Google Fitbit Air - Back Where We Started

In 2021, Google spent $2.1 billion acquiring Fitbit.

At the time, I assumed this would mean the end of Fitbit devices - that Google would simply use some of Fitbit's well established tracking tech and fitness app I.P. to enhance the evolution of its Pixel Watch.

Which would have been a bit frustrating for us here in New Zealand, because a lot of Kiwis have been using various Fitbit devices for years and also, Google doesn't actually sell the Pixel Watch here. (You can buy through parallel importers, but that's not quite the same thing.)

However, it turned out I was wrong... Well, at first, anyway.

In fact, three Fitbits came out in 2021, a couple in 2022, then one in 2023 and another in 2024.

Spot the trend?

No Fitbit at all last year. So was it just a case of products that were already in the pipeline, making their way to market? Were my worst fears founded after all?

Apparently not. This year, a slight rebrand but a very familiar device.

The Google Fitbit Air has received plenty of hype. My take is this has a lot to do with a growing trend of tech pushback. Devices like activity tracking rings seem to be gaining popularity as people try to unplug themselves from the constant stream of notifications and social media updates that's so hard to ignore on screen-oriented devices like phones and smartwatches.

Likewise, an activity tracker like the Google Fitbit Air is suddenly appealing for the very thing it doesn't have; a screen.

The irony is, Fitbit has been making devices like this for years.

2013's Fitbit Flex was simply a rubber wristband with the tracker inside, although it did have a row of five small LED lights to indicate your progress towards your daily step goal.

The Google Fitbit Air is even more minimalistic than that.

The device itself is about the size of a large, flat pill, but it comes already inserted into its narrow textile wristband. These woven bands are available in Obsidian, Lavender, Berry and Fog (Black and grey, purpley-blue, pinky-red and a very light minty-green). But - as has always been the case with previous Fitbits - there are plenty of other bands available, both official styles and via third-party manufacturers.

The default band is certainly comfortable; it simply velcroes into place, so you can tighten it to exactly the right amount. It also seems to be relatively water resistant - although it stays a little damp after showering, it dries quite quickly and doesn't leave an uncomfortable wet patch on the cuff of your shirt.

Because it's so comfortable, it's ideal for sleep tracking, especially given its generous battery life. No screen means a full charge will easily last you a week. Charging is very fast too, 0-100% should only take around 90 minutes. Unfortunately, just like every other Fitbit I've ever reviewed, the charging cable is unique to this particular model. Why wearables like this can't just charge wirelessly on any old charging pad is a mystery to me.

There is still one little LED light - on the edge of the device. This has nothing to do with tracking your steps though, it's simply a battery indicator. A deliberate double tap will tell you if you need to charge - white good, red bad. No light? Dead. (The Fitbit - not you)

You can also set silent vibrating alarms, via the companion app. This is a feature I have come to rely on from all my Fitbits and smartwatches over the years, as keeping partner disturbance to a minimum in the early hours is of prime concern.

All in all, other than the addition of SpO2 monitoring and  a skin temperature sensor, this is essentially the exact same device that sold so well for Fitbit over a decade ago.

So what has Google brought to the table?

It's all about the app.

A while back, heritage Fitbit users were prompted to shift their accounts to Google, foreshadowing some kind of merger of Google Fit and Fitbit apps. Sure enough, when I searched the Google Play Store for the Fitbit app to set up my review Air, I was presented with a new app called Google Health(Fitbit).

Qualifying new and migrating users get three months of the Premium version of this app, and this is where the full might of Google and its associated AI resources really comes into play.

The Google Fitbit Air tracks all the health, fitness and sleep metrics you'd expect and these are then clearly displayed in the Google Health app, every time the device syncs with your paired iOS or Android phone. But once you're on Premium, it's the Google Health Coach that analyses this data, then provides you with positive encouragement and a plan to meet your wellness goals.

As you can see from this picture, I get regular updates on how things like steps taken, sleep quality and various workouts help me get to where I want to be fitness-wise. This is the first fitness wearable I've used that hasn't constantly criticised me for not getting enough sleep at night. I never get enough sleep on weeknights because I have to get up in the middle of the night to go to my job at breakfast radio. Thanks to the AI-powered conversation, I'm able to tell the Google Health Coach exactly that and she/he/it/they seems to understand - or at least provides me with enough confirmation bias to give the impression it understands. Besides which, unusually, the Google Health Coach seems more interested in the quality of the sleep than just the basic duration of each sleep cycle. Other factors come into play like how quickly I fall asleep and how long I might spend awake during the night.

My personal goal is to keep my weight somewhere around where I don't have to buy new clothes just to be able to fit them. So my usual routine involves HIIT classes Monday and Friday, Kickboxing Wednesday, Core Tuesday, Pilates Thursday and lots of walking the dog every day. Coach Google seems to agree this looks like a pretty good plan, and hasn't taken long to buy into the schedule, to the point it often reminds me to do the right workout on the right day.

Despite this, the Google Fitbit Air itself is not actually very good at detecting what exercise I'm doing when. The first time I did a HIIT class wearing the Air, it asked me if that was what had just happened, so it could log my workout accurately. I was suitably impressed.

However, it hasn't automatically registered a single one since, so I've had to log them manually in the Google Health app. It never suspected my kickboxing workouts were what they were, despite all the kicking, and the low-impact Core and Pilates sessions don't register either.

That's not to say there's no benefit to wearing the Air while I do these workouts though. By logging them in the app Coach G. can retrospectively analyse the metrics detected during the time specified and still record accurate data for each class. Heart rate in particular seems to be one thing the Air gets right more often than not.

What really disappointed me was how long it's taken to figure out I don't run, I walk. For the first week, every time the dog and I got back from our daily constitutional, I'd get a notification from Google Health complimenting me on my run and how it has got me closer to that week's cardio goals. This only adds to my suspicion of AI confirmation bias, the robot coach telling me what I want to hear. I wasn't running, I was walking. And even if I WAS running, it would have been a bloody slow run and not worthy of much acclaim. 

Also, while I don't dispute the daily step count recorded, the automatically recorded distance and duration of my walks has been far from accurate. Of course, I can fire off workouts manually, using the app but this seems like a step backwards (excuse the pun).

So I'm left with mixed feelings about my Fitbit Air experience. Each week, Google Health shows me a clear, concise summary of what I've achieved and where I can improve. The app is very user-friendly and it's easy to dig down into the details of each main section for further insights. Also, I've been surprised how much I love how dealing with the Google Health Coach, finding it conversational and intuitive.

Despite that, I suspect once my three month Premium trial is up, I won't feel the need to keep it going as by then, hopefully, I'll be familiar enough with my routine and its benchmarks to make my own assessments, analysis and tweaks.

The actual Air as a piece of hardware comes up a little short.

Ultimately, from my testing I haven't seen any indication this tracker is significantly smarter than the original Fitbits I reviewed 10, 11, 12 or more years ago. If anything, it seems to be less able to tell the difference between walking and running, and certainly doesn't register lower impact workouts at all, unless I tell it to.

Battery life is great though, setup is foolproof and the default band is both subtle and extremely comfortable. If you don't already use a smartwatch or similar activity tracker, the Google Fitbit Air is a reliable enough choice, especially if you're trying to avoid another screen in your ecosystem. There's not a lot that's new here - but for Fitbit fans, that might be just what you were hoping to hear.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Google Fitbit Air.