New Fitbit Blaze, due to launch in March 2016, now available for pre-order.
When I say Fitbit, does the name ring a bell? There are so many wearable fitness trackers out there and Fitbit is just one of them. However, Fitbit also happens to be the leading market sharer in its field.
I’ll bet you didn’t know that President Obama even sports a Fitbit Surge. Wow, just makes you want to go out there and buy one, huh? Run don’t walk to your closest retail store or purchase it online if you want to share the same fitness tracker the President sports on his wrist. Trust me that had no influence on my Fitbit purchase.
I have been using a Fitbit fitness tracker since 2013. Fitbit’s lineup includes fitness trackers in various price ranges with different options, I sport a Fitbit One. I really love the company and I have 2 of their devices. When one of the devices went kaput after the warranty period had expired, I contacted them and they sent a free replacement, which is an unusually generous gesture these days.
I received an alert today that I had to share with you:
Fitbit just announced the unveiling of its latest device.
::::drumroll please:::
The Fitbit Blaze.
They are comparing it to the Apple Watch. Ooohhh look out Apple, the competition is on. In April 2015, Apple released the Apple Watch, now Fitbit has come out swinging with the new Fitbit Blaze.
The watch itself does not resemble anything like a fitness band. It looks like a watch. The only other product Fitbit makes that actually looks like a watch is the Fitbit Surge. The appearance of the Blaze is different though from the Surge. It is designed to look similar to the Apple Watch.
The Fitbit Blaze has some smart watch features such as answering or declining calls, calendar syncing and music playing. It boasts a color touchscreen and 5 days of battery life. It has a cool design and is more technology rich than the Fitbit Surge. It has a unique design that is an octagon in shape and swaps in and out of the band into the frame that surrounds it. It monitors workouts and sleep automatically, and heart rate functions continuously.
The watch comes with a rubber strap band in shades of black, plum or blue. Additional bands come at an extra cost. So you want another rubber 
strap? Get ready to hand over $30.
You can get leather if that is your thing, but that will cost you another $100. If you want the metal bracelet kind of band, you know the type that pull all the hairs off your arms, that will set you back $130.
It’s a device that they claim you can’t be without. It has software and hardware features for tracking your fitness. You’ll still need a wrist watch or pocket watch or smartphone to do all the other things this device cannot do.
Can you run Twitter or Facebook on it? Nope, not a chance.
Can you pay for your Starbucks on it? Again, not a chance.
You can take home your very own Fitbit Blaze for $199.95us. This model is actually less pricey than the Fitbit Surge (which was released last year along with the Charge tracker).
The biggest drawback I can see is that the only software you can run on this is what Fitbit puts on there. Surely their designers have to come up with a better more flexible plan.
You can preorder yours now via Fitbit: https://www.fitbit.com/blaze, and you’ll be able acquire them at retailers like Target, BestBuy, and Amazon following the official release in March 2016.
