We’ve followed Withings before, during, and after its purchase and sell back by Nokia. Not long after Withings regained its independence, the company launched the Steel HR Sport hybrid digital and analog smartwatch, a variation of the Steel HR introduced when Nokia owned the company.
Withings recently introduced the Pulse HR, a wristband format fitness tracker that is noticeable for what it does and doesn’t look like. The Pulse HR has no family resemblance to Withings’ other current smartwatches, which all have round dials and analog hands to tell the time. However, the Withings Pulse HR looks almost identical to the Fitbit Alta HR, which retails for the same $130 price. Unless the monochrome LED display is activated, the Pulse HR appears to be a plain, thin, black wristband.
The Pulse HR is an activity tracker with a stainless steel case and a black polycarbonate coating. The watch tracks your heart rate continuously and transmits the data to an associated smartphone app where you can check your activity measured in steps, distance, and calories burned. You can also view the amount of time you spent in light, moderate, intense, and peak heart rate zones. Similar to the Steel HR Sport, the Pulse HR keeps track of your activity in more than 30 activity modes from yoga to soccer.
When your desire is to be the least active, the Pulse HR tracks you sleep levels and interruptions and will give you a sleep score to track that important health factor. You can also set a smart alarm that will wake you at the best time in your sleep cycle.
The Withings Pulse HR is water resistant to 50 meters and has an outstanding 20-day battery life per charge. While it doesn’t have an internal GPS, the watch uses the smartphone GPS to show routes on the phone app. You can also customize how smartphone notifications alerts appear on the watch.
There are no functions in the Pulse HR that are new to Withings products, but the watch’s neo-retro minimalist look, easily mistaken for a Fitbit Alta HR, indicates that this model is more about market focus than new technology. Because Withings is much better known for health-related products than for fitness trackers and sports accessories, the Pulse HR is a cross over product to extend its market.
