Samsung announces new health-focused smartwatch and fitness tracker

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active - Galaxy Fit - Buds

Samsung has yet again updated its wearable portfolio, this time adding a new smartwatch and a fitness tracker to the offering.

Announced alongside the new Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Fold smartphones, the Galaxy Watch Active and Galaxy Fit are made to keep users active and healthy.

The former is a sportier version of the existing Galaxy Watch with additional health tracking features like blood pressure monitoring — which, BTW was developed jointly with the University of California, San Francisco. On the other hand, the Galaxy Fit is an activity and sleep tracker that integrates with third-party apps and the rest of the Samsung Health ecosystem.

Both devices are water-proof (to track swimming), include heart rate monitors and offer continuous stress tracking to keep users calm when “life gets overwhelming.” As such, they promise to track your exercise, sleep and “everything in between.”

For instance, both wearables can automatically detect when the user begins certain common workouts like running or biking, and can manually track dozens of others with daily goals and progress monitoring.

“Consumers are increasingly putting their overall wellbeing at the center of their lifestyle decisions, and they’re looking for wearables that make it easier to get active and stay balanced every day,” DJ Koh, president and CEO of Samsung Electronics’ IT and mobile communications division, said in a statement. “Everyone has their own way of pursuing their goals. We’re thrilled to introduce our new line of wearables to fit seamlessly into your life and complement your own personal wellness journey.”

The Galaxy Watch Active is described as slim and lightweight, boasting an all-new sleek aluminum body along with a redesigned strap that uses a soft durable material which is comfortable to wear.

As for the Galaxy Fit, it is obviously smaller and has a simplified user interface. This activity tracker comes with a full-touch color display, a week-long battery life, and syncs to display the time, alerts, messages, weather reports and other updates.

The Galaxy Watch Active will be released on March 8 with a price tag of $199.99, while the Galaxy Fit will be available at some point in Q2 2019 for $99.99.