If you’ve been watching Steph Curry’s wrist for the past few months, you already knew something was going to happen. Google has now made it official: The Google Fitbit Air is a screenless fitness tracker launching for $99, and it’s going directly after WHOOP and other recovery-focused wearables.
The pitch is simple. No screens, no distractions. Just a thin band that silently monitors your health around the clock and provides insights through your phone. It weighs just 5.2 grams without the band, has heart rate monitoring, SpO2, skin temperature tracking, and a 3-axis accelerometer. Battery life is up to 7 days with the quick charge option, giving you a full day’s power in just 5 minutes.
The biggest differentiator is Google Health Coach, which is built with Gemini. It creates personalized fitness plans, optimizes your schedule, tracks sleep with better sleep scores and provides guidance around the clock. That coach requires a Google Health Premium subscription, although purchase gets you three free months with a Google Fitbit Air.
A new direction for Fitbit
It wasn’t long ago that Fitbit’s future seemed quite uncertain. Google had been silent on new hardware, shut down Fitbit.com as a standalone store, and made the Sense and Versa lines obsolete. The Fitbit Air seems to be Google’s clearest statement yet about where the brand is headed: focused fitness tracking, not smartwatches.
The device comes in four colors: Obsidian, Fog, Lavender and Berry. You also get a choice of band styles including performance loop, active silicone band and an elevated modern band for more dressy occasions. There’s also a special edition designed with Stephen Curry that features a water-resistant coating and a raised interior print for airflow. Plus, if you already have a Pixel Watch, you can pair both of them with the Google Health app and switch between them.
At $99, it significantly undercuts WHOOP, even when you factor in a subscription. For anyone shopping around for the best fitness trackers at the moment, that’s a hard number to ignore.
