Why Fitbit’s doable smartwatch exit isn’t such a foul factor

One thing you could not have observed throughout the latest Made by Google occasion was the absence of any Fitbit merchandise. We weren’t anticipating Fitbit to announce something. In any case, Google would not need the corporate to overshadow the Pixel Watch 3. Nonetheless, the absence of any Fitbit gadgets is extra notable when you think about that it has been two years since that division launched the Sense 2 and Versa 4.

There is a motive for the silence, because it seems. Sandeep Waraich, senior director of product administration for Pixel Wearables, instructed Engadget, “Pixel Watch is our [Google’s] smartwatch a part of the portfolio.”

That is it then: Whereas we would get new variations of the Cost and Encourage health trackers, there’ll seemingly by no means be one other Sense, Versa, or different Fitbit-branded smartwatch. Finally, I feel it is a clever transfer on Google’s half, even when folks may miss some elements of Fitbit’s method.

Go exhausting or go house

Fitbit watches have lengthy felt like a center floor between health trackers and extra superior smartwatches. Whereas their step, coronary heart charge, and GPS monitoring is purposeful sufficient to get you match, you may get superior knowledge from Apple and Garmin merchandise, which generally cater on to the calls for of athletes and adventure-seekers. If you cannot justify the cash to purchase a tool from a type of manufacturers, a Cost 6 ought to do the trick in relation to health.

It is even much less logical to decide on Fitbit watches for non-fitness actions. Whereas the top-of-the-line Sense 2 is straightforward to make use of and has two to 3 days of battery life with its always-on show tech, its efficiency is not snappy, and also you lose out on a number of the platform-integrated options provided by watches from Apple, Samsung, and Google correct. For instance, there is not any digicam or good house management on the Sense 2 except you rely Alexa voice instructions. Likewise, fast message replies are restricted to Android customers, although Apple’s walled backyard is accountable for that one.

Talking of partitions, there’s Fitbit Premium. Some watch-based options are needlessly blocked with out a subscription — amongst them a each day readiness rating, and even emergency detection and messaging. The identical grievance may be leveled in opposition to Pixel Watches, however at the least these are extra trendy gadgets with a novel proposition.

Clear imaginative and prescient

Merging product traces is for the very best, generally. I have been masking tech lengthy sufficient to keep in mind that Fitbit wasn’t doing a lot innovation within the run-up to its 2019 acquisition. It by no means appeared to seek out its footing with smartwatches, and its earliest makes an attempt at them had been tough. You will not hear too many individuals wax nostalgic concerning the Blaze or Ionic. In truth, the Ionic was really recalled in 2022 due to a possible burn hazard.

The arrival of Pixel Watches appears to have breathed life into what’s left of the Fitbit ecosystem. They’ve an immediately recognizable design, arguably extra modern than something ever launched underneath the Fitbit identify. Given Google’s intention to compete with the Apple Watch, we’re additionally getting an increasing number of on a regular basis options, resembling Google TV management and the power to observe dwell video from Nest cameras.

Had Fitbit been left alone, it is conceivable that it might need stepped up its sport. Google can be infamous for launching merchandise solely to shortly kill them once they do not meet preliminary gross sales forecasts. We’re already on a third-generation Pixel Watch, nonetheless, so there’s hope that the product will evolve into not only a true Apple Watch challenger, however a perfect wearable for informal customers and hardcore health sorts alike.

Goodbye Fitbit?

If something, my deeper concern is that Google may lose curiosity in low-cost health trackers. There’s more cash to be created from a $350 Pixel Watch than a $160 Cost, and the latter would not offer you additional motive to purchase a Pixel telephone. Fitbit gross sales been on the decline for years, as nicely — swinging the axe may scale back bills and permit the Pixel Watch to flourish.

The world wants inexpensive health wearables, although. They are often genuinely life-changing, and it would not be proper if the higher choices had been reserved for individuals who can spend as a lot on one as they may on a smartphone. I am simply crossing my fingers that the logic is smart from Google’s enterprise perspective.