Samsung’s next fitness tracker might be able to pay for your post-run coffee. According to screenshots spotted by Sammobile, the company is working on a follow-up to its Galaxy Fit 3 fitness tracker, and, unlike Google’s recently announced Fitbit Edge, it could support NFC and contactless payments.
The main giveaway is a “Wallet” section that appears at the very bottom of the settings menu in screenshots of the Galaxy Fit 4 Manager app, the companion app for the new wearable. The Galaxy Fit 4 could feature some kind of wallet for storing passes, tickets, and gym memberships, but it seems far more likely the wearable will offer tap-to-pay, just like the company’s smartphones. Menus for adjusting sounds and vibrations also indicate the new tracker is adding a speaker and haptic motor, something past Galaxy Fits haven’t included.
Images of the Galaxy Fit 4 have been trickling out in the last few months, and at least so far, the wearable has seemed like a minor upgrade to the Fit 3. It appears to feature a similar rectangular screen, a basic collection of health tracking features, and some amount of integration with Android smartphones. These new details are the first indication that the fitness tracker could be more ambitious than Samsung’s last model.
Google’s Fitbit Edge represents a sort of middle ground between its more premium Pixel Watch 5 and the streamlined and affordable Fitbit Air. In that way it’s a bit of a reinvention of the Fitbit Charge, the brand’s old midrange fitness tracker. Unlike the most recent Charge 6, though, the Fitbit Edge doesn’t feature an NFC chip and has no way to handle payments, a decision Google said it made because very few people actually used the feature. Assuming the Galaxy Fit 4 does support contactless payments—and having the feature doesn’t hurt its battery life or price—it could stand out from the Fitbit Edge as a more convenient option for anyone who doesn’t want to invest in a proper smartwatch or whip out their phone.
