Fitbit Air Beats Pixel Watch 4 in 4,000-Step Test as $99 Band Tops $349 Watch

Q: Is Google's buggy AI coach the true cost of its new affordable Fitbit Air?

No. The evidence suggests the buggy AI coach is not the price users must pay for the Fitbit Air’s low hardware cost, but it is a major weakness in Google’s broader health strategy. On the hardware, the $99 Fitbit Air stands up well. In Tom’s Guide testing, it slightly beat the $349 Pixel Watch 4 on step count, distance and pace, while offering much longer battery life and a lighter, screen-free design. Its main compromise is technical, not AI-related: no built-in GPS or barometric altimeter, which led to poor climb data. The AI coach sits in a separate layer. Google’s Gemini-powered Health Coach is tied to the premium subscription, around $10 a month or $100 a year, while the Air’s core tracking works without it. Reviews describe the free app experience as cleaner, and the coach as buggy, verbose and sometimes unreliable, including asking for data already logged and generating questionable summaries. That makes it hard to justify as a paid add-on in its current form. What the AI coach does represent is Google’s strategic bet. The Fitbit Air looks like an affordable entry point into the Google Health ecosystem, where subscriptions and Gemini features are meant to drive long-term value. If the coach remains flawed, that could hurt the platform’s appeal. But for buyers focused on basic tracking, the Air’s value does not depend on using the AI coach at all.

3 articles · Updated · Tom's Guide · Jul 9

4,000 manually counted steps gave the Fitbit Air a narrow win over the Pixel Watch 4, with the band logging 3,993 steps versus 3,985 for Google’s smartwatch.
2.15 miles and an 18:02 pace also put the $99 Air closer to the control than the $349 Pixel Watch 4, while both devices outperformed Strava’s 3,978-step tally.
184 feet of climb was the Air’s weak spot, badly missing Strava’s 255-foot reading; the Pixel Watch 4 came closer at 288 feet thanks to onboard GPS and a barometric altimeter.
The result suggests the screen-free Fitbit Air is the better pure step tracker, but the Pixel Watch 4 remains the stronger pick for users who need more reliable elevation data and broader smartwatch features.