- Google has unveiled the new Google Fitbit Air, and as expected, it’s a screenless fitness tracker that looks like a Whoop band
- Designed as a “set and forget” wearable just like the original FitBit, it weighs just 12g with the fabric band
- The wearable comes at the same time as a major Fitbit redesign, with the app renamed ‘Google Health’
After weeks of rumors and teases from Google (via NBA star Stephen Curry’s Instagram account), Google has unveiled the Google Fitbit Air, the next evolution of the best Fitbits, and it’s exactly what we expected: a budget screen-free ‘set it and forget it’ fitness tracker to undercut the likes of Whoop.
Priced at $99.99 / AU$199 (around £75), the tracker is incredibly light at just 12g – without the band it weighs just 5g.
The device doesn’t have GPS, which sets it apart from the Fitbit Charge 6. It includes a subscription with three free months of Google Health Premium (formerly known as Fitbit Premium, but more on that in a minute), normally priced at $9.99 / £7.99 / AU$15.49 each. month.
So far, so expected. Google Fitbit Air stores seven days of detailed, minute-by-minute movement data and one day of exercise data, and syncs with the new Google Health app.
What is the Google Health app?
The Fitbit app and Fitbit Premium subscription service are being rebranded as the Google Health app in a mandatory rollout that includes a sweeping redesign. It won’t be a popular move for longtime Fitbit users, but we’ve known this was coming ever since Google made it mandatory to have a Google Account to continue using Fitbit devices.
As part of this, Google Health’s premium subscription is now based on Google Health Coach, an AI health assistant based on Google Gemini. The coach gets access to all the data you let it, from sleep and heart rate from a fitness tracker to nutrition logging by uploading pictures of your meals. It may even take into account your medical records.
Using this corpus of information, Google Health Coach becomes a personal assistant of sorts, recommending exercise plans, sleep optimization tips, recipes, injury advice and more based on your goals and health.
Google Fitbit Air was apparently ‘designed for Google Health Coach’, but unlike Whoop, you can use the fitness tracker with a free version of the app if you don’t want to subscribe. You just don’t get all the AI-powered advice, instead you just get readouts, scores and graphs based on your data like you do with most fitness trackers.
Google Fitbit Air: specifications
|
Unit |
Google Fitbit Air |
|
Price |
$99.99 / AU$199 (approx £75) |
|
Weight |
12g with ribbon |
|
Case |
Recycled plastic |
|
Show |
No |
|
GPS |
No |
|
Battery |
Up to 7 days, 90 min charge (5 min quick charge for 1 day battery) |
|
Connection |
Bluetooth |
|
Water resistant |
50 meters |
The bands come in several styles: a woven Performance Loop Band designed for ‘a flexible fit’ built from recycled materials; an active silicon band; and the more stylish Elevated Modern Band. The Google Fitbit Air Special Edition comes with a Stephen Curry-branded band designed for “peak performance and elevated style.”
Analysis: undercuts Whoop and returns to classic Fitbit
When news of the upcoming Fitbit Air first broke, I wrote that Fitbit’s new screenless Whoop-style tracker fits the brand better than a smartwatch because it’s a throwback to the ‘almost invisible’ pedometer from 2008.
I stand by that assessment. Fitbit has always been at its best as a discreet, reliable fitness tracker and pedometer, and despite the new app’s AI smarts and Google’s heavy hints that you need the Health Coach subscription to get the most out of this band, that’s exactly where the Google Fitbit Air sits.
Other screenless options, such as the Whoop 5.0, Polar Loop and even smart rings like the Oura Ring 4 are more expensive, making the Google Fitbit Air a cheap option for ‘focus wearable’ fanciers.
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