Pretty much everything that Google is planning to launch on October 4, from the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro handsets to the Pixel Watch 2 and Android 14, has stopped being a secret a while ago, with even the tiniest details revealed over the last few days by a bunch of equally reliable insiders and leakers.
But what you may not have realized is that there's technically another Google-made product expected to go official earlier than that. We're talking about the Fitbit Charge 6, which doesn't sound quite as exciting and as glamorous as a full-blown Wear OS-powered alternative to the Apple Watch Series 9.
Then again, if you value battery life above apps and affordability over a big, round touchscreen, you'll probably be interested in what the sequel to the hugely popular Fitbit Charge 5 will bring to the table.
Three eye-catching colors, one handy button, and A LOT of health sensors
Although we wouldn't normally pay a lot of attention to a Twitter X user with just 90 followers and virtually no proven track record, the pictures leaked by one Arsène Lupin, aka @MysteryLupin, earlier today essentially speak for themselves.
These are 100 percent legit promotional images that line up perfectly with those slightly lower-quality renders we brought to your attention just yesterday, corroborating among others the three color options in which the Charge 6 will evidently be made available soon.
The hues are purportedly dubbed "Obsidian", "Coral", and "Porcelain", which will undoubtedly sound familiar to Pixel fans, and they seem to describe the straps rather than the activity tracker's body itself. Said black, gold, and platinum aluminum case looks pretty much unchanged from what the Charge 5 offers minus an added physical button. Or should that be plus a button?
Well, you probably get the idea. Where there was not a button on the Charge 5, there seems to be one on the Charge 6, allowing future users to easily and intuitively return to the next-gen wearable's home screen from any place in its interface and quickly view their important health information and stats.
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Speaking of health, the Fitbit Charge 6 looks like an absolute beast on paper in that crucial department, supporting everything from ECG to SpO2 technology and monitoring sleep quality, skin temperature variation, and stress levels... just like its 2021 predecessor.
Google "essentials", excellent battery life, and a predictable price hike
If you're wondering exactly what's new and exciting about the Charge 6 apart from an admittedly handy but ultimately basic button and a couple of tweaked paint jobs, the answer might lie in the software department.
No, this thing will most definitely not run a full version of the Wear OS platform, but with added support for Google Maps, Wallet, and YouTube Music (aka Google essentials), many users are unlikely to notice a major difference from a convenience standpoint.
These new and very important services will impressively not have an adverse effect on battery life, which is expected to go unchanged at a whopping 7 days (maximum), but Fitbit and its parent company are likely to charge a little more (pun intended) for the upgraded fitness band than the $150 Charge 5.
The Fitbit Charge 6 (pictured above) clearly looks very similar to the Charge 5 (pictured here).
The US price point of the Charge 6 is tipped at $159, which is not great but it's arguably not terrible either, more or less following the example of so many other tech products released by so many top brands this year. It's perhaps needless to point out that $159 easily undercuts the price tags of all of the best smartwatches out there right now, although it's also abundantly clear that this bad boy will not compete directly against the Apple Watch Series 9 or Samsung Galaxy Watch 6.
Instead, its biggest rival for the title of best fitness tracker in the world at the time of this writing might be the $150 Garmin Vivosmart 5, which however lacks both the standalone GPS connectivity and potentially life-saving ECG sensor of the Fitbit Charge 6, thus desperately needing a sequel of its own.
While there's no word on when a Garmin Vivosmart 6 could see daylight (or even if such a product exists), we're pretty sure the Fitbit Charge 6 will be formally unveiled tomorrow, September 28, and commercially released shortly thereafter.
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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