Existing Fitbit users may be 'beyond frustrated' with the app's Google Health redesign, but having just got my hands on the Google Fitbit Air, I'm actually impressed at the AI integration on offer

Date:
Wed, 27 May 2026 17:09:17 +0000

Description:
Pulling the weather in and updating my fitness plan is easier than ever.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Ive only had access to the Google Fitbit Air and the new Google Health app for a few hours, at the time of writing, and already there are some interesting things to say about one of this year's biggest contenders for the best fitness tracker crown.

While the stats and numbers you get in the free tier are a little basic, theyre roughly in line with what youd expect from a $99.99 / 84.99 / AU$199 tracker. But its the premium AI health coach thats impressed me with its ability to incorporate contextual information and change your weekly plan
just by chatting to it. The tracker is light and comfortable, its got some cool features even at the free tier, and Whoop (the other big player in the screenless fitness tracker space) should be worried. Latest Videos From You may like The Google Fitbit Air finally breaks cover, and it heralds a new era of screenless fitness tracking Google Fitbit Air vs Whoop: Should you get Fitbit's new screenless tracker? 5 things you need to know about Google
Health

While Whoop offers more detailed metrics, its also prohibitively expensive
and doesnt allow you to buy the fitness tracker or use it for free after purchase in any form: it entirely relies on an expensive subscription service starting at 169 / $199 / AU$299 annually, and going up from there. Cancel
that subscription, and its just an inert hunk of plastic. You can read all about it in my Google Fitbit Air vs Whoop breakdown .

My early impression of the Google Fitbit Air and its Google Health Premium AI coaching service is that its designed to help beginner-to-frequently-training athletes, with simple metrics, round numbers, and a friendly interface that does a lot of its calculations behind the scenes.

Those who are already heavily invested in Whoops ecosystem wont get the granularity of data they are used to, and thus might not be tempted by the lower price of the Fitbit. However, for the rest of us, I think this is going to do very well. Design and comfort The Google Fitbit Air weighs just 12g.
Its light, slender, and the performance loop band Im wearing is very comfortable, although it does have a tendency to get a little dank during a very sweaty workout, such as my first test run completed during a heatwave here in the UK. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign
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It offers no interaction on the device at all, just a charging LED. As I said in previous pieces, its almost like an older pedometer-style Fitbit that clipped to your clothes, just in a modern form factor and made by Google.

I have to say, its very unobtrusive, being around two-thirds the width of the Whoop MG. Its very easy to wear this in conjunction with another device or a non-smart analog watch on the other wrist. Funnily enough, thats exactly what Ive been doing. Early comparison testing (Image credit: Future) I immediately incorporated the Google Fitbit Air into my smartwatch testing routine. I went on two runs with the Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro on one hand (the device Im currently closing out on testing, which on previous runs matched very closely with the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro), a Polar H10 chest strap, and the Google Fitbit Air on the other. What to read next Fitbit users are furious about being forced to switch to Google Health 'Why does technology just keep getting less fun?' Fitbit users are mad about losing key features as a result of the huge Google Health changes but I want to hear what you think The latest Fitbit
Air leak gives us colors, a launch date, and a price

Unfortunately, the usually pinpoint-accurate chest strap malfunctioned, but the average heart rate between the two wrist-based wearables was just 1bpm apart. I know the Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro is quite accurate based on previous testing, so its a positive early sign, but before my full review Ill be using a (working) chest strap to test the Google Fitbit Air. (Image credit: Future) What I was most impressed with was the Google Health Coach, the apps flagship AI feature that encompasses everything else. After a brief chat about my goals, it set up an early plan for me, comprised of three gym sessions and
two runs a week, to build muscle while maintaining baseline cardiovascular fitness.

After I completed my test runs, Google noted the extreme weather here in the UK, and mentioned it in the workouts summary as something to take into
account when viewing my metrics, as my heart rate was likely to be higher
than normal. Very clever: exactly the sort of contextual information fitness trackers have been missing since their inception, pulled in automatically using location and weather data as well as fitness data.

Impressed, I tapped the ever-present blue Ask Coach button and typed I might swap one of my gym sessions for a long run this week. Can you update my plan?

Hey presto: not only did it update my plan, but it also surfaced the Long Endurance Run activity profile for me to use on my next running day. I must admit, my early experiment with this AI Health Coach is a resounding success. But at what cost? All of this, unfortunately, comes at the expense of
existing Fitbit badges and features. The app has been renamed, rebranded and redesigned overnight, with all badges and community features lost in favor of the AI-first approach.

Existing Fitbit users are not happy : on the Fitbit subreddit, one complaint thread garnered over 1,500 upvotes and over 600 comments, with users mentioning they are "beyond frustrated" at the changes and calling the app "slop", or a victim of "enshittification".

A particular target of criticism is the food logging feature, which Ive not yet tried, but Google says "fixes are coming". 84.99 at very.co.uk Check Amazon Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to
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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/health-fitness/fitness-trackers/existing-fitbit-user s-may-be-beyond-frustrated-with-the-apps-google-health-redesign-but-having-jus t-got-my-hands-on-the-google-fitbit-air-im-actually-impressed-at-the-ai-integr ation-on-offer


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