For Fitbit’s spring 2019 lineup, they now have four new devices: The entry-level Fitbit Inspire, the HR-equipped Inspire HR, the kids Ace 2, and the affordable Versa Lite smartwatch. The latter is for those who want an affordable smartwatch, but it’s the Inspire HR that is the real winner here with a price tag under $100, and which includes an optical heart rate sensor.
The low-cost Inspire HR is basic, and basically a stripped-down version of the Fitbit Charge 3. It’s curved for comfort and is so slim you hardly even notice it’s on your wrist. It retains Fitbit’s iconic look with rounded edges that give it a modern feel, along with a lightweight plastic casing and two silicone straps to fit a wide range of wrist sizes. The bands are replaceable, allowing you to swap the sweat-friendly silicone with a metal mesh or saffiano leather bracelets.
The Inspire HR uses a black and white OLED display with a responsive touchscreen interface, which is good because you use it frequently to view health stats, read alerts, set timers, and more. There is a single button on the right side that is used to wake the device and move you back out of menus. The button is also used to pause or stop exercise, which is handy as it can be difficult trying to swipe on a touchscreen with sweaty hands.
Interface
The Inspire HR uses a simple touch-based menu system that is easy to learn. The clock face is your central hub, and you only can swipe up or down from here. Swipe down for apps like the exercise app, timer, alarm clock, and settings.
Swiping up allows you to view your daily health and fitness stats.You tap on items to select them and then use the side button to return back to the clock face. You also can press and hold the button at any point to jump to the quick settings menu, where you can view your battery level and turn off features like notifications and screen wake.
Performance
The Inspire HR is quite powerful for a basic fitness tracker. The device supports up to 15 different indoor and outdoor activities including hiking, running, elliptical, weightlifting and more. The tracker also is water resistant up to 50m so you can wear it while swimming to track your performance. You can customize which exercises appear on the tracker and set whether you want audio cues or not during your workout.
The Inspire HR displays relevant stats such as heart rate, heart rate zone, distance, duration, calories burned, pace and more. The heart rate tracking and step counting are accurate and track the intensity of your workout. The Inspire HR comes with Fitbit’s SmartTrack automatic activity tracking functionality, which can recognize and record workout sessions without any input.
The tracker does not include built-in GPS, which means it relies on your phone to supply GPS-based tracking information for outdoor activities. This connected GPS tracking is relatively seamless: You start your activity and wait for the tracker to connect automatically to your phone. A status bar on the tracker will change from connecting to connected and the Inspire HR will vibrate when the connection is complete. Once connected, you can begin your activity and the GPS will record for as long as the phone and tracker are in sync.
Fitbit is known for its outstanding sleep tracking and the Inspire HR does not disappoint. The device consistently measures with accuracy your sleep patterns, and it does an even better job at detecting those moments when you’re not quite asleep and not quite awake.
Almost all fitness trackers are capable of receiving notifications, allowing you to glimpse incoming alerts without needing to pull your smartphone out of your pocket. The Inspire HR is no exception. The small tracker can receive phone call alerts, text messages, emails and app alerts. It also gives you full control over which notifications you receive, allowing you to configure them on an app-by-app basis.
Notifications on the Inspire HR are useful, but limited. They are sent quickly from the phone to the tracker, but the small screen limits their usefulness. You can see the first 200 characters of a message, email or alert which is enough to tell you whether you need to take out your phone to read or respond to it. You can only read the alerts and then close them. You cannot respond to them. Notifications are not stored so you cannot read and retrieve them again at a later date. The Inspire HR will give you about 5 days of battery life with normal use.
Bottom Line
The Fitbit Inspire HR is available to order for $99 on Fitbit’s website and at retailers such as Best Buy, Amazon, Target, and more. Fitbit offers a 45-day money back guarantee and a one-year limited warranty, which covers manufacturer defects.
The device itself is super for the price. At $99, the Inspire HR offers one of the least expensive trackers with a heart rate monitor. You get a whole lot of fitness and sleep tracking for little money.
It’s solidly constructed, water-resistant to 50m, and feels durable during testing. Fitbit has one of the most consumer friendly interfaces with plans to upgrade it in the near future. If you want a stylish fitness tracker that delivers reliable workout tracking and stellar sleep tracking in an easy-to-use package, all at a low price, the Fitbit Inspire HR is a winner.
