When it was part of Nokia, Withings focused its efforts on the Steel hybrid watch – but having re-established itself as an independent company, it’s back in the fitness band game with the new Pulse HR. This band doesn’t spring any major surprise with its feature set, but it does boast an eye-catching 20-day battery life. Alongside everyday activity and sleep tracking, the Pulse HR will have over 30 different sport modes, from the usual suspects like running and cycling, to more niche options like volleyball and ice hockey.
You can select which sports modes you want available on the device itself via the partner Health Mate app, and the Pulse HR also tracks ten sports automatically, if you can’t be bothered to click start before beginning your workout. There’s automatic tracking for running, walking and swimming among others. Yes, swimming – the Pulse HR is water-resistant to 50m.
While the Pulse HR doesn’t have a built-in GPS, if you take your smartphone with you during outdoor activities the tracker will use its GPS to provide accurate distance measurements, along with a map of your exercise once you’ve finished.
See related
- The Best Fitness Trackers Of 2021
- The Best Fitness Tracker Deals: Cyber Monday 2021 Has Arrived
- The Best Waterproof Fitness Trackers For Pool Swimmers
he heart rate monitor will take a reading every ten minutes during the day, but will provide a continuous reading during workouts, after which it will break down the time you spent in each heart rate zone.
At night the Pulse HR will track your sleep and provide a summary of the time you spent in light and deep slumber to give you a Sleep Score based on the duration and depth of your sleep, taking into account any interruptions.
Most of the above is pretty similar to the packages offered by the Charge 3 and Vivosmart 4 trackers, and they’re all around the same price too, but the Pulse HR’s long battery life is a big point of difference. The Charge 3 and Vivosmart 4 both last up to seven days, which is pretty good, but not 20 days good.
The Withings Pulse HR is available to pre-order on the Withings website now and will ship in early December.
Buy from Withings | £119.95
