New FCC filing may have exposed Google’s next Fitbit

This one caught our attention pretty quickly. A new FCC filing for model G8BL6 looks like some kind of wrist-worn device with straps, a screen, GNSS and Bluetooth LE, and it comes from the same Goertek entity that handled Fitbit Air.

The FCC filing showed up on September 10 under FCC ID SZGG8BL6. It does not actually say Google anywhere, and there is no product name, but once you start digging through the test documents, there are quite a few clues about what this thing might be.

The FCC paperwork gives away quite a lot

The applicant is Weifang Goertek Electronics, and G8BL6 is described only as a “Wireless Device”. Not very helpful. The test paperwork, though, gives away quite a bit more.

One report mentions that different straps were tested. Another checks the device under a zero-distance extremity condition. That makes a wrist-worn device the obvious conclusion.

There also seems to be a screen. The FCC e-label can be opened directly on the device through Settings > System > Regulatory Information. That is interesting because Pixel Watch uses the same menu path, while Charge 6 puts regulatory information somewhere else, under Settings > Device Info > Regulatory Info.

The radio setup gives us another clue. G8BL6 supports Bluetooth LE and GNSS, so it appears to have its own satellite positioning rather than relying completely on a phone for location. For now, the FCC authorization only shows Bluetooth LE in the 2.4 GHz band, with no Wi-Fi or cellular listed, which makes it look much simpler than a Pixel Watch.

There is also a charging base in the test setup. ADB version 1.0.39 was used to put the device into engineering modes during testing. This is part of the Android debugging toolkit, so that is another small Google-shaped clue, although it is nowhere near enough to say this runs Wear OS.

The Fitbit Air connection is hard to ignore

Goertek is the other reason this filing stands out. Google’s own regulatory documentation identifies Fitbit Air as model GW9C8 with FCC ID SZGGW9C8, which uses the same SZG grantee code as the new G8BL6 filing.

That does not automatically make G8BL6 another Fitbit. Goertek makes hardware for multiple companies, and nothing in this new filing explicitly identifies Google as the customer. Still, the combination of the Gxxxxx model format, wrist straps, Google-like Settings menu, GNSS and ADB makes this a likely candidate.

It also brings us straight back to the mystery tracker Google showed in its own Pixel advertising last month. That device did not match Fitbit Air, Pixel Watch 5 or any current Fitbit. It had a narrow rectangular display and looked much more like a conventional fitness band.

G8BL6 now gives that idea some actual hardware evidence. We still cannot say the FCC device and the tracker in Google’s ads are the same product, but a screen-equipped wrist wearable with GNSS appearing through the same FCC grantee used for Fitbit Air certainly gives us a much better candidate than we had before.

Charge 7 is the obvious name to throw at it, but that is still a guess. Google has not identified G8BL6, and nothing in the FCC documents contains the Fitbit or Charge names.

There is probably more hiding in the FCC paperwork. The manual and device photos are being kept private until March 9, 2027, so there is a good chance the device will launch before then.