It’s been an interesting year for smartwatches, as companies like Samsung and Google have refined their offerings while launching new features with the potential to be revolutionary. Then there’s Apple, which just unveiled the new Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch Ultra 3, and Apple Watch SE 3. All three run on the watchOS 26 platform.
Before Apple's WWDC 2025 event, rumors circulated that Apple was poised to take its biggest leap yet in digital health, with a new AI-powered health coach that could be asked to evaluate data and suggest ways to be healthier or achieve specific goals. Instead — or perhaps, in advance — of an AI coach, the company launched Workout Buddy, a new AI-powered coach that takes effect within specific workouts.
In the meantime, Google launched what could become one of the most impactful health features of all time at the Pixel Watch 4 launch.
The Gemini-powered Pixel Watch 4 Fitbit personal health coach offers exactly what I wanted from the Apple Watch and Apple Health. It’s an integrated health feature that runs right on your wrist, and it’s something that Apple needs to copy right now. Here’s why.
Workout Buddy and other new Apple Watch features
There are a handful of Apple Watch features that are new for this year. Workout Buddy is a strong step towards an eventual AI health coach. In many ways, Workout Buddy is the AI health coach I wanted, but it’s limited to specific workouts, and you cannot engage and consult with it on demand.
While you’re in the middle of a workout, your new Workout Buddy can encourage you with detailed stats, key information, and provide pep talks to motivate you ahead of a workout. If you want to get fitter, faster or leaner, and you need the type of encouragement that a personal trainer would provide, this is Apple’s AI-powered equivalent.
Having briefly used Workout Buddy myself and read our Fitness Editor Jane McGuire’s experience after running 15 miles with Workout Buddy, one thing is clear: this is just the first step for Apple.
Apple also just launched its new Apple Watch lineup, and with it, two important health features that were likely necessary for Apple’s eventual health coach. First, the Apple Watch’s sleep capabilities were significantly improved, with an expanded Sleep Score and detailed sleep reports. It’s worth noting that this isn’t revolutionary, as Apple is simply catching up with many of the best smartwatches and best fitness trackers.
The second big feature announced s Hypertension alerts. The Apple Watch can alert you to possible high blood pressure. This is a silent killer, and as I discovered after a heart attack five years ago, it is a key health marker that many people ignore.
Like the Sleep Apnea and heart rate alerts, this is a vital feature that will run in the background and could easily save your life in the future. It lacks the on-demand nature of the blood pressure monitoring on the Galaxy Watch 8, but this is a key feature that’s also available on older Apple Watches.
Despite these large upgrades, the Apple Watch lacks the key feature that Google managed to add to the Pixel Watch 4 range: a new Gemini-powered Fitbit personal health coach.
Meet the new Fitbit AI Personal Health Coach
I hadn’t expected Google to be the smartwatch maker that first achieved this, but I’m glad it was: the Fitbit personal health coach on the Pixel Watch 4 is fantastic. I had a limited hands-on session during the launch of the Pixel Watch 4, but what I saw was incredibly exciting.
During the initial setup, Gemini will walk you through a brief questionnaire that helps it build a profile of you — or refine the data it already has — as well as identify and set your key personal goals. Once it has this data, it connects with all the data it already has, and the real magic begins.
The key standout Fitbit personal health coach feature is obvious: the chatbot. Simply fire up the chatbot overlay and ask Gemini specific and detailed questions about your health. It will reply with particular data, broad information about a topic, and guidance on how to improve your fitness against a specific metric or a broader health goal.
You can ask Gemini personalized questions, such as “How do I improve my VO2max?” and broader questions, like “I’m feeling stressed right now. What can I do?”
The demo I experienced on the Pixel Watch 4 was not staged, but rather, used live data from a Google engineer who had been using the feature. It was also almost two months before the Pixel Watch 4 release date on October 9, so the feature could be further refined when the Pixel Watch 4 goes on sale in a few weeks.
Using this live data, we were able to ask Gemini personalized questions, such as “How do I improve my VO2max?” and broader questions, like “I’m feeling stressed right now. What can I do?” That’s just the chatbot, as the Fitbit personal health coach can also deliver custom workout routines to achieve specific goals and then adjust those workout plans based on real-time data and daily insights.
Then there are improvements in recording and reporting Sleep, a continuation of the Loss of Pulse detection feature from the Pixel Watch 3, and deep integration with a wide variety of third-party devices.
This is key: the power of the Apple Watch ecosystem lies in its ability to act as a centralized repository for third-party wellness devices and apps to add or read data from, providing a single, unified overview of your health. The Fitbit app features Health Connect, which allows third-party devices and apps to connect to, and crucially, the new Fitbit personal health coach is also able to read and analyze this data.
The Fitbit personal health coach chatbot likely has a better understanding of your health than you do. While there are naturally concerns about AI hallucinations when it comes to health, I can’t wait to see if Gemini can help improve my health.
Why I’m excited for the Fitbit personal health coach
This is undoubtedly an exciting feature for many people. However, for me, it’s especially priceless thanks to my list of chronic conditions and past surgeries.
I’ve been diagnosed with heart disease and had a stent placed in my heart, have high blood pressure, am diabetic, and have muscular issues after spinal fusion surgery. Alongside this, I don’t live the healthiest life, nor make the wisest decisions, and I suspect that the Fitbit personal health coach is exactly what I’ve been waiting for.
I’ve always been at my healthiest when I can measure different health metrics and then analyze them to understand where I can improve. The new Fitbit personal health coach will do exactly this, and has a wider range of knowledge to draw upon than I ever will.
Yes, I need to test the accuracy of its recommendations, which can be easily solved by also having a basic understanding of accredited recommendations on how to care for a specific condition. There’s also the potential for hallucinations, although I suspect that part of the first setup experience will involve reminders that this shouldn’t replace qualified medical advice, which is always a welcome reminder.
Despite these concerns, I’m already sold on the Pixel Watch 4. With so many conditions and different metrics to measure and monitor, I need an assistant to help me find the trends and outliers that matter. The Fitbit personal health coach could be just what I'm looking for, although I’ll reserve final judgment until the Pixel Watch 4 goes on sale next month.
Apple is set up to build a better AI health doctor
Despite Google going first, Apple has one key advantage that could yet stand it apart: the integration with a patient’s electronic medical records systems.
The company’s lead here cannot be understated: Samsung and Google both lack this integration, although we’ve heard that both companies are working on addressing this. Regardless, this is a key step that is necessary to ensure that AI is making recommendations that are both personalized and accurate.
Apple has reportedly been in discussions with Google to use Gemini to power many Apple Intelligence features, and this is key. Google has already proven that Gemini can power an excellent health coach — even as a first-generation feature — and if Apple can harness the power of Gemini effectively, it could be the best yet.
In the meantime, I’ll also be wearing the Pixel Watch 4 alongside the new Apple Watch 11. The latter is my favorite new Apple Watch, and the hypertension alerts are particularly appealing, even though they’re also available on last year’s Apple Watch Series 10.
The former could be the best smartwatch of the year, especially with its larger batteries, faster charging and emergency satellite communication capabilities. The latter is also available on the Apple Watch, although you’ll need the Apple Watch Ultra 3 at twice the price of the Pixel Watch 4.
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