Fitbit Versa 3, Sense get Google Assistant support with Fitbit OS 5.1 update

Fitbit has announced Google Assistant will roll out on select devices as part of its next firmware update. The fitness tracker firm which is expected to complete a takeover from Google by year-end will be bringing the voice assistant to the Fitbit Sense and Fitbit Versa 3 when they are upgraded to Fitbit OS 5.1, which begins its rollout today.

The keen-eyed amongst you will have spotted that this means that both devices will now be able to offer Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, the latter of which was already available on the Versa 2 and 3. At launch, Google Assistant won’t be able to reply to you through the built-in speaker as happens with Alexa, but this functionality is expected to be added in the first half of 2021. Instead, responses will appear in text format on the screen.

Android users will be able to dictate replies to SMS messages on their wrists, in addition to being able to use the speaker and mic to take calls via Bluetooth, as if you were Dick Tracy or a Thunderbird. In fact, little of the Google Assistant functionality is contained within the watch. All voice requests are sent via Bluetooth back to the phone for processing, so you won’t be able to use it if you leave your phone at home when you go for a run.

Google Assistant will be available in Fitbit OS 5.1 for the Sense and Versa 3, which is available from today. It’s only available in US-English right now, so you’ll only see it in the USA, with Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom before 2020 is through. We assume this is to give them a few weeks to fine-tune the various global English dialects. When additional languages are available in early 2021, expect to see it roll out in Belgium, French Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Spain and Switzerland too.

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