New $100 Fitbit is just a band, and that’s the point

Screenless health trackers are having a moment, and Google wants in. Yesterday, the tech giant unveiled the first display-free Fitbit, the Fitbit Air. The $100 device will compete directly with smart band-maker Whoop at a time when more people want wearable health monitoring, but nobody wants to look at another screen.

The new Fitbit launches on May 26 with the typical slate of new-age health features, including sleep tracking, blood-oxygen monitoring, and irregular heart-rate detection. Users can also pay $100/year to access a Gemini-powered health coach within the new Google Health app (rebranded yesterday from the Fitbit app).

Google saw an opportunity. In the overall wearables market, Apple Watch still dominates, and Google’s Pixel smart watches barely make a dent. Meanwhile, Whoop and Oura took a different track, offering minimalist designs—which save screen time and battery life—that have helped propel both companies’ valuations beyond $10 billion.

Fitbit Air could undercut those popular screenless wearables:

• Whoop charges at least $200/year to use its wristbands, which have no upfront cost.
• Oura Rings start at $349, and a subscription that unlocks all its tracking features will run you another $70/year.

Zoom out: In the US, purchases of fitness trackers jumped 88% from 2024 to 2025, while purchases of smart rings spiked 195%.—ML