Google announced the Fitbit Edge on Monday, a new fitness tracker with a display that succeeds the Charge 6, which the company has not updated in three years. The Edge is priced at $180, positioning it below the Google Pixel Watch while offering a similar experience in a slimmer, pill-shaped design. Preorders are open now, and the device goes on sale on October 27. It works with Android and iPhones through the Google Health app, unlike the Pixel Watch.
The Edge features a user-replaceable battery, a first for Fitbit, which aligns with Google's efforts to make its Pixel Watch more repairable. The company may also be responding to new battery regulations set to take effect next year in the European Union. Repair options will vary by region and availability. The tracker's capsule shape is intended to suit smaller wrists better than the Pixel Watch's round face.
The Edge upgrades the Charge 6's 1.04-inch display to a larger 1.34-inch screen. It borrows several attributes from the Pixel Watch, including an altimeter that uses atmospheric pressure to measure elevation changes, allowing it to record elevation gain and loss during outdoor activities and track floors climbed. It also has a far-field skin temperature sensor, replacing the standard device temperature sensor found in other Fitbits. Google is bringing some of the Pixel Watch's more advanced hardware to a fitness-first wearable at a Fitbit-friendly price.
The Edge inherits improvements from the screenless Fitbit Air while restoring several Charge 6 features that tracker lacks, including built-in GPS and electrical sensors that work with the electrocardiogram app. Music playback can be controlled on a connected Bluetooth device, as with the Charge 6, and Google Maps turn-by-turn directions will arrive later this year. Google also announced more advanced automatic activity tracking for the Edge using Gemini Intelligence, which can identify up to 100 workout types. The device can track more than 50 exercise modes, up from 40 on its predecessor, and Google will roll out these features to the Pixel Watch 5 and Air.
With a Google Health Premium subscription, the Edge can track blood pressure trends without manual calibration and insulin resistance trends without a blood draw. Google first announced these capabilities alongside the Pixel Watch 5's debut, but they only became available at the end of September. They are also available on the Air. The seven-day battery life remains unchanged, and the Edge takes about 90 minutes to fully charge, half an hour less than the Charge 6.
One omission is a near-field communication sensor, meaning the Edge does not support contactless payments through Google Wallet. That is a downgrade from the Charge 6. The Edge introduces new digital and analog clock faces, and the Canyon band color returns from the Pixel Watch 5 alongside five other band styles. A Stephen Curry collaboration priced at $220 is back in the same brown-orange color. Google is also giving the screenless Fitbit Air a new Metal Mesh band.
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