Fitbit may now be under Google’s ownership, but that’s not stopping it from launching an all-new Fitbit Ace 3 kids fitness tracker.
The screen size Is getting a huge boost, and although Fitbit hasn't released the exact size of the panel, it's bigger and 20% brighter than the Ace 2's 0.7-inch screen. It's also touchscreen, so the extra real estate will mean more on-device features.
Fitbit has added new animated watch faces, with various space ships, martian and animal characters that grow and change as they get closer to their daily fitness goals. There will also be Minions straps which will be sold separately.
Fitbit has also highlighted the effect of the pandemic in children, with a leap in time spent in front of TVs and screens. The Ace 3 puts move reminders at its core, reminding kids to get those 250 steps per minute on their way to 60 minutes of active time per day.
It's still a monochrome display, so no color options here. And the main features are still step tracking, sport monitoring and sleep insights. There’s no heart rate monitor, but it does boast swim-proof 5ATM water resistance.
There are also bedtime reminders and silent alarms to help parents get a settled sleep schedule and there are also timers and race the stopwatch features built into the watch.
Thee larger tracker also means a boost in battery life and it will now last 8 days between charging, up from 6 days on the previous generation.
There’s no GPS, so this is still very much a device that’s designed to keep kids active, rather than a focus on safety.
The Fitbit Ace uses an app which enables parents to set access and a kids view, but the feature set has been more limited than its main rival – the Garmin Vivofit Jnr.
While kids are rewarded with badges for hitting specific step and fitness goals, Garmin takes this on a level with virtual coin rewards for doing chores – away from a simple fitness approach.
Fitbit has added Family Face Off challenges, so kids can compete with siblings and parents for clocking up active time. There's also shared milestones and badges to collect too.
The Fitbit Ace 3 is set to launch on 15 March and will cost .
How we test
James is the co-founder of Wareable, and he has been a technology journalist for 15 years.
He started his career at Future Publishing, James became the features editor of T3 Magazine and T3.com and was a regular contributor to TechRadar – before leaving Future Publishing to found Wareable in 2014.
James has been at the helm of Wareable since 2014 and has become one of the leading experts in wearable technologies globally. He has reviewed, tested, and covered pretty much every wearable on the market, and is passionate about the evolving industry, and wearables helping people achieve healthier and happier lives.