Unfortunately, now that Alphabet has the Google Pixel Watch, equipped with Fitbit’s health technology and features like fall detection, it doesn’t need four different sizes of Fitbit cannibalizing its user base. Coincidentally, Google had been working on its first smartwatch, the long-gestating Pixel Watch, and Fitbit’s USP of collecting health data and presenting it in a user-friendly, accessible format would make it the perfect addition to Google, which has also been collecting data on its users for years. In the latter half of 2019, along came Alphabet to snap up Fitbit and save it from its place in the middle of the crowded wearables market. This is why I love Garmin, which doesn’t charge users a thing to use Garmin Connect, and I’ve never bought DLC for a video game – make me unlock characters instead of buying them, dammit! I’m only in my early thirties, but I’m already a dinosaur in this respect: I firmly believe that if you buy a piece of hardware, you should be able to use it to its full extent after the original purchase with no additional outlay. My Fitbit was collecting all this data – my data – and witholding it until I forked over an additional fee, and it felt like being held to ransom. It was a good enough service, but I dislike arbitrary paywalls at the best of times, as they’re usually a sign that the company has ceased to put its users' interests first. I was never a fan of Fitbit Premium, and didn’t use it beyond my six-month free trial. This is where Fitbit Premium came in: it was a way for the manufacturer to make extra money by offering you a more comprehensive look at your data, along with guided workouts and meditations. The market became saturated, and Fitbit began to turn to other sources of revenue. Unfortunately, the debut of the best Apple Watch and other smartwatches at the higher-priced end of the scale, and dirt-cheap fitness trackers from the likes of Xiaomi and Huawei at the low end, means Fitbit has been squeezed into the middle. Other models followed in various sizes of smartwatch and tracker, and now we have the Versa, Sense, Inspire, Charge and Luxe models competing for space in the Fitbit lineup.
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