Yet another Whoop rival is on the cards. Weeks after Garmin accidentally revealed it was launching a Whoop competitor of its own in the form of the Garmin Cirqa, it now appears Google’s Fitbit is about to launch a screen-free fitness tracker of its own, called the Fitbit Air.
The device was first revealed in an Instagram post by NBA legend and Google’s performance advisor Steph Curry at the start of the month. “I'm excited about what this is going to mean for the world, for health and wellness,” Curry said in a voiceover at the time. “It's the first of its kind in a way. I won't spoil it, you kinda have to see it for yourself.”
More details have since emerged, and we may very well see the Fitbit Air for ourselves very soon. Expected to launch next month, here’s what we know so far about the Fitbit Air’s release date, price, colours, bands and features.
Google Fitbit Air release date
While there’s no official release date yet, Steph Curry’s sponsored Instagram video ends with “coming soon”, so a launch shouldn’t be far off. While it wasn’t named in the promo, sources at Google told 9to5Google the device will be called the Fitbit Air.
New leaks have surfaced since then regarding the release date. According to supplier and retail information found by Droid Life, the Fitbit Air’s “date of availability” is listed as Saturday 16 May.
Saturday is an unusual day for Google to launch a new Fitbit device, however, so this may instead be when retailers list it online. It also falls the weekend before Google I/O, meaning it could officially be announced at the keynote.
This isn’t the first time Fitbit’s made a screen-free fitness tracker. In 2013, before the company was acquired by Google, it launched the Fitbit Flex, a device with no display. The Fitbit Flex had five LED lights, with each one lighting up as you got closer to your goal progress.
The Fitbit Flex was later superseded by the Fitbit Flex 2 in 2016, bringing onboard coloured LED lights to show incoming call alerts, as well as fitness progress. The first swim-proof Fitbit, it could automatically track workouts. The Fitbit Flex line was discontinued in 2019 and replaced with the Fitbit Aspire, a budget-friendly tracker with a screen. It’s just one of several screen-free trackers announced in the past year, building on the smart ring craze brought about by Oura, Samsung and Ultrahuman.
Google Fitbit Air price
While little is known about the Fitbit Air, Droid Life reports that some suppliers have already listed prices for the device, though it cautions these should be taken with a pinch of salt. One supplier lists it at $93, suggesting Google could price it at $99 (£73).
That wouldn’t be surprising, given the screen-free Fitbit Flex launched at $99 in the US and £79 in the UK. There’s no mention of a subscription, so you may be able to buy the device and then add on the Google Health subscription (more on that below), if you want deeper insights.
Google Fitbit Air design, colours and bands
In the teaser shared by Steph Curry, the basketball player can be seen wearing a device with an orange fabric strap and a metal clasp. It has no visible display, with a minimal design that looks closer to Whoop than a traditional Fitbit.
According to Droid Life, the Fitbit Air could launch in three colour options – obsidian, lavender and berry. It will come with a white (“snow”) charging cable.
The publication says a range of interchangeable bands will also be released, though it’s unclear which one will ship as standard. There will be a performance loop band in obsidian, fog, lavender and berry; an active band (in small and large sizes) in obsidian, fog, berry and lavender; an elevated softflex band in obsidian, moonstone and porcelain; and a metal mesh band in silver and warm gold.
Google Fitbit Air features
The screen-free fitness tracker is expected to be more of a recovery device, similar in style to the Whoop, than a full on smartwatch. According to 9to5Google, the wearable could be paired with a new Google Health subscription, which will replace Fitbit Premium. It will reportedly include an AI-powered Google Health Coach, which will offer personalised insights and recommendations based on your activity, sleep and recovery data.
Best Fitbit devices
Fitbit inspire 3
Want an affordable exercise companion? The Fitbit inspire 3 features in fitness writer Zoe Griffin’s round-up of the best fitness trackers. “It can track 20 different sports, as well as step count, heart rate and calories from the wrist,” she says in her review. “My favourite feature is the smart wake technology which is unique to this fitness tracker. It means the tracker vibrated to wake me up during a light-sleep stage rather than a deep one, up to 30 minutes before my actual alarm was set. It meant I woke up feeling super refreshed and alert”.
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