Google just launched a fascinating-looking new Fitbit health tracker, but it’s a little different from the ones you might be used to.
That’s because the $99 Fitbit Air doesn’t have a screen, instead opting for a combination of a mobile app and an AI coach to meet your health tracking needs. While Mashable’s review is still in the works and will be ready soon, reviews for the device from other professional critics came out this week, so let’s dive in and see what they had to say. Is it time to upgrade from your old Fitbit, or should you stick with something that has a screen?
Fitbit Air review roundup: No screen needed
Without dancing around the point, let’s establish up front that almost every review of the Fitbit Air is a positive one. Despite some grumbling from long-time Fitbit users on Reddit about the Google Health app, early users really like the Fitbit Air so far.
Critics overall enjoyed the device’s sleek form factor and health-tracking capabilities, though a few had nitpicks here and there. One thing to understand right away, though, is that the Fitbit Air at $99 (with an additional $99/yr subscription to unlock every Google Health app feature) is substantially cheaper than the latest Whoop tracker, which is an obvious inspiration for Fitbit’s new device.
The Whoop fitness tracker comes as part of a subscription that starts at $149/yr, so Google’s option is a definitive win in terms of value, and critics certainly noted that. In addition, Gemini superusers who already subscribe to Google AI Pro or AI Ultra receive complimentary access to the Google Health app, so no additional subscription is required.
Beyond price, it sounds like the Fitbit Air mostly nails the crucial things you’d want it to nail, like comfort. Like any other Fitbit device, it offers a wide variety of band styles to choose from, which will mostly come down to personal taste. Andrew Gebhart of PCMag had kind things to say about the polyester-based Performance Loop band.
“The Performance Loop covers the sensor, so I never felt the need to take any precautions when lifting weights, and the device never got in my way,” Gebhart wrote. “By contrast, I’d often have to reposition the Oura Ring for comfort, or shift the screen of a smartwatch to protect the display, when lifting weights. The Active Band offers even more protection, but the Performance Loop is durable enough for all everyday activities.”
Mashable Light Speed
Since the Fitbit Air doesn’t have a display, it relies entirely on the Google Health mobile app for tracking health, adjusting settings, or doing literally anything else you’d need a screen for. This has certainly ruffled some feathers online, particularly those belonging to longtime Fitbit users who preferred the older Fitbit app. But critics like Engadget’s Cherlynn Low found the Google Health app pretty easy to use, with a home page that does a good job of displaying pertinent information for the user.
Looks comfy.
Credit: Google
If you choose to pay the subscription fee, you’ll unlock access to an AI coach within the app, which is one of the Fitbit Air’s other defining features. It’s functionally similar to automatically generated progress reports in other fitness apps, but now you can make requests of it in natural language via a chatbot interface. At Engadget, Low acknowledged that the AI coach can occasionally be a little buggy or insensitive regarding things like disordered eating, but found that it’s generally decent at basic tracking and health guidance.
“For example, it used to be nearly impossible to ask an app to log ‘the same cup of muesli and milk I had yesterday’ and get the desired results. Thanks to its Gemini powers, the AI Coach did exactly what I asked, looking at my log history for the brands I specified and simply adding them to my data for the right day,” Low wrote. “Of course, it was not perfect and occasionally I had to correct it. But by and large I found it easy to get the Coach to do basic things like tracking my nutrition and activity.”
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Of course, there are some basic issues with the screenless tracker that are worth addressing. One thing you get if you choose to pay more for a Whoop tracker is better battery life. Contemporary Whoop trackers are rated for about 14 days of life on a charge, but every reviewer I read only managed to get roughly seven or eight days out of the Fitbit Air. It apparently charges quickly, so it shouldn’t be a huge issue, but that’s worth noting anyway.
One last thing to note, courtesy of CNET’s Vanessa Hand Orellana, is that the Fitbit Air is significantly worse at being a watch than any other Fitbit model. Orellana liked the device overall, but made the very important observation that its form factor has real limitations.
“I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve glanced down at my wrist expecting to see the time, only to be met with a blank band staring back at me like, ‘What?,'” Orellana wrote. “Between that and the fact that it couldn’t ping my phone, there were moments the Fitbit Air felt like it was freeloading on my wrist.”
If you want a watch, you should probably get something with a screen. If that doesn’t matter to you, the Fitbit Air might be worth a try.
The new Google Fitbit Air is available now from Google, Amazon, and other retailers for $99.99.
Disclosure: PCMag, CNET, and Mashable are owned by the same parent company, Ziff Davis.
