Fitness watches are enjoying a very sudden surge in popularity. People are buzzing about Fitbit, and Nike Fuel, and quantifying their movements and sleep for optimal health. Magellan is entering that market with the new Echo Fit, a “smart sports watch” that uses Bluetooth to sync to various fitness apps, from Runkeeper to Strava and plenty others.
What’s intriguing is that they’ve managed to include what looks like a nice sized screen, meaning this can function as an actual watch as well as an activity tracker. They’re also saying it has an “ultra low power” battery, so it sounds like you won’t need to rush to a charger every 12 hours. In fact, this runs on a coin cell battery, so you won’t need to charge it at all! This doesn’t sound like it intends to compete with full blown smartwatches that want to bring your phone to your wrist; this just takes the concept of the fitness band and beefs it up to a more usable level. We looked at the original Echo last year, and our reviewer Mike had nothing but praise for it; given the history, the Echo Fit should be even better!
Magellan says the Echo Fit will retail for $149.99, which is a very competitive price for an activity watch. If you’re interested in quantifying your activity levels and want something with a screen and a ton of app compatibility, keep this on your radar and look for it in September 2014!