Testing the Fitbit Air

My brand new Fitbit Air was delivered today, and it is the exact product I've been wanting Google to release for years.

I've been wearing fitness trackers almost daily for nearly a decade, and they have assisted me in achieving some life-changing health and fitness goals. Currently I am daily driving a Fitbit Inspire 3 after a brief experiment with a Pixel Watch 2 in 2024.

The thing is, I love wearing a proper wristwatch (Either my endlessly versatile Hamilton Khaki Field Auto, or the apocalypse-proof G-Shock DW5610U) and prefer to wear my tracker on my off-wrist, which usually means I'm just wearing two watches every day. I can't stress enough how much I don't want to wear two watches every day.

All I've wanted from Google is a screenless health tracker that collects data in the background without demanding any of my attention. I had hoped the Whoop band (or any of its alternatives) might be that product, but I trialed one for two months and realised I wasn't enough of a biohacking CEO-type to really feel the benefit of its overwhelming data stream. The mandatory subscription that starts (starts!) at £170 a year was also a stretch for me.

Enter the Fitbit Air: No screen, no time, no distractions, no subscription. Now I can wear a watch on one wrist and not feel stupid for wearing a second, worse watch on the other.

I would love a bicep band option, but third-party accessories have been non-existent at launch. Maybe by the time I make an update on my experience, there will be something new to test? We'll see...