After years of wearing a Whoop, I decided to test Google's new £85 Fitbit Air head-to-head against the Whoop 5.0 for nearly two weeks. The Fitbit Air is a screenless fitness tracker that costs a fraction of a Whoop and requires no subscription. I wore both devices simultaneously, tracking sleep, fitness, and recovery metrics like heart rate variability and respiratory rate.
The Fitbit Air's design is impressively simple. The tracker is a tiny pebble that slots into a Velcro fabric band, making it easy to put on and remove. At just 17mm wide and 8.3mm thick, it's one of the smallest fitness trackers I've worn, and I often forgot I was wearing it. In contrast, the Whoop 5.0 is larger and its band system feels clunky, requiring unclipping and rethreading the sensor to swap bands, and charging via a battery pack that slides onto the device while worn.
The companion app, now rebranded as Google Health, is a gamechanger. Instead of manually entering information, you have a conversation with an AI coach that adapts to your metrics and routines. During setup, I told the coach I wanted to reduce body fat and stress, and it immediately linked the two, suggesting increasing daily steps and adding intentional walks. This hyper-personalised experience is unlike anything I've seen elsewhere.
While the Fitbit Air offers four performance loop colours and additional active and leather bands, Whoop still has an edge in customisation with options like bicep straps and Whoop Body clothing. However, the Fitbit Air's simplicity and comfort, especially for sleep tracking, make it a strong competitor. With Google's entry and Garmin expected to launch the Cirqa soon, Whoop has officially been put on notice.
