Hands-on: The Fitbit Ace LTE is Google’s most complete launch in ages [Gallery]

Google has been working on the Fitbit Ace LTE for the past two-three years, and it shows. In my brief usage of the Fitbit-branded Wear OS device, what strikes me the most — as someone outside the intended kid/parent audience — is how much of an end-to-end experience it provides.

From the basic podcasts experience in YouTube Music to the Gemini app lacking phone assistant features, minimum viable Google — as I call it — can be frustrating as an end user. The Fitbit Ace LTE offers the opposite of that by having a clear, albeit narrow, focus. 

Google’s well-thought-out game

Ignoring the fact that you can, in fact, play games on it, there’s an immersive video game-like quality to the entire Fitbit Ace LTE. This is, of course, intentional to draw kids into wanting to wear it. The core premise is, “The more [kids] move, the more game time they unlock.”

Titles in the Fitbit Arcade take full advantage of haptic feedback, accelerometer for input, and speaker. As such, it’s more than just squeezing a touch-heavy phone game into a smartwatch-sized display.  

I had the chance to play a virtual fishing title where your arm becomes the pole that you cast out and reel back in. The other game I tried is similar to”Mario Kart” and involves moving your wrist to navigate a race track. The games definitely got me moving and serve as a nice complement to the Ace LTE’s traditional Move Goal where 90 points is about 45 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity.

Made with the Unity engine, these titles are somewhat slow to initially load but are smooth once you’re in. The style of the games is a bit generic, and I wish they were a bit more Google-y in nature. Playing on a rounded square is passable, and the intended target audience of ages 7+ might be more forgiving of this very real constraint. 

As they progress and complete daily activities, kids earn arcade tickets to customize their virtual characters – called “eejies” – and decorate their homes. This is the other big aspect of the Ace LTE and is clearly inspired by “Animal Crossing.”  

Google is placing limits to make sure kids don’t over-exert themselves. It worked with “independent experts in child psychology, public health, privacy, and digital wellbeing.”

Meanwhile, Google is further inspired by the Nintendo cartridges of old with a patented band mechanism that loads new virtual content, such as different items, styles, rooms, and activity ring “Noodles.” You don’t have to keep the band on to access that content. As such, Google imagines kids trading bands to get more content in a nice playground/social aspect that lets technology be more tangible. I love that tactility as much as I do the pouch-esque packaging.

Thoughtful but limited Fitbit 

The Fitbit Ace LTE is not really meant to be a full-featured fitness tracker, with less activity logging than even previous models in the Ace line of fitness trackers. For example, only 30 days of activity is shown in the Fitbit Ace parent app, with Google outright deleting the data off its servers after 35 days as part of its data minimization tentpole for this product. 

The main stat is the Move Goal that appears as a “Noodle” activity ring around the watch face. Other available metrics are Active Minutes, Steps, Floors, and Heart Rate. There’s no sleep tracking, with Google encouraging kids to take it off and recharge while sleeping and even “rewarding” them through the software for remembering to charge the watch.

It’s not a complete Fitbit in that regard, and I hope this is something Google considers down the road. After all, Google Research clearly put the work in to make this an accurate fitness device for kids by reworking the sensor algorithms for them instead of just using the version for adults. 

Versatile Google 

Most smartwatches for kids, which are often sold by carriers, are not very powerful. Google is very much going toe-to-toe with the Apple Watch SE and leveraging the existing Pixel Watch 2 hardware and Wear OS for this project. 

You swipe down for Quick Settings, like Battery percentage, Screen brightness, Ring on/off, and Do Not Disturb. Swiping up takes you to notifications, like messages from set contacts, and goal completion updates. 

Going left lets you access your eejie’s virtual world. Swiping right reveals a dashboard that shows your eejie’s face, what level you’re on, and the number of arcade tickets you have, as well as your Daily Quests progress. Arranged like Tiles, you get back to your clock face by continuing to swipe.

There are two buttons on the side. The top one takes you to Call & Message where you get the approved contact list (up to 20), day/date, and a basic fitness stats list, while Google Wallet will arrive in an upcoming update. The conversation UI is basically Google Messages for Wear OS, though the Ace LTE is using an IP-based backend for messaging and calling. The bottom button launches the carousel of games. 

The target audience is kids who are 7+, but the managed functionality of one-tap calling and messaging, as well as location sharing, seems useful for anybody. Speaking of location, Google will note to patents when the Ace LTE is at a location but it’s not being currently worn.

If you’re 13 or older, you can set up the Ace LTE on your own phone and get basic app notifications.

You need the LTE subscription to do the initial Ace LTE set-up. If you stop paying, step and activity tracking will still work, with Wi-Fi connectivity available, though those settings are out of reach in the surface-level software, by design. That said, the full Wear OS Settings app can be reached.

Kids wearables are a fast growing segment, especially for those that aren’t ready for a smartphone just yet.

Google’s usual strategy is to launch with a set of core features and then add more with updates down the line. By comparison, Ace LTE feels like a complete story. It has to be since the bar for something you give your kids to make sure they’re safe and healthy is so high. Frankly, it’s refreshing as a Google user.

The end result is a product that tries something new with ample amounts of whimsy and versatility, even for somebody outside the target audience. The Fitbit Ace LTE is $229.95 + monthly/annual subscription and available for pre-order at the Google Store, as well as Amazon, ahead of general availability on June 5.