Google is giving Fitbit users a much deeper look at their health, but some of its most interesting new tools come with a recurring cost.
Fitbit Air users with a Google Health Premium subscription will get Health Guardian features, such as blood pressure and insulin resistance tracking, on Oct. 22, according to Alphabet (GOOGL).
The functionalities are also available to Fitbit Edge users.
Google says the tools quietly generate monthly reports when users meet minimum wear requirements. Google Health Coach, built with Gemini, can help subscribers understand changes in patterns and adjust their wellness routines.
There is a crucial difference.
According to Google, the features are meant for health rather than medical diagnosis, and users should see a medical expert or a traditional monitor to confirm any problematic blood pressure trends.
However, the upgrade still represents a major change in Fitbit’s future.
Google is no longer only attempting to market a gadget that tracks steps and heart rate.
It is increasingly using low-cost wearable technology to gather data for a $9.99 monthly Gemini-powered health subscription.
Google is putting Fitbit’s smartest features behind Premium
Google Health Premium costs $9.99 per month or $99 per year.
Google Health Coach, customized workout regimens, comprehensive sleep insights, nutrition coaching, and sophisticated Health Guardian features are included in the subscription, formerly known as Fitbit Premium.
On supported devices, Google says advanced features include blood pressure, insulin resistance, and sleep-breathing trends.
Google’s gadgets vary significantly from one another.
More Google:
- Google is making a change in November that might catch Gemini users off guard
- Google set to challenge Meta Muse in the Agentic AI race
- Google just disclosed something troubling about its AI
Owners of the Pixel Watch 3, Pixel Watch 4, and Pixel Watch 5 may see trends in blood pressure, insulin resistance, and sleep breathing quality without paying for Google Health Premium.
In contrast, Fitbit Air customers need Premium to utilize the insulin resistance and blood pressure functions.
Because of this, Fitbit gear is becoming a more apparent entry point into Google’s recurring-revenue health business.
The $99.99 Fitbit Air includes three months of Google Health Premium.
At $179.99, Google’s new Fitbit Edge comes with a three-month Premium trial.
Once that trial ends, customers have to decide whether personalized coaching and the more advanced health insights are useful enough to justify another subscription.
That is a well-known tactic in the technology sector.
The client enters the ecosystem via the hardware. The longer connection is created via software and services.
However, Google may have a particularly big potential since wearable health data grows more valuable the longer it is collected.
Fitbit is becoming more than a fitness tracker
Blood pressure is a good example of how much Google’s ambitions have expanded.
According to Google, compatible devices may detect long-term changes in cardiovascular trends without the need for a conventional cuff for the worn measurement itself by analyzing pulse and motion patterns over many days.
Similarly, the insulin-resistance feature examines physiological data collected over many weeks.
According to Google, its model was trained on more than 1 trillion minutes of data from 5 million users who opted in.
Neither function is meant to replace clinical testing.
However, they provide Google with information that might help customers identify longer-term changes and perhaps offer another incentive to use the gadget, which is much more significant than another daily step count.
Additionally, Google is incorporating more external data into the same application.
The business is adding support for clinical laboratory findings from Function Health, has strengthened Apple Health integration, and allows users to register meals by snapping a picture or interacting with Google Health Coach.
Google has successfully pushed Fitbit in the direction of a more comprehensive health platform.
The business started consolidating wearable data, linked applications, and medical information into one location earlier this year when it rebranded the Fitbit app as Google Health.
Additionally, Google said that it will start integrating Google Fit users into the same app.
Google’s Fitbit strategy creates a bigger AI opportunity
Selling millions more fitness bands isn’t always the larger potential.
It’s providing Gemini with an ongoing supply of personal context that might improve the usefulness of Google’s health coach.
Google Health Coach can combine activity, sleep, diet, and other health data to provide suggestions that are specific to each person.
This provides Google with long-term knowledge on what a specific person’s body and habits are really doing, something that a general-purpose AI chatbot often lacks.
The company has already shipped more than 55 Google Health features and fixes since introducing the new platform, including improved Coach memory and additional personalization.
The approach also raises the stakes of privacy.
Google claims that consumers can manage, remove, or export their health data and that it does not use Fitbit health and wellness data for advertising.
The business model matters here.
Google has another method of monetizing wearable data without relying on advertising: profiting directly from a health subscription.
That might help explain why more advanced functions are being added to Premium instead of being included in every Fitbit purchase.
The strategy carries some risk.
Customers already have to pay for cloud storage, music, video, AI tools, and a host of other things. Another obstacle is asking someone who purchased a fitness tracker for $99.99 or $179.99 to continue paying $9.99 each month.
Therefore, for Premium to feel much better than the basic health statistics customers now receive for free, Google needs the underlying data.
It has a much stronger case than step counts alone due to changes in blood pressure and insulin resistance.
What those attributes suggest about Fitbit is the more significant change.
In the past, Google offered fitness trackers mainly to gauge user performance.
It now wants Fitbit to detect changes that customers haven’t noticed themselves and have Gemini explain their possible significance.
For Google, the move might mean that the wearable is only the start of the partnership.
The lengthier wager begins with the subscription.
Related: Google’s AI chip could become a $75 billion business
