Alta is Fitbit's sleekest fitness tracker yet; pre-orders now open for $129

By Jared DiPane
last updated

Fitbit has announced its latest fitness tracker, the Alta, which is one of the nicest-looking offerings from the company. Pre-orders are now open for the tracker, with shipments beginning in March 2016. Realizing that people don't always want their fitness tracker to look like one, Fitbit is offering a number of band options for the Alta, like a metal bracelet, leather band and a classic band. The tracker itself will offer up to five days of battery life per charge, with a charge time of one to two hours.

As for functionality, the Alta will track your steps, distance, calories burned and active minutes, as well as give you hourly reminders of when you need to be a bit more active. Fitbit has incorporated smart notifications so you'll be able to be notified when you receive calls, texts or have calendar events on your mobile phone. Being water resistant, you'll be able to sweat in it or use it in the rain without having to worry about if it will work after or not.

You can now pre-order the Fitbit Alta for $129 in black, blue, plum and teal, with shipments starting in early March. The bands are priced anywhere from $30 to $100, should you want to customize it even further.

See at Fitbit (opens in new tab)

Jared DiPane
Jared DiPane

Jared started off writing about mobile phones back when BlackBerry ruled the market, and Windows Mobile was kinda cool. Now, with a family, mortgage and other responsibilities he has no choice but to look for the best deals, and he's here to share them with you.

32 Comments
  • Looks cool. I've been debating if I should buy a Band 2 or wait for the Fitbit Blaze, hopefully the activity reminders will be part of that one as well.
  • Band 2 is out of the question for me until they fix that god awful strap/clasp.  The Blaze looks ok, a llittle dorky though.  I used a Charge HR for a year and just picked up the Gear S2
  • I agree that MS messed up the clasp for Band 2. Everything else is an improvement, but the clasp design is no longer something I'd comfortably wear on top of my wrist. Here's to hoping Band 3 will make the clasp flat and unobtrusive.
  • Actually what worries me most about Band 2 is that when they do come out with a Band 3 running Windows 10 IoT, the current bands will get the same treatment as Windows 7 and RT did.
  • Looks to be the new Charge. Interesting!
  • I would say it's the new Flex because the tracker is removable and can be slipped into different bands just like the Flex. It's also the same price as the flex and has minimal screen and band width, unlike the charge which looks more like a smart watch due to the width of the device and band.
  • The Fitbit Flex is 129 in the US? Holy crap that is expensive, the Charge doesn't even cost that much (comparatively) here.
  • I see no reason to get this over the Charge HR... esp now that it's cheaper than $130
  • Size and design springs to mind... To me it's no good without music control.
  • Maybe the recall of Charge HR that has been made by Fitbit
  • Fitbit never recalled the charge HR. 
  • Why are WC's links always broken...?
  • Maybe because they're trying to squeeze revenue out of links by sending them through ad sites (tradedoubler, shareasale) which are blocked by uBlock origin by default. 
  • Maybe, but being a Windows-oriented site, they should know that their readers, accessing the site on their Lumias, won't be able to utilize said links, thus rendering them useless... This just smacks of amateurism.
  • Amen.
  • @Joe920, tradedoubler is used for actually analytics. Windows Central don't host or in charge of the adverts. The links work fine in the app, choose external then select link. I've been using the app for a long time now. The only non-issue I've seen crop up is youtube videos showing up as not found however if you click on the link - they work. In terms of app downloads - WP 8.x apps are always linked, WM10 are not as the app can't handle 10 Store links yet (which will be addressed by the new Windows Central App - which is in closed beta). However it doesn't take that long to tap show in browser and then click the link.
  • Thanks for the answer. Still it seems sending things through tradedoubler gets Windows Central money for showing the destination how the user arrived. Paraphrasing some website: "By sending your traffic through TradeDoubler affiliate links, you earn additional commission for each purchase at the distination site." So definitely marketing related. Maybe not that nefarious, and there are tons of sites that quietly try to map users' each and every move, but using these on Windows Central links is still not an improvement imo. 
  • @Joe920, which website? Lol I ask, because destination is spelt incorrectly as "distination".
  • Haha, this one, https://help.tune.com/marketing-console/tradedoubler-link-affiliation/ but some moron replaced the word iTunes with the word 'distination'. That moron being me. :D 
  • I think GPS as a feature is highly underrated. I love going running without my phone. I realize I'm in the minority not needing music but I love the solitude these days
  • You love solitude but want GPS on your tracker? 
  • You're saying they're mutually exclusive? Why...?
  • GPS is still solitude. GPS does not tell others where you are, just simply where you are...
  • The bracelet bands are ok, however I prefer the Garmin Vivoactive - don't have to twist my wrist to see the notifications, etc - I wear the Vivoactive more than the MS Band 1
  • Except that as with all Fitbit devices, the Call Notification part doesn't work with any Windows Mobile device. Just checked this on the Fitbit website, and this device is no different, hence the reason I went from a Charge to MS Band!
  • Microsoft should offer the option to have some of the UI vertical so you can where it like a watch. Just as an option.
  • No HR, so not replacing or competing with Charge HR. I had a Band 2 but returned it as the HR monitoring was screwball. Currently have Charge HR but waiting on preordered Blaze
  • What's FItbit worth? Are they worth acquiring at this point before someone else does? Are wearables official now, if so, go get Fitbit Microsoft.
  • Does it have a proper heart rate accuracy? Is not clear in the announcement
  • Well, can't they fix Charge HR soon?
  • So a Garmin vivosmart hr without the hr?
  • Almost does everything my MS Band 2 does. Still prefer my band, bulky clasp and all. Can even change the screen colors to match my nail polish, don't think you can do that on the fitbit. :)