Why I was drawn to the Fitbit Air, a device that goes against everything I thought I loved about technology
I didn’t expect to crave a device without a screen, and this tells me something important about how I use technology
Was everything better in the past?
No, but it’s exciting
The Fitbit Air is currently being billed as a screenless fitness tracker, which is a whole segment of its own, and an ideal minimalist device to unplug from our phones.
Turn back the clock more than a decade, and such a distinction wouldn’t be necessary as smartwatches weren’t very popular, and the ones that existed weren’t all that interesting either.
Fitness bracelets are simple trackers, and because they are not very complicated, their cost is low.
The Jawbone Up3, one of the best fitness trackers ever made, costs $150 and competes with the slightly less exciting Fitbit Charge HR, which also costs $150.
The models from Jawbone and Fitbit that came before were a response to the excellent Nike+ FuelBand, which also costs $150.
Adjusted for inflation, $150 is about $210 today, and even that’s a better match than the $350 or so for the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8.
In the early 2010s, there were many options available at similar and fairly reasonable prices, and this made the growing trend of fitness and health trackers feel very attractive and quite accessible.
Fitbit is back
Do it right
The Fitbit Air costs $100, or £85 here in the UK, where I tested it, and that makes it sound a bit cheap compared to most other fitness and lifestyle trackers these days.
As expected, the Google Health app (which replaces Google Fit and the Fitbit app) has a $10 per month subscription to unlock Google Health Premium and AI Health Coach, but this is optional. You can buy a Fitbit Air and only pay once.
However, there’s a more valuable way to unlock Google Health Premium if you really want it, and that’s through a $20 per month Google AI Pro subscription, which also includes a number of Google AI features, 5TB of storage space, and YouTube Premium Lite.
Do you need an AI Health Coach?
So far it looks good
AI Health Coach is a big feature that comes with Google Health Premium. When you first set up your Fitbit Air, Coach will check your personal goals, current exercise patterns, and other health information.
This makes Air settings feel personal and interactive, and the AI “listens” to what I want, and doesn’t push me to do more than I want.
It also takes into account the current situation, from weather to work pressures, to create a personalized and customized plan.
Plus, I really like being able to tell the AI that I’ve done some exercises without having to track them manually or recognize them automatically.
For example, a short series of push-ups, squats and planks in the morning isn’t visible, but when you tell the AI Coach you’ve done them, it will look at the sensor data and then adjust your daily activity accordingly.
It’s quick and easy, and you can jot down anything using your keyboard or voice.
I found the AI Trainer to be responsive and able to understand natural language, just like Gemini Live.
Time will tell how effective AI Health Coach is, but this is a good start.
What about the Fitbit Air hardware?
Back to simpler times
There’s not much to the Fitbit Air. Just like the original Fitbit and other trackers, there’s a central module attached to a replaceable strap that goes around your wrist and is secured with a clasp section.
If you’re used to wearing a watch or other fitness tracker, you won’t notice the Fitbit Air on your wrist. It is very light and unobtrusive.
It’s two-thirds the width of the Whoop MG band, and while the band doesn’t have the elasticity of the Whoop, it’s still comfortable to wear.
It comes with a Performance Loop strap, and I chose the Lavender color to match my Lavender Google Pixel 10a, and they look summery and cool together.
The Berry color is brighter, but there are also Obsidian and Fog colors if you don’t want to be flashy.
Alternatively, Google will sell you a fancier strap version if you want to ditch the sporty vibe.
The Fitbit Air is as colorful as you like, it’s sporty but not distracting to wear all day, and the lack of a screen and notifications makes it very simple.
There’s no pretense here, just good old fashioned style and value.
All from companies that know fitness tracking
Buy with confidence?
Fitbit knows what it’s doing when it comes to exercise, health, and lifestyle tracking.
This isn’t a startup trying to work out an algorithm or fix the bugs of an early app, and Google has some muscle behind it when it comes to its AI. This gives me confidence in the product.
The Fitbit Air is a return to the brand’s early days, and the explosion of exciting wearable technology that came with it, showing us what worked then, hardware-wise, still works today, just enhanced with an AI trainer, which seems to be doing everything right so far.
My first 24 hours with the Fitbit Air were very positive. It deserves attention, and it deserves your attention too.
Android Police will be reviewing the Fitbit Air in full in the near future.
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