14 DAY TRIAL // Let’s admit it: smartwatches are the new cool thing these days, and their popularity is constantly increasing. And while Apple dominates the industry, others are betting big on their products too, including Samsung, Fitbit, Garmin, and several others.
As far as Samsung is concerned, the South Koreans have already announced their new smartwatch earlier this summer, but at the same time, they also don’t want to leave behind another important sector in the wearable market.
It’s the fitness tracking business, which Samsung knows how important it is, especially because there still are a lot of people out there who just want to keep an eye on their workouts without having to wear a larger device on their wrists.
So today, Samsung took the wraps off the Galaxy Fit2 fitness tracker, a new device that’s not supposed to be a rival to the Apple Watch, but an alternative to the recently announced Fitbit Inspire 2.
Both Fitbit and Samsung investing in fitness bands is living proof that this market still has its very own fans, and the South Koreans are trying to offer flagship features at a lower price point.
In other words, the purpose of the Galaxy Fit2 is to provide you with tracking features that are typically available at a higher price, all without neglecting other key areas like the design.
The Fit2 comes with a 1.1-inch AMOLED display that features full touch support, and this is both good news and bad news. First of all, the device comes without a physical button is living proof that the Galaxy Fit2 is supposed to feel modern. But second of all, going for touch-only on a fitness tracker could easily become a rather inconvenient solution, as interacting with the device with a sweaty hand could be quite a challenge.
And sweat is something that’s part of the business here, as we’re talking about fitness trackers that we should use when working out. Samsung, however, claims this shouldn’t be a problem:
“The groove design can help reduce sweating and 3D glass display comes with over 70 different face options so you can swap out to best suit your style.”
“Up to 15 days of battery life.”
Samsung has tried to make this tracker as portable as possible, so it tips the scales at just 21 grams. This is impressive, to say the least, especially considering how much hardware the company has managed to put in there. For example, the Fit2 offers permanent heart rate monitoring, something that not even the Apple Watch comes with right now, as well as sleep monitoring, again something that’s yet to be offered in the Apple ecosystem (as a matter of fact, the Apple Watch will get sleep tracking in the fall with the release of watch OS 7).
At the same time, Fit2 comes with automatic detection of workouts, which means that you can just begin to exercise and the device will figure out what you’re doing and track the burned calories and everything else accordingly.
Samsung’s new fitness tracker comes with a 159 mAh battery, and this means the device should be available to offer up to 15 days of battery life per charge. However, this depends a lot on how you’re using it, so if you work out every day, expect the battery life to be much reduced.
“It runs for up to 15 days, extendable to 21 days depending on settings and conditions, without needing to recharge so you can focus on your fitness goals without having to worry about running low on battery,” Samsung says.
No specifics are available on the price right now, as availability hasn’t been shared either, but expect the Galaxy Fit2 to cost approximately $99 when it hits the market later this year.