Fitbit Air looks exactly like the device I've been looking for. And the first tests confirm this.

In recent months, I’ve started considering investing in some type of wearable electronics again, which would help me get my lifestyle a bit more under control. Sports have taken a backseat, stress is increasing, and I feel like I don’t want to continue functioning this way. I’d like to get active again, record my progress in terms of physical activity, and also monitor potential progress in other metrics, such as sleep quality or stress levels. Under normal circumstances, I would probably reach for a sports watch from Garmin, but…

Smartwatches are simply not for me. I realized this a few months ago when I started wearing an analog watch and found that I felt much more comfortable with it on my wrist. Visually, it looks more elegant, and it doesn’t constantly bother me with vibrations and notifications. I’ve come to the conclusion that my ideal partner for daily health and activity tracking must be discreet – ideally, it should be a ring, or precisely, a display-less bracelet.

The second segment mentioned is dominated by Whoop, but frankly, I’m not too fond of its payment model. Subscribing to a plan and getting a piece of hardware that stops working as soon as money stops regularly leaving my card doesn’t sound like something I want to go through. That’s why I’m looking forward to receiving the recently introduced Fitbit Air from Google from Germany. The bracelet for 99 euros (about 2,400 CZK converted) looks good on its own, and I will only pay for the Google Health Premium subscription for 299 CZK per month if I’m satisfied with it (plus, I’ll have it for several months free as part of Google AI Pro, which I activated last year as a student).

Fitbit Air looks like what I’m looking for

Fitbit Air honestly seems like exactly what I’m looking for. A display-less bracelet that I can wear on the opposite wrist from my analog watch, and it’s from Google, whose products I’ve long been a fan of. But it’s far from just a matter of ideology; the product also looks interesting in terms of what it actually offers. The bracelet can continuously track heart rate, HRV, and respiratory rate. It also handles sleep analysis and provides you with a readiness index every day.

Fitbit Air looks exactly like the device I've been looking for. And the first tests confirm this. Adam Kurfürst Articles Adam Kurfürst Articles

The device already seems comfortable to wear on paper, and I’m glad that my assumption is confirmed by the first tests from foreign editors. Editors from Android Authority, 9to5Google, and PCMag all agree that the Fitbit Air is comfortable on the wrist.

“I’ve forgotten I was wearing the Fitbit Air several times already, which is the highest praise I can give a wearable device,” said Android Authority editor Kaitlyn Cimino in her article.

Hopefully, Google won’t ruin it with an AI coach…

Although I stand by the assertion that Fitbit Air seems interesting even without a subscription, the premium features locked behind a paywall are the main thing Google highlights in all its materials. The main draw is supposed to be the smart coach, Google Health Coach, which leverages Gemini AI to provide users with human-like feedback and recommendations. And this is precisely what we want from wearable electronics – to understand all those numbers and graphs and apply individual insights in practice.

Google promises that we will be able to ask the personal coach anything in natural language (e.g., what our heart rate variability specifically reveals, what our overall fitness level is, etc.). The company also entices with personalized training plans or a more detailed insight into our sleep, so we can work on its quality ourselves.

The question remains, however, how useful all these features will be in practice – and in my opinion, the success of the bracelet itself will depend on that. 9to5Google editor Will Sattelberg has already managed to point out that his Google Health Coach invented an approximately 8 km long run, which the journalist did not actually complete. It is, of course, a question of whether this is a problem with the bracelet’s sensors or the artificial intelligence that powers the coach. Sattelberg, however, stated that the Fitbit Air correctly recognized his short dumbbell workout.

It is, of course, premature to make any judgments, as the Fitbit Air will only hit store shelves on May 26th. It could have been a mere anomaly, and if it were a more widespread problem, there’s a chance Google will fix it before release. Personally, however, I am very curious how the AI coach will perform and whether it will truly help me achieve improvement.

What do you think of Fitbit Air?