Google's special-edition Fitbit Air pairs with Pokémon Sleep

Google is giving Pokémon fans a new reason to wear a Fitbit. The company announced Thursday a special-edition Fitbit Air that works with Pokémon Sleep, combining Fitbit’s health and fitness tracking with the sleep-focused Pokémon game, timed to the franchise’s 30th anniversary this year.

Pokémon Sleep launched in 2023, turning the act of going to bed into a Pokémon game: players earn in-game rewards for getting to sleep before a set bedtime, and the amount and quality of their sleep drives their progress. Starting with a sleepy Snorlax, more sleep builds up its “Drowsy Power,” which in turn attracts more Pokémon to discover.

The special-edition Fitbit Air adds another layer to that loop. It syncs with both the Google Health app and Pokémon Sleep, letting users track daily movement, heart rate, and cardio load during the day, then record sleep duration and quality overnight. Pokémon Sleep already supports several other wearables, including Apple Watch, the Fitbit series, Galaxy Watch, and Google Pixel Watch, and it can also be used without a wearable at all.

The crossover gives Google a playful way to make wearable health tracking feel more fun while turning a nightly habit into another point of engagement with the franchise. Google has also recently partnered with athlete Stephen Curry on a special-edition Pixel Watch priced at $579, built around an exclusive workout-focused design.

The special-edition Fitbit Air is available to preorder for $129 and starts shipping September 15, sold online and in stores through the Google Store and Target. The standard Fitbit Air, which Google introduced in May with a slimmer design, improved health and fitness tracking, and an AI-powered coach that gives personalized guidance based on activity, sleep, and wellness data, costs $99.

Why it matters

Pairing a health wearable with a mobile game is a low-cost way for Google to make a habit-forming feature — sleep tracking — feel less like a chore, at a moment when wearable makers are competing as much on daily engagement as on sensor accuracy.