Google and Steph Curry Just Teased A Screenless Fitbit Wearable: Should Whoop Be Worried

Google appears ready to challenge subscription-based fitness bands with a new Google health wearable that resembles a Whoop device. The band, teased in an Instagram advert featuring Steph Curry, seems designed to pair with updated Fitbit software and encourage users toward ongoing AI health services and paid plans.

The wider market for screenless trackers has grown fast, and Google clearly wants in. Whoop has shown that people will pay yearly for detailed training analysis, while other rivals like Polar still sell hardware outright. The Google health wearable seems intended to compete directly with these approaches and revenue models.

Google Health Wearable Teased by Steph Curry on Instagram

"It's a first of its kind... in a way," says Golden State Warriors point guard Steph Curry in a sponsored Instagram post. Curry talks about the band around the wrist and claims it will impact health and wellness to offer a "new relationship with your health." The post ends with the Google logo.

The advert does not name the device, but the Google health wearable looks much like a Whoop band. It has no visible screen and wraps around the wrist with athletic orange highlights on a grey strap. Google has not confirmed which sensors are built in or what metrics it will track.

Subscriptions and Fitbit AI App

Details about the Google health wearable remain scarce. Bloomberg, citing an unnamed source, reports that Google-owned Fitbit plans to launch the band later this year. The report states the device will ship with "basic features" only, while nudging customers toward some form of subscription for fuller health services.

The Google health wearable is expected to connect tightly with an updated, AI-enabled Fitbit app acting as a digital coach. Fitbit previously limited this personal health coach preview to paying subscribers. A recent Google blog post now says non-paying users can also try the public preview and test its functions.

AI Features and Free Access Tactics

Through the Fitbit app, the Google health wearable should offer cycling insights, nutrition tracking and free "mindfulness sessions" for stress management. Google is aiming to grow AI subscription numbers and appears to be following the "first hit is always free" strategy by giving selected features at no initial cost.

Whoop, the main inspiration for the Google health wearable, is a screenless tracker with sensors reading heart rate, skin temperature, movement and other activity markers. The $200 Whoop 5.0 includes a Whoop One subscription for simpler data, while extra payments unlock stress monitoring, blood pressure insights and AFib detection tools.

Unlike the subscription-focused Google health wearable strategy, the Polar Loop fitness band avoids memberships and uses a standard purchase model. Yet Whoop's business has grown strongly. The company is now valued at around $10.1 billion after securing another $575 million from investors including Qatar Investment Authority and Mayo Clinic.

Google and Steph Curry appear alert to the money now flowing through the Google health wearable and similar products. Sportico reports that Kevin Durant has invested millions of dollars in Boston-based Whoop. The involvement of high-profile athletes suggests clear belief in screenless health and fitness wearables as a viable long-term business.