Google unveils the Fitbit Edge, a $179 tracker with a replaceable battery
And it's available to preorder right now
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Google on Monday officially unveiled Fitbit Edge, its latest fitness tracker. The $179 wearable is available for preorder today, with deliveries starting Oct. 27. In addition to the new Edge, Google also unveiled several new bands for the Fitbit Air — including metal mesh bands to give the screenless device a more premium look.
The new Fitbit Edge looks like a more modern Fitbit Charge 6, in that it has a tall, slim display, but with a similar design style to that of the Pixel Watch lineup.
The Edge boasts a 1.34-inch OLED always-on display, with an aluminum case and is available in black, silver, satin pyrite, or gold. On the right side of the housing is a button that provides tactile feedback when pressed.
Google puts battery life up to 7 days, depending on usage. It’ll fully charge in about 90 minutes, or a quick 5-minute charge will net you another day of use.
What’s more impressive about the battery, however, is that it’s replaceable. I can’t ever remember seeing a fitness tracker with a replaceable battery. It’s certainly the first Fitbit device with such a feature.
Like the Pixel Watch and Fitbit Air, the Edge incorporates Google Health Coach and the more recently released Google Health Guardian features such as monthly insulin resistance and blood pressure trends.
Of course, it checks all the standard fitness tracking feature boxes for things like AFib detection, SpO2, skin temperature, real-time workout guidance, and built-in GPS.
It’s also capable of automatically recognizing up to 100 different activities, up from 10 before. The Fitbit Air and Pixel Watch 3, 4 and 5 will get expanded activity detection later this month.
It’s Android and iPhone compatible.
My quick take
When I first saw the leaked Edge photos a couple of months ago (the device was accidentally included in promo shots of the Pixel 11 and Watch 5), I wasn’t all that excited. It looked a lot like what I assumed would be a Charge 7.
After learning more about the Edge, though, I can’t help but think of it as a Pixel Watch for iPhone users. Sure, it doesn’t do everything the Pixel Watch does in terms of installing apps and other smartwatch-like features — but it’ll show you alerts and collect all of the same health data as the Pixel Watch.
And at $179, it’s super intriguing. I’ll hopefully have one on my wrist soon, with a full review to follow.
You can order the Fitbit Edge directly from the Google Store and participating retailers now. Deliveries arrive on Oct. 27.