What you’ll want to know
- The Google Fitbit Air is a screenless health tracker with a low profile designed for fixed well being monitoring.
- It presents an optical coronary heart fee sensor for twenty-four/7 monitoring, plus crimson and infrared sensors for SpO2 blood-oxygen monitoring.
- The Fitbit Air prices $99, works with iOS and Android, and pairs with the Google Well being app. You’ll be able to pair the Fitbit Air and a Pixel Watch to the app concurrently.
- Some Fitbit Air options, like Google Well being Coach, require the Well being Premium subscription. Most are free, nevertheless.
The most recent Fitbit tracker is right here, and it is a long-awaited competitor to the Whoop 5.0 and Whoop MG. Low-profile, distraction-free health bands are well-liked once more due to rising manufacturers like Whoop, but it surely’s a market phase Fitbit is kind of acquainted with. The Google Fitbit Air is official as a $99 wearable with out a display screen designed to passively acquire well being and health information on a regular basis.
The Fitbit Air is a tiny monitoring system that slots into swappable wristbands. The bands can be found in Obsidian, Fog, Lavender, or Berry colorways, with a stainless-steel buckle for straightforward changes. The tracker comes with a cloth Efficiency Loop Band, however there are non-obligatory silicone Energetic Bands and classy Trendy Bands bought individually. The concept is that Fitbit Air will be worn in any state of affairs by merely altering out the band fashion, whether or not you are preparing for a run or heading to a cocktail party.
Maybe one of the best factor in regards to the Fitbit Air is its versatility — it performs good with each iOS and Android utilizing the brand new Google Well being app. You’ll be able to subscribe to Google Well being Premium for added Google Well being Coach insights within the app, too. It’s going to additionally work with a Google Pixel Watch seamlessly. For the primary time, you’ll be able to pair a number of units to the Google Well being (previously Fitbit) app concurrently, switching between the wearables in case you personal each.
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This is all the things you’ll want to know in regards to the Fitbit Air, and whether or not it is well worth the $99 price. You’ll be able to pre-order it now, and it will be accessible Might 26.
All the things the Google Fitbit Air can do
(Picture credit score: Google)
For the reason that Fitbit Air does not have a display screen, it isn’t designed to supply real-time exercise information or supply “good” options like notifications. As a substitute, the Fitbit Air’s job is to passively acquire well being information, together with robotically detected actions, that shall be processed and offered within the Google Well being app on a companion system. It does not have an inbuilt GPS sensor — you may want to make use of your cellphone for that.
Now that we have got the constraints out of the way in which, it is spectacular what the Fitbit Air can do, contemplating its worth level and measurement. The Fitbit Air has an optical coronary heart fee sensor for twenty-four/7 monitoring, plus crimson and infrared sensors for SpO2 blood-oxygen monitoring. It has a tool temperature sensor that can be utilized to estimate pores and skin temperature variation. Moreover, there is a three-axis accelerometer, gyroscope, and vibration motor.
That is fairly the sensor suite for a minimalist well being tracker. It permits options like irregular coronary heart rhythm notifications, excessive and low coronary heart fee notifications, heart-rate variability, and cardio load administration. Fitbit Air additionally tracks fundamental metrics like steps, distance, and energy burned.
(Picture credit score: Google)
The Fitbit Air’s low profile makes it a wonderful companion for sleep monitoring. The wearable is simply 8.3mm thick and 5.2 grams with out the band hooked up. Throw on a band, and the Fitbit Air continues to be solely 12 grams. For those who’ve discovered smartwatches too thick and heavy to put on throughout exercises or sleep, one thing just like the Fitbit Air may very well be the answer.
Talking of sleep monitoring, the well being band helps a brand new Sleep Rating characteristic that Google says is 15% extra correct due to a brand new machine studying mannequin. Utilizing the sensors and that vibration motor, Fitbit Air has a Sensible Wake characteristic that wakes you up through the ultimate portion of your sleep cycle.
Battery life is a key a part of any wearable, and the Fitbit Air lasts a full week on a single cost. The wearable costs with a proprietary magnetic charger, but it surely works in any path. All you’ll want to do is drop the Fitbit Air on the magnetic charger, and a five-minute cost gives you an additional day of battery life. A full cost takes about 90 minutes.
What to learn subsequent
The Fitbit Air works with iOS, Android, and Pixel Watch
(Picture credit score: Google)
Google’s Fitbit Air is not an Android unique — it really works with iPhones operating iOS 16.4 or increased and most telephones operating Android 11 or newer. You want the Google Well being app and a Google account, but it surely’s good to see Fitbit Air debut as a crossplatform health tracker. Extra importantly, it is a companion to the Google Pixel Watch somewhat than an alternate.
Traditionally, you may solely pair one Pixel Watch or Fitbit system to a Fitbit app (now Google Well being app) at a time. Utilizing a multi-wearable resolution to trace day by day exercise or sleep wasn’t seamless. That adjustments with the brand new Google Well being app, which helps connecting a Fitbit Air and Pixel Watch concurrently. You’ll be able to put on them each or swap between them, and the companion app will not miss a beat.
The recent app redesign helps system filtering, so you’ll be able to view Fitbit Air and Pixel Watch information individually if you would like.
Use Google Well being Coach with the Well being Premium subscription
(Picture credit score: Google)
The majority of the Fitbit Air’s characteristic set is offered with solely a free Google account, however some options require a Google Well being Premium subscription. That is the evolution of the Fitbit Premium service, and it prices $9.99 month-to-month or $99.99 yearly. Well being Premium’s month-to-month subscription worth is similar to Fitbit Premium pricing, however the annual price is $20 costlier.
The massive benefit of subscribing is getting access to the Google Well being Coach (introduced in preview because the Fitbit Well being Coach final yr). Basically, that is an AI-powered coach that gives personalised ideas and coaching plans utilizing your well being information. It is a neat characteristic that continues to achieve performance, however I would not say Well being Coach or Well being Premium are required to make use of the Fitbit Air.
Android Central’s Take
I, for one, am by means of the moon in regards to the Fitbit Air’s launch. I examined the Whoop 4.0 years in the past, and whereas I beloved the concept of a screenless health tracker, I did not love the excessive worth and subscription-only mannequin. It wasn’t one thing I might pay for in perpetuity as a secondary system to no matter wearable is totally on my wrist, whether or not that’s an Apple Watch, Garmin, or Samsung Galaxy Watch.
I am maybe the audience for the Fitbit Air. I do not use a smartwatch day by day anymore, regardless of shopping for the unique Apple Watch over a decade in the past. Now, I solely put a smartwatch on particularly for exercises or sleep monitoring. That stated, I miss the fixed health monitoring and exercise information. It is a bummer after I understand I’ve walked miles and haven’t any information to indicate for it (first-world drawback, I do know).
The Fitbit Air seems like the proper wearable for my wants. I can nonetheless use my Apple Watch Extremely for coaching runs and a Garmin for mountaineering or racing. Nonetheless, I might additionally preserve the Fitbit Air on to attach with each my Android telephones and iPhone. Once I’m not sporting one other smartwatch, the Fitbit Air is a fallback that maintains a constant information set — essential for monitoring long-term well being tendencies.
Better of all, Google Well being Premium is included for Google AI Professional and Extremely subscribers free-of-charge, and that is a really nice shock. I would not have paid for it individually, but it surely makes the $99 Fitbit Air and the $20/month Google AI Professional rather more invaluable collectively.
Slim health tracker
The Google Fitbit Air is a tiny, screenless health tracker designed to detect well being information with 24/7 heart-rate monitoring. Battery life lasts per week, and a five-minute cost will get you one other day of energy. You’ll be able to decide up swappable straps for as little as $35 every.
