Fitbit announces the Charge 4, its first fitness tracker with a built-in GPS

Fitbit announced today the launch of Fitbit Charge 4 worldwide and in the UAE, the latest in the line of fitness wearables from the American tech major.

This is the first Fitbit that the company has launched after news of its acquisition by Google broke and it looks like the company has intentionally gone for an update rather than send something entirely new our way.

So what we get is a Fitbit that while looking a little better than its predecessor now also comes with built-in GPS and Spotify—which hitherto have been part of its smartwatch range—and a new feature called Active Zone Minutes.

The built-in GPS is pretty spiffy for those who hate carrying their phones on their workouts. The only downside, reportedly, is that using it would drastically cut down the battery life from seven days to some hours.

Also available on the Charge 4 is the Smart Wake, which was also previously only available on Fitbit smartwatches, that aims to help you improve the quality and duration of your sleep.

Charge 4 also features a relative SpO2 sensor, which powers Fitbit’s Estimated Oxygen Variation Graph that lets you see any indicate variations in your breathing during sleep.

Fitbit has also thrown in NFC payments for UAE customers with Fitbit Pay, which works with nearly local banks like Al Hilal Bank, Emirates NBD, Najm and RAKBANK in the UAE.

According to a statement, the Charge 4 and Charge 4 Special Edition will be exclusively available for pre-order from April 6 in the UAE on e-commerce portal Noon.

Both editions will be available starting April 15 in stores that will be open and online through Amazon, Virgin Megastore, Noon, Namshi, etc.

Charge 4 is available for AED 699 in black, rosewood and storm blue/black, while Charge 4 Special Edition, that comes with a reflective band, will be available for AED 799.

The launch of the two wearables is accompanied by an expanded library of content on its subscription service, which launched late last year and is available now for AED 40 a month or AED 330 a year.