{"id":675952,"date":"2026-05-31T12:07:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T12:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/675952\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T12:07:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T12:07:19","slug":"im-wearing-the-fitbit-air-and-i-love-how-it-brings-back-the-golden-age-of-fitness-trackers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/675952\/","title":{"rendered":"I’m wearing the Fitbit Air, and I love how it brings back the golden age of fitness trackers"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n \"Woman<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\tWhy I’m drawn to the Fitbit Air, a device that goes against everything I thought I loved about technology
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

I didn’t expect to crave a device with no screen, and it told me something important about how I use tech<\/p>\n

Things were better in the old days?<\/p>\n

No, but they were exciting<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The Fitbit Air is today referred to as a screenless fitness tracker, which is a whole segment of its own, and a minimalist device ideal for unplugging from our phones.<\/p>\n

Turn back the clock more than a decade, and no such distinction was really needed because smartwatches weren\u2019t very popular, and the ones that did exist weren\u2019t very attractive.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Fitness bands were simple trackers, and because they weren\u2019t especially complicated, the costs were low.<\/p>\n

The Jawbone Up3, one of the best-looking fitness trackers ever made, was $150 and competed with the slightly less attractive Fitbit Charge HR, which also cost $150.<\/p>\n

Models from Jawbone and Fitbit that came before these were a response to the wonderful Nike+ FuelBand<\/a>, which also cost $150.<\/p>\n

Adjusted for inflation, $150 is about $210 today, and even that\u2019s more palatable than $350 or more for a Samsung Galaxy Watch 8<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

In the early 2010s, there were plenty of choices available at a similar, fairly reasonable price, and it made the growing trend of fitness and health trackers feel really exciting and quite accessible.<\/p>\n

Fitbit is back<\/p>\n

Doing it right<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Fitbit Air is $100, or \u00a385 here in the UK, where I\u2019m testing it, and that makes it sound like a bit of a bargain compared to most other fitness and lifestyle trackers today.<\/p>\n

As expected, the Google Health<\/a> app (which replaces Google Fit and the Fitbit app) has a $10-per-month subscription to unlock Google Health Premium and the AI Health Coach, but it is optional. You can buy the Fitbit Air and only pay once.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

However, there\u2019s a better value way of unlocking Google Health Premium if you really want it, and that\u2019s through the $20 per month Google AI Pro subscription, which also includes a host of Google\u2019s AI features, 5TB of storage space, and YouTube Premium Lite.<\/p>\n

Do you need AI Health Coach?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s looking good so far<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The AI Health Coach is the big feature included with Google Health Premium. When you first set up a Fitbit Air, the Coach goes through your personal goals, current exercise regimen, and other health information.<\/p>\n

It made setting up the Air feel personal and interactive, and the AI \u201clistened\u201d to what I wanted, and didn\u2019t push me into doing more than I wanted.<\/p>\n

It also takes into account the current situation, from weather to work pressures, to create its personalized, custom plan.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Beyond that, I really like that I can tell the AI I\u2019ve done some exercises without either having to track them manually or have it automatically recognize them.<\/p>\n

For example, a quick circuit of press-ups, squats, and planks in the morning doesn\u2019t register, but when you tell the AI Coach you\u2019ve done it, it looks at sensor data and then adjusts your daily activity accordingly.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s fast and easy, and you can log anything using the keyboard or your voice.<\/p>\n

I found the AI Coach to be responsive and able to understand natural language, just like Gemini Live<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Time will tell how effective the AI Health Coach continues to be, but it\u2019s a great start.<\/p>\n

What about the Fitbit Air\u2019s hardware?<\/p>\n

A return to simpler times<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

There isn\u2019t much to the Fitbit Air. Just like the original Fitbit and other trackers, there\u2019s a central module that fits into a replaceable band that wraps around your wrist and is secured with a hook-and-loop section.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re at all used to wearing a watch or another fitness tracker, you won\u2019t notice the Fitbit Air on your wrist. It\u2019s so light and unobtrusive.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s two-thirds of the width of the Whoop MG band<\/a>, and although the band lacks the Whoop\u2019s elasticity, it\u2019s still comfortable to wear.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

It comes with the Performance Loop band, and I chose the Lavender color to match my Lavender Google Pixel 10a, and they look summery and cool together.<\/p>\n

The Berry color is even brighter, but there are also the Obsidian and Fog colors if you don\u2019t want to make a statement.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, Google will sell you posher versions of the strap if you want to take away the sporty edge.<\/p>\n

The Fitbit Air is as colorful as you want, sporty yet unobtrusive enough to be worn all day, and the lack of a screen and notifications makes it delightfully simple.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no pretense here, just good old-fashioned style and value.<\/p>\n

All from a company that knows fitness tracking<\/p>\n

Buy with confidence?<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Fitbit knows what it\u2019s doing when it comes to sport, health, and lifestyle tracking.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a startup trying to work out algorithms or smooth out bugs from an early app, and it has Google\u2019s might behind it when it comes to its AI. It gives me confidence in the product.<\/p>\n

The Fitbit Air is a return to the brand\u2019s early days, and the exciting wearable tech boom that came with it, showing us what worked then, hardware-wise, still works now, just improved with an AI coach, which seems to be doing all the right things<\/a> so far.<\/p>\n

My first 24 hours with the Fitbit Air have been very positive. It deserves the attention it\u2019s getting, and it deserves yours, too.<\/p>\n

Android Police will have a full review of the Fitbit Air in the near future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Related Why I’m drawn to the Fitbit Air, a device that goes against everything I thought I loved…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":675953,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[74],"class_list":["post-675952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=675952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/675953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=675952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=675952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=675952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}