Fitbit Charge 3 specs, release date, news and rumours | Apps News

Fitbit has focused its more recent launches on fitness smartwatches rather than fitness trackers, with the Fitbit Ionic announced in late August 2017 and Fitbit Versa in March 2018.

Leaks suggest the company might be about to update its popular 2 fitness tracker though. Here is everything we've heard so far on the Fitbit Charge 3.

Fitbit typically announces a couple of devices a year, normally coinciding a launch with a big trade show, like IFA, MWC or CES. The company doesn't usually announce products at the shows themselves but often a couple of days prior, using the shows to then present the new devices.

With IFA 2018 only a few weeks away, we would expect a new Fitbit device to appear and based on the latest , it looks like it might be the Fitbit Charge 3.

The Charge 2 was announced two years ago at IFA 2016 so an update to this excellent fitness tracker is definitely plausible. Fitbit revealed the Charge 2 on 29 August and the Ionic on 28 August, both the Monday before IFA press days kicked off. If the company follows the same pattern, we might see a new Fitbit on 27 August this year. Nothing is confirmed yet though.

  • Slimmer and sleeker than Charge 2
  • Different interchangeable strap options
  • Hi-Res OLED display likely

Leaks are still few and far between surrounding the Fitbit Charge 3's design, though the leak that has appeared seems to show the device in all its glory.

Dutch site NieuweMobiel published some images of what it claims is the Charge 3, showing it to share a similar but more refined design of the Charge 2.

It looks like the interchangeable straps will still be intact, though with a neater mechanism and we can expect a range of different bands, including a perforated sports band like the Apple Watch Nike+ as well as a fabric option. There's also a diamond-shaped etched band, which looks similar to the strap found on the special edition Charge 2 models.

nieuwemobiel

The body colours shown in the leak suggest there will be a rose gold Charge 3 and a black Charge 3. If the Charge 2 is anything to go by though, these will probably be special edition models and cost a little more.

The leak also appears to show Fitbit having done away with the side button of the Charge 2, replacing it with an indent instead. The PurePulse heart rate sensor appears to be in the same position as the Charge 2 however, though the actual body of the Charge 3 seems to be curved and sleeker than its predecessor.

We'd expect a high resolution OLED display to take precedence on the front, as the leak supports, and it looks like we can also expect a buckle fastening, like the Charge 2, Alta HR, Fitbit Ionic and Versa all offer.

  • Same as Charge 2, plus extras
  • Hopefully water resistance and swim tracking
  • NFC payments?

The leak from NieuweMobiel didn't reveal what features or specifications the Fitbit Charge 3 might come with, but we'd expect improvements on the Charge 2 in terms of battery life and display, as well as some new features.

The Charge 2 offers a PurePulse Heart Rate, Multi-Sport Tracking and Connected GPS, call, text and calendar alerts and a feature called Guided Breathing Sessions, among others like sleep tracking.

The Charge 3 is likely to offer all the features from the Charge 2 in some form or another, but we'd expect a few extras too.

What these will be remain to be seen for now but it would be great to see at least water resistance and swim tracking for example, something the Charge 2 and Alta HR both lack, while the newer Ionic and Versa both offer.

The Fitbit Ionic and Fitbit Versa both have NFC chips inside for contactless payments through Fitbit Pay so it will be interesting to to see if the Charge 3 will also support Fitbit Pay.

  • Will likely cost around £130/£140

The Fitbit Charge 2 starts at £139.99, originally jumping up £20 for the special edition models, though these are now the same price as the standard model.

We'd expect the Charge 3 to sit in the same ballparc. It's unlikely to be cheaper than £120 and it probably won't go over the £150 mark for the standard model as this would start creeping into Fitbit's smartwatch category. 

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