Google brings Health Guardian to the Fitbit Air and Edge, and expands automatic activity tracking

The company also announced a new metal mesh band for the Fitbit Air.

Google

Google is rolling out a pair of updates to improve automatic activity tracking for its wearables and bring more health features to its latest Fitbits. The company announced today that Health Guardian, which it introduced over the summer for the Pixel Watch, is coming to the Fitbit Air for Google Health Premium subscribers later this month. The service will also be available for the new Fitbit Edge at that time under the Premium subscription. Also later this month, Google says it's rolling out an upgrade to automatic activity tracking for the Fitbit Air, Fitbit Edge and Pixel Watches 3, 4 and 5 that nearly doubles its accuracy and expands the list of recognized workouts from 10 to over 100.

With the new Health Guardian features, Fitbit Air and Fitbit Edge users will receive a monthly summary in the Health app of their blood pressure and insulin resistance trends. The in-app Health Coach will provide lifestyle and wellness recommendations based on these readings, and insights to help you talk to your doctor about any concerns. "Health Guardian features give you this early indication that something needs attention, kind of like a check engine light for overall well-being," Google says.

Google introduced its new Health app, which replaced the Fitbit app, a few months ago. It serves as a portal to users' health, fitness and sleep data, links with other apps including Peloton and MyFitnessPal, and can sync with users' medical records. Google Health also partnered with the medtech company Abbott to connect its Lingo continuous glucose monitor with the app, which it says will be available to US users soon. 

Google

As for automatic activity tracking, Google says the coming update should address the gap in detecting fast-moving activities like tennis, HIIT and other types of workouts that the wearables previously struggled with. In addition to the usual markers like heart rate, the Fitbit and Pixel devices will also take your movement, routines, manual edits and location into account to get a fuller picture of what you're doing. "These updates make automatic activity tracking dramatically more intelligent, reliable and accurate," Google says. In tests, the improvements "cut missed workouts by more than half."

Google also introduced a new, more stylish band option for the Fitbit Air: a flexible, stainless steal woven design called Metal Mesh. It'll come in Champagne Gold or Polished Silver for $70, or you can get the Champagne Gold variant in a bundle with an Obsidian Fitbit Air for $150 at Target and on the Google Store. Pre-orders open next week before the Metal Mesh band arrives on October 27.