Fitbit
The ticker symbol for Fitbit is displayed at the post where it is traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) February 23, 2016. Reuters/Brendan McDermid

The high-end wearable Fitbit is all set to compete with the upcoming Apple Watch, and it has a retro look. A series of leaked images that surfaced online recently shows the upcoming Fitbit smartwatch looking very similar to the current Fitbit Blaze.

The Apple Watch may be out by fall, but the Fitbit wearable is not going to give Apple an easy ride, as it will reportedly be released a bit earlier than the Apple wearable. The leaked images of the fancy upscale device show the wearable in its golden avatar. The blocky design is still present, along with the sharp edges and squared off big buttons on the side. The look is definitely different from the Apple competitor, which primarily has rounded corners. The leaked images of the wearable can be viewed on Yahoo! Finance.

The Blaze version was criticised by many experts for being clunky and non-water-resistant. The upcoming model is said to have a heart rate monitor, GPS chip and touch-less payment features. However, the watch may still not have been made waterproof. It has been codenames Higgs, and is expected to be priced at US$300 (AU$400 approx). There is yet another set of leaked images that show wireless Bluetooth phones offering premium features at a mid-range price. They come pretty close to Apple’s BeatsX headphones.

However, the wearable-maker refused to comment on these leaked images and said that they have no news to share at this moment. It appreciated fans’ excitement surrounding the product though. The San Francisco-based fitness tracker company could also be releasing both the devices later this year after a series of production glitches that in fact delayed the release of the smartwatch. Project Higgs has however run into problems on the software front. There have also been design mishaps.

“It was originally planned for this spring to likely get ahead of whenever Apple plans their normal fall announcement. Fitbit always likes to try and get in front of it,” a source close to the company said.

All features of the Fitbit smartwatch come housed inside an aluminium body design. It will allow users to swap watch bands. Meanwhile, the Bluetooth earbuds have been codenames “Parkside” internally. The earbuds will hand around the user’s neck. The earphones will supposedly be made available in two colours, Lunar Gray and Nightfall Blue. It will cost US$150 (AU$200 approx). Stay tuned on IBT AU for more updates on the upcoming Fitbit smartwatch and earphones.

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