Withings Steel HR Sport – Multisport hybrid Smartwatch
Withings Steel HR Sport – Multisport hybrid Smartwatch, connected GPS, heart rate, fitness level via VO2 max, activity and sleep tracking, notifications
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WATER RESISTANT TO 50MSteel HR is a life-friendly hybrid smartwatch that can accompany you to the pool, hit the showers, and survive a downpour. | DATA AT YOUR FINGERTIPSSteel HR seamlessly syncs with the free Health Mate app via Bluetooth. See your progress, share your data, and more. Works with Apple Heath, Google Fit, Strava and 100+ top health & fitness apps. | SWAPPABLE WRISTBANDSIf you have multiple bands, It’s easy to change them in seconds to wear Steel HR your way. |
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| 30+ activities recognised including run, walk, swim – with burned calories, steps, distance tracking | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Automatic synchronisation (Bluetooth Low Energy) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Sleep analysis, silent alarm and Smart Wake-Up | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Connected GPS | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Smartphone notifications | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Heart rate | On demand | Continuously | Continuously | |
| Electrocardiogram recording | ✓ | |||
| Altimeter (floors climbed) | ✓ | |||
| Fitness Score & VO2 Max | ✓ | |||
| Battery life | Up to 18 months | Up to 12 months | Up to 25 days | Up to 25 days |
| Size: | 40mm |
| Dimensions: | 2.01 x 1.3 x 4.06 cm; 58.97 Grams |
| Brand: | Withings |
| Model: | 3700546704475 |
| Colour: | Black |
| Pack Quantity: | 1 |
| Batteries Included: | 1 CR2 batteries required. (included) |
| Manufacture: | Withings |
| Age: | Youth |
| Department: | Unisex |
| Dimensions: | 2.01 x 1.3 x 4.06 cm; 58.97 Grams |
| Quantity: | 1 |
| Size: | 40mm |
This Withings watch looks gerat – a high class watch that tells the time. Bit it is also a great health monitor – linking to an app on my phone to record sleep patterns, workouts and heart rate, but it also has the ability to take a Doctor-ready ECG and Blood Oxygen levels. But an important factor for me is that the battery life is measured in weeks not hours – I have had several smart watches in the past, but they all sit in the draw because I can’t be bothered to charge them daily!
Battery life is superb.
App (Healthmate) is easy to set up and use.
I agree that the black hands on black face make it very hard to see, but the LED screen gives you all the info you need.
Took me a while to set up, instructions aren’t very good. Need to do it online. Once set up, easy to use. Easy to check BPM, and generally your exercise levels. Doesn’t have too many different sports on it, but that’s how I wanted it. A good looking watch that’s easy to use
Easy to set up with the app and easy to use daily
Great battery life
The only reason for not giving 5 stars is the readout is small (especially when you’re half asleep in bed) and the black dial with gold hands is not a great combination to read. A white dial maybe bette
As a watch
+ It’s small, light, compact and discreet – that makes it comfortable to wear and pretty easy to get on with. The default rubber-type strap is very comfortable and has plenty of adjustment
+ It feels well-made and premium and it definitely is physically very nice and well put together
+ The battery life is excellent – I charged it 8 days ago and it currently reports 78% battery life. I’ve been using it moderately for tracking and activities, but I fully imagine even under heavy use, this will easily last 1-2 weeks between charges
+ The top OLED screen is bright and clear and can display the date/time at a glance along with heart rate, steps, distance, calories etc
– I don’t have big wrists, and this watch is probably about perfect. I would say however for a lot of men, this may feel quite small so definitely check measurements before you buy
– As other reviewers have pointed out, the markings on the watch face can be practically invisible in certain light – the subtle font and colours are very cool, but sometimes you simply cannot read it. A single press of the crown will light up the OLED screen and tell you the date/time though, so at least you have that
As a fitness tracker/smart device
+ Step counting seems to be largely as accurate as other devices I have to compare with, so it certainly seems to be decent
+ Heart rate tracking seems to be accurate when measured – I don’t have an ECG or similar to compare it to, but from my own approximations, it appears to be doing a decent job (although there are caveats, below)
+ Sleep tracking is a cool feature and generally speaking so far it’s been broadly correct (start and end of sleep can be a bit fuzzy – it may think I’m in bed 30 mins before or after I actually am)
+ The app is decent, well designed and ties into other tracking apps perfectly well
~ I have not used the notifications feature at all, so I can’t comment on how well it works
– So far, one of the days it got the sleep stats completely wrong – it thought I was sleeping between the hours of 19:00 and 03:00, when I was simply sitting at the PC until bed at about 23:30 and slept through to 07:00. This has only happened one day so far though
– Tracking of heart rate during sporting activities can be very hit or miss. I’ve had 3 gym sessions so far while wearing it and there are frequent gaps in the measurements, with the most recent session being especially bad – it recorded heart rate for maybe 25-33% of the session, which makes the data kinda useless. I’m not sure if I need to have the watch more secure on my wrist, or if sweat is causing issues, but a little disappointing that it isn’t able to keep reading the data since the heart monitor does seem perfectly capable other times
So overall, as a nice watch with some casual fitness tracking built in, it’s pretty much what I wanted.
I feel that if you are serious about heart tracking and so on, you will want to spend more on the ECG enabled devices as I figure they will be much more reliable and accurate. As it stands though, the Steel HR Sport is solid for general fitness monitoring and it’s as good as other (cheaper) fitness trackers that I’ve come across.
Setting the watch up was really easy, which was a pleasant change from experiences of trying to set up my wife’s new band. The phone app is also easy to use and provides all the information I am looking for. I particularly like the way it gives you a sleep score. You can look at the sleep pattern data if you want, but the score is easier and more impactful. Also preferable to my old Garmin, is that I can get all the information I need displayed on the phone with a push of one button – I had to go to the phone app for that information on my Garmin. Battery life, although still early days, looks really good. It is showing 99% charge after over a week, whereas my wife has to charge her band every two to three days.
The watch vibrates and displays texts as a kind of ticker tape on the small screen, which I have used on a couple of occasions. It’s not what I bought the watch for, so the limitations of that don’t bother me. However, if you are looking for a smart watch which can do much of the stuff your smartphone can do, this is probably not the one for you. If, like me, you want to track your fitness activities in an easy to use way and don’t want too many other distractions or complications, then this is definitely one to consider.
Pros.
Comfortable to wear.
Looks great.
Tracks activities really well.
Long battery life.
Notifications from my Android phone.
Connects to phone’s GPS and give really accurate map of the last run/hike.
Cons.
Sleep tracking is not very accurate, sometimes it misses interruptions and vice versus.
Health Mate app doesn’t read steps correctly sometimes. In general, Bluetooth connection could be a bit better.
Overall I’m really happy with this purchase. Recommended.
It does the notifications well also, tells you who the text is from and the first few words of the text so you know if it’s worth taking the phone out of your pocket to look. There is a decent vibrate for calls also as I don’t always feel the phone vibrating.
I tried a third party leather strap on this which was easy to fit but I found the standard strap more comfortable and I think it actually looks better so went back to that.
There is just the one button on the side to scroll though the little digital screen at the top which keeps it nice and simple.
The bottom dial tells you the percentage of your steps goal that you have achieved.
I don’t normally write such long reviews but this watch is worth it and when its life comes to an end, I will be looking for a similar model again.
Tracking steps and HR really great, app on iPhone is a little slow always needs to sync when I open it… not a deal breaker though.
Watch perfect size and works great best of both worlds. And battery has lasted month already with still 55% left.
An early adopter to fitness trackers, this must be my third or fourth and it is head and shoulders the best I have had. Made even better by the fact that it is an attractive watch suitable for any occasion.
I love that when you set it up you select what apps to get notifications from, default being off for all… my wife’s watch is always buzzing and I know when my wrist vibrates it’s something important.
The heart rate monitor is within a beat or two of my chest worn one which is great; sleep tracking is on par with the Aurora pad.
The watch is really easy to use and the battery life is amazing, have charged it once since I got it months ago and it charges super fast, think it was about an hour from the battery critical level when it just tracks steps and tells the time – only concern is I might lose the charger as it’s hardly used!
Massively recommend this watch over something with a giant battery draining screen.
The step counter is a little off I find missing about 1k of steps for every 10k walked
The strap is annoying and leaves marks on my skin
The app is a bit dull
Overall though for price it’s a decent reliable watch
If you are looking for a full blown Smartwatch to answer messages, calls etc buy an iPhone and an Apple Watch, if you want a watch that does smart things buy a Withings.
For me buying the Steel HR sport has been a revelation – the battery life is superb, I’ve been using it for a week and I still have 75% battery life left.
It lets me know if you if I have call and who’s calling, same with messaging.
It looks like a watch.
It records heart rate, sleep and steps.
The companion app is easy to use, links well with Google Fit and the data seems accurate when compared against my fitness trackers.
It’s waterproof.
The only negative for me is that the watch hands are sometimes difficult to see in some light, a different colour would help and if they added some luminescence to the hands they would be perfect.
I go to the gym or play sport 3/4 times a week and can accept that this watch is not going to correctly track every calorie and step, you need an advanced watch and a lot of time for that. It does enough for me, it counts steps, jogging distances are near enough and you can record a number of exercises.
I use the app alongside MyFitnessPal to track my calories and have only had a few connection issues in the 6 months I’ve been using it. It syncs perfectly most of the time and they’ve made some great improvements to the app.
I don’t use the notifications because it’s bad enough having a phone going off and the vibrate alarm is just enough to wake you up but not over the top.
I don’t think this is for those who seriously need to track every step and calorie burnt. I fully recommend if you want to track your exercise and diet on a stylish watch you can wear 24/7.
But the Withings is great. Interchangeable straps, easy to replace (with a little sliding clip to take them off) nice comfortable strap and plenty big enough. The watch face (white) is simple, clear and uncluttered, although it would be nice to have luminous dials. Scrolling through the different elements of the fitness/sleep/health tracker is easy and once used to it, it can be simple. Downside is that the illuminated features are difficult to read in the outdoors in daylight (even normal daylight and not sunny). Battery life is fantastic. Again my old Fitbit might last a week but the Withings is much much better. At writing this I have now used it for 19 days and the battery is now showing 35% and have used it 3 times a week in the gym and used the GPS tracker once. Will definitely try and use the GPS tracker more and see how that effects the battery life. Charging is simple with no leads to plug in but just lie it on its charger and the contacts allow it to be charged. Have not used it for swimming so cannot comment on its performance in water and usually take it off when having a shower. Overall I am really pleased with it and its performance. As an aside a bought a seperate screen protector for the watch face which to date protects the watch face ideally. Would definitely recommend it to anyone else
The app is straight forward but has loads of features, very well laid out with all the info at your finger tips. I did find the first night the sleep tracking didn’t work, turns out less than 3 hours sleep it doesn’t register it in the app. The app has one annoying problem that had me stumped for a while, every time the app updates (Play store) it cannot find the watch. The only way to get past this is to remove the watch from the Bluetooth paired list in the phone settings then use the app to find it and sync.
The watch is really good very clear display and I wear it all night and day even in work which at times gets bashed about, after 6 months there is no scratches on the glass or case I was very surprised at that. Wearing it is very comfortable and doesn’t look like your average smart watch because of the analogue hands and face.
I would have preferred to buy the grey-faced watch but decided against it due to comments that its face is difficult to read. The white-faced watch is a little blingy for my taste but I daresay that I’ll get used to it. I don’t have large wrists but the watch sits nicely. After two days of wearing it I’m still finding the required position of the watch (about 1cm to the left of the left wrist bone in order to get heart rate readings) a little odd as I would naturally wear a watch between my wrist bone and my hand – again, I’ll get used to it.
The watch and the app are easy to set up, they work well and are easy to read and understand. However I would like a notification to say that I have been inactive for too long so get up and do something, anything – the current notifications don’t quite address this matter which is important for older users.
It is true that my watch will not count my steps unless my arm is free to swing as I walk. Also my phone doesn’t count my steps if it isn’t in my hand or pocket. This didn’t come as a surprise to me. However, I am not convinced that there is any medical evidence supporting the 10,000 steps claim – I believe that its activity that matters, getting the heart rate up. The app could usefully include guidance as to what heart rate levels are useful when exercising and what levels should really not be exceeded.
I had looked at Withings before when they first came out, but was aware they were very easy to scratch, then Nokia bought them and they were rebranded and after a while, they were bought back by Withings and rebranded back again!
So here we are with the new Withings HR Sport. The watch is available with a black or white face, I went for the white as 1) I’d read the black hands of the watch were difficult to read against the black face; and 2) the white face reminds me of my old Mondaine watch which I loved!
The packaging is first-class and you have the Apple experience as you open the box. The first thing I noticed was the strap, it has this lovely soft rubbery feel to it that is an absolute pleasure to both wear and touch!
On the watch you have the standard hour/minute hands, below is a single red dial that moves round from 0-100% as you complete you said amount of steps and at the top is the digital display that is always off (to save battery) this mostly activates if you touch the single watch crown and then each press cycles you through a customisable menu that displays a range of options such as Date, Time, steps, heart rate, alarm, messages and battery life.
I have to say I love this watch and the things that really stand out for me are:
1. The battery life is amazing, I’ve had the watch for a month now, wear it every day/night and my battery is only at 50%!
2. The watch has a gentle vibrate when you get a phone call or text message and displays details on the screen.
3. Looks stunning
4. A comfortable strap
5. Super easy to setup
6. Lightweight and slim profile.
Overall I’m really happy with this watch and would highly recommend to anyone who’s after a conventional looking watch with smart features and has a long battery life.
10/10 Withings!
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But seriously, I’ve had this a while now and it’s a great watch. The battery can last for months (if you don’t use the workout mode much, pedometer and heart rate will still work outside this mode), and will charge in about half an hour using a little charging Dock cable thing when you do need to charge.
It’s well made and looks good, I especially like the fact it’s an analogue watch with a digital display for backup (it remains off most of the time, pushing the crown wakes the little screen and cycles its functions. The screen times out after a minute or so), making it one of the few fitness trackers/smart watches with an actual analogue watch face without a constantly glowing screen. It sticks out a little, but is better than a lot of fitness trackers, and the straps are swappable which is a nice bonus. Also, as noted before, it’s sturdy/waterproof enough to survive a trip in the washing machine with only a few minor dents and scratches to show from it, plus now it smells cottony fresh!
The notifications are simple and not too obtrusive. The digital screen is very small so the first sentence of your notification will scroll across it. It’s not really designed for reading things like texts, but i use it to determine whether I need to get my phone out to look at something or not. A negative is that it’s almost unreadable in bright sunlight (but the analogue watch faces makes up for this when checking time and steps).
The phone companion app is used to keep track of fitness data such as steps, heart rate and workouts, and contains a load of graphs and stats for totals over days, weeks and months. It also gives you achievements for milestones such as walking a total distance equal to walking round the British Isles, which is a nice little motivator. It can also be used to decide on which apps send notifications to the watch which is good.
So to sum up, it’s a good looking, sturdy, waterproof, analogue style fitness watch. It should fit most wrists due to the supplied bands design, and the fact that you can swap out the bands for different ones if you want. The digital screen is pretty basic and unobtrusive, it’s good for getting the gist of notifications and finding out daily fitness stats, but If you want to use it as a full smart watch like an apple watch, this won’t be for you.
I’ve been a Fitbit user for a long time, but the recently there have been issues with QC and nothing really that’s excited me. As I wear a suit to work and in my own time do weights and powerlifting, I wanted something a little more classy that could also cut the mustard as a fitness tracker for my uses.
The design: This watch is slimline and pretty classy to look at. The glass on the watch is slightly domed and looks equally at home in the office than in the gym. The options available are a black and a white face. It’s subjective of course, but I personally prefer the black face model. However this is harder to read in darker surroundings, but you can always press the button and bring up the digital time on the LCD display so this isn’t a issue.
The Strap: This is by far one of the best smart watch straps (or watch straps in general) available. It’s got a nice amount of give and flex within, is perforated for airflow and stretches with the contours or your arm. This is especially useful when swimming, as to keep the HR working well it needs to be pulled tighter to the skin to pick up the readings with water flowing around and under it. I’ve also got the red silicone and brown leather straps so can mix it up depending on mood and clothing choices. The watch due to the black face and grey case works well with every strap and doesn’t look odd at all.
The Battery life: Withings quotes 25 days max life which is very impressive but for that you need to turn off all notifications and not use much fitness tracking as these are harder on the battery life. If training every day before a competition the battery lasts around 10-12 days. If every other day or normal use that includes 24 hour a day wear, I get about 17-19 days out of the battery. Better than my Ionic that could manage about 27 hours!
Fitness tracking: This is where there will always be some compromise for styling but not any that are especially negative. This watch uses connected GPS from your phone for route and pace tracking, so remember to take it with you. Has weight training options, has generic fitness and other workout options for if something you are doing doesn’t have a particular category, has a number of workout options you can select to start from the watch directly, so you can pick and choose. Even has some more unusual ones for the type of watch it is, such as Pilates, baseball and elliptical. Works well with swimming, waterproof up to 50m, remember to rinse and dry the watch off afterwards to prevent skin irritation or degradation of the strap.
Sleep tracking: Unlike my fitbit, this picks up if I go to the toilet in the night and wake, or when my alarm goes off and I turn it off, rather than my fitbit assuming I’m still fast asleep. It gives you your sleep metrics In the app in a far more user friendly manner than the Fitbit app and the sleep stages seem to be consistent.
Notifications: The watch has a small round LCD in the face which gives you your notifications. Due to it being a hybrid with a tiny screen, you have to wait for the message to scroll and the amount of space is limited, so to bring up different metrics or continuations of what you are already doing you need to press the button. This is one aspect which could be considered negative but I don’t have a issue with it. The trade off for the style is well worth it.
Charging time: 10% to 100% takes around 50 mins give or take.
Overall: I am very impressed with the Steel HR Sport and as alluded to above, my wife was so pleased with mine she wanted one too. It has a good mix of aptitudes that make up for any specific shortfalls. Looks right in any environment and was worth every penny of this 189.99 pricetag. Give it a try and see.
As hoped at this price point, the watch comes in premium packaging – box inside opens like a book and has a magnetic clasp to secure. Watch, charger and instruction manual inside.
In terms of hardware, this is brilliant; the watch looks great, and is quite slim-line too. I personally much prefer this hybrid design to generic smartwatches, as it keeps the traditional analogue face. I went for the black version, as I preferred the sleek design and it also means the digital display blends in to the overall watch face better. Watch hands are quite thin to allow visibility over the digital display, but there are small red accent colours at the top of the hands to make them easier to see at a glance. When in the dark, can simply press the side button on the watch to wake up the digital display to see the time. The watch feels premium, solid and well made; I have not had any issues with scratches or marks thus far. The strap is also very good quality and breathable, however I will likely buy a replacement leather strap for when I am not tracking exercise. I have not used the watch whilst in the shower or swimming, so cannot comment on its waterproofing etc. Charging is also very fast.
Software-wise, the watch has been good on the whole, but could do with a few minor improvements. The Health Mate app is easy to use and has an attractive interface. Initial set up was very easy; simply download the app, it recognises the watch, and then sets the time through your phone. Maintains bluetooth connection well, although I have noticed the range isn’t great (i.e. sometimes notifications don’t come through on the watch if I go into a different room from where my phone is). Syncing with the app is mostly fine, but can sometimes seem slow. Connected GPS only seemed to work automatically once for me before – doesn’t seem to pick up location anymore, but maybe I need to start the activity with the app open on my phone for it to register. Haven’t found the V02Max estimation option yet. Notifications are clear and easy to read as the scroll across the display, and the vibration alerts are good. However, notifications don’t always seem to come through 100% of the time on the watch, and quite often the symbol of the app shows without then displaying the message. Most common social media apps are supported, but not all apps. Therefore hoping that Withings provide future software updates to iron out these issues and make it slightly more reliable.
I have been very impressed with the fitness tracking – monitors steps, heartrate and sleep well. Activity tracking is easy to start from the watch itself, by holding down the side button. The watch is capable of tracking all sorts of activities, and you can set your favourites to choose from on the watch. It also recognises activity without having started any recording; quite often the watch has recognised I have been playing football without me telling it I was doing any activity (also very impressed that it knew I was playing football and not just running). Sleep tracking has worked well for me too, and has been accurate.
Overall, I have been pleased with this watch – it is a more premium choice with great design, meaning I can wear it everywhere whether going to work or gym. Very high quality hardware, and software generally good but hoping for some improvements/updates to the GPS connectivity and reliability of notifications. Quite a high price point which is justified by the quality and design, but in terms of smartwatch/fitness tracking capabilities, there may be cheaper alternatives.
I am surprised by the comfort, the strap is one of the nicest ever. White dial with dark hands is very easy to see even in the dimmest of light. Battery is every bit as good as they promise, easily lasting 3 weeks with heavy use but closer to 4 weeks with normal.
Alerts are just enough for most occasions, and let me decide whether I need to reach for my phone – Perfect.
But the lack of music control, particularly in the gym and during football matches when I rely on Tim Spiers Twitter feed loses it a star…..
The watch looks great (in black), with a decent strap.
Heart rate monitor is pretty good, it tracks me cycling for about 75% of each ride and estimates on the blanks. Likewise in the gym, although if you are doing push ups (or similar) you are likely to accidentally long press the button and end the workout accidentally.
The sleep tracker is interesting although the advice isn’t very useful. It boils down to have a regular sleep pattern and try and get a decent duration. But the focus is on the amount of deep sleep you get. If that’s not very much (e.g. You are in light sleep most of the night) there’s nothing you can do about it, so it may cause more anxiety than help.
The bad. The sub dial will only track steps. It can’t be changed to track activity. So if you do an hour in the gym and an hour cycling but only do a bit of walking the dial shows you as not performing. You could change it to target only a few steps but it then becomes meaningless. It should be reprogramable to overall activity time.
The step tracker also seems to be a bit low. I think it fails to count steps if you are pushing a pram.
It was easy to run the app on the smartphone — and to link and register it. I brought the white face one as the hands are easier to read. I really do give this a 10/10.
Now my next product is the Watch and i am pleased to inform that it does not disappoint. Here are my thoughts:
Looks:
– Beautiful and elegant design, much nicer than say the Apple Watch. Also it is slightly smaller than i expected. In the pictures it looks huge, but in person it seems much smaller than i expected. I have huge wrists so maybe that is why. But in any case it is a lovely size
– Now a quick comment about colour. YES it does matter. I bought the black version of this watch first and i HATED the colour. Why? Simply because i could not see the hands properly. What on earth prompted them to make the hands dark grey on a black ground? It simply does not work for me and i found it so annoying i replaced it with the WHITE version. Thankfully i did as the white version is gorgeous and no problems seeing the hands
Function:
– The watch works seamlessly with the Nokia Health Mate App. My scales and blood pressure monitor already sync with this app and i love it. The watch syncs perfectly with it too.
– A quick comment about heart rate. Very interesting how they have done this. My scales gave a heart rate reading and this goes on the app, but when my blood pressure machine takes heart rate reading this supercedes the scales reading. Now when the watch takes a reading this supercedes both. Clever. The reading itself is taken every 30 mins automatically and a profile is built in the app. Both awake HR and asleep HR.
– Steps. Now this is a key item for me especially after having so many fitbits previously. I have noticed one clear difference between this watch and the fitbit, if i am having a lazy pyjama day the step reading barely climbs above 2000 steps a day. But for the fitbit it would still reach 4000-5000 for the exact same day. I suspect this is because the fitbit counts every movement as a step (even waving arms around) whereas this watch does not. Which i greatly appreciate
– Sleep: The sleep monitor is similar to fitbit in that it measures light and heavy sleep. But it goes one step further and gives a sleep score. Very useful
Battery
– This is the bit which really floored me. I have been using it for a week or so now and the battery has barely budged from 100%. I think it is still at 99% the last time i looked. I find this incredible. In fact i may as well store the charger away as i won’t be needing it this month.
Overall
– A gorgeous watch which looks the part (i can take this into meetings no problem) and has so much function and battery. I personally would advise choosing the White instead of the Black version, simply as the display is much easier to read.
UPDATE:
I’ve had the watch for 3 weeks now and i’ve used it constantly with bluetooth on my phone set to on permanently. The battery level is 31%. I still have not had to charge it yet. At this rate the 1 month battery before charges is actually an understatement. What a fantastic watch, best i’ve ever owned. Next week i’ll need to go find the charger…