Google is extending its Health Guardian features to the Fitbit Air and the new Fitbit Edge, and says it has made automatic workout tracking considerably more accurate across its wearables.
Health Guardian, which Google introduced for the Pixel Watch earlier this year, tracks gradual changes in the body over time. On the two Fitbit trackers it will cover blood pressure trends and insulin resistance trends, and will require a Google Health Premium subscription. Both arrive later this month.
Users who meet the monthly wear requirements will get a report at the start of each month in the Google Health app. The app's Health Coach can then suggest lifestyle and wellness changes based on the readings, and offer points a user may want to raise with their doctor. Google describes the feature as an early signal that something needs attention.
Separately, Google is upgrading automatic activity detection on the Fitbit Air, Fitbit Edge and the Pixel Watch 3, 4 and 5, also later this month. The number of activities the devices can recognise on their own rises from 10 to more than 100, including strength training, swimming and racket and team sports.
The company says the devices will now weigh movement patterns, routines, manual corrections and location alongside heart rate to work out what a user is doing. Google says the change makes tracking "dramatically more intelligent, reliable and accurate", and that in testing it cut missed workouts by more than half. Fast-moving activities such as tennis and high-intensity interval training had been harder for the devices to detect.
Google also announced a new Metal Mesh band for the Fitbit Air, a flexible stainless steel weave sold in Champagne Gold or Polished Silver for $69.99. A bundle pairing the Champagne Gold band with an Obsidian Fitbit Air costs $149.99 at Target and the Google Store. Pre-orders open next week and the band goes on sale on October 27.
The Google Health app replaced the Fitbit app earlier this year. It connects to services including Peloton and MyFitnessPal and can sync with medical records, and Google has said it will link with Abbott's Lingo continuous glucose monitor for users in the United States.