Google Launches Screenless Fitbit Air to Rival Whoop

Google has introduced the Fitbit Air, a new fitness band that marks a significant shift for the brand since its acquisition years ago. The announcement goes beyond a single wearable device, encompassing a complete restructuring of Google's digital health offerings. This includes merging fitness, health, and artificial intelligence applications into a unified platform called Google Health.

The Fitbit Air is the first new device under the Fitbit name in roughly four years. It represents a departure from traditional smartwatches, returning to Fitbit's original philosophy of simplicity and ease of use while incorporating modern capabilities driven by AI and health data analysis.

Design and Core Features

The new band features a completely screenless design with a fabric strap and a metal clasp, leading many to compare it to Whoop's specialized fitness trackers. Google views the device as a revival of the spirit of older Fitbit models that focused on straightforward physical activity tracking. The Fitbit Air relies on a small, detachable sensor module that can be moved between three different strap types, a design reminiscent of the old Fitbit One that could be clipped to clothing. However, unlike its predecessor, the new device is not limited to step counting; it packs a comprehensive set of health sensors into an extremely small and light frame.

According to Google, the Fitbit Air is 25% smaller than the Fitbit Luxe and 50% smaller than the Inspire series. It weighs just 12 grams with the strap and 5.2 grams without, making it one of the lightest health devices the company has ever developed. Despite its small size, the device includes an optical heart rate sensor, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a blood oxygen sensor, and a skin temperature sensor used for sleep tracking and analyzing nighttime health metrics. The band is water-resistant to 50 meters, allowing for use during swimming and various sports. It has no screen or traditional buttons, but features an LED light for charging and a vibration system for silent alerts and alarms.

Battery and Integration

Google states the device's battery lasts up to 7 days on a single charge, with fast charging that provides a full day of use after just 5 minutes of charging. A key feature is the ability to use the Fitbit Air alongside a Pixel Watch. This allows a user to wear the Pixel Watch during work or daily use and then switch to the Fitbit Air for sleep or workouts for a lighter, more comfortable experience.

Rishi Chandra, Google's Vice President of Health and Home, noted that many current wearables have become too complex, large, or expensive for average users. He stated the company aimed to develop a simple device that children and the elderly could use easily without dealing with complicated interfaces or numerous settings.

Google Health Platform Launch

The band's launch coincides with the release of the new Google Health app on May 19. The app offers a wide range of features divided into two tiers: a free tier called Base and a paid tier called Premium, with clear differences in analysis depth and smart features. The Base tier, integrated into the Google Health app when linked to smartwatches or trackers, includes common daily monitoring tools such as tracking physical activity (steps, calories, distance, cardio load, readiness), sleep monitoring (quality, duration, stages), and vital signs (heart rate, heart rate variability, respiratory rate, blood oxygen). It also allows for logging health and daily data like weight, nutrition, water intake, mood, and health cycles.

The major differentiator is the Google Health Premium paid tier, which Google describes as a "personal health coach." This system uses Gemini AI models to analyze user data and provide continuously personalized health recommendations. The service allows users to ask direct health questions via an "Ask Coach" feature, receiving answers based on scientific sources and personal data analysis. It also offers adaptive fitness plans that adjust automatically based on user goals and daily activity. For sleep, the paid version provides more detailed analyses, including personalized summaries and insights to help users understand and improve their sleep patterns. The service also offers what Google calls "proactive insights"—smart alerts and guidance related to physical activity and general health before health problem indicators appear. Another notable feature is the ability to create summaries of medical records, simplifying health reports into easy-to-understand information that users can interact with and ask additional questions about. The service extends beyond medical aspects to mental health and fitness, including a library of exercise sessions supervised by specialized trainers, as well as meditation, breathing, and relaxation sessions.

The Google Health Premium subscription costs $10 per month or $100 per year. It will be available at no extra cost to subscribers of Google AI Pro and Google AI Ultra plans.

The End of Fitbit as a Standalone App

Perhaps the most significant announcement concerns the broader shift in Google's health services. The company confirmed that the Fitbit app will officially shut down on May 19, merging with Android Health Connect into the new, unified Google Health app. The company has also decided to rebrand Fitbit Premium as Google Health Premium, keeping current prices unchanged. This decision marks the formal end of Fitbit's identity as a standalone application, following years of speculation about the brand's future after Google acquired it for $2.1 billion in 2021.

Google believes the digital health market currently suffers from significant data fragmentation across multiple apps and platforms like Strava, Garmin, Peloton, Whoop, and Oura, in addition to medical records existing in separate systems that vary by device or operating system. The company aims to create a unified health platform capable of collecting health, fitness, and medical data in one place. Google confirmed that the Google Health app will be compatible with iOS and will eventually support devices and platforms outside the Google ecosystem, including Garmin, Whoop, and Oura. However, the initial launch phase will be limited to Pixel phones, Pixel watches, and Fitbit bands.

Chandra explained that the rebranding was a necessary step because the new app is not just for Fitbit users but targets anyone looking for smart health services, even those using competing devices like the Apple Watch.

AI at the Core

As part of this transformation, Google is placing AI at the heart of its new health strategy. The company announced that its AI-powered health assistant has officially exited the beta phase and will be available to all users within the Google Health platform. Through the new system, users can receive personalized fitness plans that adapt to their health status, analyze sleep, physical activity, and heart rate data, chat with AI about medical records, use the phone's camera to log meals, and understand the relationships between different health metrics. However, Google acknowledged that developing an AI-powered health assistant is an extremely complex challenge, particularly given concerns about the accuracy of medical information and privacy.

Chandra said the company launched a public beta phase to reduce errors and ensure it does not provide misleading health information, affirming that Google will continue to develop and improve the system continuously. The company stated that the beta version of Google Health saw participation from approximately 500,000 users since October, receiving over one million pieces of feedback and comments that helped refine the system before its final launch. Improvements included restoring menstrual cycle tracking, improving the flexibility of sports training tools, adding a more customizable interface, developing sleep tracking algorithms, and reducing excessive messages and alerts from the AI assistant.

Regarding privacy, Google emphasized that Fitbit data will remain separate from the company's advertising systems, and using health data to train AI models will be optional and not enabled by default.

Pricing and Availability

The new Fitbit Air band is priced at $100 and is available for pre-order starting today. The purchase includes three free months of Google Health Premium service, which provides access to the Google Health Coach digital trainer feature. The band will hit the market by May 26, with three additional strap types available for $35 each.