At Apple’s iPhone SE launch event this week, CEO Tim Cook announced the price cut of $50 in the starting price of the Apple Watch. Cupertino-based Apple has set the standards in the battle of the stylish smart-watches but faces a difficult competition from the Fitbit Blaze, a slightly more budget-friendly wearable device that comes loaded with many of the same features. Here is a look at how the two watches fare against each other.
The Basics
The Fitbit Blaze targets the style-conscious consumers who want to track the usual fitness metrics but also want other features, such as reading text messages, viewing their calendar and controlling the music on a paired smart phone. The Apple Watch is made to “be an essential part of who you are,” says Apple’s website. It has all of the regular fitness tracking and can keep track of your appointments, advise you when you may require an umbrella or show you a text message from a friend, among other features.
Price
The Fitbit Blaze is priced at $199.95. With its latest price reduction, the Apple Watch Sport starts at $299.
Style
Both wearables come with changeable bands that allow both devices to modify from something you’d wear at the gym into a device that can easily be worn with business attire. At the iPhone event on Monday, Apple launched a new assemble of bands made from woven nylon, new colors for the Apple Watch Sport and a space black variant of its higher-end Milanese loop. Fitbit’s options include “classic” bands in colors including black, plum and blue to a variety of leather bands and a stainless steel band selling for $129.95.
Charging
Pop the screen out from the Fitbit Blaze, insert the device into a charging unit and plug it into a USB port. Apple’s charging process is seamless, allowing users attach a magnetic charging cable to the back of the Apple Watch to draw power from either an outlet or a USB port. Fitbit comes out winning in battery life. The Blaze can live for five days without needing to charge, whereas the Apple Watch has a battery life of around 18 hours, according to Apple.
What would you choose? Let us know through the comments section below.
I never tried the Fitbit Blaze. I recently got the Apple watch and I love it. With looks, i prefer the apple watch over the blaze. Also, it’s easy to charge and sync to the iPhone and iPad
The Fitbit is great for those that can tolerate a rubber band watch. Those who need a metal band will be hard pressed to pay the steep price of $129 for just a band. This is the greatest turn off of the Fitbit. I would be happy to pay the Apple watch (or Fitbit) price if it included a metal band. Fitbit’s software does more than Apple when it comes to automatically tracking workouts, etc.
Like the Fitbit for its long charge making it more suitable for extended trail trips. The ultimate long distance health assistant would also be solar powered.