Google has been working on the Fitbit Ace LTE for the past two to three years, and it shows. In my brief use of the Fitbit-branded Wear OS device, what strikes me most — as someone outside of the intended kid/parent audience — is how much of an end-to-end experience it provides.
From the basic YouTube Music podcast experience to the Gemini app with no phone assistant features, the minimally viable Google — as I call it — can be frustrating as an end user. The Fitbit Ace LTE offers the opposite of that, having a clear, if narrow, focus.
Google’s well thought out game
Ignoring the fact that you can actually play games on it, the whole Fitbit Ace LTE has a compelling video game-like quality to it. This is of course intentional to entice children to want to wear it. The basic premise is: “The more [kids] move, the more playtime they unlock.”
The titles in Fitbit Arcade take full advantage of the haptic feedback, accelerometer input and speaker. As such, it’s more than just pushing a touch-heavy phone game into a smartwatch-sized display.
I had the chance to play a virtual fishing title where your hand turns into a rod that you cast and reel back. The other game I tried is similar to “Mario Kart” and involves flicking your wrist to navigate a race track. The games definitely got me moving and serve as a nice addition to the Ace LTE’s traditional Move Goal, where 90 points is about 45 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity.
Built with the Unity engine, these titles are a little slow to load initially, but load smoothly when you log in. The style of the games is a little generic and I wish they were a little more Google in nature. Rounded square play is acceptable and the intended target audience of ages 7+ may be more forgiving of this very real limitation.
As they progress and complete daily activities, kids earn arcade game tickets to customize their virtual characters – called “eejies” – and decorate their homes. That’s the other big aspect of the Ace LTE, and it’s clearly inspired by “Animal Crossing.”
Google sets limits to ensure kids don’t overextend themselves. It works with “independent experts in child psychology, public health, privacy and digital wellbeing”.
Meanwhile, Google is further inspired by Nintendo’s old cartridges with a proprietary tape mechanism that loads new virtual content, such as different items, styles, rooms and the “Noodles” activity ring. You don’t need to keep the bar on to access this content. So Google envisions kids trading gangs to get more content in a nice playground/social aspect that allows the technology to be more tangible. I like this tactility as much as the pouch-style packaging.
A thoughtful but limited Fitbit
The Fitbit Ace LTE isn’t really meant to be a full-featured fitness tracker, with less activity tracking than even previous models in the Ace line of fitness trackers. For example, only 30 days of activity is shown in the parent Fitbit Ace app, with Google deleting the data directly from its servers after 35 days as part of its data minimization plan for this product.
The main stat is the Move Goal, which appears as a “Noodle” activity ring around the watch face. Other metrics available are active minutes, steps, floors and heart rate. There’s no sleep tracking, with Google encouraging kids to take it off and charge it while they sleep, and even “rewarding” them through the software for remembering to charge the watch.
It’s not a full Fitbit in that regard, and I hope this is something Google will consider in the future. After all, Google Research has clearly put in the work to make this fitness device just right for kids, redesigning the sensor algorithms for them instead of just using the adult version.
Universal Google
Most smartwatches for kids that are often sold by operators are not very powerful. Google has been struggling a lot with the Apple Watch SE and is using the existing Pixel Watch 2 hardware and Wear OS for this project.
Swipe down for Quick settings such as battery percentage, screen brightness, ringer on/off, and do not disturb. Swiping up takes you to notifications, such as messages from assigned contacts and updates on completed goals.
Swiping left gives you access to the virtual world of your eejie. Swiping right reveals a dashboard that shows your eejie’s face, what level you are and the number of arcade tickets you have, as well as your progress on daily missions. Arranged like tiles, you return to the clock face by continuing to swipe.
There are two buttons on the side. The top one takes you to Calls & Messages, where you get a list of approved contacts (up to 20), day/date, and a list of basic fitness stats, while Google Wallet will arrive in an upcoming update. The conversational user interface is basically Google Messages for Wear OS, although the Ace LTE uses an IP-based backend for messaging and calling. The bottom button starts the carousel of games.
The target audience is kids over 7, but the managed one-touch calling and messaging functionality, as well as location sharing, seems useful for everyone. Speaking of location, Google will note to the patents when the Ace LTE is in place, but not currently being worn.
If you’re 13 or older, you can set up Ace LTE on your own phone and receive basic notifications from the app.
You need an LTE subscription to do the initial setup of Ace LTE. If you stop paying, step and activity tracking will continue to work with an available Wi-Fi connection, although these settings are unavailable in the surface-level software by design. However, the full Wear OS settings app can be accessed.
Kids’ wearables are a fast-growing segment, especially for those who aren’t smartphone-ready yet.
Google’s usual strategy is to launch with a core set of features and then add more with updates down the line. In comparison, the Ace LTE feels like a finished story. It has to be, because the bar for something you give your kids to make sure they’re safe and sound is so high. Frankly, this is refreshing as a Google user.
The end result is a product that tries something new with just enough whimsy and versatility, even for someone outside of the target audience. The Fitbit Ace LTE costs $229.95 + monthly/annual subscription and is available for pre-order on the Google Store as well as Amazon ahead of general availability on June 5.
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