Withings Debuts 'Activité' Fitness Tracker With Traditional Watch Design

Withings today unveiled a stylish new fitness tracker, the Activité, which bundles activity tracking capabilities into a traditional-style watch. Unlike smart watch and fitness band offerings from companies like Samsung, Pebble, Nike, and more, the new Activité features a round, analog watch face protected by sapphire glass and attached to a leather band.

Inside, the watch includes sensors that track steps taken and sleep quality, also helping users to calculate calories burned. An included secondary dial tracks a user defined metric, such as distance walked or calories burned. The Activité wirelessly connects to the accompanying Withings Health Mate app using Bluetooth LE.

In an interview with WIRED, Withings chief marketing officer Julien De Preaumont said the company's mission with the Activité was to have an impact on health with a design people like.

"Our mission is to have an impact on health," Julien De Preaumont, CMO at Withings, tells WIRED. "That requires devices that we'll use in the long term." The Activité is so pared down, the design borders on obvious: "Let's use the design of a classic watch that we know people like," De Preaumont says.

Because of its simple design and its limited tracking abilities, the Activité is powered by a traditional watch battery with a charge that lasts up to a year, a far more impressive battery life than many of its competitors.

Withings has an existing fitness tracker, the Pulse 02, along with several other health and fitness related products, including its line of smart scales, a baby monitor, a blood pressure monitor, and an upcoming sleep tracking system, the Aura.

Available in two separate color varieties, black and silver, the Withings Activité will ship this fall for $390.