The Fitbit Air might be messing up the one thing it's supposed to do well

A fitness tracker without a display has one primary job: accurately record your activity in the background. That’s the promise behind Google’s new Fitbit Air. But if early user reports are anything to go by, the tracker may be struggling with some of the basics.

One Fitbit Air owner recently shared their experience on X, claiming the device failed to recognize that they had been asleep for roughly an hour. Instead of logging rest, the tracker reportedly counted the period as 422 steps. The user described their first day with Google’s latest wearable as a major disappointment.

That complaint doesn’t appear to be an isolated case. Several Reddit posts from Fitbit Air owners describe similarly questionable sleep and activity tracking data. In one post, a user said the sleep-tracking feature was so inaccurate that it had become “100% useless.” According to their post, they were actively using their phone until around 12:45 AM, yet the Fitbit Air recorded them as having fallen asleep nearly two hours earlier, at 11 PM.

The discussion quickly attracted other users with similar experiences. One commenter claimed their Fitbit device had performed reliably in the past but became noticeably less accurate after Google’s transition to Google Health. They said the tracker no longer detected nighttime wake-ups, even when they physically got out of bed. Several users replied, agreeing with the observation, suggesting the issue may not be limited to a single device.

That said, many of these commenters appear to be using older Fitbit devices rather than the Fitbit Air itself. Since the Fitbit Air launched with Google Health integration from day one, these reports don’t necessarily point to the same issue, though they do suggest broader concerns about tracking accuracy among Fitbit users.

Sleep tracking isn’t the only area drawing criticism. Another Reddit user reported unusually high step counts while sitting at a desk. According to the post, simple wrist movements were enough to generate extra steps, with the Fitbit Air allegedly adding around 10 steps after just a few arm movements. In a more extreme example, the user claimed the tracker recorded nearly 1,600 steps during a two-hour period spent sitting down. A factory reset reportedly made no difference.

Interestingly, some users have discovered unusual workarounds. In the same discussion, one Fitbit Air owner said wearing the tracker on their ankle produced far more accurate results for both step counting and heart-rate measurements. While that’s hardly an ideal solution, it highlights how some users are experimenting to improve accuracy.

A common thread runs through many of these complaints: unreliable tracking data. Not all of the reports come from Fitbit Air owners, however. Several users with older Fitbit devices have joined the discussion to share their own experiences with inaccurate sleep tracking and missed wake-up detection. Even so, the volume of complaints from Fitbit Air users raises questions about the accuracy of Google’s newest tracker.

Google has not publicly acknowledged these complaints or announced a fix. However, as more reports surface across X and Reddit, the company may come under increasing pressure to address them. After all, users can forgive the occasional missed step, but when a fitness tracker can’t reliably distinguish between sleep and walking, confidence in the data erodes quickly.