The Fitbit Sense is the company’s first major watch update since the Fitbit Versa in 2018, and it adds a variety of new sensors: an ECG similar to the Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch 3, stress sensing via an electro dermal activity skin response sensor, and temperature sensing similar to the Oura ring.
I haven’t tested the Fitbit Sense yet because the Fitbit Sense I was sent isn’t set up to pair with Fitbit’s app yet, but I’m holding the $329 (£300, AU$500) watch in my hands. While I can’t say how all those sensors will work in everyday use, I can say the watch’s build has some improvements over the previous Fitbit Versas. The curved watch shape is a similar thickness to the $199 Versa 2, but has more metal and glass in the finish.
The side button for starting workouts and calling up Amazon Alexa (or now, Google Assistant) has been replaced with an indented touch area that vibrates when pressed, like the Fitbit Charge 3 and 4 have (will this be better when one is sweaty? I don’t know). There’s a speaker now, for voice assistant and phone calls. The Sense wrist straps detach a lot more easily than the Versa’s ever did (which also means: new custom watch straps). The charger is also new, a magnetic snap-on that’s more similar to what the Apple Watch has and is supposed to fully charge in about 15 minutes. It’s better than the alligator-clip-charger Fitbit Versa had before.
There are other overdue additions too, like GPS, a redesigned optical heart-rate sensor that promises better accuracy when running and sleeping, and maybe richer data collection for future health research (optical heart rate is already where blood oxygen, heart rate, respiration are drawn from; Samsung’s already exploring blood pressure possibilities, too). Fitbit’s newest software updates add specific SpO2 blood oxygen readings to Fitbit watches, and a daily “stress readiness” score that will add measurements like respiratory rate to the mix, which are also part of a new step-down model being introduced Tuesday, too, the $230 Fitbit Versa 3.
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Source: Cnet