Fitbit’s Ionic smartwatch priced and dated for South Africa

We’ve had a good long look at Fitbit’s first true smartwatch, the Ionic, and it’s shaping up to be a phone that will give Apple’s current generation of watches pause.

What we didn’t know was what the Ionic would cost or when we could have one. That was the tenth thing. That, quite obviously, has changed. But… you’re probably not going to be too pleased with the pricing.

The Fitbit Ionic has been priced at R5,500 for South African markets and it’s set to go on sale in mid-October. Right when you’ll be deciding whether to pull the trigger on a new iPhone, Apple Watch, or other piece of high-end festive season gadgetry. This is in comparison to the (before tax, mind) overseas price of $300, or about R4,000, something that is bound to get up the noses of some buyers.

The R5,500 price isn’t completely out of hand, however. The Fitbit Blaze is still available for R4,000 and that one only looks like a smartwatch. It doesn’t have the (probably limited) app support, GPS functions, internal storage, and blood oxygen sensors that the Ionic will be toting along at launch. And it’ll still be cheaper than an Apple Watch Series 2.

The adidas version of the Fitbit Ionic will be launching in 2018, so there’s going to be a wait on that side. But if it was good enough for Apple with their Nike Watch then Fitbit will probably be all right. Unfortunately Fitbit hasn’t expanded on what the adidas edition will entail, nor have they given any costing. Yet.