From TechRadar · · 1m 20s
Fitbit Air brings pro health tracking down to budget
Google is pushing Health Guardian features onto its cheapest tracker, and subscription rivals should be nervous.
In brief
Google is pushing Health Guardian features onto its cheapest tracker, and subscription rivals should be nervous. Advanced health sensing is no longer a premium tier feature, and the cheapest Fitbit is now the one to beat. Originally reported by TechRadar.
The cheap one gets serious
Google's budget Fitbit Air is picking up health features normally reserved for far pricier wearables. The price gap stays, the feature gap does not.
Health Guardian rolls out
The Health Guardian suite is arriving on the Air, turning a basic band into a daily monitor for longer term body signals rather than just steps and sleep.
Blood pressure trends
Rather than a single clinical reading, the Air tracks how your blood pressure moves over time, surfacing drift you would otherwise never notice.
Insulin resistance signals
The tracker also flags insulin resistance patterns, a metabolic marker that until recently sat well outside what a cheap wrist band would even attempt.
Bad news for Whoop
Whoop charges a recurring subscription for its deep health metrics. A budget Fitbit offering similar insight makes that monthly fee much harder to justify.
Pixel Watch joins in
The same features are heading to Google's Pixel Watch line, so the upgrade is a platform move across Google's wearables, not a one device experiment.
What to remember
Advanced health sensing is no longer a premium tier feature, and the cheapest Fitbit is now the one to beat.
