product but is Larry using a 56k Modem ?

[rolandrohde]

Interesting. I am rather sad, that Fitbit isn't adopting transflective displays like Garmin. Another interesting question would have been, whether they finally fixed the step counter. Also...what happened to the blood oxygen measurement? Have they dropped that? It's mentioned in the Video, but I don't see it listed as a Feature on their website...
Oh, and an actual ECG function would have been a pretty neat addition as well...

[ahefner]

Every year a new promised watch that for majority fails. Ionic I don't even think they support anymore. But it was the watch marketed with spo2, GPS, better connection between Android and Apple.

Then you wait and the features you bought the watch for become a premium 10$ to use or see.

I fall for this everytime but Fitbit hands down has the best app interface and user friendly but lying through marketing drives me nuts.

[whatsbestnow]

I really hope the notifications and “smart watch” features are good. Also all these smart watch companies need to get each country approval entity together so we all benefit from all the functionality I’m sick of hearing about functionality but it’s “not available” in all regions. This is like the break of gauge back in the day. Australia is the most anal and needs a good douche