Watch out, it’s a looker
Great health and lifestyle tracking – but tiny screen is hard on the eyes
Having been a pioneer in health-tech for more than a decade and with a user community of 29 million people, Fitbit is now officially part of Google. While we’re likely to see interesting integrations and innovations in time as a result, its latest mid-range fitness tracker is a new fashionforward device, called the Fitbit Luxe.
Unboxing the Luxe reveals its stylish, sleek design and it is really compact, measuring less than 18mm wide and twice that in length. This makes for a discreet device – unlike mainstream smartwatches this is very much a fashionable, lifestyle device that can be worn almost as jewellery.
In the box of my standard version, is a replacement longer strap for larger wrists and a proprietary charging cradle that will need to be plugged into a USB charger, and you’ll get five days of use between charges.
The classic strap is utilitarian, and its lightweight silicone is flexible but feels like it will endure everyday wear easily. Available in four colours, the classic strap can be replaced with more stylish options. There’s woven, leather or stainless-steel options in gold or silver and, for fashionistas, there’s a very attractive link bracelet band, designed by Gorjana.
Setting up a Fitbit is not daunting, even if this is your first wearable.
Firstly, it is important to make sure it’s charged fully and it’s then a simple matter of using the Fitbit app for iOS or Android to pair the tracker to your phone. I used my existing Fitbit account, but for new users, creating one only takes a couple of minutes and Google’s Fast Pair will ease set-up even more for Android users.
It’s also at set-up time you can decide which notifications you want to receive from your smartphone, including calls and texts.
Despite the small screen, navigating the screens on the Luxe is easy and involves tapping or swiping side to side and up and down, as there are no physical navigation buttons.
If you need to go back through a screen, it’s a simple swipe right or a firm double-tap will return you to the clock screen.
That clock screen is sort of like base-camp for your stats, swiping up from it shows your health stats, including steps, heart rate and Active Zone Minutes. Also, you’re not bound to a standard clock and can pick from a variety of faces, maybe to match your strap colour.
This Fitbit is water resistant to 50m, which will suit swimmers as it specifically records swimming activity, and there’s even a waterlock feature to turn off screen activations when you’re in the water.
As with any fitness tracker, recording your stats is a passive process. You run, walk, cycle or swim and the Luxe monitors all of that. Then your sleep, heart rate, blood oxygen and stress levels are overlayed with the activity data to give you a deeper understanding of your overall health.
I’ve long been a fan of Fitbit’s app, and its insights just get better. For instance, the all-day heart rate tracking can help you maximise workouts, understand resting heart rate trends, and better estimate calorie burn.
We all need a push now and again, and the Luxe uses Active Zone Minutes, to help make every exercise minute count by buzzing your wrist when you enter your personalised target heart rate zone.
However, its all-day tracking of calorie burn, steps and distance makes sure that every step you take counts, for the goals and targets you set.
The small screen size is a consequence of the sleek design, but it does limit the amount of visible data you can have displayed at any time. Also, the Luxe doesn’t have a built-in GPS, so you’ll need to bring your phone if recording the location of a run, rather than just the steps.
That said, this is a product that has a very firm appeal with its excellent heart and sleep tracking. Moreover, the stress management and guided-breathing features position it as a comprehensive wellness and lifestyle device.
Whether you’re a fashion conscious gym-goer or yoga’s how you like to de-stress, the Fitbit Luxe lets you keep track, in style.
IT CAN ALMOST BE WORN AS A PIECE OF JEWELLERY