Fitbit is getting into headphone game with the Fitbit Flyer, a $130 in-ear wireless sports model that comes in lunar gray and nightfall blue, is fully sweatproof and offers 6 hours of battery life along with two sound modes. It will launch in October alongside the company’s newly announced smartwatch, the Fitbit Ionic. Fitbit didn’t immediately have details on international pricing or availability for the Flyer, but the US price converts to about £100 and AU$165.
The design is pretty typical of this type of fitness-oriented headphone but it does have a few distinguishing features. The included sports wings and fins, which help keep the buds securely in your ear, are integrated into the bud and can be snapped off and traded out for a different sized wing or fin.
The Fitbit Flyer in nightfall blue.
There are also dual microphones for making phone calls, which is supposed to help reduce wind and other external noise. A cord-shortener is integrated into the cord so you can easily adjust its length. And finally, like such competing models as the Beats X, there’s a quick-charge mode that gets you 1 hour of juice from a 15-minute charge — you charge the headphone through the Micro-USB port on the inline remote.
Fitbit isn’t claiming to be an audio company, but the Flyer is being marketed as a premium fitness headphone and it definitely delivers respectable sound. Along with a Signature listening mode, there’s an amped up Power Boost mode developed by a company called Waves that pumps up the bass.
The headphone comes with both wings and fins (pictured).
Sarah Tew/CNETThe Flyer can be paired with two devices simultaneously so you can seamlessly move from, say, your computer to your phone without having to fiddle around with your Bluetooth settings. It pairs with any Bluetooth audio device, but it automatically pairs with Fitbit’s new Ionic smartwatch when the watch is in range.
The Ionic is able to store music files in its internal memory and has an Audio Coaching feature you can tap into with a Bluetooth headphone.
“As we launch our first smartwatch with on-device music, providing quality wireless headphones to better help users reach their goals is a natural extension of our product offerings,” said James Park, CEO and co-founder of Fitbit. “Coupled with research that shows 64 percent of fitness tracker owners are interested in purchasing wireless headphones, it makes sense for us to bring our unparalleled health and fitness expertise to this space to deliver what our consumers are looking for most: great fit they can count on all day and for any workout, along with high quality sound to keep them motivated.”
The Fitbit Flyer is set to ship in October and I’ll have a full review of its features, sound quality and ergonomics once it hits stores.
