Fitbit announced today that it will be launching the Ionic — the company’s first true smartwatch — on October 1st for $299.95. Also set to launch that day is the company’s first foray into the headphone market, the Fitbit Flyer bluetooth earbuds, for $129.95.
The Ionic was announced back in August with no firm release date. It distinguishes itself from Fitbit’s earlier offerings by adding support for third-party applications and a new software platform called Fitbit OS, which is designed to work similarly to how Pebble smartwatches did with a simple, web standards-based SDK. (That makes sense, since Fitbit bought Pebble last December.)
Fitbit also claims the Ionic is better than any previous Fitbits at fitness tracking. The company hopes that the wearable may even soon be able to help track sleep apnea, but whether it can pull it off is more complicated than it seems.
Fitbit is coming fairly late to the smartwatch market. Competitors like Apple and Samsung having had plenty of time to build out loyal communities of developers and users, along with devices that are more technically advanced with LTE than the Ionic. Users will be able to decide which device is right for themselves come October 1st.
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