The Fitbit Air is finally getting another band option that isn’t fabric or polyurethane. Instead, the Metal Mesh band might actually take the Fitbit Air up a notch.
Band selection for the Fitbit Air has been limited. The Elevated Modern band and Performance Loop options are good, but they lack a little flair. The Fitbit Air needed another band option to take advantage of just how easy it is to swap styles.
The Metal Mesh band fills that gap. It comes in Polished Silver and Champagne Gold with the intent of matching your existing jewelry. The look lets the wearable blend in with an elevated outfit, even if the Performance Loop band does a good job fitting most looks.
Google says the Metal Mesh band for the Fitbit Air will be priced at $69.99. You’ll also be able to buy the Fitbit Air with the Metal Mesh band and the Performance Loop band for $149.99 as a bundle, but it only comes in gold. That’s $20 more than the special editions, like the Steph Curry band and the Pokémon Sleep band, but it comes with two bands instead of a single option.
Packed into the band announcement, Google detailed a couple more feature additions to the Fitbit Air, regardless of band choice.
Google announced Health Guardian features that analyze your overall health picture. For Google Health Premium users who set up blood pressure and insulin resistance trends in the app, a report will be available each month to guide lifestyle adjustments. This may give the AI Health Coach some more usability for the average Fitbit user.
Google also notes that automatic activity tracking is getting an overhaul. According to the new post, Google claims the improvements will result in “more intelligent, accurate, and reliable” tracking.
- Tracks more activities: We expanded the number of activities your Fitbit tracker or Pixel Watch can detect from 10 to more than 100, including strength training, swimming, and racket and team sports.
- Uses more context: Powered by contextual reasoning, Google Health factors in critical context — including your workout routines, historical data, manual edits, and, with permission, your location — to deliver nearly 2x more accurate detections and cut missed workouts by more than half. 7
- Logs workouts automatically: Workouts that meet your minimum duration threshold (15 minutes by default) with a sustained elevated heart rate are automatically logged, and a summary is sent to your mobile app, typically within 30 minutes.
- Learns your patterns: When you confirm or edit an activity, you’re improving a feature that learns your unique patterns and uses them to refine its predictions.
These updates are planned for “later this month.” This comes as the company recently announced a more expensive $179 tracker called the Fitbit Edge. Unlike the Fitbit Air, this model has a screen carrying Google’s Material You design language.
As for the new Metal Mesh bands, Google has them available for pre-order on its website and at Target. It looks like the new bands should ship later this month.
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