After leaving Google post-Fitbit acquisition, co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman expanded their focus from the health of individual users to the health of whole families through a startup called Luffu and an AI-powered app that can track medication, log users’ meals, and generally lighten the cognitive load of caregivers and parents. Luffu’s next evolution of that idea is the recently announced Luffu Link, a wearable device that offers the health tracking similar to the Fitbit Air, with extra wrinkles that make it more than just another fitness band.
The Luffu Link features a rectangular metal housing with a button, sensors, LED, microphone, speakers, and a silicone band that secures the whole package to your wrist. The first big difference between the Link and other wearables is the addition of voice logging. Pressing and holding the wearable’s button allows you to verbally note the meal you ate or medicine you took, along with more abstract things like your current mood or things you want to remember. That info, along with data from the Link’s health tracking features (heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking, and activity tracking), is then fed into Luffu’s app for insights from the patterns its AI spots over time.
The other way the Luffu Link differentiates itself is the addition of GPS and free LTE connectivity. The wearable allows family members to see where you’ve been and even lets you double-press the Link’s button to quickly update them on your current location. The addition of LTE also makes it possible to call for help from select members of your family, whether you’re near your phone or not.
Without a screen, the Link is also part of the growing category of screenless wearables like the Oura Ring 5 and Whoop 5.0. “There’s a trend to have no screens on this new class of wearables, but here, it’s very purposeful,” Luffu co-founder James Park said in an interview with TechCrunch. “We want to be in the background. Link is designed to be on your wrist as a quiet guardian throughout your day, and we also wanted to make this feel nothing like a traditional wearable, nothing like a generic-looking fabric brand or a wrist thing with a screen or a bulky pendant that you’re wearing for emergency purposes.”
The Luffu Link is available to preorder now for $250 (a $50 discount on its $300 price) and ships in early 2027. While the Link’s LTE connection is “free,” using the wearable requires a subscription to the Luffu Family Plan, which covers four family members and costs either $20 per month or $200 per year. All considered, it’s an expensive entry fee for a healthier family, especially if you decide to buy a Link for each person, but maybe Luffu’s software will make it worth the cost.
