Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
TL;DR
- The Fitbit Health Metrics, previously locked behind a paywall, are moving to the free tier.
- This change will help supported Fitbit users better understand their holistic health status.
- Users will start seeing this change today, but it could be a few days or weeks before everyone gets them.
If you decide to grab one of the best Fitbit trackers, you’ll need to decide whether Fitbit Premium is worth it. This suite of tools costs $9.99 each month, so it’s a bit of an investment.
Fortunately, one particular Fitbit Premium feature is moving to the free tier. Fitbit Health Metrics aggregates all your health data and gives you a week-long or month-long overview of everything. This was something previously locked behind the Premium paywall, but starting today, it’s moving to all users with a supported tracker or smartwatch.
The GIF below gives you an idea of what Fitbit Health Metrics looks like and the kind of data it shows you.
This is the kind of data you’ll be able to track over the long term going forward:
- Breathing rate: Number of breaths you take per minute
- Heart-rate variability (HRV): Variation in time between heartbeats
- Skin temperature: Variation in your skin temperature taken from your wrist while you sleep
- Oxygen saturation (SpO2): Amount of oxygen in your blood (only available on compatible devices)
- Resting heart rate (RHR): Number of times your heart beats per minute when you are still and well-rested
Viewing these metrics over a week or a month can give you some valuable insights into your overall health. They can also help you spot aberrations based on date, time of day, or your activity levels.
Of course, it is a bit bizarre that Fitbit ever locked this information behind a paywall. After all, this is your health data, not a feature. You should be able to access any and all data tracked by your tech devices — that should just be a given. Regardless, it’s nice to see Fitbit rectifying this situation.
Fitbit Health Metrics will become free for users today, but it could be a few days or even weeks before everyone sees it. Be sure to update your Fitbit app to the latest version.
