Google Fitbit Air Adds Free Health Guardian Tools, Including Blood Pressure and Insulin Resistance Trends

The tools were introduced earlier this year on the Google Pixel Watch 5. News site Gadgets & Wearables dug through version 5.07.2 of the Google Health app and found the three features in the app's code, according to TechRadar. Pixel Watches receive four new tools rather than three, but Google's Breathing Emergency Detection requires the watch's emergency contact and notification infrastructure, which the screenless Fitbit Air does not have.

TechRadar reported that the new features are not behind a Google Health Premium subscription and are available in the Google Health app for free. The Fitbit Air is a $99.99 / £84.99 / AU$199 fitness band that offers basic tracking in its free tier and an advanced AI-powered fitness coach with a premium subscription.

Insulin Resistance Trends analyzes multi-week physiological data to track shifts in metabolic health, pointing to resistance levels going up and down, according to TechRadar. Insulin resistance is a major precursor to type-2 diabetes, but for truly accurate blood sugar metrics, users need something like a continuous glucose monitor.

Blood Pressure Trends passively measures pulse and motion patterns throughout the month to estimate blood pressure trends without requiring a cuff or manual calibration, TechRadar reported. The article said blood pressure via LED technology is very new to wearables and that its presence in a device this cheap is striking. It is not a replacement for a cuff, only a likely indicator of trend; users still need regular cuff measurements or a doctor's appointment for serious concerns, though the metric can signal when to start paying attention to blood pressure.

Sleep Breathing Quality is a sleep feature that shows how much time the user spent in 'optimal breathing' the night before. Google Health Coach, the AI chatbot available in the app's premium tier, can offer advice about improving this based on sleep score and other contextual information, according to TechRadar.

While users get basic numbers for all three metrics, TechRadar reported that Google Health Coach can surface these stats to offer actionable advice. For example, a user can combine Insulin Resistance Trends with nutrition logging so the coach can help create a meal plan to bring that number down.

TechRadar's reviewer was not the biggest fan of Google's AI Health Coach but liked the Fitbit Air as a whole, writing that new, useful, actionable metrics add to its value proposition. Whoop can estimate daily blood pressure ranges but does not offer an Insulin Resistance Trends metric, while Garmin Cirqa does not cover blood pressure estimates or insulin; both competitor wearables have SpO2 blood oxygen sensors, according to TechRadar.

The Health Guardian tools are only general indicators of the body's trends, TechRadar reported. For people who care about those metrics, the article said the Fitbit Air is cheap enough that the new features could be an incentive to choose it over more expensive rivals.