Ever since Misfit took the world by storm with its subtle Shine fitness tracker back in 2011, it has been making unique products. Now that it’s part of the fashion company Fossil Group’s portfolio of brands, Misfit has released activity trackers at a breakneck pace, partnering with brands like Speedo and Swarovski for prime placement. It’s perhaps best known for the Shine 2 and Ray, screen-free fitness trackers with notification lights, vibration motors, and activity-tracking features. But at CES 2017, Misfit broke tradition by debuting the Misfit Vapor, its first touchscreen smartwatch, which will finally go on sale on October 31. You’ll be able to buy it from the Misfit website.
It’s been a long road to launch, and one full of changes — the Misfit Vapor ran Misfit’s proprietary operating system when it was first announced, but Misfit soon decided to instead go with Android Wear 2.0. The device will get all the standard Android Wear 2.0 features, including a customizable watch face, fitness tracking, and more.
“Our partnership means hundreds of your favorite apps will be available at launch, opening up a multitude of possibilities for Android and iPhone users alike,” the company said in a statement.
The Vapor boasts a 44mm satin-finished stainless steel upper casing and hand-polished case back. The body is swim-proof and water resistant up to 50 meters. The interchangeable straps feature stainless steel hardware in matching tones.
The Vapor’s 1.39-inch OLED screen packs 326 pixels per inch, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor, and 4GB of internal storage. You use a touch-sensitive bezel to navigate through the Vapor’s menu of watch faces, applications, and notifications. Sensors including a “dual-injected polycarbonate” heart-rate sensor, accelerometer, altimeter, gyroscope, optical heart rate sensor, GPS, and microphone perform real-time fitness tracking. Since the watch has Bluetooth, it supports offline, phone-free music streaming to paired headphones.
The Vapor lasts an estimated two days on a charge and juices up wirelessly via a magnetic charging cradle. The Misfit Vapor is available for pre-order in two colors, jet black and rose gold. It will retail for $200 when it launches.
With the Vapor, Misfit is entering an overcrowded field. But with an estimated two-day battery life, waterproof capabilities, and a low price point, it may best its other Android Wear competitors such as the $350 Huawei Watch 2, and the $350 LG Watch Sport.
Update: The Misfit Vapor will finally go on sale on October 31.
Not everyone can afford to hire a personal trainer. And let’s be honest, learning exercises from YouTube or the gym regulars isn’t exactly foolproof. We need a solution that is both affordable and accurate.
A research group at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN), led by Dr Biswajit Saha, has a solution. He created a bendy wearable sensor that works in the gym and for sports like tennis and swimming.
The OnePlus Buds Clip are a new pair of open-ear earbuds built around a simple convenience. They join Sony’s LinkBuds Clip in the growing ear-cuff category, but either OnePlus bud can go on either ear.
Sensors recognize how the earbuds are being worn and route the audio channels accordingly. There’s no label to check before putting them on, and the feature also works when only one bud is used.