Google has trailed the launch of a new screenless fitness tracker, with Steph Curry giving us a sneak peek of the new device on his Instagram account.
In the video, Curry is seen wearing the screenless grey and orange band, which he describes as the ‘first of its kind’ before saying he won’t spoil it.
Bloomberg reports that the band will come with basic features and that you’ll need a Fitbit Premium subscription to unlock its full capabilities.
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That the new tracker will be launched under the Fitbit brand is interesting because Google has seemingly been winding down Fitbit products over the past couple of years.
This would be a major new launch that leans on Fitbit’s background in fitness tracking, and it could be the first screenless band to really rival Whoop, which has been dominant in this area of the market.
Why Fitbit can take on Whoop
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
Several screenless bands have hit the market over the past year, with the most notable Whoop rivals being the Amazfit Helio Strap and the Polar Loop band.
Neither has really dented Whoop’s popularity as yet. The Helio Strap is a good budget alternative but lacks the name recognition of Whoop, while the Polar Loop is undermined by poor software and hasn’t proved to be that accurate in my testing either.
Whoop has also been successful in blocking the sale of some rivals, like the Lexqi band, and has sued Polar for ‘copying’ its design, something Polar firmly denied when we asked them for comment.
A Google/Fitbit band wouldn’t have any problems with name recognition or its app. Fitbit remains one of the biggest names in fitness tracking tech, and the Fitbit app is easy and enjoyable to use, which is vital with a screenless band when you rely on the app to see all your data.
Showcasing the band on the wrist of Steph Curry is also a notable move because Whoop has always benefited from having a lot of partnerships with elite athletes across a range of sports.
Athletes don’t get much bigger and more recognizable than Curry, and if Google is smart, they’ll have other pros lined up to show off wearing the band.
It promises to be a big year for screenless trackers, with rumors of a Garmin band continuing to swirl as well. We’ll test any new bands as soon as we can to see if they really are a compelling Whoop alternative.
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