The Google Fitbit Air was announced last week and immediately went up for pre-order with a ship date at around May 26. It costs either $99 or $129 depending on which version you want, is a screen-less health and fitness tracker that competes with WHOOP, and is helping launch the new Google Health app and Google Health Coach.
This is a big launch for Google on the health and fitness side of things. We now have a Google-branded Fitbit device at the same time that the Fitbit app has been changed to Google Health. But it’s clear that Google sees this category and health as a major investment opportunity and this launch is essentially a re-launch of it all.
Google sent out review units this week and ours is here. They did send us the Steph Curry edition, which costs $129, along with a couple of extra bands (Performance Loop and Active Band).
While we can’t wait to share detailed thoughts in a review here shortly, we wanted to at least let you see the device, how it looks on the wrist, and begin testing.
The version above is the “Special Edition Stephen Curry” model with the “Rye” colored band. This version costs extra at $129.99 because this band is water-resistant and has some other Steph Curry branding. As far as I can tell, in order to get this specific band, you have to buy the Steph Curry edition – you can’t buy the band separately (at least for now).
The other bands they sent include a Performance Loop Band in “Fog” and an Active Band in “Lavender.” These bands each cost $34.99 when purchased separately, but if you buy a Fitbit Air “Classic,” it comes with a Performance Loop band for $99 in total.
The Performance Loop Band is made of a recycled polyester and elastane yarn. It has a steel clasp, wraps around the device and your wrist, and is then secured with velcro.
The Active Band is made of sweat and water resistant silicone. This wraps your wrist, secures with a pin, and then tucks under itself. It’s very much like a Pixel Watch Active Band, only it has a bit of style with this ribbing design.
I’ve also got a look at the charger for you. The Fitbit Air atttaches magnetically to this charger’s 2 pins. You can attach it from both directions too, so you don’t need to fidget with it much in order to get it charging. There’s also an LED light on the device that will tell you the status of your battery.
The specs sheet says that battery lasts up to 7 days on a single charge, can hit 0-100% in 90 mins on this charger, or you can get 1 day of battery life in about 5 minutes of charging.
For those who missed it, the Fitbit Air has an optical heart rate monitor, 3-axis accelerometer and gyroscope, red and infrared sensors for SpO2 monitoring, skin temperature sensor, and vibration motor (for alarms).
Google has it rated at up to 50 meters of water resistance, it connects via Bluetooth 5.0 to iOS and Android devices, and you get 3 months of Google Health Premium with it at purchase to give you a taste of the Google Health Coach.
And now we’ll get to testing to let you know all about the Fitbit Air once we can. We’re pretty excited about this one.
