- More leaks about the new Fitbit tracker have hit the web from ‘sources familiar with the matter’ via 9to5Google
- The screenless band is reportedly being referred to as the Fitbit Air
- Fitbit Premium is also reportedly being rebranded as “Google Health”
More news abounds about the upcoming screenless Fitbit fitness tracker, as teased by Steph Curry on Instagram. This time, we’ve got a bit more unconfirmed information on the name of the tracker, alongside a revamp of Google‘s Fitbit Premium subscription service.
The name does make some sense: like a MacBook Air or the Ultrahuman Ring Air, it’s likely to be billed as a super-light version of the base device, in this case one of the best Fitbits. It’ll be all the lighter for not needed a screen or similar element of interactivity, instead cleaving closer to the pedometer Fitbits of yore.
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However, just like Whoop (the current screenless fitness tracker leader), the device will interact with a paid subscription service, in this case Fitbit Premium. Except, it might not be called Fitbit Premium anymore — 9to5Google’s sources state the subscription may be rebranding itself as Google Health.
Google continues its Fitbit erasure mission
After Google bought Fitbit in 2019, using the popular brand’s Fitbit ecosystem to replace its middling Google Fit app, it began quietly axing models and features from its line that it saw as redundant. These include community challenges and, er, almost all smartwatch models, folding the best stuff into its own Google Pixel Watch line.
Fitbit Premium is an outstanding fitness service — our reviewer gave Fitbit Premium 4.5 stars in our review — and changing the name to Google Health wouldn’t necessarily change any of the service’s content or functionality, just the branding. But it would go a step towards eliminating the name of Fitbit from Google’s ecosystem, strengthening its own brand.
I assume if the rumors are true and the move is successful, Google Health will be incorporated into other Google devices and services, allowing the company to remain consistent, while Fitbits will be reduced to the name of that particular line of trackers. Having ‘Fitbit, powered by Google’ on a Google Pixel Watch could be complicated messaging for smartwatch buyers who don’t know Fitbit and Google are one and the same. If the rumors are true, Google Pixel phones and watches just arrive with Google Health and everyone will know what’s up.
Whether any more features will be axed to the ire of existing Fitbit subscribers, only time will tell.
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matt.evans@futurenet.com (Matt Evans)
