Fitbit Premium – Premium subscription features become free of charge
Google has made an exciting announcement that certain Fitbit Premium features will now be available to all users free of charge. While the change takes effect today, some customers may not have access until the end of March as the rollout continues.
Fitbit’s product launches last year left some customers with an unpleasant surprise, as several popular features were removed from the new Versa 4 and Sense 2 models. To make matters worse, feature cuts also impacted some of Fitbit’s older products.
Fitbit Sense 2
Fitbit Premium is a subscription service that costs €8.99 per month or €79.99 per year and provides users with access to additional metrics, detailed data insights, video workouts and meditation exercises through Calm. However, the fact that certain data collected by Fitbit’s wearables was available exclusively to Premium subscribers caused frustration for some and turned away potential customers. By making some features available for free, Google is addressing this issue.
Historic health metrics
Fitbit’s wearable devices gather various health metrics that can provide valuable insights into one’s well-being. These metrics include:
– Respiration rate
– Heart rate variability
– Resting heart rate
– Blood oxygen saturation
– Skin temperature
Without a Fitbit Premium subscription, users can only view their health metrics for the past 7 days, which is not sufficient to observe long-term trends. However, Premium users have access to up to 90 days of past data.
Google has announced that starting today, it will lift the restriction on viewing historical health metrics for all Fitbit users. By the end of March, users will be able to access up to 90 days of past data.
Fitbit Premium will retain some premium features
Despite offering some features for free, the following features will remain a part of Fitbit Premium:
– Daily Readiness Score
– Stress management score
– Detailed analysis of sleep index
– Meditation exercises from Calm
– Snoring and noise detection
– Health report
– Video workouts
Google’s new differentiation clarifies that the company offers all sensor-generated metrics at no cost. However, any metrics that are based on baseline data or Fitbit content (such as Calm’s meditation exercises and workouts) are exclusively available through the Fitbit Premium subscription, which comes with a charge.
My opinion
It’s difficult to say if unlocking certain features will lead to the demise of Fitbit Premium. However, the company stands out from competitors by charging customers an additional fee for accessing all their data on top of its costly products. Meanwhile, companies like Garmin, Huawei, and Amazfit offer free access to the data gathered.
To be fair, Fitbit provides a 6-month premium membership with the purchase of a product to allow customers to explore the additional features on offer. Even if customers choose not to continue the premium membership, they still retain access to their data. Health metrics will be limitd to the last 7 days, as other metrics like steps, calories burned, heart rate, and sleep data, have always been unrestricted in access.
The pricing of Fitbit’s premium model raises a few questions for me. Earlier this year, the premium features were priced at €8.99 per month or €79.99 per year. Now that some of these features are available for free, it’s unclear whether the subscription is still worth the same amount. I wonder if I’ve been paying too much up until now.
