Even though it hasn’t become a mainstream consumer device, the Apple Watch is still the best-selling and most critically acclaimed smartwatch on the market. But that could all change with the Fitbit Ionic, a $299 smartwatch that is scheduled to be released on October. People has the news.

“Fitbit now has a serious smartwatch, and PEOPLE’s got all the details. Unlike the Fitbit Blaze and Fitbit Surge, the company’s other fitness-focused watches, the long-awaited Fitbit Ionic is their first product to support third-party apps — putting it on the playing field with products like the Apple Watch and Garmin Forerunner.”

The article adds that health and fitness are still the primary focus of the Ionic, and the health tracking features are enhances from previous Fitbit watches. This time, the new Fitbit will allow for third-party apps.

According to CNBC, Fitbit CEO James Park is unfazed by Apple. Instead, he remaines really excited about the prospects of Fitbit’s latest smartwatch.

“We have an incredible brand, we have a large community of users – over 50 million registered users who are cross platform compatible – so all these assets I think position us really well in the category,” Park is quoted as saying.

Fitbit has become a huge name in the smartwatch industry. [Image by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]

Engadget says the Fitbit Ionic is a well-rounded smartwatch.

“Judging from the few days I’ve had an early version of the Ionic, it appears to have the potential to resuscitate Fitbit’s waning business,” claims columnist Cherlyn Loww, adding that the device curves around your wrist very comfortably.

Fitbit’s new watch has caused a lot of excitement on Twitter.

Exciting Friday for Team FH! We're with Fitbit at IFA in Berlin for the launch of amazing new health and fitness smart watch #FitbitIonic pic.twitter.com/jy2I5jlSCl — FleishmanHillardIE (@fleishmanIE) September 1, 2017

It is rumored that Apple will release the Apple Watch 3 around the same time that the Fitbit Ionic arrives. According to Business Insider, the new 2017 Watch is set to have built-in LTE connectivity. That means you won’t have to be near your phone to do internet-related activities and you can even do text messaging. However, don’t expect to make separate phone calls from the watch.

While a voice service that replaces the iPhone’s calling functionality is possible, MacRumors claims that it looks like Apple is working on improving the user experience of data transmission as the main priority for the new Watch. Therefore, there will not be any LTE call functions when the watch arrives. This has caused a lot of disappointment for those hoping Apple would catch up with Samsung, who offers the Gear S3 smartwatch with LTE phone capabilities.

However, the new Apple Watch is expected to not only offer improved GPS capabilities, but the battery life is expected to improve as well. There are many who claim that the current Apple Watch doesn’t offer accurate fitness tracking capablities — at least when compared to other watches on the market. However, several websites say that Apple has heard the complaints and is working on massively improving the Watch’s fitness accuracy.

Have the advances in smartwatches convinced you to buy one yet? If so, which smartwatch would you rather have — the Fitbit Ionic or the Apple Watch 3? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.

[Featured Image by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images]