Fitbitluxe

Only skin deep

This is the first Fitbit that’s not primarily being marketed as a fitness watch, but instead as a fashion item that also happens to tell you how close you are to your daily target of 10,000 steps a day.

We tested the plain black version (pictured), but it also comes in more eye-catching colours with typically pretentious names: ‘Lunar White/soft Gold’ and ‘Orchid/platinum’. If you want something that really stands out, you could opt for the ‘Peony/soft Gold Stainless Steel’ model, though it’s a more

SPECIFICATIONS

0.76in 124x206-pixel touchscreen • 3-axis accelerometer • Optical heart-rate monitor • Red and infrared sensors for oxygen saturation (SPO2) monitoring • Bluetooth • Compatible with Android and IOS devices • 10x36x18mm (HXDXW) • One-year warranty www.snipca.com/39009 expensive at £179. You can also buy a range of optional straps, costing £50 for leather or from £80 for metallic.

The Luxe is a slender fitness tracker with a small 0.76in, 124x206-pixel resolution AMOLED touchscreen, and a steel casing that feels solid and well made. Beyond that, its core tracking features are basic: it has an optical heart-rate tracker but no GPS.

The heart-rate tracker is there to keep tabs on your ticker and it also measures blood-oxygen levels (SPO2), heart-rate variability and stress levels. Despite not having GPS, it lets you track speed, pace and location, and have your walks and runs shown on a map, as long as you take your phone out with you.

Our biggest gripe was with the accuracy of the heart-rate monitor, particularly at the beginning of each workout. It measured our heart rate much higher than our control monitor, until it eventually settled down after around 15 minutes.

An attractive range of fitness-tracking watches, but more attention has been given to the design than the heart-monitoring

VERDICT

Fitbit Chargege 4 £99 It may not be as attractiveve but it is cheaper, has GPS features and the heart-rate monitor is more accurate

ALTERNATIVE