Fitbit announced a new smartwatch on Tuesday called the Sense that comes with new health tracking features such as the ability to measure the body's response to stress, monitor skin temperature, and take an electrocardiogram.
The move is an attempt by Fitbit to further differentiate itself from rivals like Apple by expanding the health offerings of its products. The announcement comes just ahead of the fall time frame when Apple usually introduces new Apple Watch and iPhone models.
It's also a sign that wearable device makers like Fitbit are diving more deeply into mental health management in addition to physical wellbeing. Fitbit and Apple, for example, already offer breathing exercises meant to help wearers relax. Now, the addition of stress management in the Fitbit Sense suggests that wearables may get better at understanding patterns in stress levels much like the way they've come to understand physical health trends.
Fitbit's new Sense watch will cost $329.95 when it launches in late September. The company is also debuting a new version of its popular Versa watch called the Versa 3 and a new fitness tracker called the Inspire 2.
The Fitbit Sense isn't the only wearable that claims to monitor stress, but Fitbit is certainly one of the largest tech companies to do so. Sentio Solution's Feel wristband, for example, claims it can recognize your emotional patterns by measuring physiological signals. Amazon is also rumored to be working on a wrist-worn device that can detect a wearer's mood by the sound of his or her voice, according to Bloomberg.
The Apple Watch doesn't measure stress levels as a metric, but some have used its sleep tracking capabilities and breathing exercises to manage stress. Apple is said to have originally intended for the watch to track stress through sensors that measure the conductivity of skin, but scrapped the technology because it didn't work consistently enough, The Wall Street Journal reported in 2015.
The Apple Watch also doesn't measure skin temperature, another feature that's less common on wearable devices. The Oura ring, a $300 smart ring being used in studies to detect COVID-19 symptoms, is one of the few other wearables that also offers this capability.
The Sense also comes at a time when researchers are increasingly looking at how wearable devices made by companies like Oura, Apple, and Fitbit could potentially be used to detect COVID-19 symptoms.
Here's a closer look at the Fitbit Sense and how it works.