CES: Misfit Vapor Goes After the Apple Watch, Features Lower Price
The Misfit Vapor, which will be released soon, is the latest smartwatch to try to take on the Apple Watch. It has a full feature set, much like the Apple Watch, with a lower price point. The Misfit Vapor will cost just $199.
Misfit Vapor Features
The 44mm Misfit Vapor has many features that rival the Apple Watch. It will track your fitness with its accelerometer, altimeter, and gyroscope. It’s got sleep tracking. The Misfit Vapor is a standalone wireless music player with 4GB of on-board music storage. You can view and track your heart rate with it. It’s swim-proof and water resistant up to 50 meters. The Misfit Vapor has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It has built-in GPS. There are three app shortcut icons, much like Apple Watch complications.
More Details
According to Macworld’s Caitlin McGarry, who tested out the Misfit Vapor at CES, navigation is confusing at first. You navigate through your apps by scrolling your fingertip around the edge of the watch. As you move your finger over each app icon, a live preview of that app will appear. Tapping the preview takes you to the app.
The Misfit Vapor will come in two different colors, black and rose gold. It will come with a silicone band that can be swapped out for leather bands.
Misfit has not yet said what software platform the Vapor will use; the pre-release version does not run Android Wear. There is no indication that the Misfit Vapor will offer different faces like the Apple Watch does.
Will the Misfit Vapor Outsell the Apple Watch?
While the Vapor’s feature set is impressive, especially for under $200, I don’t see it beating out the Apple Watch. It may find its niche market amongst people that want a smartwatch but don’t want to pay Apple Watch prices. But it lacks Apple’s charm and customizability. It only comes in one size, and at 44mm it’s pretty huge. My 38mm Apple Watch already looks quite large on my wrist, so I would not be interested in going any bigger.
It’s nice that the Misfit Vapor does have the ability to swap out bands. But I doubt the band market would ever be as large as Apple’s, either first-party or third-party. I also think the Misfit’s round face is attractive, but it only has one face. One of the most charming things about the Apple Watch, in my opinion, is the different faces you can put on it. Then, of course, there are apps. No one rivals Apple when it comes to the App Store.
Who knows, maybe the Misfit Vapor will be the next hot smartwatch. You can pre-order it now on Misfit’s website. I’ll be sticking with my Apple Watch, though.
