Images via Reddit, links below

The simplicity of the Fitbit Air encourages some neat ideas for how to use it, including pairing it with a traditional watch. Some Fitbit Air buyers are taking that idea and literally cutting holes in their watch bands to house the tracker, but there’s probably a better way.

Not long after Fitbit Air launched, we covered how some were using the strap of the tracker alongside a traditional timepiece, similar to how a NATO strap works. It also makes a nice companion to the Pebble smartwatch.

• Fitbit Air owners are placing automatic watches on the same strap as the tracker, and it’s easy
• I strapped a Pebble watch to my Fitbit Air, and now I want that to be a real thing [Gallery]

But it’s at least a little clunky, and someone was bound to find a better way.

One of those ways, as it turns out, is literally carving a hole out of a traditional watch band to hold the Fitbit Air. That’s what a couple of users have done and shown off on Reddit, with a GShock watch as well as a Seiko 5. By cutting a Fitbit Air-sized hole in the strap, it can be held in place as you wear the watch.

It works, but it’s far from elegant.

It did lead us down a rabbit hole, though, to find that there are some more polished solutions out there. Some adapters have popped up on Amazon to house the Fitbit Air on a watch band, but a little 3D printed solution might be the best one. As some users have shown, the little attachment holds the Fitbit Air in place on your watch strap, and it’s a relatively subtle look from the outside.

And it’s super cheap. We found options on Etsy as low as $9 – they’re on Amazon too, but at a higher price.

Of course, this isn’t quite as low-profile as cutting a hole in your watch band. The idea there is great, and it’s starting to feel inevitable that generic watch bands with Fitbit Air cutouts will start showing up on the market sooner than later.

Google can be thanked for how quickly these accessories have shown up on the market, and for how cheap they are too. Not long after the Air’s launch, Google released the blueprint for the tracker, allowing anyone with the desire to create accessories that perfectly fit the Fitbit Air without any guesswork.

Would you use a Fitbit Air like this?

More on Fitbit Air:

• Review: Fitbit Air is a near-perfect fitness tracker with an imperfect AI Health Coach
• The Fitbit Air can now be purchased with HSA and FSA accounts in the US
• Fitbit Air made me ditch my Pixel Watch, and I couldn’t be happier

Follow Ben: Twitter/X, Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram