F
itbit’s taken the welcome step
of slimming down its budget
range of fitness trackers –
leaving just two models to choose
from: the Fitbit Inspire and Fitbit
Inspire HR. Of the two, the Inspire
HR offers slightly higher spec – and,
therefore, a slightly higher price: it
costs £89.99 ($99.95) with a silicone
band. Other bands costs between
£19.99 ($24.95) and £59.99 ($64.95),
with options including leather,
double wrap and stainless steel.
And it’s the Inspire HR model we’re
putting through its paces here.Design and display
The Fitbit Inspire HR is one of the
narrowest and therefore sleekest-
looking fitness trackers you can buy
right now – though it’s quite thick.
Still, it’s by far one of the most
attractive trackers Fitbit has made,
and it’s notably lighter and thinner
than the Fitbit Charge 3.
On the right side of the body
there’s a button that you can use towake the device and take you back
to the home screen. To go through
your various stats you’ll be using
the touchscreen, but it isn’t as
responsive as a smartwatch display.
All you really use the screen for is
swiping between a couple of
menus to show your stats for the
day. You can start a few features
using the touchscreen, including
exercises and guided breathing
sessions, but you’ll have to swipe
up to find these.
That’s quite an unintuitive part
of the user interface, and you’ll
often find yourself scrolling
through the menu a couple of
times before remembering where
the option you’re looking for is.
The screen doesn’t always register
swipes, so sometimes you may find
yourself getting frustrated when
navigating around the menus.
The Inspire HR has a black-and-
white display, which isn’t an issue
for the sort of stats you’ll be
looking at on the screen.There are some big, thick bezels
at the top and bottom of the
display as well as lines going down
either side of the Fitbit Inspire HR’s
screen. Those bezels at the top and
bottom of the screen are 11mm,
while the ones to the side are 3mm.
Considering the tracker is 37mm
long and 16mm wide that doesn’t
leave a huge amount of space for
the display. That said, it’s not
irritating in day-to-day use, and
with the bezels being black it’s not
obvious that you have these big
bezels on all sides.
The Inspire HR is swim-proof,
which means you can wear it in the
shower without worrying about it
getting ruined. Be warned though,
this isn’t capable of tracking your
swims. You’ll have to opt for
something pricier like the Fitbit
Charge 3 to get that added benefit.Performance & features
Day-to-day performance is strong
in almost every regard. The InspireFitbit Inspire HR
£89.99 | $99.95 http://www.fitbit.com
Affordable fitness tracker with some street smarts
82 |^ |^ May 2019