Google announced the Fitbit Edge, a slim fitness tracker with a screen that sits between the screenless Fitbit Air and the Pixel Watch. Its best idea is the least flashy one: Google calls it its first repairable fitness tracker, with a battery you can replace.
Inside, the Edge is built from modules, and the battery is meant to come out and be swapped, which Google says should stretch the tracker’s life. On something you’re meant to wear every day for years, that beats another sensor.
The screen is the other big change. Google calls the 1.34-inch AMOLED panel its largest and brightest tracker screen yet, and says it’s easy to read in direct sunlight. It’s always-on, and a redesigned physical side button gives you a real click for things like pausing a workout.
All of that fits in a recycled aluminum case 11.5mm thin, which weighs 17.7g without the band.
For workouts, built-in GPS maps your run without your phone, and an altimeter counts the climb on hills and stairs. The Google Health Coach, built with Gemini, Google’s AI, plans your workouts and adjusts them to fit your life. It needs a Google Health Premium subscription, and you get three months of it with the tracker.
On the health side, there’s an ECG app for on-demand heart-rhythm checks, and the Edge watches for signs of atrial fibrillation (AFib), an irregular heart rhythm, while you’re still or asleep. It also tracks heart rate around the clock, blood oxygen and nightly changes in skin temperature.
Health Guardian, Google’s new set of background health tools, adds monthly blood pressure and insulin resistance trends. Google says it reaches the Edge and the Air for Premium subscribers later this month. These are wellness trends, not clinical readings, and Google says they don’t diagnose anything.
Google rates the battery at up to seven days. Its spec sheet adds that a full charge takes about 90 minutes, and when the battery is low, five minutes on the magnetic charger buys up to a day.
The Edge works with Android 11 or newer and iOS 16.4 or newer, with notifications and music controls on your wrist. It’s water-resistant to 50 meters (5 ATM) and rated IP68 against dust and water.
The Dealabs leak behind our preview had most of this right, from the 1.34-inch screen to the replaceable battery.
Fitbit Edge key specs
- Display: 1.34-inch AMOLED color display, always-on, adjustable brightness
- Processor: Ambiq AP5 microcontroller
- Sensors: optical heart rate, ECG electrical sensors, red and infrared sensors for blood oxygen (SpO2), far-field skin temperature, altimeter, accelerometer, gyroscope, ambient light
- Battery and charging: 65mAh, user-replaceable; up to seven days; full charge in about 90 minutes; five minutes for up to a day when low
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.4; GPS and Galileo
- Software and compatibility: Android 11 or newer, iOS 16.4 or newer; needs a Google account and the Google Health app
- Durability: 5 ATM, IP68
- Size and weight: 39.22 x 25.56 x 11.58mm; 17.7g without the band
- Colors and bands: Matte Black, Satin Silver, Satin Pyrite and Champagne Gold cases with Obsidian, Fog, Olive and Canyon Active Bands (small and large included); Stephen Curry Special Edition with a Satin Pyrite case
- Other: mechanical side button, 64MB of storage, 100% recycled aluminum housing
The Fitbit Edge costs $179.99 (about Php 11,300), and the Stephen Curry Special Edition, made with the four-time NBA champion, costs $219.99 (about Php 13,800). Pre-orders are open now on the Google Store and at retail partners, and it’s on shelves October 27th.
Google’s own stores also take pre-orders in Japan at ¥26,800 (about $169 or Php 10,600), Singapore at S$249 (about $194 or Php 12,200) and Australia at A$269 (about $188 or Php 11,800), as well as Canada, the UK, Germany, France and New Zealand. At today’s rates, Japan’s price is about $11 cheaper than US.
It’s not the first premium fitness tracker and it won’t be the last, but with repairability being one of its key selling points, we can’t complain.
