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Google just announced the most affordable health tracker on the market for just $99.
Fitness trackers have always had a problem. They’re either too bulky, too expensive, or too complicated. Google came up with a solution and announced the Fitbit Air. At just $99, this health tracker is coming for Whoop’s lunch. It’s available for pre-order now and will be in stores on May 26.
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According to Google Health’s General Manager, Rishi Chandra, the Fitbit Air is 25% smaller than the Fitbit Luxe and 50% smaller than the Inspire 3. It’s a small pebble that sits on your wrist and tracks everything. No screen to wake up. No notifications buzzing all day.
The Fitbit Air automatically tracks heart rate, steps, active zone minutes, distance, calories burned, SpO2 (blood oxygen levels), heart rate variability, breathing rate, skin temperature variation, and resting heart rate — all 24/7.
It also monitors your heart while you sleep. The Fitbit Air tracks heart rhythm and can detect signs of atrial fibrillation (AFib) through irregular heart rhythm notifications. AFib can remain undetected for years and significantly raises the risk of stroke. Getting that kind of passive monitoring on a $99 device with no subscription required is a big deal.
The band also supports automatic activity detection and can track common exercises, including biking, running, walking, rowing, and elliptical workouts. You can also manually start sessions for about 40 activities in the app.
Sleep tracking is also a strong point. The Fitbit Air includes a Smart Wake alarm that vibrates on the wrist to wake you at the optimal point in your sleep cycle, not just at a fixed time.
Battery life is rated at up to a week on a single charge. And if you’re running low, a five-minute fast charge gets you a full day of power. A full charge from zero takes about 90 minutes. The charger is magnetic and bi-directional, so you don’t need to fiddle with the orientation when placing it on the dock.
The Fitbit Air is available in Obsidian, Fog, Lavender, and Berry colorways, with a stainless steel buckle for easy adjustments. The housing is made from recycled polycarbonate and PBT plastics, and the packaging uses 100% plastic-free materials. It’s water resistant up to 50 meters, so swimming and showers are no problem.
The Fitbit Air starts at $99.99. There’s also a Stephen Curry Special Edition for $129.
The Special Edition features a raised interior print for increased airflow, signature Stephen Curry design details, and an additional water-resistant coating. Curry, for the record, is Google’s official “Performance Advisor.”
Every standard or special edition purchase includes 3 months of Google Health Premium. After that, Premium costs $9.99 a month or $99 a year. But if you’re already a Google AI Pro or Ultra subscriber, Google Health Premium is included at no extra charge.
The hardware is only half of it. The bigger play is the software.
The Fitbit Air comes with Google Health Coach support. This Gemini-powered interface lets you converse with the Google Health app and receive personalized suggestions based on your data. The Health Coach creates dynamic fitness plans, with workout suggestions and proactive insights that adapt to your real-time performance data and changing schedule.
It goes even further than that. Google says the Health Coach can work with fitness and health data, including Cycle Health and vital medical information. You can literally snap a photo of a gym whiteboard with a circuit routine written on it, and the Health Coach will log your workout. It reads your sleep trends, builds recovery plans, and answers health questions in plain conversational language.
Alongside the Fitbit Air launch, Google announced rebranding the Fitbit app as Google Health. Starting May 19, the Fitbit app will be updated to Google Health, and Google Fit users will be migrated later in 2026.
The new Google Health app brings together everything the Fitbit ecosystem has ever done, plus new screenless tracker data. The Gemini-powered Health Coach sits on top and synthesizes patterns across all of it.
There’s also a useful trick for Pixel Watch owners. Google now allows you to connect both a Pixel Watch and a Fitbit Air to the Google Health app simultaneously. You can wear the Pixel Watch during the day for screen access, then switch to the Fitbit Air at night for lighter, more comfortable sleep tracking. The app syncs data from both and lets you filter by device.
How Does It Stack Up Against Whoop?
This is where things get interesting.
Whoop’s subscription costs between $199 and $359 per year, depending on the tier. Google Health Premium costs $99 per year. The Fitbit Air costs $99. It means a year of Fitbit Air + Google Health Premium costs less than a year of Whoop’s cheapest plan.
On top of that, the Fitbit Air offers passive AFib monitoring at $99.99 with no subscription, while Whoop charges $359 per year for ECG-based AFib detection.
That said, Whoop isn’t rolling over. Exactly one day after Google’s announcement, Whoop introduced on-demand video consultations with licensed clinicians for US users. Google is betting on AI as your health advisor. Whoop is betting you still want a real doctor.
Whoop also has an edge in battery life, promising up to 14 days compared to the Fitbit Air’s 1 week. Whoop’s peak and life plans also include a wireless power pack that charges the device while you’re wearing it.
For athletes, Whoop still has the edge. But for the vast majority of people who want passive health monitoring without paying $200+ a year, the Fitbit Air makes a compelling case.
