It is not yet clear exactly how Fitbit will change under Google ownership; so far, it looks like the brand will continue to be different from Google. However, that’s how things looked when Google bought Nest too – the smart home brand ended up losing its status as a separate company and is now just a sub-brand of Google’s hardware division. When the deal was first announced, Osterloh noted that the deal was an opportunity for the company to make “Made by Google” wearables, and Osterloh and Park’s comments made it look like future devices would run Google’s own Wear OS software. It remains to be seen whether this means that Fitbit’s software will be completely replaced by Google’s on future devices.
Fitbit did not take time off last year, launching the Sense fitness watch in September. It is probably the most advanced device that Fitbit has made so far, adding a number of new health tracking features, such as EDA and skin temperature sensors, as well as an updated heart rate sensor. Sense also has a much better battery life than Samsung and Apple watches, although it is also much slower when opening applications or navigating the interface. Sense also now has the distinction of being the last major Fitbit product launched before Google took over, so now let’s see how long it takes for Google’s influence to start appearing in new products.