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Sarah Tew
With the Fitbit Charge already available in Australia, two new fitness wearables from Fitbit are making their way into local retail.
The Charge, Charge HR and Surge mark Fitbit’s renewed push for 2015. These are the first new trackers from the company since the Fitbit Force was recalled over skin irritation issues in February 2014. Despite the lack of new products, Fitbit has remained a force to be reckoned with in the fitness tracking world, with NPD estimating that the company still has around 70 percent of the market share.
First off the block is the Charge HR, which will join its little brother in major retailers at the end of this month for AU$199.95. The Charge HR looks almost identical to the Charge, but with a slightly different strap to ensure a snugger fit. It needs this for the PurePulse optical heart rate monitor that gives it the HR nomenclature.
Fitbit’s PurePulse technology offers continuous heart rate monitoring, even when sleeping, providing a better fitness profile and more data for tracking changes in fitness levels. Despite the all-day operation, Fitbit says the Charge HR can still get 5 days from a single battery charge.
Sarah Tew
The Fitbit Surge is a completely new look for Fitbit – a large-sized “fitness smartwatch,” complete with capacitive-touch LCD screen, built-in GPS, and the ability to get caller ID and text messages from a connected phone.
The GPS means it’s very much angled at the serious runner, one who may not want to drag their phone with them on a training session. It comes at a power cost, of course. While the Surge can get five days of battery life — even with PurePulse running — you’ll only get five hours with the GPS turned on. The Surge will set you back AU$349.95 and it’ll be in retail stores by “early February.”
Fitbit also has small numbers of both devices available for order online right now. You’ll only be able to order in black, but they’ll ship in approximately two weeks.
Stay tuned for full reviews of both of these new Fitbit trackers.
