Fitbit has introduced the Fitbit Alta HR and new advances in sleep tracking, giving users actionable insights and guidance in the Fitbit app to make more informed decisions about their health and stay motivated to reach their wellness goals in style.
Fitbit Alta HR is the world’s slimmest wrist-based, continuous heart rate tracking device combining the benefits of PurePulse heart rate technology, automatic exercise recognition, sleep tracking, battery life of up to seven days and smart notifications in a slim, versatile design that is easily customized to fit your style. Alta HR is available in retail from April 2017.
Sleep Stages utilises heart rate variability to estimate the amount of time you spend in light, deep and REM sleep, as well as time awake each night, to better understand the user’s sleep quality.
Sleep Insights uses the whole of the Fitbit data to provide personalised guidance on how to improve sleep for better overall health.
“Alta HR and these powerful new sleep features demonstrate our continued focus on evolving our innovative technology to deliver deeper, more actionable insights to help our users improve their health,” said James Park, co-founder and CEO of Fitbit. “The miniaturisation of our PurePulse heart rate technology opens up exciting opportunities for future generations of devices and new form factors. Our advances in sleep will provide millions of users around the globe accessibility to invaluable insights that previously could be obtained only through expensive lab tests.”
Fitbit was able to bring PurePulse, the feature requested most by Fitbit Alta users, to Alta HR by developing a one-of-a-kind chip that reduced the size and number of components needed, achieving a 25% slimmer design than Fitbit Charge 2. The result is a stylish device that offers all-day, continuous heart rate tracking, making it easier for you to make more informed decisions about user health.
It can better measure calorie burn all day, including during non-step based exercise like yoga and spinning, to help users stay on track toward your health and weight goals by tracking calories in versus burned.
Users can see real-time heart zones on your wrist and exercise summaries in the Fitbit app to work out at the right intensity for health and fitness goals.
They can view resting heart rate on-device and trends in the Fitbit app, and compare it to your activity to see how consistent exercise can improve heart health over time. A decrease in resting heart rate is a key indicator of cardiovascular health; changes up or down may indicate illness or other issues.
Fitbit is also introducing two dynamic sleep tools – Sleep Stages and Sleep Insights – that provide deeper insight into your sleep quality and guidance on how to improve, building on its popular sleep features that have empowered millions of people to track their sleep since 2012. Along with diet and exercise, sleep is a key factor in overall health, but most people have very little insight into it.
Good sleep plays a critical role in health and overall wellbeing, from protecting against cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity, to boosting neurocognitive functions, mental health and longevity.
Sleep Stages, powered by PurePulse, uses accelerometer data and heart rate variability (the changes in time between beats), plus Fitbit’s proven algorithms to more accurately estimate how long the user spends in light, deep and REM sleep stages, as well as time awake, each night.
“From helping maintain a healthy immune system, to preserving your cognitive functions and managing a healthy weight, your sleep – or lack of – plays a critical role,” says Dr Allison Siebern, Stanford University and Fitbit Advisory Panel sleep expert. “Fitbit’s new sleep features use a scientific-based approach to show your sleep patterns over time, and provide you with validated, actionable guidance to help you make changes in your daily routine to achieve greater quality sleep – and in turn improve your overall health. Given the comfort and accessibility of this product, it’s one of the most valuable and useful sleep tracking solutions available to consumers outside of a sleep lab.”
Developed with Fitbit’s panel of sleep experts over the last two years, Sleep Stages makes information previously only accessible through a sleep lab accessible to millions of consumers, while Sleep Insights offers personalized guidance to help improve your sleep. The panel brings a wealth of academic expertise across a variety of sleep-related areas, including health, chronic disease and insomnia.
In addition to the advanced health and fitness tracking experience PurePulse brings to Alta HR, popular features and notifications keep the user connected and motivated to reach their goals. These include:
* All day, automatic tracking of your most important stats (heart rate, steps, distance, calorie burn, active minutes) day and night, powered by battery life of up to seven days.
* SmartTrack automatic exercise tracking records activities like walking, running, cycling, elliptical, sports and aerobic workouts in the Fitbit app, giving you credit toward your weekly exercise goals.
* Reminders to Move help you stay active throughout the day, and reducing sedentary time can play a significant role in the prevention of diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease.
* Call, text and calendar notifications keep the user connected so they can focus on their day.
* Connect with one of the largest social fitness networks in the world through the new Community tab in the Fitbit app to find support and inspiration.
