Fitbit new Blaze hits the ground running
Fitbit recently launched the Fitbit Blaze in Johannesburg at the iStore on Sandton Drive. Guests were invited to take part in a secret sunrise session. A what? Secret Sunrise Session. The concept behind the secret sunrise is to dance and yoga and stretch to music only those with headphones can hear. Basically, a silent disco but more inline with actual exercise not clubbing. Needless to say it was a blast to get moving first thing in the morning.
The point of the event however was to introduce us to the latest addition to the Fitbit family – the Fitbit Blaze. What a smooth and sleek device. According to Fitbit brand manager South Africa, Nikki Friedman this fitness watch is the smartest, most stylish, most motivating fitness tracker yet. “It’s a smart fitness watch built to help make the most of any workouts.”
Let’s start with accessories, for a change
The slim design, easy changeable bands and frames, and a beautiful, colour touchscreen with a variety of clock faces to fit your personal style, tick the boxes for those that need the watch to look good.
There are classic high-performance elastomer bands available in black, blue and plum at R499.00 each; the luxe genuine leather bands paired with stainless steel display frames are available in black, mist grey and camel and go for around R1,799.00. And finally the Luxe stainless steel link band paired with a stainless steel display frame available in silver goes for around R1,999.00. So no matter how smart you want to look, you have the option to spruce it up!
Now back to the actual device
Enhanced fitness features like FitStarTM by Fitbit® on-screen workouts, Connected GPS, PurePulse® heart rate tracking, and SmartTrackTM automatic exercise recognition help motivate and push your fitness further.
In addition to tracking all of the best all-day activity stats you have come to expect from Fitbit, Fitbit Blaze was built with next-generation features to help you take your workouts to the next level.
FitStar Personal Trainer on-screen workouts deliver guided instructions and animated images to three of the most popular personal trainer workouts from FitStar: Warm It Up (8 minutes), 7 Minute Workout, and 10 Minute Abs. Each workout is free and can be accessed at any time with no app or smartphone required, offering a fast, effective workout you can do anywhere.
Connected GPS helps you train smarter by delivering real-time exercise stats like distance, pace and minute-mile split times when connected to a smartphone’s GPS. After each workout, stats sync wirelessly to the Fitbit dashboard to let you review your route, speed and elevation in more detail.
PurePulse continuous, wrist-based heart rate tracking helps maximise any training routine with simplified heart rate zones to help you maintain workout intensity and better track calories burned during each workout. PurePulse also provides all-day insights into overall health, including resting heart rate and heart rate trends over time, all without an uncomfortable chest strap.
Multi-sport mode lets you record specific activities like biking, cardio, running, weights, yoga and more wh
ile providing relevant, real-time performance stats to help you get the most out of each workout. PurePulse is enhanced while in Multi- sport mode for even better heart rate tracking, especially during high intensity workouts.
SmartTrack automatic exercise recognition automatically recognises and records continuous movement activities like biking, hiking and running, with general categories for aerobic workouts like Zumba, cardio-kickboxing and other dance classes, and sports such as tennis, basketball and soccer.
It gives you more ways to stay motivated and get credit for your workouts by effortlessly recording them in the Fitbit app and automatically adding them toward weekly exercise goals.
“As a former professional athlete, nothing gets me more motivated than a great coach,” said Tony Gonzalez, football legend and FitStar Trainer. “FitStar Personal Trainer offers workouts you can do anytime, anywhere, using your computer, tablet or phone and it’s only getting easier, thanks to this new integration with Fitbit Blaze.”
Lifestyle needs from day to day
Curated to fit your life and focused on the features that make tracking your health and fitness easier, Fitbit Blaze includes the smart notifications that matter most, like call, text and calendar alerts, so you can stay connected to what’s important, and a long battery life of up to five days allows you to keep up with your life, day and night.
Bluetooth® Smart connectivity delivers call, text and calendar notifications through on-screen messages and a vibrating alert, so you can see what’s going on at a glance. Accept and reject calls directly when connected to a compatible smartphone and add motivation to any workout with on-screen controls for playlists and volume when playing music from your connected smartphone.
“One of the first things we learned in this industry is that fitness is personal – and if something isn’t your style, you won’t wear it,” claims James Park, CEO and co-founder of Fitbit. “With Fitbit Blaze, we pushed the boundaries of what’s possible to create a beautiful, versatile device that can be customised to fit your personal style – while packing a powerful fitness punch to help you reach your goals. Fitbit Blaze delivers a combination of innovative features that were carefully selected with intention and purpose, designed to motivate and offer a fitness experience that is more effortless and more useful with advanced guidance and coaching.
The Fitbit Blaze is available for R3999 at Istore, Incredible Connection, DionWired
Discovery members
It is true – from 1 April 2016, your Fitbit will not longe be linked to Discovery Vitality. According to Fitbit brand manager South Africa, Nikki Friedman, the Fitbit app and Discovery app are not communicating. There is a drive to get this resolved and the hope is that, in the future, everything will go back to normal.
About Clare Matthes:
Clare’s father swears she was born waving spirit fingers and singing tah dah in an oh-so-dahling-showbiz-esque manner. Nicknamed “Schnauze” because of her smart mouth and quick whit, Clare enjoys putting the world in words. This sarcastic eye roller extraordinaire has a passion for all things gadget, technology and social media. She sees the humour in everything and never shies away from a good old égoportrait (selfie).
