Google’s new screenless Fitbit Air takes purpose at Whoop’s rising wearable empire. The larger story is a client base that’s executed gazing screens
Bear in mind when having all of the bells, whistles and a vivid, colourful show signaled a premium machine?
Google’s new Fitbit Air, unveiled this week, has none of that. No display screen. No ping. Only a $99 band that tracks your physique and stays out of the way until you open the Google Health app.
It’s meant to be worn 24/7 and is, if we’re being sincere, much like Whoop’s extremely widespread screenless wearable.
Hours after the Fitbit Air went reside, Whoop founder and CEO Will Ahmed posted on X what amounted to a warning shot. His put up confirmed a picture of a Whoop circuit board with the phrases “Don’t hassle copying us, we are going to win,” and a caption noting the message is engraved on each Whoop board.
It’s a name again to 2021, when Ahmed first put the message on the circuit board of Whoop 4.0, together with the initials of each engineer who labored on the wearable. A pointed message to then-competitor Amazon Halo, which launched its personal screen-free band that bore a placing resemblance to Whoop’s machine. Amazon eventually discontinued the product in 2023.
In the meantime, GPS and wearable large Garmin, which is seeing revenue surge in its fitness segment, seems to be gearing up to go screen-free.
The corporate filed a U.S. trademark utility for a product referred to as Cirqa in February, describing a body-worn sensor system for measuring bodily and emotional stress restoration, alertness and efficiency. Photographs of the screenless band briefly leaked on Garmin’s web site in January, TechRadar reported.
The Analog Period
However past the launches and jabs, the screenless pivot raises an apparent query: why now, and what does it imply for the way forward for wearables? Some information could assist clarify why.
Greater than half of Individuals need to cut back their display screen time, based on a YouGov poll, whereas a 2025 Harris Ballot performed for Quad discovered that 81% of Gen Z adults and 78% of Millennials want they may disconnect from digital gadgets extra simply. Searches for “digital detox concepts” and “digital detox imaginative and prescient boards” additionally elevated by 72% and 273%, respectively, based on Pinterest’s 2025 Summer time Pattern Report.
Maybe the largest indicator that buyers are able to ditch their screens is the variety of areas the place they aren’t invited. Telephone-free occasions grew 567% globally between 2024 and 2025, with attendance up 121%, based on Eventbrite.
Think about, too, good rings. Screenless by design, the good ring class accounts for 75% of health tracker income, up from 46% a yr prior, per Circana information launched final fall. U.S. consumers under 34 are nearly twice as likely as the average buyer to own one.
After which there’s Oura. The smart ring nabbed the top spot as fastest-growing product in consumer tech over the last quarter, with searches up 58% year-over-year, based on a latest client electronics report from MediaVision.
Whereas it stays to be seen who will maintain the highest spot on the screen-free leaderboard, the wellness tech class is changing into extra passive, even at dwelling, with gadgets like Ultrahuman that measure and monitor within the background and ship data when prompted.
What it factors to most of all is that within the period of well being and wellness monitoring, the know-how shall be operating within the background, ready patiently and certain with no display screen.
