Fitbit to build “premium smartwatches built on Wear OS”

Fitbit has confirmed that it will be launching future smarwtatches on the revamped Wear OS platform.

At Google I/O CEO James Park revealed that the company would be powering the fitness tracking experience for Wear OS.

But he went one stage further and teased that the company would also be launching its own devices onto the platform.

Park said: “In the future, we’ll be building premium smartwatches built on Wear that combine the best of Fitbit’s health expertise with Google’s ambient computing capabilities. This is just the beginning of how, together with Google, we can do even more to inspire and motivate people on their journey to better health”

“The company has launched three generations of smartwatches on Fitbit OS, before it was snapped up by Google. Since then it’s been quiet about its plans.

Fitbit will be a huge draw to the Wear OS platform, which now also includes Samsung, after the two companies announced a unified platform, bringing together Wear OS and Tizen.

Fitbit is handling the fitness tracking elements, which Park described as “tracking health progress and on-wrist celebrations for motivation.”

In 2020, Wear OS accounted for only 3% of shipped smartwatches, but bringing together Fitbit and Samsung onto its platform will make a powerful and attractive combination, which should also encourage developers to improve the selection of apps.

After a slow start, 2021 could shape the wearable landscape for a long time to come.