Pre-orders opened today on the Google Store and through retail partners, with general availability set for October 27 (Google).

The base model costs $179.99 and includes the silicone Active Band. That's $20 more than the Charge 6's 2023 launch price of $159.99, but still roughly half of the Pixel Watch 5's $350 starting price (Ars Technica). It comes in four finishes, Obsidian, Olive, Canyon, and Fog, paired with the Active Band (Google).

A Stephen Curry Special Edition runs $219.99. Additional bands round out the lineup:

(Ars Technica)

The purchase includes three months of Google Health Premium. Ars Technica reports the subscription runs $10 per month afterward, and that it's bundled free with a Google AI Pro subscription, though the AI-driven Health Coach feature can be switched off if it's not your thing (Ars Technica).

The Edge has a 1.34-inch OLED display, which Google says offers 46% more viewable area than the Charge 6's screen, inside a case that runs a touch thicker at 11.5mm (Ars Technica; The Verge). Unlike the Air, which has no physical controls at all, the Edge includes a single tactile side button that wakes the display or starts and pauses a workout. Most other interactions still run through the touchscreen (Ars Technica). The tile-based interface handles notifications, timers, alarms, media controls, and Google Maps turn-by-turn directions (The Verge; WIRED).

Google rates battery life at up to seven days on a charge, with a full charge taking about 90 minutes and a five-minute top-up said to cover a full day's use (Google). Turning on the always-on display cuts that estimate to roughly two days, barely longer than the Pixel Watch 5 manages (Ars Technica). Even away from a paired phone, the tracker can hold up to seven days of full health data or 30 days of basic data before it needs to sync, so a missed connection on a long trip shouldn't wipe out a week of sleep and activity logs (Ars Technica).

Health hardware includes an ECG sensor, SpO2 and optical heart-rate sensors, a far-field skin-temperature sensor, an altimeter that tracks elevation gain and floors climbed, and built-in GPS that Google says is 40% more accurate than prior Fitbit generations (Google; The Verge; WIRED). The device supports more than 50 on-wrist exercise modes and can automatically recognize up to 100 activity types, with Google claiming automatic tracking is now twice as accurate as before (Google; The Verge).

One limit worth flagging for anyone used to a full smartwatch: the Edge ships with a fixed set of fitness experiences and watch faces, and there's no way to download more, the way there would be on a Wear OS device (Ars Technica).

The Edge has no NFC chip, which rules out Google Wallet contactless payments, a feature the older and cheaper Charge 6 actually had (The Verge; WIRED).

There's no microphone or speaker, so calls can't be answered from the wrist. Notifications mirror from the phone instead, with replies limited to a set of pre-written quick responses (Ars Technica).

The built-in GPS also isn't paired with the dual-band radio found in the Pixel Watch, and the Edge skips both a third-party app store and Gemini wrist interactions (Ars Technica).

Some of the more advanced health features, including blood pressure trends and insulin resistance trends, require a Google Health Premium subscription beyond the three free months (WIRED).

Unlike the Pixel Watch 5, which only works with Android, the Edge is compatible with both Android 11+ and iOS 16.4+ through the Google Health app (Google; WIRED). Data syncs over Bluetooth 5.4 and feeds into the Gemini-powered Health Coach chatbot inside the app (Ars Technica).

Multiple Google wearables can pair to the same Health app account, and switching between devices doesn't require re-pairing or manually moving health data over, according to Ars Technica (Ars Technica). That means someone could rotate between an Edge and a Pixel Watch depending on the day.

The tracker carries water resistance rated IP68 and 5ATM, and it can broadcast real-time heart-rate data to compatible gym equipment (The Verge).

Google calls the Edge its first repairable Fitbit tracker, built with a replaceable battery, a move WIRED notes lines up with the company's broader push to make Pixel Watches easier to fix (WIRED; Ars Technica). Service options to swap the battery will be available, though Google doesn't recommend customers open the device themselves, and availability will vary by region (WIRED; Ars Technica).

Google's headline numbers for the Edge, the seven-day battery estimate, the 40% GPS accuracy improvement, and the claim that automatic activity tracking is now twice as accurate, all come from the company's own launch materials (Google; The Verge).

None of it has been independently tested yet. Whether the Edge holds up on a long run without a phone, how the battery actually behaves with the always-on display enabled, and how it stacks up against the Pixel Watch 5 it's meant to sit beside will come down to real-world use once units start reaching buyers after October 27.