Withings made its triumphant return to the wearables game recently with the fantastic Steel HR Sport, and now it’s back again with the Withings Pulse HR.
The Pulse HR is the first fitness band to be announced by the French company since its rebirth and it’s looking to take on the Fitbit Charge 3.
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Like the Charge 3, the Pulse HR is a band-styled wearable that with heart rate monitoring as its headline feature. It also packs an OLED display and multisport tracking for over 30 sports – including yoga, volleyball and boxing.
Inside the Pulse HR there’s a PPG (photoplethysmography) heart rate sensor that’ll keep an eye on your pulse throughout the day and night at regular intervals whether you’re active or not. This is particularly useful, as it’ll show your heart rate zones after your workout on the Health Mate app.
Withings products have always tried to look the part, and the Pulse HR is no different.
There’s a black stainless steel casing along with a polycarbonate surface, meaning it should be pretty durable. It’ll come with a basic looking silicone strap, however this can be swapped out for something a little bit more colourful.
There’s no GPS on the Pulse HR. While this is a shame, it’s not unusual for a small band of this ilk and it’s a feature even the Fitbit Charge 3 is missing. Instead there’s Connected GPS, which uses your phone to try and accurately track you during runs and other exercises. We’ll have to properly put the Pulse HR through its paces to see how well this works.
Withings is claiming the Pulse HR will last 20 days on a single charge, however we’re sure this will depend heavily on how many of the wearable’s features you’re making use of. When you’re wearing it at night it’ll also track your sleep, again relaying the information back to the app.
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“At Withings, we are dedicated to providing people with premium health and fitness tracking options that they can select from that best suit their personal lifestyles. With Pulse HR, we wanted to give people a new form factor from our Steel and Steel HR range that still offers the same wearability, quality design and best in class battery life,” said Eric Carreel, President of Withings.
The Withings Pulse HR is available for pre-order now on Amazon and on Withings.com for £119.95. It will available on December 5, with additional bands coming in January 2019.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
