A Week With the Google Fitbit Air

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The first reaction I had when wearing the Google Fitbit Air is “I’m looking at my wrist but I can’t see the time.” I see the value of minimalism but knowing the time is quite important to me. I have another watch, but if I have something on my watch I want it to show the time.

The concept of the Google Fitbit Air is simple. You wear it, forget about it, and it does everything for you, in the background. If you run, it tracks the run. If you cycle it tracks the bike ride. If you walk it tracks that. It also tracks your sleep, but it doesn’t seem to detect naps, and that’s a shame.

The thing that surprises me is that it seems to use a version of Google Gemini that is specialised in sports tracking but it doesn’t seem that bright. Today I was hesitating between a social run and a social ride, and thinking about which would have the most social benefit for me. In the end it didn’t understand that this was an Emotional Intelligence question rather than a sports intelligence question, and even then it wasn’t that bright.

Just like Garmin it sees my crappy heat wave sleep as being very short, and thus that I shouldn’t run, cycle or more, and that I should try to sleep properly. The reality is that during a heat wave polyphasic sleep makes more sense. It makes sense to sleep at night for as long as possible, and then to have a top up in the afternoon, when possible, to recharge.

There is a barrier that I can’t ignore. The device costs 94 to 120 CHF depending on how patient you are which is cheap, compared to an Apple Watch or other devices, but with a yearly 100 CHF subscription for a specialist Google Gemini Sports interface. It has video content for various workouts which I have not spent any time looking at for now. I already hike, cycle, run and more so the idea of watching these videos is not compelling.

When looking at the cycling data from today I notice that it counted 1999 calories, whereas Garmin counted 1200-1500 calories depending on source. That is a huge difference.

I think that the Google Fitbit Air concept is interesting. I like the concept of a device that tracks a workout and looks only at heart rate, duration and similar data, without the distractions of maps and more. Tracking fitness without having to start walks, runs, bike rides and more is nice.

The device, in and of itself is fine, and the features are interesting. The price of the subscription is too high. 100 CHF per year, for the life of the device.

I wouldn’t recommend it, for people like me. I think the 100 CHF yearly tax is too high. I think it’s good for digital minimalists, who want the tracking, but without the attention cost. It’s just a colourful band on your wrist. Nothing more, until you check the app on the phone. That’s when the data it gathers comes to life.

Gemini said it wasn’t for me, and after testing it, I agree but mainly because the subscription doubles the cost of ownership.