Basis launches a titanium fitness tracker, adds Apple HealthKit and Google Fit integration

Fitness trackers can provide a lot of useful health metrics to help you stay in shape and look good, but lets face it: most of them are designed to look more utilitarian than stylish.

Basis is looking to change that with a new $299 Titanium Edition of its Peak fitness tracker, a limited-time model available from today. It’s not just a fancy name, the tracker’s shell is actually made out of titanium, and it comes with a cognac (caramel brown) leather strap made by Horween. That’s the same tannery that creates the Moto 360‘s great bands.

Though the internals on the Titanium Edition are exactly the same – its sensors track your heart rate, sleep, perspiration and skin temperature – Basis says the titanium edition is more resistant to damage, but still lightweight. While still a bit chunky, the metal certainly makes it look classier, in line with what Pebble did with the original Pebble Steel.

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The cognac strap will only be available with the Titanium Edition, but for everyone else Basis is introducing five leather straps in black, grey, caramel, khaki, and light pink colors, which will each cost $50. In a thoughtful move, a silicone strap is still included with the Titanium Edition so you don’t damage your fancy leather one when you start sweating.

The software side of things is also seeing some changes with an update to the Basis App being made available today. Most notably, it will now sync data with Apple HealthKit and Google Fit, so it can feed data to a variety of fitness apps.

The update also brings along the new Basis Peak Playground, which lets users test experimental features and provide feedback to the product team before a wider release. One feature, for example, let you celebrate your exercise with a post-workout selfie.

Another update to the tracker’s firmware, available May 20, will add stopwatch functionality, as well as implement improved heart tracking algorithms.

Though smartwatches are becoming better health tools, dedicated fitness trackers can fit more powerful sensors and still tend to provide more accurate metrics. The Titanium Edition should at least provide a more compelling option for fitness buffs who want something that will look better with a suit.

➤ Basis Peak Titanium Edition [Basis]