What you need to know
- Google and SoulCycle have teamed up for a promotional partnership.
- The week of 1/22, wear a Pixel Watch or Fitbit to a SoulCycle class to get two free classes.
- The week of 1/29, attend any SoulCycle class for the chance to win a free Fitbit Charge 6 or discounted Pixel Watch 2.
- The entire Fitbit leadership team, including its co-founders, left Google last week.
If you own a Pixel Watch or any Fitbit model, you can get credit for two free SoulCycle classes anytime between January 22 and 28. Or, if you don't own a Fitbit but do love SoulCycle classes, you'll have the opportunity to get a free (or discounted) Fitbit Charge 6 if you attend class between January 29 and February 4.
It's an exciting promotion for Fitbit fans at a time when the brand itself is in disarray.
First, we'll run through the details of the "Fitbit and Friends" week. You must sign up for a class the week of January 22 wearing your Fitbit of choice or a Pixel Watch. You'll then receive credit for "two complimentary SoulCycle classes — one for you and one for a friend."
In other words, you will have to pay for a class first, but then you'll get another set of classes free for you and a friend or partner. And if you use your free passes the week of January 29, you'll be entered into a contest to win a free Fitbit Charge 6.
Even if you don't win, Fitbit has offered everyone signed up for SoulCycle a $50 credit towards a Fitbit Charge 6 or Pixel Watch 2. That would bring the Charge 6 down below its Black Friday price, making it a good deal; funnily enough, the Pixel Watch 2 is already $50 off right now, so there's no reason to wait or sign up for SoulCycle if you want one.
This SoulCycle page runs through the details of the promotion, and you can sign up for classes or check for the nearest SoulCycle location there as well.
As for the Fitbit brand, it's currently in a state of total flux. When announcing mass layoffs last week, Google also revealed that Fitbit co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman have left Google, along with the rest of Fitbit's leadership. It's unclear if this was a voluntary decision or a forced ouster.
Late last year, Google stopped selling Fitbit in dozens of countries, confining sales to wherever it also sells Pixel products. Then, since the news of Fitbit's leadership exodus, Google consolidated Fitbit's help pages into Google help, a minor change by itself but likely symbolic of Fitbit's future.
Without legacy leadership to advocate for the brand, we don't know whether Fitbit will remain a distinct product lineup or end up solely as software for the Pixel Watch lineup.
For now, though, Fitbit is operating as if things are normal, announcing SoulCycle partnerships and (on Wednesday) asking for Fitbit volunteers for a months-long metabolic health study.
In theory, this is signaling to consumers that Fitbit will persist as a brand, even as it's enveloped by the Pixel device umbrella. Or, these are merely leftover decisions made by people no longer at the company, with no special meaning. Only time will tell!
Fitbit 2.0
You can get a free Fitbit Charge 6 with a SoulCycle class, but if you're looking for something much more robust, look at the Pixel Watch 2, currently $50 off and one of the best Android watches available today. It comes with six months of Fitbit Premium, as well as all of the apps and smarts that your typical Fitbit can't offer.
