Fitbit watches getting their biggest feature upgrade since launch – but it won't please everyone

There's a big change coming to Fitbit's family of watches as Google further integrates its own software with the fitness brand's devices, new and old.

Having bought the company more than three years ago, Google has been slowly adding its own stamp on Fitbit fitness trackers and smartwatches, with a stream of new updates adding and, in some cases, taking away features.

However, the latest big upgrade will take place on 29 July and will be one of the most significant in years.

For the vast majority of users, Fitbit Pay will be removed from multiple devices, including the popular Fitbit Sense 2 and Versa 4. You will not be able to use the contactless payment service on your tracker or watch from the switch off date.

Instead, Google Wallet has now rolled out to all Fitbit devices that support contactless, so you are encouraged to switch to that system ahead of this summer's switch-off.

The only exception is for users in Saudi Arabia, Japan or Taiwan – they will continue to have access to Fitbit Pay for the foreseeable future.

To switch over to Google Wallet, you can do so in the Fitbit app on your Android phone. Just make sure you have the latest version of the app.

Note, it is not exactly clear how to switch if you have connected your Fitbit device to an iPhone – it may work using the Google Pay app for iOS, but we haven't been able to check that for ourselves at present.

You can see a full list of instructions and details on Google's own support page (although we can't find any mention of iPhone setup). We'll update when we know more.

The Fitbit devices that are affected by the major change are:

• Fitbit Charge 4
• Fitbit Charge 5
• Fitbit Charge 6
• Fitbit Sense
• Fitbit Sense 2
• Fitbit Versa 2
• Fitbit Versa 3
• Fitbit Versa 4

Some other Fitbit Versa and Charge 3 devices are affected too, if they contain an NFC chip.

It's also worth noting that American Express cards are not supported by Google Wallet for Fitbit yet, but there are plans to add them soon.