UPDATE: Read our full Fitbit Luxe review.
The heart-rate, fitness and wellness tracker has been designed to help users take a holistic approach to their physical and mental health; with stress-management tools, automatic activity tracking, and sleep monitoring.
Fitbit claims to have made “major technological advancements” with Luxe, with the elegant tracker being smaller and slimmer but still boasting advanced health and fitness features – some previously available only with the smartwatches.
The Fitbit Luxe is aimed at fashion-conscious customers, inspired by jewellry. It can be paired with a range of stylish accessories, including a modern luxury bracelet from Laguna Beach-based jewellery brand, Gorjana.
Previously, Fitbit has worked with designers such as Tory Burch on its Flex 2 tracker, and currently with fashion brand Victor Glemaud and Pendalton Wollen Mills on accessories for the Fitbit Versa 3 and Sense. And the focus on style mirrors that last seen on the company’s Alta range of activity trackers.
The company calls it “versatile for any occasion and comfortable for all day and night wear”.
Luxe boasts a colour AMOLED touchscreen (Fitbit’s first, outside of its smartwatch range) and up to five days of battery life. It’s compatible with iOS and Android devices, and costs from £129.99/US$149.95/€149.95. More pricing details below.
It is available with Lunar White, Orchid and Night Black straps, as well as a Gorjana for Fitbit Luxe Special Edition.
The stainless steel case is in either Soft Gold, Platinum and Matt Graphite colours.
Design and accessories
Luxe is buttonless and Fitbit’s thinnest swipeable touchscreen tracker ever, with new, “vibrant” clock faces.
Luxe’s design is a softer and more gentle shape than a number of Fitbit’s other wristbands, such as the Fitbit Sense and Fitbit Versa 3. The company says that it’s “inspired by the human body” and that it’s been designed for a diverse range of wrist sizes and skin tones.
The company is hoping the Luxe will stand out against the more traditional Apple Watch; for more on the differences, read our Apple Watch vs Fitbit comparison.
The Gorjana for Fitbit Luxe Special Edition transforms the tracker into “a beautiful piece of jewellery” with the Parker Link Bracelet in soft gold stainless steel, alongside a swimproof classic silicone Peony band. A platinum and soft gold stainless steel option will also be available, separately.
Accessory straps include comfortable classic silicone bands, a premium Horween leather double wrap, woven, and stainless steel mesh bands, and a link bracelet with colours and styles ranging from £19.99/$29.95 to £89.99/$99.95.
Fitbit is offering a virtual try-on experience at select retailers worldwide, by letting potential customers scan a QR code on point of sale displays to see how Luxe looks on their wrist.
Wellness features
Luxe is the first Fitbit tracker that delivers a Stress Management Score – a daily assessment of your body’s ability to handle stress, based on your activity levels, sleep and heart rate.
The company has taken this moment to also bring these wellness tools to all its heart-rate enabled devices, including the entry-level Fitbit Inspire 2.
However, to receive a fully detailed breakdown of your Stress Management Score – including information on your exertion, sleep patterns and responsiveness – you need to subscribe to Fitbit Premium, which costs from £7.99 a month.
Premium members can also view deeper sleep analytics, such as Restoration that compares sleeping heart rate to daytime resting heart rate.
Luxe comes with a six-month free trial to Fitbit Premium for deeper data analysis.
Luxe joins the existing Fitbit smartwatches and trackers in connecting to a personal Health Metrics dashboard in the mobile Fitbit app, with the company particularly focused on trends and changes caused by increased stress or fatigue.
The Health Metrics dashboard tracks changes in your breathing rate, heart rate variability (HRV), resting heart rate (RHR), skin temperature and, coming soon to Luxe, oxygen saturation (SpO2).
Additional health tools include food, hydration and weight logging, Guided Breathing sessions, and menstrual health tracking for all Luxe users. Premium members receive access to more than 60 new pieces of nutrition content including healthy recipes from Fitbit and Eating Well magazine.
A new blood glucose logging feature in the Fitbit app allows you to log your blood glucose levels so you can track how your glucose levels change throughout the day.
Fitness features
Like all current Fitbit trackers and smartwatches, Luxe features 24/7 heart-rate tracking that integrates with Fitbit’s health, wellness and fitness tools in real-time to measure – among other metrics – calorie-burn.
It measures Steps and Distance, but not floors climbed, as like the Inspire 2, it lacks an altimeter.
There are 20 different on-wrist exercise modes, including golf, pilates, spinning and tennis, as well as running, biking and other athletic pursuits. It can be connected to a user’s smartphone GPS to gather real-time pace and distance.
For reference, the Fitbit Charge 4 tracker ships with a built-in GPS.
Other features include personalised Active Zone Minutes and hourly Reminders to Move, as well as Fitbit’s fun challenges and games.
It can connect to your phone for notifications such as Caller ID, texts and social messaging apps too. But there’s no Fitbit Pay.
Pricing and availability
The Fitbit Luxe is available for pre-order as of 19 April at Fitbit.com and major retailers, with worldwide availability in the coming weeks, priced at £129.99/$149.95/€149.95/AU$199.95.
The Gorjana for Fitbit Luxe Special Edition is also available for pre-order starting 19 April, for £179.99/$199.95/€199.95, with availability in June.
We’re tracking where to buy the Fitbit Luxe separately here.
Also see: Best Fitbit deals of the month
Stress management for all
In a further announcement, Fitbit has also made its Stress Management Score available across all its current trackers and smartwatches. See our roundup of the best Fitbits for in-depth reviews.
Simon was Editor of Macworld from the dark days of 1995 to the triumphant return of Steve Jobs and the launch of the iPhone. His desk is a test bench for tech accessories, from USB-C and Thunderbolt docks to chargers, batteries, Powerline adaptors and Fitbits.
