Computer Shopper - UK (2020-05)

FITNESSBANDS

ISSUE387|COMPUTER SHOPPER|MAY2020 83

FITBITISN’TTHEfitnessbanddominatorit
oncewas,butdevicessuchastheInspireHR
showwhythefirmhasbeensosuccessfulin
thefirstplace.It’sawell-balancedblendfor
peoplewhowantto getfitter,butdon’twant
to spendhoursanalysingtheirform.
Assuch,it’snotasfullyfeaturedasthe
likesof theFitbitCharge3,thoughthedesign
willbeprettyfamiliarto anybodywhohas
usedaFitbitbandfromthepastfewyears.A
smallplasticlozengeisthebrainof thedevice,
anditclipsinbetweentwosiliconerubber
straps.Ratherneatly,twobandscomeinthe
box,soyoudon’thaveto figureoutwhether
youqualifyashavinglargewristsornot.You
canalsobuyseparatestraps,rangingfrom
£20to £60,to maketheInspireHRlookas
smartorassportyasyoulike,dependingon
whetheryouwantrubber,leatherorsteel.

SLIPPERYWHENWET

Asforthebrainpart,itmaylookalittle
cheaperthantheoldbutparticularlystylish
FitbitAlta–itspredecessorwasconstructed
fromaluminium,thisisplastic–butthere’s
notmuchinit.Indeed,wequitelikethecurvy
eleganceof theInspireHR,andthedisplay
looksalittlesharper,too.
TheInspireHRismainlycontrolledvia
touchscreen,whichisrarelyagreatideafora
fitnesstracker,giventhatsensitivitydrops
whentheycomeeeiiintttocontttactttwiiittthhh
moisture–someeethingthat
makesatouchscccreen
difficulttousewwwhen
runninginrain,ooor
simplyhaving
sweatyfingers.
It’s evenharder
whenthescreennnis
sotiny,althoughhh
to Fitbit’scredit,
thisoneworks
well;evenbetterrr
thantheChargeee
3’sscreen,infaccct.
There’sasingle
buttononthe
left-handside,
but thismainly
functionsasa
backbutton,or
asaway of
lightingupthe
screenifitdoesn’t
detectthefactttthat
you’veraisedyooourwrist.
Lessusefulisssthe
charger,whichisssyetanother

FITBIT InspireHR

★★★★★

£70•Fromwww.johnlewis.com

VERDICT

TheInspireHR’ssimplicity,stylishnessandsuperbapp
makeitagreatfitnesstrackerformorecasualusers

proprietary

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payrollwh

lovesdesig

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app(thed

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OLED scre

track, occa

tellyouto

beenstationaryfortoolong.

Thesleeptrackinghascomeonquitea

longwaysincetheearlydays,andtheapp

claimsto beableto tellthedifference

betweenlight,deepandREMsleep.Thisis

difficultto entirelyprovefromourend,what

withhavingto beasleepfortesting,but

anecdotallythechartsseemto matchup

from whatweremember,withspikesduring

unexpecttteddd 333 amwakkke-upsandthelike.

Theotherfeaturesareequally

wellthoughtooout.Theguided

breathingaaapp,forexample,

hasyoufffocusonacircle

thatgrooowsandshrinksfor

twoorrrfiveminutesto

helpyyyoupaceyour

breattthing,whilethe

Fitbitttmonitorsyour

hearrrtrate. Itwill

eveeengiveyouan

estimateofVO2Max

to helpyoujudge

youuuroverallfitness

levvveland,more

importantly,track

youuurimprovement

oveeertime.

GROUPACTIVITY

InclaaassicFitbitstyle,

thisinnnformationis

presennntedinavery

user-frieeendlyway, giving

youaratiiingratherthana

rawsetofnnnumbersto decode.

Andthisis,of course,where

Fitbitreallyshines:theappisnotjust

user-friendlyandaccessibletopeoplewho

mayfindafullGarmin-stylestat-fest

daunting,italsohasahugeuserbase,meaning

you’lllikelyfindplentyoffriendsandfamily

tocompetewith.Nootherfitness-tracking

ecosystemcomescloseto matchingFitbit’s

senseof friendlycompetition,andit’saworld

away fromtheoverwhelmingsenseof elite

athleticismthatotherappstryto instil.

However,thissimplicitycutsbothways.

Frankly,wefoundtheInspireHRtoosmalland

fiddlyto useasarunningwatch;thetiny

displaymeansonlyonestatcanappear

onscreenatatime, andswipingwhilerunning

isdistinctlyawkward.Youcanuseconnected

GPS(allowingthebandto usetheGPSon

yourphone),butit’snotbuiltin,soyou’d

haveto carryyourphonewithyouonruns.

AT AGLANCE

Thatisn’tto saytheFitbitInspireHRisof no

useto runners.Ifyou’rethekindof person

to trustyourbody,you’llfinditfinefor

recordingyourperformance.It’sjustnotthat

usefulforassessingitontheflycompared

withdedicatedrunningwatchesthatshow

multipledatafieldsononescreen.

For£70,however,theInspireHRdoesn’t

necessarilyhaveto competewiththebest

high-endfitnesstrackersandhybrid

smartwatches.Whatitactuallydoes,it

generallydoesverywell–soifallyou’reafter

isasmartfitnessbandto trackyoursteps,

sleepandgeneralfitnesslevels,theFitbit

InspireHRisaneasyrecommendation.

yFitbitdesign.

int,it’spretty

unlessFitbit

gneronthe

hojustreally

gning

theonly

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markups

kefrom

lacements.

eInspireHR

estof the

ep-countingin

Youcansetyour

eptargetinthe

defaultis10,000,

fivemilesfor

ple),andthelittle

eendutifullykeeps

asionallybuzzingto

getupforawalkifyou’ve

f l