Google may be preparing to give the Fitbit Charge line the upgrade it’s been waiting for. A new leak has revealed a huge amount of information about the rumored Fitbit Edge, an upcoming fitness tracker that appears designed to sit somewhere between the minimalist Fitbit Air and Google’s much more capable Pixel Watch 5.
The device itself isn’t much of a surprise. Google accidentally showed a mysterious screen-equipped fitness tracker in Pixel 11 advertising earlier this year, while subsequent retail imagery seemingly confirmed the Fitbit Edge name and gave us a much better look at its design. Now, a report from Dealabs Magazine may have filled in most of the remaining blanks, including its price and some seriously interesting hardware.
The Fitbit Edge will reportedly feature a 1.34-inch AMOLED display with an always-on mode, built-in GPS, Bluetooth 5.4, and support for both Android and iPhone. Health tracking looks extensive, too. The leaked feature list includes heart-rate monitoring, SpO2 measurements, ECG readings, VO2 max, sleep tracking, skin temperature, irregular heart-rate notifications, and more than 40 exercise modes. But Gemini could be the Edge’s biggest differentiator.
The tracker reportedly supports personalized fitness coaching powered by Gemini, including customized workout programs, an Ask Coach feature, and coaching directly from your wrist. Google already offers its Gemini-powered Health Coach through Google Health Premium, so bringing that experience to a smaller Fitbit would make plenty of sense. Some of those smarter features may require a Google Health Premium subscription, although it’s unclear exactly which ones would sit behind the paywall.
Battery life is where the Fitbit Edge could pull away from a full smartwatch. The tracker reportedly lasts up to seven days on a charge, although enabling the always-on display could drop that to around two days. More interestingly, just five minutes of charging is said to provide roughly 24 hours of use. The battery may even be user-replaceable.
Pricing could make the Edge particularly interesting. Dealabs reportedly lists it at €179 (~ $201) in Europe and £159 (~ $211) in the UK. That puts it only slightly above the older Fitbit Charge 6 while remaining substantially cheaper than the Pixel Watch 5. That makes Google’s strategy fairly easy to see. The Fitbit Edge could be for people who want a proper display, GPS, notifications, advanced health tracking, and long battery life without stepping up to a Wear OS smartwatch. The one thing we still don’t know is when it’s coming. Google hasn’t officially announced the Fitbit Edge yet, but given how much has leaked, it probably won’t remain a secret much longer.
The OnePlus Buds Clip are a new pair of open-ear earbuds built around a simple convenience. They join Sony’s LinkBuds Clip in the growing ear-cuff category, but either OnePlus bud can go on either ear.
Sensors recognize how the earbuds are being worn and route the audio channels accordingly. There’s no label to check before putting them on, and the feature also works when only one bud is used.
We buy fitness bands and activity trackers to keep tabs on our exercise, but it is easy to forget to start tracking or switch modes when moving between different activities. For Fitbit and Pixel Watch users, that could soon become a lot less annoying, as Google is rolling out a major upgrade to automatic activity tracking that can recognize more than 100 types of exercise, up from just 10 before.
Google first showed off the improved tracking earlier this month alongside the Fitbit Edge. It is now coming to Fitbit Air and the Pixel Watch 3, 4, and 5, and Google claims the added context behind the system makes workout detection nearly twice as accurate while cutting missed activities by more than half. Fitbit Edge will support it too.