It’s been 14 years since Fitbit launched to market and kickstarted a journey that would lead to over 120 million users. That journey hit new heights four years ago when Google acquired the company for $2.1 billion, but it took almost three years for the Fitbit magic to spread to Google’s hardware lineup.
The result is the Pixel Watch 3, launched alongside the Pixel 9 series last year. It’s one of my favorite health devices from last year and it deserves its position on the best smartwatch list as it has the best heart rate monitoring of any smartwatch made by a phone maker.
There’s a lot that Google got right with its hardware, but having also used smartwatches from Apple and Samsung, one part of the Pixel Watch 3 experience needs improvement. Ironically, it’s the Fitbit app. You have to use the Fitbit app to access data from the Pixel Watch 3, but while its competition has a seamless and streamlined experience, Google’s is more disjointed.
I like a lot of the data that the Pixel Watch 3 collects, and Google’s Cardio Load and Target Load features are fantastic, but the app experience could be improved in these five simple ways.
Provide advanced sleep reports for free
There’s one simple way that would endear the Pixel Watch and Fitbit brands to any customer: give access to full sleep data, including readiness, for free. You can access some sleep data for free, but the AI-driven metrics require Fitbit Premium; although you get a six-month free trial with a Pixel Watch 3, you still need to pay $10 per month or $80 per year.
When you have Fitbit Premium, the sleep reports are detailed but lack some of the more granular details you’ll find on a device like the Oura Ring. Google uses a lot of white space to make data more manageable and understandable, and this makes the overall layout better than the competition. Unfortunately, while you’ll get some of the sleep data without Fitbit Premium, metrics like readiness are behind a paywall.
The issue for Google is not that sleep reports aren’t worth paying for but rather that its competition offers the same features for free. While tweaking the sleep reports to ensure it’s all included for free, I think Google can also tweak the Fitbit Premium proposition.
Rethink the Fitbit Premium subscription
Fitbit Premium, on its own, is a good overall product, but the sleep reports are a challenge when you look at Apple and Samsung. Both provide sleep reports as part of the experience included with their hardware, and Google needs to ensure it offers Premium for at least a year or includes features like the full sleep report for free.
Consider the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 and Samsung Health. The Galaxy Watch 7 is less expensive — currently priced at $240 compared to $300 for the Pixel Watch 3 — and includes a full sleep report. Then there’s Apple; buy an Apple Watch Series 10, and you’ll get sleep reports for free as well as the full suite of Apple Health data.
Beyond sleep reports, Fitbit Premium offers a lot of coaching, whether for training, meditation, or running. The Pixel Watch 3 introduced a host of advanced running metrics and a tie-in with your Peloton bike, all exclusive to Fitbit Premium. These are key features that make Fitbit Premium worth paying for, but I am unsure whether it’s enough to make Fitbit Premium+ worth paying for.
Fitbit Premium represents a potential recurring revenue stream for Google but also a challenge. If Google charges more for its hardware and requires a subscription for features that the competition offers for free, it’s uncertain whether customers can derive enough value. I like a lot about Fitbit Premium, but it’s telling that I have never subscribed after a free trial. It’s a shame, as the Pixel Watch 3 has outstanding hardware and features that make it one of the best health trackers you can buy right now.
Simplify and enhance access to raw data
As you might have guessed, I like Google’s latest wearables a lot. The Pixel Watch 3 offers outstanding battery life that beats the competition, excellent health tracking, and a comprehensive suite of data, but the key issue that prevents me from using it every day is the Fitbit app. Alongside the previous sleep reports and Fitbit Premium proposition, it’s also how Google lays out data in the app.
Consider the Oura Ring 4, Galaxy Watch 7, or Apple Watch Series 10. All provide similar information to the Pixel Watch 3 — and the first one is also platform agnostic — but they also make it far easier to look up historical data. Samsung and Apple let you scroll back months at a time to access workout or energy data, while Oura has the best layout of all and makes it easy to look up any information you want.
I find the Fitbit app far more confusing than the competition. Google has enabled many customization options, but these come with certain limitations. I care most about my heart rate, but it’s not possible to pin just my heart rate to the top of the home screen. Instead, I need to pin the health section, which also includes weight, body temperature, and health metrics.
Accessing raw data has improved since I picked up the Pixel Watch 3 earlier this year, and while it takes several taps to access raw heart rate data, I can check the recording at 5-minute intervals. However, historical data feels far less accessible.
Integrate Fitbit and Google further
Like so many things when different Google products talk to each other, the Fitbit account experience is bad. In particular, you must use a personal Gmail account instead of a Google Workspace account. If you have everything tied to your Workspace account, you’ll have to tie Fitbit to your personal account instead.
It’s a limitation that’s frustrating, especially if you previously had a Fitbit account that was using a Workspace email. This was my scenario, and Google didn’t make the transition that seamless. Granted, you likely won’t still have a Fitbit account, but this is only relevant if you’ve used Fitbit in the past and are interested in using a Pixel Watch with your legacy account. Fitbit isn’t the first Google service to limit access to personal accounts only, and I think Google needs to rethink its approach and stop treating Workspace users any differently from a personal user.
One other thing I’m missing is the Fitbit dashboard, which allowed you to access your Fitbit data online before Google discontinued it last year. Considering that you can access your Peloton data online — and Google is promoting the tie-in between Fitbit Premium and Peloton — it does feel like a missed opportunity here.
Improve syncing and device switching
This disjointed experience is also apparent when trying to sync a Pixel Watch 3 after it’s been offline for a few days. I’ve left my charger behind by accident several times, and it’s much harder to find a Pixel Watch 3 charger on the go than an Apple Watch charger.
When I reconnect my Pixel Watch 3 to my Pixel 9 Pro, there’s a noticeable lag in syncing data. Often, I’ll need to go into the Watch app to try and force the sync, but this doesn’t always work. Also, the Fitbit app will say it’s syncing, but the Watch app won’t, and vice versa. There are gremlins in the way that Fitbit and Google services work together, and the result is a disjointed experience.
This is compounded when you try and move your wearable to a new device: you have to reset it, go through several steps that aren’t intuitive (that I had to search for), and eventually, it works. Comparatively, the competition makes it far easier to move your device to a new phone. Interestingly, no phone maker lets you move phones without resetting the wearable, so there’s also an opportunity here for Google to do something differently.
Google makes outstanding hardware, but it needs to ensure that the Fitbit experience delivers an equally outstanding user experience. I can’t wait to see what the Pixel Watch 4 offers this year — and how the Fitbit experience evolves alongside it.
