Summary created by Smart Answers AI
In summary:
- Tech Advisor compares the Luna Band (£115/$149) to Fitbit Air and highlights Luna’s main advantage: offering all the features without a monthly subscription fee.
- While Fitbit Air requires a mandatory Google Health subscription that costs £7.99/$9.99 per month, Luna offers a one-time purchase alternative with unique LifeOS software.
- The Luna Band features innovative body calendar tracking and voice-first functionality, making it an attractive budget-friendly option for users who want to avoid recurring costs.
The Fitbit Air went on sale today, and in our review we called it “the screenless tracker to beat.” There’s a lot to like about it, but not everyone will be interested in the extra cost of Google Health to get the most out of it.
The new app has replaced both the old app and the Fitbit Premium subscription. It’s quite similar in many ways, but at £7.99/$9.99 per month or £79.99/$99.99, users might think twice about paying, despite the Fitbit Air’s cheap price.
You’ll need the Premium subscription to unlock some of the new Google Health app’s key software features, like the Gemini AI-powered Health Coach, which Tom describes in the review as a “game-changer.”
The popular Whoop Strap is a major rival, but its model is even more subscription-based because the strap is included.
However, the Luna Band arrives just in time to offer something better for those on a budget.
Thomas Deehan / Foundry
It costs around £115 / $149 (final price TBD) and there are no additional costs whatsoever. This gives you the band in a choice of four colors and Luna doesn’t charge monthly fees to get all your data or for advanced features.
Whether the LifeOS software is good enough to compete is another matter, and by Luna’s own description it has an alternative way of looking at it and therefore potentially appeals to a different market.
A “calendar for your body, built to keep you in top condition,” it plans your day hour by hour based on the data it gets from the Luna Band. It’s also called a “voice-first wearable,” but this is only available to iPhone users because Siri is required to unlock voice input without opening the app.
Hopefully we’ll check out the Luna Band for a full review when it lands – around July – so stay tuned to see if it’s a real alternative to the Fitbit Air and Whoop Strap.
