Google Fitbit Air is finally out, heralding a new era of screen-free fitness tracking to take on Whoop and Garmin.

Google has revealed the new Google Fitbit Air and as expected, it’s a screenless fitness tracker similar to a Whoop band.
Designed as a set-it-and-forget-it wearable, just like the original FitBit, it weighs just 12g with the fabric band.
The wearable arrives at the same time as a major Fitbit redesign, with the app rebranded as ‘Google Health’

After weeks of rumors and teasing from Google (via NBA star Stephen Curry’s Instagram account), Google has revealed the Google Fitbit Air, the next evolution of the best Fitbits, and it’s exactly what we expected: an affordable, screenless “set it and forget it” fitness tracker to undercut models like Whoop.

Priced at $99.99 / AU$199 (around £75), the tracker is incredibly lightweight at just 12g; Without the band, it weighs only 5g.

What is the Google Health app?

Screenshots of Google Health Coach interaction

(Image credit: Google)

The Fitbit app and Fitbit Premium subscription service will be renamed the Google Health app in a mandatory launch, including a radical redesign. It won’t be a popular move for long-time Fitbit users, but we’ve known this would happen since Google made it mandatory to have a Google account to continue using Fitbit devices.

As part of this, the Google Health premium subscription is now based on Google Health Coach, an artificial intelligence health assistant based on Google Gemini. The trainer accesses all the data you let it, from sleep and heart rate from a fitness tracker to nutrition logging by uploading photos of your meals. It may even take into account your medical records.

Using this body of information, Google Health Coach becomes a sort of personal assistant, recommending workout plans, sleep optimization tips, recipes, injury advice, and more based on your goals and health.

Google Fitbit Air was apparently “designed for Google Health Coach,” but unlike Whoop, you can use the fitness tracker with a free version of the app if you don’t want to subscribe. You just don’t get all the AI-based advice, instead you simply get readings, scores, and graphs based on your data, like you do with most fitness trackers.

Google Fitbit Air: specifications

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Device	Google Fitbit Air
Price	$99.99 / AU$199 (around £75)
Weight	12g with band
Case	Recycled plastic
Show	None
GPS	None
Battery	Up to 7 days, 90 minutes of charging (5 minutes of fast charging for 1 day of battery)
Connection	bluetooth
waterproof	50 meters

The bands come in several styles: a woven Performance Loop Band designed for a “flex fit” constructed from recycled materials; a silicon Active Band; and the more elegant Elevated Modern Band. The special edition Google Fitbit Air comes with a Stephen Curry-branded band designed for “maximum performance and elevated style.”

Analysis: Undercut Whoop and return to the classic Fitbit

Whoop, Amazfit Helio Strap, Polar Loop

(Image credit: Andrew Williams/Matt Evans)

When news first emerged about the upcoming Fitbit Air, I wrote that Fitbit’s new Whoop-style screenless tracker fits the brand better than a smartwatch, because it’s a return to the “nearly invisible” pedometer of 2008.

I stand by that assessment. Fitbit has always been better as a discreet, reliable pedometer and fitness tracker, and despite the new app’s artificial intelligence and Google’s strong hints that you need the Health Coach subscription to get the most out of this band, this is exactly where the Google Fitbit Air falls.

Other screenless options like the Whoop 5.0, Polar Loop, and even smart rings like the Oura Ring 4 are more expensive, making the Google Fitbit Air a cheap option for lovers of wearable focus devices.

Google logo on black background next to text that says