Misfit Vapor with Android Wear could be one of the best fitness watches
Misfit's upcoming smartwatch goes Android Wear 2.0, but its feature set and price sound pretty great.
- Nearly 20 years writing about tech, and over a decade reviewing wearable tech, VR, and AR products and apps
Since Misfit was acquired by Fossil Group, it's been easy to overlook the brand's line of fitness trackers and watches. But Misfit's crack at an Android Wear smartwatch could end up being one of the better fitness watches, based on its specs.
The Misfit Vapor was announced earlier this year, in a barely working prototype version. But Misfit's changing tack to make Vapor an Android Wear 2.0 watch, debuting this summer. I guessed this might be a possibility back in January, and it turns out the guess was correct.
The Vapor will be water resistant to 50 meters -- rare for Android Wear watches -- and will link to Misfit's own fitness app.
Misfit Vapor's design looks clean.
It will also have a touch bezel, a different spin on input compared to the typical Android Wear button or spinning crown.
- 1.39-inch round AMOLED, 326ppi
- Accelerometer, altimeter, gyroscope
- Optical heart rate sensor
- GPS
- Touch bezel for navigation
- Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor
- 4GB RAM
- 50-meter water resistance
- 44mm stainless-steel case, jet black or rose finish
The Misfit Vapor will also cost $199, which would make it one of the most affordable Android Wear smartwatches on the market. If its performance matches the features, it could end up being an Android Wear 2 standout. But based on these specs, it doesn't look like it has NFC or Android Pay.
I do remember that the Vapor was a thick watch when I last tried it on. Has the design stayed the same, or changed? The images here suggest a similar body, with a clean, minimal look that's closer to LG Watch Sport than Huawei Watch 2. But, at 44mm, it's a bigger watch, something that's been a trend in smartwatches.
We'll know more in the summer.