Google’s screenless Fitbit

Google is preparing a screenless Fitbit-style band built around recovery and readiness tracking, according to a report published April 12 by The Australian Financial Review. (afr.com) The pitch is simpler than a smartwatch: wear a band, collect heart-rate and sleep data in the background, and check your score in an app instead of on your wrist. Fitbit already defines its Readiness Score as a 100-point measure based on resting heart rate, recent sleep, and heart-rate variability. (support.google.com) Google has the software groundwork in place. Fitbit’s Daily Readiness feature is now available broadly in the Fitbit app, and Google Store support pages say users can get it without Fitbit Premium if the app is up to date. (store.google.com, support.google.com) That would put Google closer to Whoop and Oura than to the Apple Watch. Whoop sells a display-free wearable and centers its service on sleep, strain, and recovery, while Oura’s ring focuses on sleep, stress, and a Readiness Score built from overnight body signals and activity patterns. (whoop.com, whoop.com, support.ouraring.com) The category has been moving away from wrist screens and toward passive tracking. Oura markets its ring as a round-the-clock health wearable, and Whoop’s current membership plans bundle hardware with subscriptions instead of selling a traditional watch first. (ouraring.com, whoop.com) Google has been reshaping Fitbit for years. Since Google closed its Fitbit acquisition in January 2021, the brand has narrowed its device lineup, folded more features into Google accounts and apps, and leaned harder on health metrics that can live across phones, watches, and subscriptions. (blog.google, support.google.com) A screenless band would also dodge one of the tradeoffs of smartwatches: power-hungry displays. Whoop says its current devices run for 5 days or more depending on plan, while Oura’s appeal comes partly from moving sensors into a ring that does not ask users to manage another screen. (whoop.com, ouraring.com) The open question is whether Google sells the band as hardware, as a subscription, or both. Whoop’s United States plans currently start at $239 a year for Peak and $359 a year for Life, with the device included, while Fitbit’s readiness features already sit inside a broader app ecosystem Google controls. (whoop.com, support.google.com) If Google ships it, the company would be betting that fewer screens and more background sensing can keep Fitbit relevant in a market now defined less by step counts than by how recovered users feel when they wake up. (afr.com, support.google.com, support.ouraring.com)