Stuff UK — June 2017

TEST FITBIT ALTA HR

3

1

2

32 hours with the

Fitbit Alta HR

Good

Meh

Evil

5mins 15mins 25mins 40mins 1hr 3hrs 6hrs 7hrs 11hrs

Bedtime, and the Alta HR is so light I

don’t mind keeping it on while I sleep.

Time for a bit of a run – the Fitbit’s

encouragement is just what I need.

It looks nice enough but this is

definitely not a fashion accessory.I hardly notice it once it’s strapped on my wrist. Comfy and discrete.

Interacting with the screen isn’t fun.

It responds groggily when tapped.The SmartTrack feature

instantly

recognises that I’ve started my jog.

The heart-rate reader isn’t dead-on

accurate, but it’s good enough.

After my jog, the Alta gives me some

juicy stats. I lost that many calories?

I wish this thing was waterproof. It’s

annoying taking it off for a shower.

[ Words

Mark Wilson ]

The slinky Fitbit Alta HR can read your heart whether

you’re mid-jog or fast asleep. But is that enough

to make this tracker your new best gym buddy?

2 Strapped for dash

Connected to the tracker’s brain

is a perforated rubber strap. This

confirms its sporty intentions – a

tight fit is a necessity for accurate

heart tracking, and that’s what

you get. The adjustable strap

also helps it sit comfortably on

your wrist.

3 Stepping out

Like all Fitbits, it tracks your steps,

calories and active minutes. Set

your goals in the app, and the

Alta HR will nudge you towards

them with timely vibrations and

messages. It also supports the

Fitbit app’s new Sleep Stages and

Sleep Insights features.

1 Dapper tapper

This is one of the better-looking

bands, if not especially stylish. On

the front, there’s a plastic OLED

tap display. This serves up basic

information like the time, phone

notifications and your heart rate,

but size limitations mean it’s very

much a backup way to interact.

Great all-rounders are a rare thing

in sport. Occasionally a Botham,

Ennis-Hill or Phil Neville will arrive

with the combined talents of an

entire team. But most of the time,

‘all-rounder’ means almost.

That’s why we were dubious

about the claims of Fitbit’s latest

tracker. Sitting smack in the

middle of the maker’s batting

order, the Alta HR combines

the lightweight form factor of

bands like the Flex 2 with the

heavyweight, health-tracking

smarts of watches like the

Charge 2.

Of course, Fitbit hasn’t been

able to cram an entire GPS watch

into a fitness band – the Alta

HR’s focus is very much on

tracking your overall wellbeing,

rather than triathlon training.

But it is, on paper, the most

capable band of its size and

one of the few to offer continuous

heart-rate tracking.

So does that make it the best

pound-for-pound health tracker

you can buy? Not quite. We found

it to be tantalisingly close to

gadget greatness...

£130 / stuff.tv/AltaHR

Beauty and the beats