Fitbit Edge launches at £159.99 — Amazon UK ships 27 October

Google's new fitness tracker is four days away — here's everything UK buyers need to know

Google launched the Fitbit Edge on 12 October 2026, opening pre-orders the same day at £159.99. Amazon UK begins shipping on Tuesday 27 October, and the device goes on sale simultaneously in 20 countries including the US, Canada, Australia and most of Europe. Google has described it as its "smartest fitness tracker ever."

The Edge is positioned as the direct successor to the Charge 6, and is the device many in the fitness tech community had expected to be called the Charge 7. It sits in the middle of what is now a leaner Google wearables lineup: above the screenless, entry-level Fitbit Air — announced in May 2026 — and well below the Pixel Watch range.

What you get for £159.99

The hardware is a significant step up from the Charge 6 on paper. The Edge has a 1.34-inch AMOLED colour display with an always-on option and adjustable brightness, housed in a 100% recycled aluminium shell weighing just 17.7 grams without its band. Water and dust resistance is rated at 5 ATM and IP68, so it should handle swimming and sweaty sessions without issue.

Sensors include SpO2, heart rate, ECG, blood pressure and insulin resistance trends, and VO2 Max. Two additions are particularly notable: an altimeter and a gyroscope, meaning the Edge can now track floors climbed and elevation — something the Charge 6 could not do. The GPS system has also been upgraded significantly, adding Galileo, BeiDou and QZSS to the previous GPS and GLONASS combination. Google claims the new chip is 40% more accurate than its predecessor's.

Battery life is rated at seven days under standard use, though enabling the always-on display drops that to around two days. Charging to full takes approximately 90 minutes — around 30 minutes faster than the Charge 6 — and a five-minute top-up is said to provide up to a day of use. In a rare move for a device of this size, the battery is user-replaceable, which should meaningfully extend the tracker's working life.

The Edge launches in four colours: Matte Black/Obsidian, Satin Silver/Fog, Satin Pyrite/Olive, and Champagne Gold/Canyon. A Stephen Curry Special Edition has also been announced, though its UK price has not been confirmed. The Google Store lists a second standard variant at £189.99. Both a small and large band are included in the box, though owners of Charge 6 bands should note they will not be compatible with the Edge's new attachment mechanism.

What Google has taken away

Two features from the Charge 6 are absent, and both will matter to some buyers. The first is NFC, which means no Google Wallet and no contactless payments from the wrist. For UK commuters who currently tap in and out of public transport with their tracker, that is a meaningful loss.

Google addressed the removal directly in a statement to Android Authority: "Fitbit Edge does not offer NFC for payments. It was not widely used by our Charge 6 users — in fact, less than 1% reported using the feature on Charge 6 — so we prioritized other top features such as adding an altimeter and requested improvements." The company has confirmed there is no NFC hardware in the device at all, so no software update will restore the functionality.

The EDA (electrodermal activity) sensor has also been dropped. Background stress monitoring remains, but the dedicated sensor is gone. Emergency safety features are similarly absent. Google told Android Police that "safety features are currently exclusive to Pixel Watch, as they require deeper integration with LTE and Wi-Fi to enable the device to contact emergency services on the user's behalf."

AI coaching and the subscription question

The Edge's headline software feature is its Google Health Coach, which uses Google's Gemini AI to provide personalised guidance and adapt fitness plans to the user's circumstances. That functionality sits behind a Google Health Premium subscription, priced at £7.99 a month in the UK after a three-month free trial included with the device.

Not every feature requires Premium — the tracker functions without a subscription — but some of the most-marketed capabilities, including adaptive fitness plans, sleep coaching, and blood pressure and insulin resistance trend reports, are paywalled. The three-month trial is available to new and returning users aged 18 or over, requires a valid payment method, and auto-renews unless cancelled. Google confirms the trial offer runs until 26 May 2027.

• The Edge is compatible with Android 11 or later and iOS 16.4 or later — a significant point for iPhone users, as the Pixel Watch range is Android-only.
• A Google Account and the Google Health app are required.
• No Wi-Fi is built in; connectivity is via Bluetooth 5.4 only.

Price in context

At £159.99, the Edge costs £20 more than the Charge 6 did at launch. That positions it firmly between a basic activity band and a full Wear OS smartwatch, and it will compete in a segment where Apple's entry-level watch and cheaper Garmin models also operate. For buyers who want a slim, capable tracker that works with any smartphone — and are prepared to factor in the subscription cost for the full AI coaching experience — the Edge makes a reasonable case for itself. It ships in four days.