Fitbit Air and Ferrari's Luce Fiasco

Summary of Fitbit Air and Ferrari's Luce Fiasco

by MKBHD

1h 44m•May 29, 2026
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Overview of Waveform Podcast: Fitbit Air and Ferrari's Luce Fiasco

This episode of Waveform centers on two big product conversations: the new screenless Fitbit Air and Ferrari’s controversial electric super-crossover, the Luce. The hosts dig into what each product gets right, where the software or design falls short, and how both devices reveal bigger tensions in tech and car design: hardware vs. software polish, premium pricing vs. value, and whether “new” actually means “better.” They also cover Motorola’s shady-looking Amazon affiliate behavior, Spotify’s disco-themed icon update, and a few trivia questions that tie into the week’s hardware nostalgia.

Fitbit Air: Great Hardware, Messy Software

The Fitbit Air is generally viewed as a strong product with a lot of potential, but the conversation focuses heavily on its bugs and on how Google’s premium AI layer makes the experience worse for some users.

What works well

  • Excellent battery life: advertised at 7 days, and real-world use appears to match or exceed that.
  • Thin, screenless design: seen as a better value alternative to Whoop for many people.
  • Good value without subscription: the base experience seems solid and useful.
  • Useful for beginners: step counting, calories, sleep, cardio load, and simple fitness guidance.

Main criticisms

  • Google Health Premium / Gemini summaries feel intrusive
    • Too much text on the main screen.
    • AI summaries often feel unnecessary or poorly placed.
    • The assistant sometimes ignores or misreads actual collected data.
  • Glanceability is compromised
    • The app should surface key stats quickly, not bury them under AI commentary.
  • Buggy workout UI
    • Misaligned text, broken dark mode, missing units, and inconsistent display behavior.
    • The hosts repeatedly describe these issues with the joke “did you even test this?”
  • Data hallucinations
    • Gemini sometimes gives inaccurate calorie counts, workout summaries, or sleep advice.
    • It occasionally references workouts or meals in ways that don’t match the logged data.

Who it seems for

  • People who want a Whoop-like experience without paying Whoop prices
  • Beginners or casual fitness users who don’t need highly personalized athletic metrics
  • Users who want a screenless wearable but still want some smart features

Suggested improvements for Fitbit Air 2

  • Add better workout customization
  • Surface heart rate zones in live workout views
  • Make AI coaching a separate tab or button, not the main feed
  • Add more useful notifications and possibly NFC / Google Pay
  • Improve accessory options like bicep straps, chest straps, and more band styles
  • Make the device work more like a true glanceable tracker

Ferrari Luce: A Bold EV with a Divisive Design

The second major topic is Ferrari’s electric Luce, a highly secretive launch that generated huge online backlash mostly because of its styling and its extremely high price.

Why it got so much attention

  • It’s Ferrari’s first major fully electric effort of this kind.
  • The launch was tightly controlled, with heavy NDA restrictions and no phone filming.
  • The design came from LoveFrom / Jony Ive’s team, which increased expectations dramatically.
  • The starting price is around $600,000+, making aesthetic criticism much louder.

Design reaction

  • The hosts agree the car looks very different, but not universally good.
  • Key comparisons:
    • A blob-like EV
    • A BYD wearing Ferrari clothes
    • A car that might have looked fine at a much lower price point
  • The biggest issue is that it does not read as “Ferrari” to many people.
  • Some angles and details are interesting; others are called ugly or awkward.
  • The blue colorway and turbine-style wheels were singled out as especially controversial.

Why Ferrari may have chosen this direction

  • Ferrari likely wanted to emphasize that this is a new kind of Ferrari, not a gas car imitation.
  • The brand may have tried to avoid nostalgic Ferrari styling because:
    • EV packaging forces a different shape
    • The target customer may be younger or more tech-forward
    • They wanted a futuristic identity, not a retro one

Interior and engineering highlights

  • The interior is praised as the best EV interior the hosts have seen.
  • Cool details include:
    • A rotating center screen
    • A magnetic, illuminated key
    • Clever palm-rest / screen interaction design
  • Under the surface, the car is very serious:
    • About 1,000 horsepower
    • Advanced torque vectoring
    • Independent suspension adjustments
    • Strong track-oriented performance
  • The hosts agree it’s built to drive like a Ferrari, even if the exterior divides opinion.

Bigger takeaways

  • If this weren’t a Ferrari, and weren’t priced so high, the design backlash would be much softer.
  • The car feels like a deliberate break from Ferrari heritage.
  • The launch shows how much branding and price shape public reaction.
  • The episode also speculates that some of the design DNA may trace back to Apple’s abandoned car work.

Motorola Affiliate-Link Hijacking

A smaller but notable segment covers a strange Motorola issue:

  • Some Motorola phones were reportedly flashing a browser page before opening Amazon, apparently routing through an affiliate link.
  • The hosts are skeptical and call it “hacky” and potentially shady.
  • They debate whether this is:
    • a deliberate affiliate-revenue scheme,
    • a tracking mechanism,
    • or the work of a rogue update / employee.
  • It’s framed as a surprising example of a major phone maker behaving like an affiliate blog.

“Disco Morphism” on Pixel

The episode also covers Spotify’s temporary disco-ball app icon and a broader trend:

  • Spotify updated its icon to a disco ball for its anniversary.
  • The internet reacted negatively, mostly because people dislike sudden icon changes.
  • A user created disco-themed app icons for several apps, and Google’s Android team turned that into a real Pixel feature.
  • The hosts joke that this new aesthetic is being called “disco morphism.”
  • They like the idea of customization, even if the specific icon pack looks a bit AI-generated.

Trivia and Closing Notes

The episode includes trivia callbacks tied to old hardware:

  • Motorola Defy was the answer to the first question about an early waterproof, multi-touch Motorola phone.
  • The Fitbit Flex was the answer to the first wrist-based Fitbit question.

Final discussion points

  • The hosts revisit the ongoing Whoop vs. Fitbit debate.
  • They agree Whoop’s subscription model is increasingly hard to justify.
  • The conversation ends on the broader point that both tech and cars are in a moment where software, pricing, and design choices matter as much as raw specs.

Key Takeaways

  • Fitbit Air is a strong device held back by buggy software and overdone AI integration.
  • Ferrari’s Luce is technically impressive, but its styling and price make it polarizing.
  • The episode repeatedly contrasts good hardware with bad UX, and bold branding with public backlash.
  • A lot of the humor comes from the hosts’ shared frustration with:
    • AI summaries that overtalk
    • products that weren’t tested enough
    • and companies that make design decisions users didn’t ask for