I’ve tried the Fitbit Edge and now I really want a Pixel Watch A
After years of waiting, the first new Fitbit with a screen has arrived. The Fitbit Edge is a natural successor to the Charge 6, but it only adds fuel to my desire for Google to make a Pixel Watch A-series.
Google made the surprise announcement of the Fitbit Edge a couple of weeks ago. Although we’re allowed to publish a review, I’m not quite ready for that just yet. What I can say is that, having used it for a while, I have mixed feelings.
It certainly fills a gap between the screenless Fitbit Air and flagship Pixel Watch 5 and I’m sure that for many people this will be the perfect fitness tracker. However, I still think there’s a gap in Google’s wearable line-up.
Chris Martin / Foundry
I said it years ago, and still stand by the opinion that Google should make a cheaper Pixel Watch A-series. It’s proven that the budget-friendly A-series ethos works for phones and earbuds, so why not wearables?
A more budget-friendly option
The Fitbit Edge is the closest thing we’ve seen so far. Google has (as we discovered when the brand included it in Pixel 11 marketing materials long before anyone even knew what it was) given it a style that’s much closer to the Pixel Watch.
It literally looks like the Pixel Watch 5 was squashed at the sides to make it into a band-style wearable, plus it comes in Pixel 11 Pro matching colours. I’m all for this updated refresh, particularly as I’ve always found this category of wearable to look a bit awkward.
Chris Martin / Foundry
The Fitbit Edge also largely mirrors the Pixel Watch user interface. It has a very similar appearance and you find everything in the same places: swipe down for quick settings, swipe sideways for tiles and up for notifications.
Something’s missing
It’s all great on the surface but, of course, you miss out on certain features you’d get on the Pixel Watch such as Gemini Intelligence, Satellite SOS, Loss of Pulse Detection, NFC and more.
I’m not saying you would get all of those on a hypothetical Pixel Watch A-series, but I definitely think there would be a sweet spot between the Fitbit Edge and the Pixel Watch 5 for a device that featured at least some of them.
Chris Martin / Foundry
The obvious answer would be to buy a previous generation model to get the best balance between features and price. That advice has never been more apt than in 2026, when hardware improvements have been minimal and prices have rocketed.
However, getting a Pixel Watch 4 doesn’t wholly make it as a stand-in for an A-series model, for a number of key reasons.
Chris Martin / Foundry
Sure, you can get it at a good price, but it’s already a year into its software support lifespan. More importantly, though, I would want a Pixel Watch A to offer a much longer battery life.
As a simpler device than the Pixel Watch 5, it would theoretically be able to offer that; the Fitbit Edge can last for up to a week as it doesn’t run Wear OS. But perhaps such superb battery life would overshadow the flagship Pixel Watch too much. Still, Google should be improving battery life on the pricier model regardless, especially after the likes of OnePlus have proved it can be done on a flagship Wear OS wearable.
My unlikely to happen plea, then, is for Google to style the Fitbit Edge as a round model, add some more features and call it a Pixel Watch A. See? That wasn’t too hard, was it?
