Your heart on your wrist
Slightly more expensive than its more basic siblings, the Fitbit Inspire HR keeps you constantly informed about your health
WITH THE numbers of individuals determined to take care of their health by working out and wanting to know just how well – or otherwise – they are doing in the fitness stakes, leading makers of wearables are constantly launching new devices to satisfy their demands.
One of the latest to hit the market is the Fitbit Inspire HR, a |fashionable fitness tracker with a heart rate-monitoring function that comes at an affordable price.
The Inspire HR is light, made from silicone and stylishly sleek. It is available in three colours – black, white and lilac – and comes with a back light for its Greyscale OLED touch display that matches the colour of the wristband.
You can further enhance its look with optional wristbands made of sophisticated metal mesh or premium Horween leather.
Inspire HR’s price is a little bit higher than the entry level Inspire but it has several more features including an embedded heart rate sensor.
It uses that sensor to provide guided breathing sessions to calm you down or reduce your tension. Data from the heart-rate sensor is also used by the Fitbit app to give you cardio fitness data aimed at improving your exercises.
To start using Inspire HR, you will need an account with Fitbit to store your lifetime fitness data on the cloud. The data is also compiled as weekly stats to encourage you to try to improve your fitness status.
Once you’ve set up your account, you download and install the Fitbit app and log on and use it to connect your smartphone to Inspire HR.
Once connected, the Inspire HR will let you stay connected on the go with updates from smartphone apps and calls, calendar, and text alerts when the phone is in within Bluetooth communication. You can also use the Fitbit app to customise which apps send alerts to the fitness tracker.
The Inspire HR is a very light and its ability to monitor heart rate around the clock basis is useful to maximise your exercise regime, see sleep states and better track calories burned.
The sensor will track your resting heart rate and inform you while app recognises your Fat Burn, Cardio and Peak heart rate zones and helps you optimise your workouts.
You can also use the Inspire HR and the Fitbit app to get your Cardio Fitness Score, which is a snapshot of how fit you are.
Navigating the tracker is intuitive and involves just the touchscreen and a sole button. You navigate by tapping the screen, swiping up and down or pressing the button.
Swipe down to scroll through the apps installed then open the app you want by tapping it.
Swipe up to see your daily stats, which include the number of steps you have taken, your current heart rate, the calories burned, the length of time you have been active, the distance you have walked and the number of paces you have managed of your 250-step hourly requirement.
To keep you active throughout the day, the Fitbit HR will remind you to move every hour from 9am to 5pm.
The tracker has more than 15 goal-based exercise modes, among them swimming, weights, workouts, elliptical, hiking, golf, climbing stairs, tennis, walking, yoga, circuit training, and kick boxing. Six modes are available on the fitness tracker and you use the app to customise which ones you want.
Some of the exercises can use the GPS of your smartphone to provide you real-time pace and distance.
The Fitbit HR also comes with SmartTrack function that automatically recognises workouts like walks, runs, swims, bike rides and more, then records them for you in the Fitbit app. You need to do each of these exercises for at least 15 minutes for SmartTrack to detect and record it.
The Inspire HR is also waterproof and you can use the Swim mode in the Exercise app to count the number of laps covered. Do remember to customise the length of the swimming pool so the Inspire HR can accurately record your swim.
The Inspire HR also has timers and a stopwatch and, for women, the HR can work with the Fitbit app to track cycle, record symptoms and more.
The Inspire HR has up to five days of battery. It takes about two hours to fully recharge it from zero per cent.
The tracker’s internal memory can store up to seven days of detailed motion data – minute by minute and heart rate data at 1-second intervals.
During the test, I found the Inspire HR very comfortable to wear because of its slim size and light weight. I didn’t feel uncomfortable where I wore it to bed either.
I tried using it to do a 10-kilometre walk in my neighbourhood and found that the accuracy of the map depends on the GPS of the connected smartphone. During the walk, Inspire HR tracked the elapsed time, the distance and the current pace. It alerted me every hour of my walk.
Fitbit Inspire HR retails for just Bt3,790 and it is available from Fitbit official store on Lazada.co.th.
Key specs:
Sensors: A MEMS 3axis accelerometer, which tracks motion patterns. Optical heartrate tracker
Wireless technology: Inspire HR contains a Bluetooth 4.0 radio transceiver.
Haptic feedback: Inspire HR contains a vibration motor for alarms, goals, notifications, and reminders.
Battery: Inspire HR contains a rechargeable lithiumpolymer battery.
Memory: Inspire HR stores your data, including daily stats, sleep information, and exercise history, for 7 days.
Display: Inspire HR has an OLED display.
Wristband size: Small: 140 mm 180 mm in circumference; Large: 180 mm 220 mm in circumference
Water resistance: Up to 50 metres
Maximum operating altitude: 8,534 metres
