The Whoop is one of the devices that Google’s rumored screenless health tracker would compete with.
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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Google is poised to unveil a Whoop dupe soon.
- Steph Curry teased a screenless health band on his Instagram.
- Here’s what I’d like to see from a Google fitness band.
Could Google’s latest fitness tracker return to its original, screenless Fitbit form? All signs say yes. Google has teased a screenless, Whoop-adjacent health tracker with the help of basketball star Steph Curry. A recent Instagram post from Curry shows him wearing a screenless, fabric band around his wrist, and the accompanying caption promotes “a new relationship with your health.”
There are scant confirmed details on this next device, but rumors suggest the band will be called “Fitbit Air.”
Also: I replaced my Whoop with a rival fitness band that has no monthly fees – and it’s nearly as good
Why a screenless fitness band? And why now? Google’s new device could be taking interest away from popular fitness brand Whoop. Whoop’s fitness band is on the more luxurious end of the health wearables spectrum. The company offers three subscription tiers, starting at $199, $239, and $359 annually. Google’s device, on the other hand, is rumored to be more affordable with the option to upgrade to Fitbit Premium.
Google has the opportunity to make an accessibly priced fitness band with the rumored Fitbit Air and breathe new life into its older Fitbit product lineup, which hasn’t been updated in years.
What I’m expecting
Here’s what I expect to see and what I hope Google prioritizes in this new health tracker.
Given Fitbit’s bare-bones approach to fitness tracking, I assume Google will emphasize an affordable, accessible fitness band with the Fitbit Air. Most Fitbit products cost between $130 and $230, so I’m expecting this band to be on the lower end of that price range. I’d also expect Fitbit to give users a free trial of Fitbit Premium.
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A long, long, long battery life
A smartwatch with a bright screen and integrations with an accompanying smartphone consumes a lot of power. That’s why some of the best smartwatches on the market have a middling battery life of one to two days, tops.
A fitness band, on the other hand, is screenless. That makes the battery potential on this Fitbit Air double — or even triple — that of Google’s smartwatches.
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The Fitbit Inspire 3 has around 10 days of battery life — with a watch display. I hope the screenless Fitbit Air has at least 10 days of battery life, plus some change. Two weeks of battery life would be splendid.
In addition to usage time, I also hope that a screenless fitness tracker addresses some of the issues Fitbit Inspire users have complained about. Many Inspire users report that the device’s screen died after a year of use. They could still access data through the app, but the screen was dysfunctional. Despite being a more affordable Google health tracker, the Fitbit Air should last users for a few years without any hardware issues — or at least I hope it does.
Fitbit’s classically accurate heart rate measurements
As Google’s Performance Advisor and the athlete teasing Google’s next device, Steph Curry is sending the message that this new device, one that offers wearers “a new relationship with your health,” will be built for athletes and exercise enthusiasts. I hope this device homes in on accurate heart rate measurements and advanced sensing, as other Fitbit devices do.
Like Whoop, I hope the insights the Fitbit Air provides are performance- and recovery-driven. Whoop grew in popularity for exactly this reason. Not only do Whoop users get their sleep and recovery score, but they also see, through graphs and health data illustrations, how their daily exercise exertion, strain, and sleep interact with and inform each other.
I’m assuming that Fitbit Premium, with its AI-powered health coach and revamped app design, may do a lot of the heavy lifting for sleep and recovery insights with this new product.
Also: Are AI health coach subscriptions a scam? My verdict after testing Fitbit’s for a month
But I also hope Google adds a few features on the app’s home screen that specifically target athletic strain and recovery, beyond the steps, sleep, readiness, and weekly exercise percentage already available on the Fitbit app’s main screen.
Lots of customizable, distinct bands
I hope the Fitbit Air is cheap — and the accompanying bands are even cheaper. If the rumors of affordability are true, then I’d hope Fitbit sells bands that can be worn with the device that match users’ styles and color preferences at a similarly affordable and accessible price point. Curry wears a gray-orange band in his teaser. I hope the colorways for this device are bold, patterned, and easily distinguishable from rival fitness bands.
