The successors to the Fitbit Sense and Fitbit Versa 3 smartwatches are expected to arrive later this year, and we now have a better idea of what the new devices will look like thanks to an extensive series of leaked images.
Photos courtesy of 9to5Google (opens in new tab), and while the new models don’t look drastically different from the old ones, there are some design refinements that are worth noting. We expect wearables to be officially revealed at any time.
Perhaps the most notable change is the introduction of physical buttons to replace the capacitive ones built into the case – the latter can help keep the device’s size down, but are also more difficult to operate on the wrist.
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The original Fitbit Sense carried a stainless steel ring used to take electrocardiogram (ECG) readings, and it appears that in the Fitbit Sense 2 this was fitted more perfectly to the screen and case, for a more polished overall aesthetic look.
Both the Sense 2 and Fitbit Versa 4 appear to be with the same magnetic chargers as their predecessors, while minor tweaks under the box could point to the introduction of some new sensors. It looks like GPS and 50-meter water resistance are coming to both wearables.
We’ve known for a while that these new smartwatches are on the way, but an alleged spring launch hasn’t happened. They appear to be going through the regulatory process right now, and Fitbit will want to put them up for sale ahead of the all-important holiday season.
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Fitbit became part of the Google family in 2019, but we’ve yet to see any real evidence of the deal: Fitbit’s products haven’t changed drastically since then, and the Fitbit and Google Fit apps remain completely separate from each other.
Current Fitbit smartwatches don’t run Wear OS and it doesn’t look like the new ones will either. For now, you need a third-party app to sync your stats from Fitbit to Google Fit – that’s odd considering the companies are now working together.
We’ll have to wait and see what software tweaks might come with the arrival of the Fitbit Sense 2 and Fitbit Versa 4. It’s possible there will be extra support for Google Fit or something more in terms of app integration and compatibility. Time will tell.
What we do know is that the Google Pixel Watch is on its way, which could be the future of smartwatches developed by Google and Fitbit. It is not necessarily certain that we will have a Fitbit Sense 3 or a Fitbit Versa 5 in the future.