With subscriptions inflating the real cost of fitness trackers, Google’s Fitbit Air stands out by bundling core features without a monthly fee. Here’s how five trackers stack up—price, device limits, app requirements, and what still costs extra.
The paywall in fitness tracking doesn’t always look like a paywall at first.
A ring like the $399 Oura Ring 5 can seem like a straightforward purchase—until you factor in the $6 per month (or $70 per year) needed to make it remotely useful. After two years, that puts the total around $550. If you keep it for five years, you’re looking at at least $750.
Oura isn’t alone. Whoop’s screenless fitness band starts with a membership at $199 per year, and while that includes the device, the long-term math can still sting.
That’s why Google’s recently released Fitbit Air feels like an abrupt change of tone: it’s basically a Whoop-style screenless band with a one-time cost of $100, and you can use most core features without an additional subscription.
Google Health Premium exists, but it reads more like an add-on than a requirement.
Fitbit Air: core features without a monthly fee
The Fitbit Air, starting at only $100, is Google’s direct rival to Whoop. It’s designed as a screenless band that delivers the company’s core features without a monthly charge.
Only the Gemini-powered Al Coach and other perks (including workout videos) require a Google Health Premium subscription. If you opt in, the subscription costs $10 per month or $100 per year—but the device’s core functionality doesn’t hinge on it.
Battery life is about seven days, which is roughly half of Whoop’s 14-day uptime. The trade-off is charging speed. In Engadget’s review testing, its review unit went from 36 percent to 58 percent in just five minutes.
The Fitbit Air works with both Android and iOS phones, but it requires the Google Health app. It won’t sync natively with Apple Health.
Garmin vívosmart 5: a no-subscription middle path
For those who want a display without paying a subscription, Garmin’s vívosmart 5 splits the difference. Unlike the Fitbit Air and Whoop, it has a narrow monochrome OLED display and a slim profile.
It tracks heart rhythm, sleep, steps, and workouts. Garmin also includes a Body Battery score to estimate how long you should wait before your next intense workout.
Like the Fitbit Air and Whoop, the vívosmart 5 lacks built-in GPS and instead relies on connected GPS through your paired phone.
The biggest win here is straightforward: there’s no monthly fee. Your $150 upfront investment unlocks everything the device can do.
Compatibility is broad. The vívosmart 5 works with both Android and iOS. Garmin Connect can sync with Apple Health and Google Health.
Samsung Galaxy Ring: fully usable, but not for iPhone
The $400 Samsung Galaxy Ring is another device that can function 100 percent without a monthly fee. It tracks sleep—duration, stages, and skin temperature—and it also tracks activity. It can automatically detect walking and running and provide detailed metrics for both.
On a charge, it can last at least six days.
But there are hard limits. The Galaxy Ring doesn’t work with iPhones. And while it works with Android phones from other manufacturers, Samsung is required for Galaxy AI features and the ring’s double-pinch gesture controls.
Apple Watch Series 11: the health features without a subscription
Apple’s approach is different again: the Apple Watch Series 11 is a smartwatch, but it brings a long list of health-tracking features without a monthly fee.
Battery life is up to 24 hours with regular use. Health features include hypertension alerts, plus monitoring for heart rate and blood oxygen levels. It can track sleep (including a sleep score) and log a long list of workouts.
The downsides are price and platform. The Apple Watch Series 11 starts at $400, and it’s iOS-only, leaving Android users out.
Xiaomi Smart Band 10: cheap upfront, limited sensing
At the budget end is the Xiaomi Smart Band 10, which costs around $50 and comes with no subscription fees.
It has a bigger, brighter, sharper display than its predecessor, with an improved screen-to-body ratio. The basics are covered: heart rate monitoring and sleep tracking. Battery life is rated up to 21 days.
Xiaomi also leans into playful versatility—you can wear it as a necklace or attach it to your shoe.
The compromises show up quickly. The Smart Band 10 lacks built-in GPS. Its sensor suite is limited, and it can’t sense ECG, blood pressure, skin temperature, barometer, altimeter, or HRV. Its sleep tracking also gets mixed feedback.
It’s not the device if you want premium health monitoring. It’s more about keeping the cost low.
It pairs with the Mi Fitness app, which is available on iOS and Android.
Put simply. Fitbit Air’s arrival sits in a wider shift: more fitness wearables are letting people pay once and get the essentials—while the costly features get pushed into optional tiers. The question for buyers isn’t just what a tracker costs. It’s what you’re actually paying for every month after the first excitement wears off.
Fitbit Air Whoop fitness trackers subscription pricing Google Health Premium Garmin vívosmart 5 Samsung Galaxy Ring Apple Watch Series 11 Xiaomi Smart Band 10 health tracking
Wait so it’s $100 but you might still have to pay anyway? Seems like a scam either way.
Good, stop making people pay monthly just to count steps. My last ring wanted a subscription for everything and I’m not doing that. $10 a month still feels like yeah it’s “optional” but they’ll get you.
So Fitbit Air is basically Whoop but without paying right? But then it says Gemini Al Coach needs the subscription… isn’t that the main part? Also 7 days battery is bad, I thought bands were like a month.
I don’t trust “core features without a monthly fee” like that. They always find some way to lock the useful stuff behind premium later. Oura being $6/mo is wild, but then who even keeps a fitness tracker for 5 years? Idk, sounds like another Google gadget marketing push, just with better math for once.