The topic I strapped a Pebble watch to my Fitbit Air, and now I want that to be a real thing… is currently the subject of lively discussion — readers and analysts are keeping a close eye on developments.
This is taking place in a dynamic environment: companies’ decisions and competitors’ reactions can quickly change the picture.
There’s an inherent bit of joy that comes from using a Pebble smartwatch, but one thing that’s always made me hesitate is that Pebble’s health tracking is very basic, if it’s there at all. When I saw people strapping mechanical watches to the Fitbit Air, I had to do the thing.
The reboot of the Pebble smartwatch has been a refreshing bit of simplicity in the truly wild AI era. I really enjoyed my time with the Pebble 2 Duo last year, and the Pebble Time 2 I took delivery of this week brings me absolute delight after spending years still frustrated that the Fitbit purchase ended up killing the original Pebble sequels.
That bit of irony aside, the one thing I felt was missing from Pebble 2 Duo was health tracking.
Over the past few years, I’ve really come to love the Fitbit experience and, even now in its AI-powered Google Health revamp, I value the insights and tracking that come from wearing one of Google’s wearables. I’ve been swapping back and forth between my Pixel Watch 4 and the Fitbit Air as of late, because while the former is a great all-around wearable, the Air has been a wonderful at-home and overnight tracker. No bulk, no fuss, just effortless tracking.
Something else I’ve tried is wearing the Fitbit Air on the opposite wrist from my Pebble, which I was always hoping to do when I originally purchased the tracker. There’s something special about wearing a Pebble, but I do hate giving up on Google’s health insights. The two work well together, regardless of whether it’s a Pebble 2 Duo or a Time 2. The latter has its own set of health sensors, but the tracking is very basic and, since it’s not a Google product, you won’t get quite the same level of insight and integration with the Health app even if you tie the two together through Health Connect.
The thought then crossed my mind – why not just put the two together?
People are already putting traditional watches on the Fitbit Air’s band, so why not do the same with a Pebble? Just like on a standard watch, this works, and it’s pretty easy. Using a couple of spare watch pins, I was able to loop the Air’s band through the Pebble, holding it snugly in place on the top of my wrist with the Air on the bottom. It’s a tight fit with the default Air band, making placement the toughest part. It took a few tries to really get the Pebble in the right place so everything is comfortable.
The Pebble sits up top to deliver notifications, while the Air is below to handle health tracking. It works on the Pebble Time 2, as mentioned, but I think it makes the most sense with the base Pebble 2 Duo. Where Time 2 is more capable as a standalone smartwatch replacement, this Air combo makes sense to fill in the gaps on the Duo.
Of course, it’s a ridiculous thing to do no matter what. A Pixel Watch is the obvious answer here, but that’s not really the point. The Pebble and the Fitbit Air both share something in common – simplicity – and I rather like this combination.
With Google having released the files needed to let the 3D printing and product world run wild with the Fitbit Air, it makes all of the sense in the world to put these two products properly together on a single band. So, that’s really the point of this article. Someone, please get on that. I’d love to have a proper way to use my Fitbit Air and a Pebble, or really any other watch, together. This existing way works, but it’s a little hacky.