Subj : Fitbit still has a place in the smartwatch era just look at the To : All From : TechnologyDaily Date : Tue Nov 04 2025 19:00:09 Fitbit still has a place in the smartwatch era just look at the Apple Watch SE 3 Date: Tue, 04 Nov 2025 19:00:00 +0000 Description: Why testing the Apple Watch SE 3 got me excited for next year's Fitbit release. FULL STORY ====================================================================== Last week, Google announced that new Fitbit devices will be coming next year. A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one. This follows a recent revamping of the Fitbit app including an AI personal health coach for Fitbit Premium users. Ive been critical of Googles handling of Fitbit in the past. Ever since Google began acquiring Fitbit in 2019, its been an endless churn of negative headlines some of those by me. To start with, the European Union placed a 10-year moratorium on Google using the data it collected as a result of the Fitbit sale for advertising purposes in the European Economic Area, provoking concerns that Google would use Fitbit data for invasive advertising in other regions. Then came the slashing of features. Many community-based features, such as Challenges on the best Fitbits, got the axe, as did offline music storage. Fitbit Connect, the original piece of software used to pair your Fitbit with your computer and upload your music library, was also discontinued. The ability to create third-party apps for Fitbit OS also vanished, with resources instead being driven towards Googles own Wear OS platform and the Pixel Watch line. The Fitbit Versa 4 and Fitbit Sense 2 smartwatches were released as fairly basic smartwatches with the features above gutted, and Google, in a quote to Engadget, said there would be no more after this . It makes sense, I suppose, to leave Fitbit devices as the slim trackers they once were, and keep the Pixel Watch as the ranges sole annual smartwatch entry, but Google pulling apart Fitbits ecosystem for scraps and data, keeping what it wants and discarding what it doesnt, has been a real blow to many existing Fitbit users and led to a decline in Fitbit-branded devices. However, thats not to say the current crop of trackers arent good. While we didnt get on too well with the Fitbit Charge 6, awarding it only 3.5 stars in our review , the budget Fitbit Inspire 3 remains a solid set-and-forget tracker. Its lightweight, slim, and can be worn on a clip or slipped into a pocket as well as on your wrist. It features automatic workout detection once set up, you just have to start running for Fitbit to record it and packs a weeks worth of battery life. Its everything a Fitbit should be, including arriving with six months worth of Fitbit Premium. With the new AI personal health coach, the six months free service should provide everything you need to kickstart getting into great habits, even if you dont continue paying for the service. Fitbit Premium has quietly turned into a 4.5-star service thats made its way onto our best fitness app list. With the Google Pixel Watch 4 and its many Fitbit features doing so well, its with trepidation, amongst the many years of negative press, that I find myself actually looking forward to a new set of Fitbits. Follow the Apple Watch SE 3's example (Image credit: Future) The landscape has changed since Fitbit debuted its first digital pedometer at a TechCrunch event in 2009, and the fitness tracker market has become saturated. These devices are cheap to make, cheap to buy, and vary massively in quality: for every Xiaomi Smart Band 9 , there are many other Amazon dupes that arent worth your time. The likes of Jawbone are no more. Theres room in this murky space for a trusted brand, and its time for Fitbit to lead the way once again. To do this, it should look at the success Apple has had with the Apple Watch SE series. As I was testing the Apple Watch SE 3 after months of testing nothing but chunky-monkey Garmins, the Apple Watch Ultra 3, the Pixel Watch 4 and the Coros Apex 4, the Apple Watch SE 3 practically felt weightless on my hand (after all, its made from cheaper, lighter plastic and nylon composite rather than metal) and felt much more like a fitness tracker than a watch. At the same time, it had everything casual fitness fans and Apple users could really want, while being priced affordably. (Image credit: Future) A Fitbit Inspire 4 or Charge 7 could really be treated like a Pixel SE. The Pixel Watch is a thick, domed device with heavier metal parts and tons of communication features, whereas the Fitbit is the slender, lightweight option that still offers access to the excellent Fitbit Premium service and its new AI coaching system. Sharing a bit of design language would help maybe the same band colors as the Pixel Watch 4, or redesign the Fitbits body a bit so it more closely echoes the Pixel Watch 4s pebble aesthetic. It might even get a new name many people I know still refer to fitness trackers as Fitbits out of habit, so a single new device called the Google Pixel Fitbit wouldnt be too far out of pocket. This would position Fitbit as the cheaper, slimmer, fitness-oriented alternative to the bigger, do-it-all Google Pixel Watch 4. I had forgotten how good lightweight fitness trackers could be until I tried the Apple Watch SE 3, and I think the time is ripe for Fitbit to place itself as a "Pixel Watch SE" of sorts. Heres hoping the original fitness tracker can return to its former heights now all we need is our community features back. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button! And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too. ====================================================================== Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/health-fitness/fitbit-still-has-a-place-in-the-smart watch-era-just-look-at-the-apple-watch-se-3 --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 (Linux/64) * Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100) .