Why the Fitbit Air gives Google an unrivalled opportunity
The Fitbit Air has taken the wearable market by storm, selling out at many retailers and arguably kicking off a new trend of screen-free fitness tracker bands (that’s in spite of the fact that the likes of Whoop have been around for years). Google has managed this in a couple of key ways – without even factoring in getting basketball star Steph Curry as a performance advisor. For starters, it’s budget-friendly at just £84.99, giving people a much cheaper option than the likes of Whoop and the Samsung Galaxy Watch.
Secondly, the Fitbit brand still has serious clout, even though it seemed to be on its way out. There were many years between the Air and the previous model, and Google said that Pixel Watch models would essentially take over from Fitbit devices. The hype and early success of the Fitbit Air give Google a golden opportunity to expand its wearable game. I believe the firm would be silly not to follow up the Air with a Fitbit smart ring, similar to the Oura Ring 5 or the Apple Watch Series 10.
A Fitbit smart ring would be a game-changer
For years I’ve been hoping Google would launch a Pixel Ring, but now I realise it would make far more sense to launch it as a Fitbit Ring. It would work for the following key reasons, quite aside from the Fitbit brand being synonymous with fitness trackers like the Fitbit Charge and the Garmin Forerunner.
All Google really needs to do now that the Air exists and is on people’s wrists is to take the tech inside the little pebble and put it into a smart ring. It should be a doddle for a company like Google, especially when there are already so many smart rings on the market to reference, such as the Amazon Halo and the Xiaomi Mi Smart Ring. They pretty much just consist of sensors to take readings, a battery and wireless connectivity.
Google’s got it all – it just needs to slap it into a metal circle. Undercut the competition, and a Fitbit smart ring at a similar price to the Air would sell like hot cakes. It would be five times cheaper than the fancier Oura Ring 5 finishes, four times less than the Samsung Galaxy Ring and still cheaper than even the ‘cheap’ smart rings currently available, such as the Huawei Watch Fit.
This is a gap in the market which Google needs to fill now. It doesn’t need to rival the Fitbit Air, as the two products don’t need to go head-to-head. They could work simultaneously, as the Air does with a Pixel Watch, for more accurate data and potentially to extend battery life, as the Galaxy Ring does when used with a Galaxy Watch.
Alternatively, you could switch between the two for different scenarios and situations, based on your preference and practicality. For example, I might wear the Air while I’m playing a tennis match, then switch to the smart ring when I go out for dinner in the evening, so I can wear an analogue watch, like the Apple Watch Series 10 or the Fossil Gen 6.
