Which Fitbit should you buy?

After months of rumours and sly teasers, Google has finally officially unveiled the Fitbit Air – its screenless wearable. 

But how does the screenless Fitbit Air compare to the four-star Fitbit Charge 6? Is the Fitbit Air considered an upgrade, or is it only designed with certain users in mind?

We’ve assessed the Fitbit Air’s specs and compared them to the Fitbit Charge 6’s own to help you decide which wearable will suit you best. 

If you’re sold on a screenless wearable then make sure you check out our Fitbit Air vs Whoop comparison too. Otherwise for a broader look at all the options, our best fitness trackers, best Fitbit and best smartwatch guides have you covered.

Specs comparison table

Price and Availability

At the time of writing, the Fitbit Air is available for pre-order and will launch officially in the US and UK from May 26. With an official RRP of £84.99/$99.99, it’s one of the cheaper options in Google’s Fitbit range.

SQUIRREL_PLAYLIST_10208510

In comparison, the Fitbit Charge 6 is available to buy now and has a higher RRP of £139/$159.95. However, as the Fitbit Charge 6 is a few years old, it’s possible to pick up the wearable with a solid price cut. For example, at the time of writing US customers could pick up the Fitbit Charge 6 for just $119.95 from Google’s official store.

Although both wearables can be used without a subscription, they are compatible with Google Health Premium – the newest monthly plan that unlocks features such as Google Health Coach. This plan will set you back an additional $9.99 a month (the UK price is TBC at the time of writing). 

Fitbit Air is screenless

Take one look at the Fitbit Air and Fitbit Charge 6 and the difference is clear: the Fitbit Air is entirely screenless. Much like Whoop, the Fitbit Air is designed to quietly track your health and fitness data without any distraction.

This might sound confusing to those who have never used a screenless fitness tracker, as you might be wondering how you control the Fitbit Air or track a workout without the use of a screen. Essentially, you can use the companion smartphone app (Google Health) to see your metrics and data, plus manually start or add a workout. However, the Fitbit Air benefits from auto-workout detection which means it will know when you’ve started exercising and will track and log the workout accordingly.

In comparison, the Fitbit Charge 6 is fitted with a 1.4-inch AMOLED touchscreen display that has a Gorilla Glass 3 covering for scratch resistance. The display is bright, detailed and offers an always-on option (although keep in mind that’ll drain the battery faster). Plus, the inclusion of the display means you’ll have access to Google Wallet, Google Maps and even YouTube Music Controls without needing to rely on your phone. 

This means the Fitbit Charge 6 can double as a smartwatch, rather than just being a fitness tracker.

Fitbit Air charges faster, but both promise the same battery life

We should disclaim that battery life will vary depending on your individual usage. However, both the Fitbit Air and Fitbit Charge 6 generally promise up to seven days of battery life – however when its always-on display is enabled, the Fitbit Charge 6 drops down to around four days.

The Fitbit Air does promise to offer faster charging than the Fitbit Charge 6, with Google claiming the wearable can go from 0 to 100% in about 90 minutes. In addition, a five minute charge should result in one day of power too.  

In comparison, we found that the Fitbit Charge 6 takes around two hours to reach 100% power. 

Fitbit Charge 6 has built-in GPS

Although the Fitbit Air can track runs and the like, it doesn’t actually have built-in GPS. Instead, you’ll need to ensure your paired phone is with you. On the other hand, the Fitbit Charge 6 technically benefits from on-device GPS which means you shouldn’t need to carry your phone out with you.

We should disclaim that its GPS isn’t particularly reliable, as we found it works best when your paired phone is with you and the Fitbit Charge 6 can swap between your handset’s GPS and the device’s antenna based on signal strength. However, once you leave your phone at home, we found the Charge 6 struggles to accurately track your route and instead bases distance on the accelerometer instead. This is a known issue, and one that appeared on the 2021 Fitbit Charge 5 too.

Fitbit Air promises more accurate sleep tracking

Google promises that the Fitbit Air sees huge improvements in sleep tracking compared to previous Fitbit models. Not only does the Fitbit Air see in-depth tracking that captures time spent in each sleep stage and breathing regularity, but it also summarises this information into a personalised Sleep Score. This, Google explains, is powered by advanced new machine learning models that are 15% more accurate than before.

The Fitbit Charge 6 does offer impressively accurate sleep tracking, and we even concluded that it feels more accurate than rival offerings. With this in mind, the promise of more accurate tracking is certainly promising. 

Fitbit Air is designed for Google Health Coach

One of the key features of the Fitbit Air is, somewhat annoyingly, sat behind Google’s monthly subscription, Google Health Premium. However, at $9.99 a month, it’s arguably an easier pill to swallow than the likes of Whoop’s annual subscription costs.

Signing up to Google Health Premium unlocks Google Health Coach, a personalised coach that’s built with Google’s Gemini. The Coach promises to deliver personalised guidance based on your metrics, fitness goals and lifestyle too. Plus, Health Coach unlocks the aforementioned Sleep Score and can also answer your specific health and fitness-related questions too.

Early Verdict

The Fitbit Air is easily one of the most exciting Fitbit launches in recent times, and looks set to be a genuinely viable competitor to Whoop. Deciding between the Fitbit Air and Fitbit Charge 6 will depend entirely on your personal preference – if you want a wearable that doubles as a smartwatch then the Fitbit Charge 6 is an easy choice. 

On the other hand, if you want a dedicated fitness tracker that benefits from Google’s Gemini-powered Health Coach, then the Fitbit Air is an appealing alternative.

We’ll be sure to update this versus once we review the Fitbit Air, so make sure you visit back in due course.