Withings Steel HR – Hybrid Smartwatch – Activity Tracker
Withings Steel HR – Hybrid Smartwatch – Activity Tracker with Connected GPS, Heart Rate Monitor, Sleep Monitor, Smart Notifications, Water Resistant with 25-day Battery Life
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Withings Store
| Size: | 36 mm |
| Dimensions: | 1.3 x 3.63 x 3.63 cm; 49.9 Grams |
| Brand: | Withings |
| Model: | 36white – RG – S. Grey-All-Inter |
| Colour: | Rose Gold |
| Batteries Included: | 1 Lithium Ion batteries required. (included) |
| Manufacture: | Nokia health |
| Age: | Youth |
| Department: | Unisex |
| Dimensions: | 1.3 x 3.63 x 3.63 cm; 49.9 Grams |
| Size: | 36 mm |
Looks like a watch, does smart stuff
I love the style, love the way it communicates messages, only gripe is the silicone band needs cleaning every two days or i get a rash on my wrist, the official leather strap is 45 quid so i stick to cleaning mine with an antiseptic wipe. Do i want google pay on my watch…nope, did I want to talk to my watch…nope, did I regret buying it…nope, I am a happy withing’s customer.
Montre connecte reu Nol. Je connaissais le produit car ma fille l’avait achete. Reu dans une jolie boite, lors du dballage, on apprcie dj le rendu de la montre qui fait habille et que l’on peut porter tous les jours avec toutes les tenues. La prise en main est assez facile, la connexion avec le smartphone est un jeu d’enfant. Il suffit de suivre pas pas les indications donnes par l’application. Le compteur de pas est fiable (rien voir avec une fitbit que je possdais avant. J’ai fait le test suivant :
Ma montre nokia steel indiquait dj 800 pas lorsque j’ai mis la fitbit l’autre poignet. A la fin de la journe, la fitbit indiquait 17500 pas contre 7800 pour la nokia steel. J’ai refait le test une seconde fois : idem. En fait, ds que l’on secoue le poignet la fitbit indique un pas. Mon mari a fait le test lors de travaux la maison. Alors qu’il travaillait sur l’chelle percer, la fitbit a indiqu 8700 pas grce aux vibrations de la pereuse !!!! la nokia n’ayant enregistr que les montes et descentes de l’chelle
les infos donnes sont claires et prcises. Je recommande vivement. Je vais en acheter une mon mari pour son anniversaire
Very pleased, great buy.
The set up seemed straightforward (minimal instructions are provided in the box) and I thought I was doing well with the set up until my phone and the watch weren’t pairing properly. So i reset both my phone and the watch and started all over again. Charging the watch is easy and quick. The watch battery lasts for weeks before the next charge. The App interface could be improved in some areas but perhaps I’m being picky. For 100 I’m very pleased with the design, functionality, Battery life and ease of use and of course the accuracy.
I also like the waterproof feature and the silent alarm feature – very handy.
I’ve had the watch for 2 months now and have not been disappointed.
Looks great, does alot too
Stylish looking and very comfortable. Unlike Fitbit I am happy to wear this at night as it is very comfy and it monitors /night sleep. Ive used for runs and it doesnt require starting on stopwatch/activity mode as it detects automatically and records distance, heart rate and time in activity.
At first I had problems syncing but soon overacme this using the app instructions.
It’s sleek and attractive. All works well. I have thin wrists and even for me I think this is a touch too small. I’d have preferred 38mm or 40mm. Tried the 40mm version and it’s just not as attractive despite being a better size.
Stats all seem to work well. Haven’t taken it running yet but the strap and fit feels comfortable enough to do so. Love that it’s water resistant to 5atm as well.
having used various Fitbits and Android watches I thought I would give this a go, I’d previously used the fitness app before with the Withings scales and was impressed. It’s a decent size and weight, is well built and is pretty comfortable when working out, sleeping or just throughout out the day, the silicone straps are supple, slim and soft. The fitness, heart rate and sleep tracking seem pretty accurate, and the digital screen although small is still quite legible. Bar far the best feature is the battery life it’s stellar, simply the best I have come across, 25 days! it can reach that quite easily and it only takes about 15 minutes to charge to full. Only downsides are the bezel looks great but is prone to scratches and the vibrating alarm only buzzes 8 times before stopping, which you can easily miss when in a deep sleep, a snooze function would have been nice instead of their smart alarm feature. I would also add the push button feels a little mushy, there’s not a satisfying click, but I am nit-picking here. If you like notifications on your watch, look elsewhere, it does them but it’s not great, due to the limited amount of characters displayed on the screen. Overall though I’m happy with my purchase
I bought the 40mm version (Which IMO is smaller than my normal dress watch) but it looks great and it’s easy to forget it’s a smartwatch.
I found the app well designed and connected easily to the watch and shows my daily activities/sleep/heart rate in a natural way. The export to Google Fit also seems seamless (but I’ve only been using the device for 2 days) so I’ve a range of apps to view the data on.
The watch doesn’t have that many menus, only supports simple notifications (not even sure which) but that’s exactly what you want from a fitness tracker watch. It won’t be replacing my phone anytime soon while with a few clicks I can start fitness tracking mode, view my HR, steps while the analogue hands look great the rest of the time to view the time making it a perfect replacement for my daily watch.
Ideally, I’d get a buzz/notification when I get a Facebook/WhatsApp message but maybe that feature will be added in the future and I’d like to see a better strap included with the watch than the rubber one.
Best minimalistic smartwatch
I’m a student with 2 jobs and have a addiction to know what time it is and know when someone wants to get a hold of me. Often I feel that I’m unfocused because I have to have my phone in my hand all the time, and it looks kinda rude when dealing with customers and I have a phone on my hand all the time.
I bought this watch because I wanted something that looks like a watch, have limited smartwatch functions so I can put my phone in by bag and forget about it until someone want to get a hold of me.
The white clockface with rose gold metal is beautiful and simple enough to fool everyone that it is just a normal watch. I love the minimalistic design and feeling from it.
I like that you can choose what kind of notification you want by enabling per app, I for one only want Facebook messenger, sms, calls and Google calendar. Everything else I disabled. That way I know that only things that are important will seek my attention.
I was worried that it would be to “fat” on my small wrist but you don’t notice it.
I highly recommend to buy a rose gold magnetic wristband to make it look extremly exclusive and expensive.
Now I read other reviews that it loses the Bluetooth connection, and it did, just reset your Bluetooth settings and it will work perfectly again.
This watch get a 10/10 from a Swedish tech student!
Fab design and long battery life
Fantastic design, long battery life and great in water! I’ve had 3 other brands of activity monitors before this one and they don’t come anywhere close in these 3 things. Nokia Steel HR wins HANDSDOWN!!!
LOOKS LIKE A REAL WATCH!
It was my boyfriend Birthday present and He is absolutely amazed about the watch.
He said the most beautiful thing is that first thing first is a watch and looks like it. The other things are there but they don’t make the watch bad to see or a sporty gym.
He loves the elegance and the fact he can keep it always with him (sleeping/working/relaxing) because it doesn’t bother him.
He loves that the watch monitor his sleep and he can check it every day after from the phone!
Only one thing to improve: it doesn’t have the stopwatch and it is something he would use a lot.
By the way, I really recommend it!
Great watch for tracking your steps and sleep every day
I’ve been using this watch for a month now and am very happy with it. I’ve been wearing it continuously and really like the activity tracking which is quite intuitive. I’ve been running and hiking with it and not only does it track steps but it can also record your paths in the app, which is always good to have when you want to check your progress or retrace your steps. Sleep tracking is quite good as well, and I particularly appreciate the smart alarm in the morning which wakes me up at the right time for my sleep cycle and doesn’t wake up the whole house.
a fait bientt 15 jours que je l’utilise et je la trouve assez agrable la porter. Elle est belle, sobre pour la vie de tous les jours. Les gens sont attir par le petit cadran noire et se demande ce que c’est (j’ai pris la version rose dor). Je ne voulais pas tre submerger par des notifications et je voulais avoir une belle montre sans trop paratre “geek”. Ce que je peux reprocher, c’est sa fonction rveil en mode vibration. Il m’est arriv une fois d’avoir oubli de mettre la sonnerie de mon rveil mais j’avais laiss le rveil de la montre. Ce matin l, je ne me suis pas rveiller car j’tais trop fatigue et je n’ai pas du tout senti la vibration de ma montre malheureusement. Pour ce ct, je ne peux pas avoir confiance, dommage.. J’aurai aussi aim une montre de la taille 34mm car 36mm est encore un peu grand pour celle qui ont un poigne fin mais je lui pardonne car elle est correspond ce que je recherche. C’est dire des fonctions vitale, les choix de ce que l’on souhaite recevoir en notification simplifi (mme what’sapp) et une vraie montre porter. Je la recommande pour les personnes qui veulent avoir un bon compromis entre une montre connecte simplifi et une belle montre porter pour tout occasion. Je suis trs contente de mon achat malgr le soucis du rveil par la vibration qui n’est pas assez forte ou qui n’est pas en continue tant qu’on n’appuie pas sur le bouton par exemple
A fine produc
Pros:
The Nokia Steel HR is the only watch to keep you stylish while monitoring your main health indicators.
Syncs with other products and the app is flawless.
UI design of the app is engaging and allows for sharing results and milestones with friends.
Cons:
Although the design certainly feels well finished, the needle pedometer is redundant with the screen display, perhaps another usage of the space could be envisioned.
It can also be frustrating to be able to read only the beginning of a text message displayed on the screen.
Great watch!
The watch arrived in the original box one day after I placed the order. It is very fancy, nice to wear with every kind of clothe.
I will probably buy an other bracelet to be more flexible with colors but definitely worth the price!
This watch is absolutely incredible, I love everything about it, from the fitness tracker to the notification features, it gives very accurate and useful info. It pairs easily with my iPhone, no problem and the set up was super easy. . Vibrates when my phone rings or when I get a message and displays my contact. Design is simple, elegant & stylish. Strap is confortable and easy to clean. Very pleased with my purchase and totally recommend this watch !
Beautiful design and great addition to my suite of Withings products
I already had the Withings scale and sleep objects, and I use the Health Mate often to track my weight etc.. but I really wanted to have a watch that could help me monitor performance when I do sports and whether I walk enough or not. Just received the watch and it looks exactly like I imagined, which is much sleeker than other tracking watches out there. Very happy with thepurchase!
The Perfect SmartWatch
Only issue is that the app has to be manually updated on the iphone sometimes. Everything else about it is great.
Did I mention that I charge it once/twice a month?
Perfect first Smartwatch!
First Smartwatch for me and I am very pleased. The Steel HR is the kind of watch that you can use every time, in any situation.
You need a workaday watch? That’s perfect, the watch is slim and stylish, you can also receive your smartphone notifications in an inconspicuous way.
You need a sport watch? Perfect, the watch is waterproof, it includes a heart rate monitor, that’s the perfect activity tracker.
The watch and the app are intuitive, so you will not spend a lot of time trying to set it up.
Before buying the smartwatch, I was not sure of its usefulness, but, honestly, it worth the cost. Now i have it all the time on my wrist..
First Smartwatch for me and I am very pleased. The Steel HR is the kind of watch that you can use every time, in any situation.
You need a workaday watch? That’s perfect, the watch is slim and stylish, you can also receive your smartphone notifications in an inconspicuous way.
You need a sport watch? Perfect, the watch is waterproof, it includes a heart rate monitor, that’s the perfect activity tracker.
The watch and the app are intuitive, so you will not spend a lot of time trying to set it up.
Before buying the smartwatch, I was not sure of its usefulness, but, honestly, it worth the cost. Now i have it all the time on my wrist..
It's a Watch first and a Tracker second
It’s a Watch first and a Tracker second – If you want an out and out fitness tracker buy another product. If you want a stylish watch that does some great tracking then this item works very well. The thing I love about this watch is that it is very stylish, It works with a smart suit or jeans – it’s very versatile. The smaller version suits a female wrist and this 40mm dial fits a man very nicely.
My wife has had various watches and one of them was the Garmin Fenix 5 … they all had the same problem as far as she was concerned. Far too much data and info and crazy complex to operate.
So she got this and originally was just going to try it for a week and see how she got on.
Months later all her other watches have been given away and this one remains. It’s got everything she needs, simple to understand and use and looks good.
she definately recommends this … 5 stars.
A great looking watch with hidden hybrid fitness features
Great looking watch with reliable and useful fitness tracking built in, supported by a great app. Especially useful now you can get notifications from just about any app.
Heart rate tracking is accurate and automatic, steps counted reliably and a pretty good go at sleep monitoring. The connected app has lots of health related support and also links with other Withings products like the smart scales, sleep under blanket, and blood pressure monitor to give a pretty complete picture of your vital signs. Syncs somewhat with Google Fit, although not perfect.
Waterproof to 50m, and pretty good looking just as a watch. A great hybrid.
If you want a nice looking watch then this is for you but if it’s a fitness tracker you require give it a very wide birth. The interface is clunky and vague. If for example you cycle it’s as likely to show on you stats as pilates, ok so you can change it to cycle but you could be forgive for feeling a watch of this price should be able to tell the difference. And I can assure you that this sort of adjustment is often needed. Also since the last update it has wiped one function off my watch, so far I have had 10 e/mail exchanges to withings to explain the problem and the people I contact are still unable to grasp the problem. Today it won’t contact my ipad by blue tooth, I eventually found a message on their sight saying “since the upgrade people using android should switch off blue tooth as it wasn’t functioning” mine is using ios and I can’t get a blue tooth signalbut as yet I have had no response from withings.
can I add to this comment that after writing it I worked out that for me there instruction missed out an extra step that over came my problems. These problems occurred in the reset to factory settings mode, now my watch is back to it’ original form , which whilst not great is what I purchased.
Amazing watch, bit problematic app
Everything about the watch itself is AMAZING! The design, the comfort, the colours, the long lasting battery, the fast charging, the reasonable accurate metrics, the automatically capture of exercises. Only one thing is bad, and I am not giving 5/5 which is the application… It needs improvement! But already the last updates were good, and hopefully will justify the watches capabilities.
Highly recommend very smart and stylish and can be worn in ...
A gift for my son,. He absolutely loves this watch, it is everything he wanted it to be, Highly recommend very smart and stylish and can be worn in all occasions. D.Richards
Software update makes the grade
New software update came out this week – put right many of the frustrating aspects of this watch. When I bought the watch based on appearance I was hoping the software would get taken care of down the line. And it has! You now get choice of all phone notifications, Inc 3rd party apps, Multiple alarms and improved sync reliability. Based on the updated software I can now safely say 5 stars.
There is really no alternative to this when it comes to wanting a tracker that looks and feels like a watch and even fits under a shirt sleeve! You can even fit your choice of ordinary watch straps to it to enhance its style. The only indication this is no ordinary watch is the rounded back, large enough to accommodate an optical heart sensor.
The Withings/Nokia line is admirable, with fine luxury items at a reasonable price. This is no exception, and you should get a bargain from Nokia as these are re-branded back to Withings. Check out the web site.
The watch is analogue, with real hands, but with a 1cm diameter window for digital functions. There is also a dial for steps, allowing you to see your progress towards whstever goal you set. This is my only gripe: using steps only, as a measure of exercise rather than the activity metrics Polar and others use as well. The compromise is that Polar and Fitbit and others produce no watch that comes close in appearance to this one. I will ignore thst step dial, using the app to estimate my daily performance.
Functions include date, digital time, heart rate, calories, 3 alarms, battery level and alerts from many apps on your phone.
Now the best feature! Battery life is estimated at about a month. That alone makes this worth every penny. Plus the charging cradle is a round magnetic pad, no fiddling around with clasps and non standard plugs!
I recorded a session at the gym yesterday, where heart rate is sampled every second. The feedback is acceptable, if not as detailed as Polar provide. Sadly, the weight lifting added 0 to my step score.
Buy it!
I am no fitness freak. And I do not need the functionality of a Fitbit – nor do I like Fitbit’s look (nor the fact it lights up in my face when my husband moves his arm in the middle of the night, but that’s a different review). I love the Steel HR’s design (I got rose gold/grey strap). It looks like a very stylish watch. I suppose I would have bought if it was just a watch.
I did buy a screen protector as the large watch face seems too easy to scratch – unless you sit still all day.
Added bonus: it tracks steps/exercise, has (just one) alarm, and gives you notifications in a very discreet little lcd screen. Instead of nagging you that you haven’t done your steps yet, it shows you a gentle clock arm telling you how far you are on your daily goal. Less nagging and less guilt!
Sleep tracking? LOL Neah. It hasn’t gotten it right for even a single night (had mine for 2 weeks now). Keeps on telling me I go to bed at 8pm even though I still take the kids to bed, clear up and watch some tv after that time. According to the Steel HR I get like 12 hours a night! If only.
Heart rate? It’s got a continuous hr tracker that you can turn on or off (haven’t used it really but seems fine) but otherwise it only measures now and then and gives you an average in the app. Not for those who want a clear picture.
So: stylish, beautiful, waterproof, handy step counter/notifications/alarm function, great battery life. Not for people who want serious fitness tracking, sleep tracking, calorie counting, heart rate monitoring, or any other fancy fitness functions.
EDIT December 2018. I was meaning to edit this review and finally getting round to it. After a recent update Withings (as they are now) fixed any and all sleep tracking issues. It also added multiple alarms, lots of notification options and what not. I love it. The things works like a dream. I think with the notifications the battery life is slightly shorter but I think I still get around 3 weeks out of it. charging takes no time at all. I’ve had my watch since August and I just love it. Getting another strap so I can play around with colours. The whole thing is brilliant.
5 STARS
I bought this watch after having a Fitbit for 8 months. The bulkiness of the Fitbit eventually annoyed me so much that I started looking for a more slimline alternative and having read a few reviews, and loving the sleek design, I decided to buy the Nokia HR.
I’m so glad I did.
It’s much more intuitive than the Fitbit. The HR doesn’t think you’ve done thousands of steps when you’re driving. As it was getting tiresome recording every car journey with the Fitbit (I live in a rural location so driving is essential). I no longer have to record my driving movements with the HR.
I am a violinist/ fiddler and unfortunately it does confuse playing violin with lots of steps, so I normally transfer to my stationary arm when playing music. It’s not a big deal.
It records sleep fairly well too although it stopped tracking sleep for a week and I contacted customer service and they pointed me in the direction of resetting it and all is fine since. I always thought the Fitbit under-recorded my sleep and the Nokia HR possibly over-records my sleep but not so much that it annoys me.
The app, as many others will testify, could really do with a more user friendly interface upgrade as it’s quite clunky but I do like the wellness programmes (sleep, fat loss etc). And the app links with my Nokia weighing scales too so that’s quite handy.
I have been using my Nokia HR watch for the last 4 months and I have received many many compliments and people can’t believe it is also a fitness tracker and heart rate monitor.
I bought a screen protector for it, it is a must and gives peace of mind. It wasn’t that difficult to attach despite some reviews to the contrary.
The Nokia HR is just a beautiful piece of arm-architecture!
Long may it last!
It's a good looking watch and its a tracke
Great fitness tracker, works well with my Moto g5, had it now for a month does everything l need, sleep, heart beat, steps and it looks and feels like a watch, water resistant, recharged once since in three weeks, what’s not to like.
My kind of smartwatch!
I’ve been wearing and using the Withings / Nokia range of smartwatches for about three years starting with the Activitie Pop, and then the Nokia Steel, and I’ve been using the new Nokia Steel HR for about six months. The new Steel HR model has retained everything I liked about the Steel, plus added some great new features, but has sadly carried over the two things I’ve disliked about all of the previous models.
Firstly the good, just like the Steel model it’s a relatively clever activity tracker that looks like a regular watch, but now with an added LCD screen and small crown button on the side. Just set-up the watch with the free Healthmate App on your smartphone and you’re done. The Steel HR tracks your steps, is clever enough to recognise other activities like swimming, running, football and weight training, plus tracks your sleep cycle and syncs it to the phone App via bluetooth.
However, the Steel HR has two new features: heart rate tracking and notifications. The heart rate tracker activates throughout the day and whilst sleeping. Plus a continuous workout heart tracking mode can be activated by holding down the crown button for a few seconds. The watch buzzes and the new small LCD screen is activated showing your heart rate plus a timer, and at the end of your run or gym session simply hold down the crown again and the mode is deactivated.
The addition of the LCD screen also allows for the Steel HR to receive push notifications from your phone using Bluetooth. These are for incoming phone calls, text messages and calendar events. When activated the watch will gently vibrate and the name of the caller or person sending you message will appear on the watch screen for a few seconds, allowing to quickly see if it’s important without having to reach for your phone. These can be turned on and customised on your phone using the Healthmate App.
The battery lasts for approximately a month on each charge and is charged using small dock that plugs into a USB socket. The dock has small magnet that snaps the phone into place and charges the watch in 2-3 hours. At first I thought the charging would be annoying, but the watch and app notifies you when the battery is running low and the quick charging times means these fears were unfounded.
Now for the two things the Nokia Steel HR has inherited from the previous models that I dislike – the black silicone strap shows wear relatively quickly and is a dust and dirt magnet. On the positive side, the straps can be easily changed , and I have bought another strap in a more formal styling that I use when I want to dress up the Nokia Steel HR. However, more annoyingly, the watch face dials and numbers still lack any luminance coating making it very difficult to check the time or your progress in lowlight. (This can be bypassed on the Steel Hr by pushing the crown button so the screen displays the date and time, but I’d still prefer a luminescent dial.)
Despite these two persistent niggles, the Nokia Steel HR is my idea of the perfect smartwatch; good-looking and just ‘smart’ enough to be helpful without becoming distracting.
Works as advertised?
Works as advertised presently. I have not used it in water – not even in the shower.
One downside, app needs location before it will sync unit. This is absolute nonsense!
This has made a great replacement for my Fitbit which I had gotten fed up with.
I got a Milanese loop to go with it as I’m not keen on rubber straps.
Pro’s:
Great battery life (I’m fed up of constantly charging my watch!)
Waterproof
Always shows time and goal progress (I often found my Fitbit would need to be tapped to show the time)
Can change the time without internet connection (I travel a lot so this is my biggest gripe with Fitbit)
App is good
Sync is fast and doesn’t need internet
Single button is all you need to scroll through the displays or start exercise tracking (I was most confused as to why my Fitbit blaze had 3 buttons and a touch screen, I only ever used one button)
Con’s:
Heartbeat tracking isn’t constant (to save battery I assume)
Sometimes thinks I have fallen asleep if I am reading
Small screen limits what can be seen on it
There is no seconds hand but then the Fitbit doesn’t show seconds either.
Nice but basic. Does the job.
My husband is a runner and wanted a watch to track his activity. Having seen my one made by a well know fruity company, he decided he didn’t need all the bells and whistles, just something to tell the time and keep track of his progress. This fits the bill perfectly. It looks like standard watch and suits his style and does what he needs it to efficiently. It goes many days without needing to be charged which also suits him as he’s lazy about charging. It’s a nice watch for what he wants but don’t expect it to match the performance of other smart watches.
I’m not a big fan of fitbits and their like. For me a watch must look like a watch, first and foremost. Things like step counters and heartbeat monitors are _extras_ for me.
I’ve had my Steel for about 2 months now and I’ve charged it twice. The battery life really is good, connectivity and syncing with my phone is very solid and reliable, the app is nicely laid out. I know people who have fitbits and they all seem to enjoy competing with their friends on the step counts. To be honest I don’t even know if such community aspects exist for the Steel range and I actually don’t care! I’ve got a very smart looking watch that has some extras that I have grown to value very much.
When I bought the watch I did research the one with the bigger bezel. Apparently that’s the only thing it offers you – a bigger bezel. I don’t get it. An extra tenner for an extra bit of metal that does nothing… why? This watch looks great as is. I’m not a small chap (!) so take it from me – save the tenner and buy the one with the regular smaller bezel.
Love my watch
Got this as present when it was within gas. Button stopped working and they replaced it with this one, so now have the Nokia logo’d version. Still like the watch. Some of the software features have changed but all good.
Great choice providing key features with amazing battery life and looks.
I have previously had 3 alternative smart watches and this is my preferred choice. The key drivers for more are aesthetics, this looks great and amazing battery life. I’m a month in and still have 14% battery.
Providing you with only the features your really need, heart, steps, and text and phone notifications.
Downsides are I’m not too keen on the silicone strap. The notification can be erratic in terms of connectivity.
Overall the best smart watch option over used (Previously had Huawei Sport and Samsung for a couple of years).
I love the style compared to most fitness watches that look plasticy. I’ve used pebble smart watch in the past until Os announced there’s no more updates for it. I like the way this watch links to My Fitness Pal app so I can track more than just my food. The straps can be changed so it can be worn formal and informally.
Great watch, does what I need in terms of tracking but also has the permanent normal watch face (a feature missing from most trackers) that I really rely on. Had mine a few months no problems with it. Managed to scratch the face a bit, but otherwise would definitely recommend
The watch is simply amazing. I got it today so I can't really ...
The watch is simply amazing. I got it today so I can’t really comment on long-term aspects.
But I can comment on the initial reaction and it’s more than positive.
Coming from a Motorola Moto 360 1st gen and Moto 360 sport edition, it feels and looks so much nicer than both.
The watch came with 75% battery, and when I started the setup it immediately downloaded an update.
After that, it was up an running in about 5 minutes.
I will update this review once I’ve used the watch for a while, but, again, the initial impression is great. I did expect it to be a bit bigger (I bought the Steel HR 40mm), but I guess I was used with the bulkiness of the 360 watches. I think, after a while, I’ll find the Steel HR 40mm is actually the perfect size.
Most features work very well, but I am very suspicious of the “step counter”. After getting out of bed, going to the bathroom, downstairs and moving around the kitchen for five minutes feeding cats the step counter still registered ZERO, unlike my cheapo “fake fitbit” which registered 65, more realistic. So always fall far short of the target steps for the day according to the Steel, while the “fitbit” gets there by early evening.
A month later: Out and about until 1300 today, including wandering around the supermarket for an hour. The Steel HR counted 915 step in five hours, while the fake fitbit registered a more realistic 2897. Dn’t buy this for counting steps unless you walk everywhere swinging your arms as though marching!
Very pleased with my purchase. I’ve had the watch for 3 weeks now and don’t want to be without it. Found it easy to set up. No problems at all. I’m getting fitter all the time, which is great. There are so many activity watches out there but for the money I think this is well worth considering.
Exactly what it claims to be: a tracker that looks like a watch
Exactly what it claims to be: a tracker that looks like a watch, not a toy. The silicon strap is comfortable and easy to clean making it great for everyday use, during activity and when swimming. It swaps out very easily with the optional leather strap for dressing up. Measured in days (25), rather than hours, the battery life is excellent as is the price. (An Apple Watch can set you back 750 and can be expected to last no longer than 18 hours.) This is all achieved by having a genuine mechanical display, so you can check the time without having to wake up the black screen, and by ensuring the watch itself sticks to gathering raw data to be processed in the cloud. Activity tracking is simple and accurate as is the heart rate monitoring. Altogether a great buy.
Thise is one of the best products I'vw ever had!
This activity tracker has everything I was looking for: good look, build quality, battery life and a certain amount of precision.
It doesn’t count every single arm wave as a step by recognizes from your heart-rate if it could be associated with an activity…then it’s easy to remove wrong steps or tag them with a proper activity to fix the daily calculation. I am totally satisfied with it! 5/5
Lovely to start with, after a couple of months ...
Lovely to start with, after a couple of months it stopped to register my sleep and the step counter is averaging half of my step compared to my two phones register(it used to be quite similar to start with).
I’ll probably have to reset it to see if it fix these problems.
Style and functio
I have had the Nokia for a week now and it is great. Stylish simple to use with a great app. Swim walking or any other sport it is spot on.
Fantastic watch, I’ve had it for over a year, and it looks amazing. It automatically tracks sleep, activities, steps, and heart rate. Rechargeable battery lasts about 20 days, with a charging stand. I’ve started going to the gym and it will continuously record my heart rate and intensity, by hold the button in for a few seconds, the information is transferred to the app after pressing the button again. The display can show date time heart rate steps distance battery and calories
It is a beautiful watch which is also a fitness tracker rather than ...
It is a beautiful watch which is also a fitness tracker rather than other way round. Most of the other fitness trackers just happen to show time too. The only thing I would complain is the small size of the watch, I would have preferred the dial to be a bit larger.
Fantastic smart watch with over 25 days of battery life. Make sure you get the latest Nokia Steel HR version with the tiny “5ATM” printed in small letters at the bottom of the dial. The older Nokia and Withings versions without these letters had a tendency to fog the glass with temperature changes but Nokia seem to have sorted out this problem with the new version. The updated charging adapter is better too. I’d also strongly recommend buying the Screenknight Screen Protector for the watch to stop scratches at 2.99. I’ve always found the heart rate monitor pretty accurate although it reduces battery consumption by intermittent measuring of your heart rate rather than monitoring it continuously although you can change the heart rate monitoring mode easily if you wish (with a corresponding reduction in battery life). Straps are very easy to change and the watch is by far the best looking on the market. All in all a winner….
Fabulous, watch-like and easy to use
I found this fitness watch hybrid fantastic – it’s really sleek, well designed and looks great on the wrist. And the features are all I need – heart rate, sleep monitoring and step/activity. The text is a little bit small, but I suppose that’s the price you pay for a neat screen that doesn’t dominate the face of the watch. Long term, I’ll probably upgrade the strap to leather for more comfort and ease of taking on and off. Otherwise perfect for my needs. I’m aware this has less features than other fitness monitors, but my fitness routine is fairly well established and I just don’t need an obsessive amount of bells and whistles.
The product itself is fine, it does everything it says it should and ...
The product itself is fine, it does everything it says it should and it looks good. However I would not recommend the supplier. They failed to meet the 7-10 days delivery. It was 15 days and missed the birthday a bought it as a gift for.
I’ve got the 40mm version for 3 months now and I could say that it serves its purpose of being a normal looking watch and a smartwatch at the same time. I can’t compare the sleep tracking accuracy as this is my only smartwatch but I can say that it wrongly assumes that i’m sleeping when i’m just sitting in my couch and watching Netflix. But overall, sleep tracking is great. I love the silent alarm as my phone alarm tends to also wakes my wife up in the morning. But the ability to make several alarms would be a good addition in the next firmware update. Steps tracking is also fine but it also tends to make step counts when you are just moving your hands/wrist or just by shaking it while you’re seated or stationary. Workout mode is also good and records you heart rate continuously but you have to keep the watch tight and snug on your wrist. I mainly use workout mode in bodyweight exercise (freeletics) and cycling. So sometimes it skips reading heart rate when your doing activities that involves a lot of hand/wrist movement like jumping jacks. What i would like to have in the next update is the ability to set custom vibrate alarms/notification while you are working out when your heart rate exceeds or goes below a certain limit that you can set. So that you can monitor your heart rate without looking at your watch. You can slow down or speed up when you feel the vibrate notification for your heart rate. Phone notifications is fine but addition of third party apps notification like Facebook and Whatsapp would be great. Aesthetically, the watch have been complimented several times and they even didn’t know that it is a smartwatch. They like it even better when I tell them that it is a smart watch. I got the scratched glass issue now. The glass face was scratch just last week when it hit the edge of a glass door on our apartment building. It also got hairline scratches on the metal ring. Wearing it 24/7 for the first few weeks gave my wrist a dry red skin patch. I have the silicone band that came with it. Since then I don’t take it to the shower with me anymore and I switch wrist at night. Wearing it on my left during the day and sleeping with it on my right. That seems to resolve my dry skin patch. battery is fantastic. I only had 2 charges since it arrived last 3 months. Healthmate App can be improved to show more. I would like to see and compare my everyday heart rate without going in and out of each day report. Overall it is a great smartwatch for those people who don’t wanna look ‘sporty’ by wearing a digital smartwatch at work or for those not-so-active people who just wanna have basic smartwatch features like steps-tracking and heart-rate tracking.
Comme mon habitude, voici le plus objectivement possible les points forts et les points faibles de cette montre
Les plus:
– Trs jolie montre pour femme (modle 36 mm), rendue encore plus fminine et classe avec ce bracelet : https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B073346139/ref=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_sol_17
– Autonomie redoutable ! Mon pouse la recharge en moyenne toutes les 3 semaines, tout en utilisant ses fonctions connectes (dans ce mode, le pouls est mesur une fois toutes les 10 mn. Il existe un mode sport avec 1 mesure par seconde)
– Epaisseur matrise. Gnralement, les montres avec capteur cardiaque sont assez paisses. Pas celle-ci. NOKIA (anciennement WITHINGS) a russi par la forme un peu arrondie du boitier, minimiser au maximum ce dfaut.
– Totalement tanche, on peut mme se baigner avec.
Les moins:
– Ecran digital trs petit. Si vous tes presbytes, vous aurez quelques difficults lire les informations de l’afficheur. Prvoir des lunettes
– Fonctions running limits. La montre mesure le nombre de pas, mais pas les tages. Elle n’est pas non plus munie de GPS.
– L’application maison Health Mate, bien qu’assez agrable utiliser, n’est pas compatible avec Samsung Health. Elle est par contre compatible avec Google Fit.
En conclusion, c’est une trs jolie montre femme, avec des fonctions connectes intressantes qui en font un bon compromis pour ceux qui veulent suivre leur forme de prs sans tre forcment des marathoniens.
Si ce commentaire vous a t utile, un petit clic est le bienvenu 🙂
Decided to take the plunge regardless of the negative reviews. All I can say is that for 150 the watch is worth every penny penny. It looks very smart on the wrist and isn’t oversized like the majority of watches these days. I’d like to see integration with 3rd party apps like whatsapp and email in the future but won’t be holding my breath.
Smart and low key classy.
Really enjoying using this watch. Has to be used in conjunction with the Healthmate App to understand overall statistics.
Great battery life too.
Only downside for me is visibility of clock face in low light as hands very thin.
Very impressed with this stylish, elegant smart watch
Nokia Steel HR Hybrid Smartwatch (Activity, Fitness and Heart Rate tracker) — This watch is much more than just a fitness gadget though that is the primary function. This is a great compromise between a full smart watch or fitbit for someone who wants a proper analogue watch face along with smart functions. The watch monitors various health items, such as heartrate, steps walked/run, calories burned, etc. The results are linked to your smartphone via an app. The app also enables the watch to provide visual alerts of incoming texts, calls, emails, events All the while this still looks like a smart analogue watch rather than a mini TV screen strapped to your wrist. While it may not have as much functionality as some smart watches, it is a great compromise between traditional smartness and technology. Very impressed with this stylish, elegant smart watch.
Impressed.
This is a simply designed good looking watch. Despite the high price (I think) it is more of a basic smartwatch. The battery life is pretty impressive lasting up to a fortnight. It is easy to set up and use.
Beautifully designed watch that works perfectly
This is a review for the Nokia HR Steel Hybrid watch.
I felt compelled to write this due to the number of negative reviews. I have owned this watch for over 2 months and it works flawlessly.
I purchased this watch to replace a Moto 360 and Fitbit Alta, as I wanted a fitness tracker that looked like a proper watch whilst providing just simple phone call and text messaging alerts.
Since my watch is paired to a Samsung S7, I can only comment on android set up.
I note that there are a lot of complaints regarding issues with receiving notifications, I initially did have problems with this but through reading the help information within the Nokia Health Mate app, I realised you need to ensure that the battery optimisation settings within your android mobile phone must be set to unmonitored for the Nokia Health Mate app. This then means that the Health Mate app will always be on and the phone will not try and switch the app to sleeping mode, this allows the app to receive updates and send notifications reliably to your watch.
I appreciate people may have experienced other issues but this solution worked for me and I hope it may be of use to others.
I love the design of this watch and the fact that you can read the time in direct sunlight.
I initially wrote a 1* review for the watch. I couldn’t get it to work – perhaps it was my fault, i’m not sure. Either way, it’s working fine now. So, how does it work? Well I got the Nokia Health app, and it found the watch via bluetooth (location must be on too). Nokia promise they don’t record your location, but it’s necessary to get the watch to work properly. The watch is 30m water resistant, although I don’t swim, the watch is capable of swimming and going underwater. I use the watch in the shower and it’s perfectly fine – just don’t push the button when you’re in the shower or that could get water inside!
I use the watch for the following: vibration alarm to wake me up for work in the morning, tracking my steps, heartrate and vibrating for SMS text messages and calendar appointments. Battery life is very long, i’d say 1 month. I bought the watch on 15th feb, i’m writing this review on 27th March and its only going for it’s second charge this evening.
Very good value for money. It gets 4* from me not 5* because you can’t set multiple alarms unfortunately, only 1 alarm. If you could set multiple alarms, this would be the best smartwatch ever. Recommended nonetheless.
Great fitness tracke
Great fitness tracker! Looks great, last ages on one charge (around a month), HR and step tracker is fairly accurate. If you want a tracker which looks like an analogue watch this is the way to go. It isn’t as slim as the pictures make out, but its still a pretty sleek design, and worth it for the battery life.
I really like this watch and fitness tracker. It looks fantastic and has a very long battery life (around a month). The accompanying app is pretty good and improving all the time. I particularly like being able to receive iMessage and call notifications from my phone. The step tracker and heart rate monitor are both pretty accurate. For heart rate the strap needs to be fairly tight but not uncomfortably so.
The only negative I’ve come across is that the sleep tracking isn’t very accurate. Hopefully, this will improve. Other than that I highly recommend it.
Great alternative to a sports watch
I have this to my mum to keep an eye on her heart rate and it seems to be doing a good job. Fits comfortably and looks like a normal watch, as not everyone likes the look of a sports watch. The app was easy to install and connect and the readings seem fairly accurate.
Good choice for people who don't want to comrpomise with looks
The only problem I have with this watch is it’s sleep detection. It just assumes too much and it’s rarely accurate. Perhaps if I had healthier lifestyle it would be better at it’s job but as it is…
Everything else I like about it. Looks great. Battery life is great. Easy to use once you get used to the app.
Brilliant watch
I am very pleased with this watch having used it everyday for over a month.
Firstly it looks really nice. It is sleek, classic and smart and looks fine with a dressed up or casual outfit.
It tracks your daily steps, calorie use, distance and heart rate. You can also track your workouts by simply holding a button on the side when you commence your exercise.
You can view your steps etc on the screen of the watch throughout the day. You can also download the Nokia app to view this information and more detailed information about your workout such as heart rate.
The battery life is fantastic. After over a month of use I have only now just had to charge.
I am really pleased and find this much better than my previous well know brand activity tracker.
Does the job while looking smart and stylish
At first we couldn’t get the app to work on our phone so we had to ask our daughter in law and grandchildren for help which they had no problem in achieving, this is because we are not to new technology savvy ,so here is our review now at last.
It arrived at the same time as a Fitbit and a cheaper version Fibit which makes it handy to compare. This watch is really smart looks like a proper watch with clear face and monitoring is discreet. We found it okay to set up and accurate at tracking movement.
We haven’t worn it to sleep in but that’s a personal preference. Battery life is good and it’s comfortable to wear.
If you are looking for a fitness tracker watch that doesn’t look like a Fitbit, definitely give this one a try. Guess it comes down to personal choice and lifestyle as to which you prefer, but this does the job while looking stylish.
Recommended
This watch arrived in fairly plain packaging – a nondescript white box that doesn’t look very exciting – but inside the watch itself is sleek and quite stylish. There are limited options for those wanting a smart watch that doesn’t look bulky or like a fitness device, so this is a good addition to the market and could easily be mistaken for a standard watch. I have the white version which has a mostly white face with silver hands – not the easiest combination to discern the time on, but it looks good. The strap is black and made of a rubbery material that is surprisingly soft and comfortable against the skin, though those with smaller wrists like mine may find the strap a bit long. You can easily detach the strap, and purchase others to use instead.
As soon as you turn on the watch you are prompted to download the Nokia Health app, and you need a smartphone with iOS or Android to do this. The app is fairly easy to use and you can also link it with other Nokia Health products like scales if you have them. The watch and app sync throughout the day, with fitness stats quickly available on the app after you exercise. I didn’t find the Nokia Health app to be as enjoyable to use or as intuitive at guessing what exercise I am doing as the Samsung Health app, but it does seem to have more options/features.
The results of your exercise are available not only on the app but also on the watchface, with heart rate and step count showing clearly. The watch also syncs with your phone to provide notifications when you get calls and texts, giving you the name of the caller.
The watch does a good job at tracking steps, it is not completely accurate but I have yet to find a device that is. It provides a very similar result to using the tracker on a phone. It is not particularly accurate at tracking sleep though from what I can tell, sometimes saying you have slept when you haven’t.
Overall I prefer the style of this watch to other fitness trackers and smart watches I have seen, and I think in general it does a good job, but there is some room for improvement particularly in the sleep area.
Very elegant usefull all rounde
What a relief to find a watch/activity tracker which you dont need to recharge daily. This one has lasted most of a month and still has some charge left. It’s a nice slim smooth disc with a traditional atch face and two subsidiary dials, one to show progress towards daily steps goal, the otehr is a LCD display which can sho date, digital time, steps, distance, calories burned, and alarms, as well as alerting to incoming calls texts and emails. Quite discreet and only has the one button so not hard to operate and certainly not overtly a “fitness” type accessory. You could wear this with your work suit quite easily. The “Health Mate” app installed smoothly and continues to record my daily stats; if I remember to keep it on at night it also provides an interesting sleep tracker.
I have been using a dedicated running watch for a couple of years now. As a result I was eager to move to a smart watch in order to record my activity throughout the day. However, my attempt was a failure. This was due to 2 major issues with android smart watches. Issue number 1 poor battery life and issue number 2, the geeky looks. When I came upon the Nokia Steel HR it seemed to offer the best of both worlds (classic and smart watch). I have been using it for almost 3 weeks now and I can confirm that the product delivers upon its promise. The battery life is excellent (3weeks and still going strong) and the looks are great as is the build quality. I have found the sleep tracker extremely accurate. I have read comments mentioning that the sleep tracker incorrectly recognises start time of sleep, but this did not occur during the 3 weeks I have been using it. The heart rate monitor seems to be accurate (I have compared it to my running watch) however, it seems that for some reason at times no HR data are recorded (probably due to not having the strap very snug on my wrist). The only minor complain I have is with the companion android app. All the data are nicely presented but I did not get any useful insights e.g how much sleep on average my age group is getting or how much deep sleep on average one would need.
Good looking
I’m enjoying wearing this watch. It can count your steps and measure your heart rate. You can also link it to notify you of emails and text messages although you can’t read them on your phone. I like the idea of it looking more like a conventional watch and the functions are good enough for my needs. It’s more a fitness tracker than a smart watch.
You couple it to your phone via Bluetooth and you can track your progress.
I like the little dial at the bottom that moves as you complete your steps. You set the target and then you can see at a glance what percentage you have completed.
The charge lasts for a good few days so you are able to wear it on a night if you want to monitor yourself when asleep.
Love the look of this heart rate and activity monitoring ...
Love the look of this heart rate and activity monitoring watch. Keeps track of your activity, sleep and heart rate and displays this on the app you use on your smartphone. This will also alert you to incoming texts and calls. Very good looking it looks like a quality watch. If you press the button, the lcd display gives the digital time and date, then the other functions. Rubber type watch strap that feels comfortable. The charger is a cradle that holds the watch when you need to charge it, which is not that often, will go a week without any charging.
Brilliant fitness watch
Being able to compare this to a FitBit, I can confidently say this is an excellent fitness watch. It’s well made, looks great, and I hope it’ll last a good time.
It’s easy to configure the watch and install the app, and easy to use both of them – it is not at all complicated, which makes this an excellent choice for anyone who is generally quite reluctant to grapple with new tech but eager to take advantage of the benefits.
As with a lot of fitness watches, you can track a variety of things – sleep, heart rate, steps, specific activities. Tracking specific activities (e.g. running) is simple, involving just pressing the side of the watch (when some watches require you to click through several options first). The watch is generally pretty accurate when it comes to tracking steps, etc. The only annoyance when it comes to tracking exercise is that there are options for various activities, but not for spinning, which must be a pretty common activity by now.
The watch face looks very classy and smart. You flick through your stats using the small black digital display, while the dial below tracks your daily steps goal. The only shame, given that this is a digital watch pretending to be an analogue one, is that there’s no second hand, only minute and hour ones. However, the watch does do an extra nifty thing of picking up incoming texts by displaying the sender.
The watch lasts a really long time between charges – about two weeks (it hooks up to a USB port to charge). The strap is comfortable, but if you want to buy other straps in different colours, it’s quite expensive.
Overall, I love this fitness watch, and I’d especially recommend it for people new to the world of fitness watches (if budget allows).
At last, a smart watch that does not need charging every day
Works as advertised. Fits well, looks good, feels quality. Accurate. Display shows heart rate, time, footsteps and message headers. Vibrates when phone rings and displays name, vibrates when messages arrive and says who from. I have an Iphone and it paired easily.
It works better with my iphone than the apple watch which I will be selling. It is good as an alarm, and the sleep tracker is OK. Only niggle, as mentioned by others, is that it gets the start time of sleep wrong. Other than that its fine.
Arrivato un giorno prima del previsto nonostante l’abbia ordinato durante il periodo natalizio, nessun danno durante il trasporto, spedizione quindi eccellente.
Il prodotto pu far storcere il naso al primo sguardo, non esattamente come in foto ma in seguito ci si fa l’abitudine e il design sembra sempre pi bello.
Al primo avvio bisogna collegarlo all’applicazione Health Mate, la configurazione veloce e la sincronizzazione si fa in un attimo.
Per modificare la posizione delle lancette si utilizza sempre l’applicazione girando una rotellina virtuale.
Il contapassi il contachilometri e il calcolo delle calorie sono abbastanza precisi, ho fatto il confronto con un fitbit hr, mentre il battito cardiaco oltre a essere calcolato in pi tempo d avvolte valori molto diversi, sul fitbit calcolato constantemente, mentre su questo Nokia un ogni tot di minuti in modalit normale, in modalit allenamento invece constantemente.
Monitora quasi tutti gli sport, sconsiglio comunque di indossarlo durante partite di calcio, basket, pallavolo, incontri di boxe ecc. perch si pu danneggiare, mentre per la corsa e il nuoto in piscina perfetto, al mare ho timore del sale, a voi la scelta.
Non ho ancora testato la sveglia e in monitoraggio del sonno perch quando dormo non indosso ne orologi ne bracciali, le notifiche di chiamate e messaggi arrivano puntuali, dopo aver visto se arrivavano le ho disattivate perch non mi serve questa funzione.
La basetta per caricarlo in plastica, piccolina e ha un cavo abbastanza lungo.
Il cinturino standard di buona fattura ed ha moltissimi buchi per regolarlo al meglio, ma non molto elegante, consiglio di usarlo per quando ci si allena ma comprarne un altro esteticamente pi bello per lavoro/scuola/uscite ecc. Va bene qualsiasi cinturino di 18 mm, non bisogna acquistare per forza quelli della Nokia Health.
In conclusione, lo consiglio per chi vuole un orologio bello da usare tutti i giorni anche per fare sport, la batteria dura minimo 3 settimane scende massimo del 5% in un giorno (se si usa molto la modalit allenamento), non sottile come un Daniel Wellington ma molto leggero che a tratti non si sente di averlo, l’applicazione fatta bene sia su ios sia su android, molto intuitiva, quasi ai livelli di fitbit, peccato che non ci sia un versione per computer.
I was offered this product as an early Christmas present and absolutely love it. Since wearing it I’ve only received positive comments about it – people cannot believe all these features are gathered in one single, elegant watch!
I will not go into the technical details of the watch as a lot of people have already, I will just summarize what I like / don’t about it.
What I love:
– the elegant design of the watch (doesn’t look like your traditional Apple watch or Fitbit – much more elegant and discrete)
– You can personalize it by changing the bracelets (already considering buying the leather bracelet, the original version comes with a black plastic one – which is nice as well but I think the leather one must be even nicer)
– I am learning more about myself and my body through heart rate monitoring, sleep monitoring, steps and km monitoring etc. There are even programs you can join such as the Sleep Smarter one (it’s the only one available at the moment if you only have the watch, would be good to develop some more in the future)
– the watch recognises what activity I am doing when exercising amongst a selection of pre-defined activity types
– it synchronizes automatically and it vibrates when I receive phone calls (normal phone calls or Whatsapp calls) and messages (just normal text messages as having it ring every time I receive a whatsapp would be too much). I know there is also an alarm vibrating function but I haven’t tried it yet. It works well with my Iphone.
– set-up was super easy and took less than 10min. You might need someone to help if you are not tech-savvy at all, but with a little knowledge (I am no expert) it’s really easy to set up.
What I don’t like:
– I haven’t noticed it myself with my watch but read in some other comments that the steps and kms monitoring might not be correct – if that’s the case it would be good to fix! But as said, haven’t noticed it with my watch
Anyways, a really cool gift, which I am glad to have received. Much cheaper than Apple Watch Series 3 and better value for money (at least to me). I recommend.
This watch is pleasing on the eye, it’s comfortable and unlike many fitness trackers out there doesn’t look like a naff piece of rubber on your wrist.
It comes well,packaged so is ready to give as a Christmas gift for a loved one or as just a gift for you!
Once charged it’s super easy to set up and your ready to rumble. Paired with my Moto I was ready and more than happy for anyone to see this on my wrist.
Having Now sported this….and may I say happily….I can see no difference in its results step wise or other from my beautiful sapphire Apple Watch which cost considerably more than this.
I think they missed a trick not backlighting this Watch, but many time pieces do not have backlights But for me I think this is failing.
I won’t be wearing it for swimming in so the earlier problem with previous models of this Watch with the cloudy screen when used for swimming is not one I intend testing.
I believe it’s possible to replace the strap if you wanted to funk this Watch up a little and make it less formal and more sporty.
I think the price tag is more than reasonable for the build quality and for what the watch offers the wearer. I am also blown away by how long your watch charge lasts, no plonking this on your charger very night.
I like fitness trackers. The reason I like them is they inspire you to move more….to push you out of your comfort zone make you shake that body. They are there to enable you to work out if your moving enough or relaxing enough. Use them for information and don’t get bogged down in the accuracy argument like everything it’s falible.
This will vibrate to awaken you if you need it too I’d love my Apple Watch to do that but it’s usually on the charger overnight not my wrist lol.
For now I have rated this at a four star. I intend to carry on testing this then pass this onto my son for his views as I think a male perspective might be useful.
If he has anything wonderous to add and will update in due course.
I would recommend I think it’s a beautiful watch, good build quality at a reasonable price…..comes In two sizes a 36mm or a 40mm and with a white dial or a black one.
This is actually my second Steel HR – I bought one of the original Withings ones in March last year, to replace a Fitbit Charge HR which got lost. My first Steel HR suffered as many did with condensation on the face – when I got in touch, Nokia’s customer service was excellent. they were very aware of the problem, and told me they were working on a fix – I opted to see what they came up with, and now here it is!
First things first. The Nokia Steel HR builds on the nice features of the Withings original. The battery life is still spectacular – I use the notifications a lot and it lasts weeks. This is way better than Fitbit’s typical 5 days, because I would normally charge overnight, using the charger by my bed, and so I have to remember to plug in the watch while I’m sitting by my bed – which means I have maybe one ten minute window of time per day during which I will hopefully remember to plug it in. With the Fitbit, I forgot several times and flattened the battery. With the Nokia, never a problem. Plus, charging is quick. Basically you can forget about charging the battery, which is not something I ever felt safe doing before.
The form factor is also much nicer. Not only does it look way better than the old rectangular Charge HR, but even though it is the same height I find the round shape slides underneath shirt cuffs much more easily. The screen is nicely visible and adjusts its brightness pretty well, although as with all these OLED screens it is not bright enough for daylight outdoor use. You have to use the button to trigger it, which I think is a better arrangement than the old Charge HR – there were a couple of occasions when I woke myself up in the night with the Charge HR because I happened to move my wrist while the watch was near my face!
I have a couple of minor niggles. First, the notifications have a 14-character limit. Given you’re only supposed to be seeing the name of who’s phoning/texting you, it’s probably not something you’ll notice, but it niggles with me. Second, the app can occasionally lose contact with the watch (maybe once a week?), but I’ve found turning my phone off and on again restores this. To be perfect for me, there would be more smartwatch features – but I recognize there’d be a tradeoff in battery life, and I do love that battery life!
And a word of warning – the step counter is much more strict than the Fitbit one! Compared to my wife’s Fitbit Alta (I borrowed it for a day), the Nokia counts about 30% fewer steps. Couldn’t say which was more accurate, although I’m dead sure the Alta is over-generous.
Nokia Steel HR
A lovely watch. Attractive. Easy to set up out of the box. No issues with condensation on the screen, and used for basic sport (swimming) as well as leisure. Setup of the Nokia app on Android is a straightforward pairing process and uses bluetooth. The metrics appear accurate. I love that you change the watch hand using the app!
The screen appears to withstand daily use without issue and shows no sign of scratching, etc. The silicon strap is perfectly comfortably but can be swapped out if required. The steps seem accurate, as does the heart rate monitor (for a wearable item).
Reasonable, elegant (for a smart watch), but with limited features compared to market competitors. Is fine for those looking for some basic trackable metrics (steps, HR, sleep) and a silent alarm, which doesn’t look cheap or tacky.
The Nokia Steel HR looks like a traditional analogue watch, and in that sense is much more stylish than many fitness trackers. It has two analogue dials, one for the time and a smaller activity tracker dial which shows progress towards your daily step goal.
The complete waterproofing of the Nokia is great and something that annoyed me when I had a Fitbit Charge HR. I went through 3 Fitbits, which despite being advertised as being splash proof, didn’t seem to be for me — each one ended up falling to bits – the adhesive used to seal the rubber casing of the watch seemed to fail and the casing would then start to lift. The build quality of the Nokia gives complete confidence that I’ll not run into problems like that — the casing is a solid piece of metal and rated to 50m.
The watch strap is made of flexible rubber, not plastic, so it’s comfy and also slightly stretchy which should give you some extra margin if you’ve got particularly large wrists. However it’s a bit fiddly to get on sometimes. You can also buy new straps (e.g. leather) but they are not cheap at about 45 if you buy the genuine Nokia version. I guess other straps would also work, provided the width is correct for the watch. The existing strap is very easy to remove — there’s a little pin that sticks out on the underside that you just pull back and the strap pops out. I’ve not experienced any irritation due to the strap after extended use.
When you start the watch it immediately prompts you to download the app. The watch came nearly fully charged so I could use it straight away. Set-up / connection to my phone was very straightforward. It downloaded updated firmware to the watch and asked me to re-set the hour hands to 12 o’clock just in case they moved during shipping (I’ve seen this before with battery driven analogue watches).
The app supports a suite of Nokia digital health products, including weighing scales, blood pressure monitors etc., allowing you to track your overall health and fitness in one place. You can also enter measurements manually into the app (weight, blood pressure etc.) if you don’t have one of the other Nokia devices.
When enabling phone alerts (calls, txts etc going to the watch) during the set-up process the App prompts you to disable Android’s battery optimisation settings, so this is one to watch if you struggle with battery use on your phone. At the end of the day the app needs to communicate with the watch, and the phone going into “doze” mode seems to interfere with this. Unhelpfully the link given on the Nokia web page for more information about Android battery optimisation goes to an Android developer page, not to one that tells you how to enable it again. I found that if you disable alerts in the app once again it does not then re-enable android battery optimisation for you and it’s not clear what settings in android have been changed by the app. This could be more joined up really.
The app allows you to customise what is displayed on-screen each time you press the button on the tracker. However the date seems to be a fixed feature, and despite the app seeming to have the option to disable date display it doesn’t work for me. It’s a slight annoyance really because the date is always displayed before the time and I’d rather it be the other way around (or the date not be displayed at all).
The vibrating alarm is very similar to FitBit’s — a great feature, especially if you have a partner that you don’t want to wake up. However unlike my old FitBit Charge HR you can set a period (up to 60m) before the actual alarm time during which the watch will wake you, if that’s a better time in your sleep cycle. The theory is that you get woken up when you’re closest to being awake, rather than abruptly in the middle of a deep sleep. However in my testing it always seemed to wake me at the beginning of the period that I’d set, which suggests that it will just avoid deep sleep. This makes sense, but if your sleep routine is good then you’re probably coming into lighter sleep in the 30-40 minutes before you would normally get up anyway so I’m not convinced of the value of this feature.
Unlike the FitBit you can set the vibrating alarm even if the internet connection (or the Nokia website that they sync your data to) is offline — the FitBit didn’t allow this, and I found it intensely annoying that at times I couldn’t set the alarm on my FitBit the night before because FitBit’s website was down, despite the device sitting a matter of inches away from my phone at the time. So full marks to Nokia for not making the same mistake.
As with the FitBit app the Nokia equivalent allows you to track your steps, average heart rate, exercise regimes and sleep cycles. You can also see all of your stats at “dashboard.health.nokia.com” if you choose to register for an account (but it isn’t mandatory).
One thing that did impress me with the Nokia over the FitBit Charge HR was that it auto-detects exercise events and hazards a guess for you — e.g. even going for a short walk. If it can’t guess then you can set the type of exercise you did in the app afterwards. You can also manually activate workout mode through a long press of the button, which causes your HR to be monitored and displayed constantly on the watch.
After a couple of weeks use I can say that the batter life is excellent, and I estimate it will last about 3 weeks. My old FitBit HR would last about 5 days vs the advertised 7 days, so that’s a big improvement for me.
In summary, I really like this new fitness tracker from Nokia — it’s stylish and for me has removed a number of niggles that I had with my FitBit. There are one or two things that Nokia could improve on (e.g. date customisation), but all in all I’m very happy. Recommended.
First things first, this is a review for the original Withings version of the Steel HR which I have had for over a year now.
I remember being quite excited at the prospect of getting the watch as for me it was the perfect combination of an analogue and digital fitness tracker with notifications. I promptly replaced the standard silicone strap as it caused irritation to my skin but a leather one looked better IMO anyway.
Setup with my phone and the app was simple and worked first time. Notifications only work for calls, text (SMS only) and calendar entries, although since the app has been ‘Nokia-fied’ the notifications are now hit and miss. The sleep tracking function has also seemed to have deteriorated with it recording time sat still on the studs watching TV as the start of my sleep cycle – there is no way to edit this. When the app was updated to the Nokia branding it had some serious issues, many of which have now been resolved however the sleep tracking is still irregular – in the past week I only have 2 sleep s tracked. The standard Nokia support when this happens is to de-pair the watch, reset, and re-pair – losing any missing activity data in the process.
Within a few weeks of getting the watch I raised a ticket with support as I was seeing a light listing on the inside of the screen when coming in from the cold. I was subsequently told that this is standard and nothing to worry about. It hasn’t affected performance of the watch but a year down the line there is a slight hazing on the screen noticeable in daylight. The screen, this is one of my big disappointments as the glass is easily scratched. As an activity watch you’d expect something a little stronger and more scratch resistant.
The battery on this has been brilliant with it lasting 3 weeks+ with ease, however over the past couple of months I’ve noticed a deterioration as it now needs charging more regularly. This seems to have coincided with a firmware update although I can’t say for sure.
I still wear this watch daily although the overall experience is just not what I expected. If everything worked consistently it would be a big step – and I still hold out hope that the notifications can be expanded to include 3rd party apps (e.g. WhatsApp)
Update April 2018 – I’ve updated the rating to 4 stars (if I could give 4.5 then I would). The misting on the screen was getting worse, with a noticeable hazing on the inside of the screen (almost like a watermark). I decided to raise another ticket as the original Withings (and new Nokia branded) watch come with a 2 year warranty. With the support ticket I sent a couple of pictures showing the issue I was having. The support and communication I received was nothing short of exceptional, clearly Nokia have stepped up the levels of customer service since the Withings days. I was emailed a paid returns label and, after confirming receipt of my returned device, I received a link to order my replacement device. At each step of the process I was kept updated on progress. The new watch is performing better and has clearly benefited from some tweaks, both hardware and software. The app is much more reliable with notifications and tracking improved – the only thing stopping me from giving the full 5 stars is the lack of custom notifications.
A stylish, high quality timepiece that make activity monitoring a pleasure
Most activity “watches” tend to have a functional design and are very much a heart rate monitor first and foremost, with a secondary function of actually telling the time. This is fine if you want to advertise the fact that you are a sporty person who wears a Fitbit to monitor their activity and ensure they reach their 10,000 step daily target.
This watch takes the opposite approach. It is a smart and stylish timepiece that just happens to also monitor your daily activity, measure your heart rate and even subtly warn you when you have received texts or phone calls. It looks appropriate when worn with the smartest of clothes and the black silicone wrist band can even be replaced by a choice of different coloured silicone or leather wrist bands.
The watch does come with a choice of black or white dials. The black dialled watch is ideal for the “stealth” approach to activity monitoring as the top digital display then blends into the dial.
In use as a watch, the large 40 mm dial size makes it easy to read the hands under bright or medium light. Some have complained that the silver hands are not that easy to see in low light, although I personally haven’t had this problem. In conditions of complete darkness, one press of the button displays the Day and Date followed quickly by the time. The watch is synchronised with my iPhone via the Health Mate App and so will adjust automatically to changes in time zone or daylight saving.
As an activity monitor, the watch records my daily steps. It then tracks progress towards my daily goal using the lower activity dial, which turns from 0 to 100%. This can be personalised within the app so doesn’t just have to be 10,000 steps.
The heart rate sensor intermittently shines a green light and detects heart rate throughout the day. This is transferred to the Health Mate and makes for interesting reading. It is even possible to email the results to your doctor! The watch distinguishes between heart rates when awake and sleeping.
I found the sleep activity measurements the most fascinating. It showed how long it took me to go to sleep and tracked my different levels of sleep throughout the night. Really interesting to see how much time I spent in different phases of sleep. Even better, you can set a sleep goal and measure compliance with your target amounts of sleep.
I have worn the watch to track my gym sessions. To track a fitness session, you press the button for a couple of sessions to activate continuous heart rate monitoring. The watch then displays heart rate at the push of a button during the exercise as well as displaying the duration of exercise. I usually wear a Polar H10 heart rate chest strap and observe my heart rate with the Polar Beat app. This allows me to observe the zone that my heart rate falls into which gives me information about the intensity of my exercise and my rate of recovery. At the end of the session, the Polar Beat app shows me a summary of my heart rate profile as well as the calories burned. The Nokia Steel HR produces a similar heart rate profile on Health Mate, with fairly accurate tracking of peak and trough heart rates. As I started my gym session on the treadmill, it automatically detected my type of activity and labelled the 66 minute session as a “Running”. According to the Health Mate app, I spent 5 minutes at Peak heart rate and 24 minutes in the intense zone. This compares well with the Polar Beat analysis which showed a similar heart rate profile over the session.
However, the Polar Beat calculated that I had burned 676 kCal whereas Nokia calculated a calorie burn of 158 kCal! I contacted Nokia Customer Services, who responded quickly to my email request. They advised me to edit the type of activity and also alter the rate of exertion in the Health Mate app. By doing this I was able to increase the apparent calorie burn to 390. Although they weren’t able to tell me exactly how calories consumption was calculated, it is clear that the watch takes into account the type of exercise, duration of activity, rate of exertion, not just heart rate. They also stated that the app displayed the net calorie burn i.e. the additional calories burned by taking exercise. Changing the type of activity in the Polar Beat app has no effect on calorie consumption: their algorithm seems just to be determined by heart rate, duration, weight and height. I think that my true calorie consumption probably lies somewhere between the two values.
Another very positive feature of this watch is its superb battery life – it can definitely go for three weeks without needing to be charged. Charging is very easy – you just rest it on a charging cradle for an hour or so to fully charge the watch and plug it into a standard USB socket.
In conclusion, this watch is a pleasure to wear: it looks smart, it gives some interesting information about both daytime activity and sleep and it has a well written companion phone app.
New version working perfectly
I have had this watch now for a few weeks. The version i am reviewing was released on the 5th December 2017.
The watch face is a bright white and personally i do not like it, to me it looks very sterile, i much prefer the plain black face which is available to buy seperately. The included strap i am not a fan of either, its soft but digs into my wrist when im wearing it so i have bought a different strap. You can buy either leather or woven and other silicone covers:
Nokia – Leather Wristband, Black, 18 mm
Nokia – Limited Edition Wristband, Nectarine, 18 mm ( The orange looks better with the white face i think)
The watch itself works very well. I have been wearing it a few weeks, i do find however that it is just too big for me to wear at night, i think a smaller face would suit me better as im a woman, i think this really is better for men. I personally feel there should be a smaller face for women to choose from as we have smaller wrists i think 24mm would be much better but im not sure if they could fit all the tech inside. Maybe i just need to get used to it because monitoring my sleep patterns is a useful tool because i suffer with mental health problems and can back up my problems to my gp with hard evidence.
The app was easy to find and install and easy to set up. I have it on my android Samsung A5 2017 and it has perfect integration. It was very good at measuring heart rate and keeping a log of it, this has actually been beneficial for me because i can export the data to my gp. It measured my steps, not sure how accurate it is because like anything if you just move your arms up and down it thinks you are walking so you could fudge it. I have not noticed any fogging on mine, and i go out in the freezing conditions to walk my dog, and today i went out and it was snowing and there was no misting up, my glasses did mind you and i couldnt see, but the watch was fine.
Charging the phone via the usb cable is weird, you do get a low battery indicator on the watch and it is easier to charge up than constantly replacing batteries so on that score it is better for the environment.
The phone has a light up feature so you can see the time in the dark, you just press the crown button.
I dont like the fact that i get notifications on my watch from my phone for messages etc because it is constantly going off and it drives me nuts,so i have turned this feature off. If you are a busy person and this wouldnt bother you then i guess its not so much an issue but i dont like it.
Overall i cannot fault on features, but i think the manufacturer could be a bit more experimental with their colours, i would of loved a purple one for example as its my favourite colour and i think considering cost the woven strap or leather strap should be the strap that comes with it instead of the cheaper silicone ones.
I’ve been really quite taken with this watch. First it is a rather elegant timepiece. Although it does not have an illumination on the dial a quick press of the crown gives an LED display of date followed by time. Personally I would have done that the other way and displayed time then date.
The fitness aspects are that in combination with the app (available for both Android and iOS) it can monitor heart rate, steps and distance travelled. It also monitors sleep.
I’ve found this quite useful. I’m not a fanatic about doing 10,000 steps a day but I had never monitored it previously. As this does so I have been keeping an eye on it. Gratified to find that as a result of walking my dog two or three times a day I usually hit the target with no problem. I had read one or two reviews which queried the accuracy of the step count. As it happens I have clip on pedometer so I tested them together. Over a full day of more than 10,000 steps the difference between the two was less than 2%. The dial at the bottom of the watch face is actually an instant visual guide to how much of your daily steps you have done. Fairly handy from a motivational point of view.
My only real concern is that it overestimates my sleep. You have to keep the watch on overnight for it to monitor heart rate and sleep and I’m not really keen on that. It has also shown on the app times when I am supposed to have been asleep but I know that I definitely was not. I was sat reading a book so perhaps I just “fooled” it.
I also have to say that I find the rubber strap which comes with this a bit long for my small wrist and the loop which the end of the strap goes through is difficult to adjust against my skin and the hairs on my arm.
I have seen the reviews about the condensation under the glass but nothing to report from me on that after two weeks use.
Really happy with this heart rate & activity smart watch ... with really useful features and it looks good too.
Surprisingly my husband not usually being a fan of Smart watches or bands likes this watch and has been wearing it ever since I received it to review. Here follows are his comments on the on the Nokia Steel HR Heart Rate & Activity Watch
The watch itself is elegantly designed, it has a round white watch face, a brushed silver coloured metal case with bevelled edges and a good quality black strap with an attractive silver metal buckle. The watch face measures 36.3mm in diameter x 12.5mm in thickness and should fit a wrist up to 200mm.
This watch comes with a USB charging cradle, charging is easy and quite quick so far after a full charge the watch has lasted twenty days and hopefully will last the twenty five days advertised.
Included in the box is:
Nokia Steel HR Smart Watch
USB Charging Cable
Quick installation guide
Free Nokia account and free Nokia Health mate App.
The Nokia HR is designed to work in line with your mobile phone, I have an iPhone 5 and it was very easy to set up the watch to work seamlessly with it. It hooks up via the Nokia Health Mate app that you need to download to your mobile phone first before you try to connect the two devices together.
As a watch this watch is pretty good, it looks stylish and keeps time efficiently and even if you do not use many of the other features, this smart watch still serves as an attractive watch to wear during the day or night however that would be a bit of a waste as the features of this watch are very impressive as an exercise, sleep and heart rate monitoring watch it is one of the best.
Some of the features of this smart watch are:
* Full activity tracking that recognises when you walk, run and swim. It recognises some fairly diverse activities as well (ten in all), such as ping pong and dancing (this is far more than most).
* Records distances, steps and calories burned.
* Receive message from your smart phone to your watch screen, keeping you up to date with your messages, calls and events directly onto your smart watch screen.
* Continually monitor your heart rate when in work out mode, plus it also monitors your heart rate throughout the day and night. This is a great feature which allows you to keep your eye on your heart health.
* It is fully waterproof up to 50m you can wear this watch whilst swimming.
* Battery lasts for up to twenty five days between charges.
* This watch is also amazing at monitoring sleep patterns, with automatic analysis of sleep cycles, wake-ups and sleep duration.
* I really love this feature This watch will even help you wake up at the optimal time in your sleep cycle. If you set a window of time (for example between 6am and 6:30am the watch will wake you with a vibrating alarm during your lightest sleep stage within this range This really works unbelievably well and when I use this feature I find that I wake up feeling much fresher and more alert than normal.
All in all … This Nokia Steel HR smart watch is a good quality heart rate and activity monitoring watch with many useful features, it looks good and it works incredibly well. I have no problem in highly recommending this smart watch.
Nice looking smart watch with some useful functions.
Really good product, so many pros:
– Easiest setup possible
– Battery life: seems really good after a week use
– Construction quality: top notch, feels like a luxury traditional watch. Comfortable to wear as well. Lightweight
– Connectivity: did not know this beforehand, but the watch will vibrate when receiving a call or text. super useful
Cons:
– Step count reliable most of the time but can be fidgety.
I will probably change the strap with a leather one (I dont use it for swimming) but it does the job for now.
Overall, amazing product, 5 stars!!
Looks smart, but has several steps to become a fitness tracke
As an elegant watch this is good, however as a fitness tracker and smartwatch, it still needs a little work.
I already have a Garmin Vivosmart HR+ GPS Fitness Activity Tracker with Smart Notifications as a fitness tracker.
Comparing the Nokia to the Garmin.
Pros:
* The Nokia looks smart, like a watch, not a plastic wristband
* Sleep tracking by the Nokia seems to correlate with my actual sleep patterns, better than the Garmin
* There’s a direct read dial of the percentage of you current step goal
* Longer battery life between charges
Cons
* The Nokia only seems to record about 75% of the steps that the Garmin does – When I calibrated both on a treadmill, counting steps, the Garmin was accurate
* Because the step counts are low, the Nokia also underestimates distance walked
* Heart rate is only checked periodically by the Nokia, not continuously as the Garmin does
* Message alerts and emails, only display the sender, not the content on the Nokia. The Garmin allows you to read complete messages and dismiss them from your wrist.
The Nokia is pleasant to look at, it was very easy to pair to my phone – Note it will not pair until it has been on its charger.
Some reviewers complain that the watch isn’t backlit, however pressing the button once displays the date and then the time, in lit LEDs, so there is no need for a backlight.
There is still some work to do before this can be considered as a proper fitness tracked, but I think that this could be solved with a software update.
Classy but clever watch
After a tiny bit of a faff getting setup (I already had another device registered so needed to make a new account) I got this up and running in a few minutes. It then takes a little while to update, the hands move automatically when you follow the instructions on your phone which happened so quickly I missed it and you’re ready to go. You can customise the order that you see the different readings in and can remove/add some (e.g calories, distance, steps, heart rate, battery life).
The watch looks nice and feels light so isn’t a hassle to wear. I’ve enjoyed seeing how many steps I’ve walked and seeing my average heart rate. The app helps you keep track of things and read very easy to install. I only had a bit of a faff because I already had an account (for a withings device) so needed to make a new one for this watch.
I’ve never my hankered after ‘wearable/smart tech’ like watches or TVs but must say this watch has impressed me so far. It is easy to use and doesn’t stand out, looking as it does like an ordinary watch. I love watches and this is my first health/smart one. Hopefully it’ll perform well over the long term but so far so good.
Sleek desig
I now own 2 watches from Nokia and I’m very pleased of them. The design is so sleek that I can wear then both for sport or with smart clothes and they still look nice. All I have to do is change the straps and it’s super easy. Definitely recommend this watch if you care about monitoring your activity and heart rate, and it’s really easy with the app. Love mine
Better than FitBit.
This is great. So much easier to use that a FitBit. I actually managed to download the App and get it to work without asking the little boy down the road for help. And it looks really cool on the wrist…like a very expensive watch. PIty it doesn’t monitor broomstick riding…
A fitness watch with the time always displayed and 25 day battery life? Well that is exactly what you get with this very stylish offering from Nokia. The watch comes in an attractive box, along with a charging cable and stand and once unpacked and a QuickStart guide to get the watch up and running. To do this you have to download the Nokia Health app. This means that if you do not have an IOS or Android smartphone, this watch cannot be used.
Set up on my iphone7 was a breeze and the watch was sitting on my wrist looking very elegant, the small LCD window coming to life if I touched the bezel or if an alert came in. There is a surprising amount of functionality in this watch – it is a heart monitor, a step/calorie counter, a distance monitor and even a sleep monitor as well as a wristwatch – and it even sends call alerts or text alerts(caller name only) to the small LCD window in the top dial of the watch.
Through the Nokia Health app it’s possible to customise the number of parameters displayed on the LCD -in terms of which are displayed and in what order – and it’s also possible to set the time through the app which is useful when travelling across time zones. The dial can be tricky to read though( mine had the dark dial) and it’s not backlit either so getting the time in dark conditions can be a bit tricky.
But have all of this in such a stylish looking package is unusual and when combined with the exceptional battery life and the benefit of not having to touch the dial or shake your wrist to get the time, the shortcomings in functionality can be forgiven.
It loses one star because it is a bit expensive when compared to Fitbit products and doesn’t quite have the same functionality or support – the Health App only gets an average of three stars on Apple store, so there is still some work to do to improve this. If that side of things is improved then this watch would deserve five star reviews.
Earlier versions of this watch had poor reviews due to condensation issues. In my time with this watch I have deliberately worn it in and out doors in a variety of environments and have not seen that issue surface once. If I do see issues with this I will come back and edit the review and adjust my rating. I like this watch a lot, it looked good, it is discrete, smart with a small ‘s’ and the battery lives up to some of the legendary Nokia mobile phones. Definitely worth taking a look…
I have used this Nokia as my main tracker for about a week now, and it’s been great – the overall experience is that I’m just wearing a nice watch, not a ‘fitbit’ or other smart wristband that also tells the time. Activating the digital display with the crown is discreet and begins to show off it’s capabilities.
Gestures that you might have gotten used to when using a fitbit, such as turning your wrist or tapping the device to get the time aren’t required and I think that’s a huge advantage – and is also, I think, one of the main reasons why the battery life is so good.
I would say however, that the only let down – and the reason why I’m not able to give it 5 stars at the moment, is the associated app: Health Mate. I will be happy to update my review if there is an updated experience / bug fix that becomes available. Comparitively, having experienced the other environments of Misfit and Fitbit the biggest let down was the setup procedure, which included two issues – a) a dial interface that asked the user to perform actions to align the watch hands, perhaps as some sort of calibration, that was not functional – i.e. moving the dial did not move the hands, causing me to think that the linkage between the phone and the watch was broken, and also turned out to be unnessessary – the watch shows the time very accurately after I progressed through this stage without success; and b) after completing the setup the watch and the phone seemed to forget each other and I had to complete part of the setup procedure again. After a brief firmware update I have not had any further trouble with the connectivity between the app and the watch – and it synchronises very swiftly, but the overall experiece of the ecosystem that the app grants access to is not as well developed or as social as fitbit – again, I hope this changes in the future.
A work in progress
This is an elegant, stylish watch that has been relaunched and appears to have eliminated problems encountered on its earlier incarnation – so far although it is not fully ‘there’ yet. Setting up is straightforward with the ubiquitous App and it is quickly ready to monitor health and activities although frequently loses its Bluetooth connection, which is frustrating as it appears to happen almost every time you go to the app, requiring you to pair again (which it does quickly, but it is something that still needs to be ironed out).
The watch face itself is uncluttered and easy to navigate through a range of fitness information. I like the simplicity of design as well as the soft, tactile feel of the strap. The strap needs to be a snug fit but could do with being slightly longer for ease of fastening.as well as to suit a wider range of recipients.
Presentation is good, in an uncluttered box that is straightforward like the watch.
It is a pity that Bluetooth connectivity is an issue that needs to be resolved and the length of the strap may restrict user comfort, so it still seems to be a work in progress.
*This is a review of 36mm white Steel HR revised version released Dec 5th 2017, not the earlier version*
I have been using this activity watch for 8 days. I will update if any problems occur further down the line. Due to reviews of the earlier release of this model, I spent a lot of time subjecting it to water at various temperatures and (normal-range) pressures. There has been no sign of condensation in the watch. Also, despite me being a naturally clumsy person – and knowing I have banged it numerous times – so far there are no scratches or marks on the face. It is also (judging by comments on the earlier version) a lot easier to attach it to its charger. It hasn’t actually *needed* charging yet – or remotely close to needing it – but when I did I had no problem with it coming loose from its charging pins, and no problems with the charge at all.
I came to this activity watch from a “normal” smartwatch, so that is my comparison point. This is a hybrid, somewhere between a smartwatch and an activity tracker. The first thing that hits you is the sheer length of time this will go without needing a charge; around 25 days for full use and an extended further period of around 20 days where it all works apart from no longer measuring your heart rate. My smartwatch needs its charger every night and it just gets left at home during holidays.
So this is not a smartwatch, as such but a hybrid watch/activity tracker. It is good looking and quite elegant, and you won’t be embarrassed to wear it anywhere. It is extremely comfortable to wear with a soft strap that somehow avoids looking cheap and nasty like these rubbery straps usually do. It has an ordinary watch face with electronics that focus on watching your activity and sleep. So it will alert you to texts (but not WhatsApp messages) but you’ll need to pick up the phone to see what they say. It also means the face itself is not lit (rather like ordinary old-fashioned watches!) so you won’t be able to read the time in the dark. It is paired with the Nokia activity app on your smartphone, which is easy to operate and which I much prefer to Google Fit.
It has impressed me as an activity tracker. For a start, it’s heart-rate monitoring is much better than my smartwatch and it automatically operates at regular intervals through the day (my smartwatch only takes ‘snapshot’ readings when I ask). The Steel can be told (by a simple long-press of the button) to monitor your heart-rate continuously during an exercise period. This allows you to assess the level of intensity of your exercise and (when you long-press the button again to end) to measure the exact length of time you exercised. It then has the sense to register this as a specific exercise period in the smartphone app. It detects some kinds of exercise – in my case, I had to tell it that an exercise period was Dance the first time, and thereafter it worked it out and only needed confirmation that it was right. I have found this brilliant – it’s nice that it turned out that a lot more of my exercise was “intense” (rather than moderate) than I realised. I also really like that it tracks every step I take during the day (my smartwatch ignore movement of less that a couple of minutes) and I found it to be pretty accurate (via the good old-fashioned method of counting my steps and comparing).
If you wear it at night (which I have) it also tracks the quality and type of your sleep, and how long and often you woke (including, of course, monitoring your heart rate).
The black circle you can see on the picture of the watch is the electronic screen. The first press shows you the date. Subsequent presses cycle through heart rate, number of steps, distance walked, alarm time (if you’ve set one) and battery level. The dial on the bottom is a percentage dial of the number of steps you’ve taken against the target you’ve chosen.
There are two “I wish..” parts that stop me giving it five stars rather than 4. The very thin clock hands are indeed elegant but make it very hard to tell the time for those of us without perfect eyesight. I wish they were a bit thicker and a bit darker. I also – for similar reasons – wish the electronic screen were larger. Perhaps that could have been done by making dark text on a white background to make the screen part larger without spoiling the design (e-ink maybe?). Other than that, I like the Steel HR a great deal and I think my smartwatch may continue to live in the drawer. The “think” becomes a definite for holidays, days out and planned exercise periods.
It seems to be good quality and I have had no problems so far ...
Ok so far. It looks quite stylish without the pure digital feel of most activity trackers. I have to concur with other reviewers that it is too dim to see properly in the dark/limited light, which is a shame. But it seems to be fairly accurate in counting steps. It seems to be good quality and I have had no problems so far in this regard, but will update my review if any problems occur. Overall it’s a bit different from other styles of trackers and I like it so far.
Review of Nokia Steel HR — Heart Rate & Activity Watch, 36mm, white
Edit 21/12/2017
My partner has reacted to the watch strap causing a large red skin rash, NOT the watches fault but worth noting for any one who has sensitive skin. We popped into a local watch strap and had it replaced and it actually looks better now for it. Cost was marginal but again worth noting, there are other straps on Amazon two under Nokia and the previous manufactures name.
Also finding the sleep monitoring can be skewed by watching TV on a bed so you just have to remember the actual time you went to sleep and subtract.
End edit
I got this mainly for my partner to start monitoring his sleep which is a bit quirky at the moment.
He said that the set-up is pretty easy. As soon as you have downloaded the app you do have to create an account with Nokia to use it, which means you will be syncing with a database at their end, I think, because I could see data on the apps on both devices together that I tested. The set-up is easy enough. The app guides you through it all. Also factory resetting is pretty easy if you want to move it to another device. This was tested because a change of phone is close and we wanted to make sure it retained data. It did, so I guess Nokia health retains this at their end.
The watch itself is good looking and understated with three dials which are hours, minutes and step count goal completion percent. It has a single button to go through the watch functions such as heart-rate, step count or date and time.
The first time charging was a frustration as the number said one thing but then I had to move it to a powered hub and then the numbers had gone down by the time I got it plugged in again, very weird. Let’s give that a little context I finally charged it to 100% and it has not moved all day despite taking my heart-rate and counting steps not to mention monitoring sleep so I see this as a software/firmware glitch and not something to be worried about at this point.
The watch is very comfortable to wear the stretchy rubber strap is nice but I believe it can be changed if required it is 18mm wide so looking at a quick Amazon search shows many choices.
Overall I am quite impressed so it looks like they have addressed previous niggles with previous versions.
Effective and stylish
Nokia have put some serious design and manufacture resources into this watch.
Compared with other fitness monitoring watches, it is incredibly stylish. As a result of the monitoring they carry out, most fitness monitoring systems only hold charge for a relatively short time, then you have to fit a fiddly micro-usb into it and leave it charging overnight. Not this one!! They claim ‘up to’ 25 days charge. I certainly have no problem with anything over seven days, which allows a diaried recharge every Sunday night), but also, there are no fiddly apple-leads to play with, as the system used a charge pad which you use simply by putting the watch on it face up. Brilliant.
The watch paired easily with my IPhone 6 plus, and the accompanying app then is simplicity to use. I’m a little unsure about the accuracy of the step counter, as I’m not totally sure it differentiates fully between different forms of vibration, though it does seem to have fewer false positives than the Tom Tom, and I haven’t tried one yet that I totally agree with..
I gather that there used to be a problem with condensation with the previous version; mine moves between 16 degrees to 3 degrees and back again without problem , so this must have been fixed.
I’m also not sure of the calorie counter, but then I don’t exercise to use up calories, I use it to keep my body fit. Calories are better controlled by having a good diet than trying to burn off excess Mars bars. A weekly weigh-in alerts me to if I’ve been cheating.
Build quality look to be very high, and there seems no reason why it should not keep on working.
One downside is that there is no backlight – but that of course would shorten the battery life; so probably it’s a fair trade-off.
In summary, both effective and stylish – what’s not to like?
Nokia Steel HR - Heart Rate & Activity Watch, 36mm, white
Reading the previous reviews of this product (which must have been for an earlier incarnation, as the release date for the specific model I have got is December 5 2017, and they all predate that) was rather concerning, but I have always found Nokia to be a trustworthy brand so long as you overlook the whole ‘Windows Phone’ business, so gladly gave this a go. This product is a child of the merger between innovative medical/health tech company Withings and Nokia, and is a fully-featured activity tracker (with heart rate monitoring), yet looks like a standard watch, which is great for more formal occasions where the fitness band type products look rather out of place.
Please note that you must have either an Android phone or an iPhone available for setting up the Steel HR – it will not function at all without this being done (which I must say I don’t like and don’t find necessary). Download and install the Health Mate app, make an account and then the watch will sync to it via Bluetooth and set up the time etc. Setting the time is done via the clock function on your mobile phone, and it is quite entertaining watching the analogue clock hands whizz around as if by magic when the time sets (it may look like the button on the side is a normal watch adjuster, but it is not, it functions only as a control button for scrolling through the different digital screens).
Once set up in that way, you can put the watch on and it will start to monitor you. The instructions say to put the watch so that it is snug but not tight – the silicone strap is stretchy, which aids with this – it won’t work properly if loose as the heart rate monitor function depends on close contact with your wrist. I do find that the strap gets a little irritated underneath after a while, particularly if worn overnight for sleep tracking, so have started swapping wrists to give the skin underneath a break. The materials are hypoallergenic, I hasten to add, it is just the constant contact on my sensitive skin.
While the primary way to check your data is via the Health Mate app, there is some capacity to do so on the Steel HR itself, as the LED digital display can show you data about your day, including date and time (backlit, so useful in the dark!), steps taken (with the % of your designated step goal indicated on the lower analogue dial), calories burnt (I don’t think this aspect is accurate, however), distance moved, battery percentage, and heart rate. I previously had a cheap Nokia activity tracker which I liked but ultimately stopped wearing as it was overestimating the distance by at least 20%, which I checked via my trusty Garmin Vivofit – this I have had for years, and have tested the distance accuracy using a variety of methods, all of which it passed – happily whatever was causing this does not appear to have been replicated in the Steel HR, as the distance and indeed steps are correlating closely on both this and the Vivofit (I am wearing both as a test).
There is the option to designate multiple sporting activities in the Health Mate app, and the device automatically detects some of them (walking and running, possibly others).
The sleep tracking function is interesting – mainly because it tracks your heart rate during it, which is something none of my previous activity trackers have been able to do – but somewhat flawed, as they all seem to be. I find that it is radically overestimating my sleep time because it takes lack of movement as sleep, which means that it picks up reading and the like as sleep.
Overall I’m really very pleased with my Nokia Steel HR – it looks great and seems to be working very well, I have had none of the previously-reported problems with fogging up or glass scratching as yet, I shall update my review if any issues occur, but for now I love it.
This is a smart and distinctive looking watch unlike any that I have ...
This is a smart and distinctive looking watch unlike any that I have seen before.It has a main watch face which shows the time and is set by circling the watch dial with your finger. Personal details are set up via the app plus setting up the alarm, blood pressure reading, heart rate, steps , targets, calories, cycling, messaging and calls. Mine is set up for just the main settings, : steps, heart, blood pressure ect. It is easy to see your progress on your phone. There is a small dial on the watch face which lets you know how far you have gone to reach your daily target. There is no main back light but there is a small one in a window at the top of the watch face which with normal eyesight but a bit small if you need glasses. It comes on when you press the side button of the watch which you can then scroll through to check your targets, date, ect.
To sum up I like the appearance of the watch, ease of use and I enjoy wearing it is very comfortable.
Still going strong two years on - You need an iPhone or android phone to use this
This is for iPhone or android phone users, and does not work in self standing mode. As advised by the manufacturers: ‘All of our devices require an iOS or Android device to set up, install and use the devices. There is no Windows compatibility.’ Go to healthapp.nokia.com to see the app.
But my friend has been using it on their android phone and it is still going strong after two years. Sleep measurement can be a little erratic – it sometimes thinks they are asleep when they are working at their laptop! But step measurement is much more accurate than the pedometer I have in my phone I keep in my pocket.
To be brutally honest, before it arrived, I was very sceptical about reviewing this item but after three days of use (worn for 72 hours), I am a convert.
I have been looking for a basic fitness tracker for a while but am not impressed by the array of ugly wristbands that seem to dominate the market.
In the Nokia Steel HR, you have a device that functions as an activity tracker as well as looking like an elegant timepiece. I am delighted with it and in the three days I have owned it, I have had many inquisitive comments from people who have asked about it.
First off, it is very lightweight and you hardly notice that it is on – it is very comfortable to wear, mine has a black silicon band (I believe other colours will be available soon). The design of the watch face is black with etched silver marks under a domed glass face. There is a small round LCD panel which is activated by pushing the crown and this shows the date, the digital time, your heart rate, the number of steps you have taken, the cumulative distance you have walked, the calories consumed, an alarm and the battery life remaining.
It also notifies you with a vibration if someone has called you or sent you a text message (their name appears on the tiny LCD panel) – this alerts you to check your smartphone – very cool. It also monitors your sleep pattern – enlightening and disconcerting in equal measure!
The watch is easy to set up via a smartphone – I use it paired with my iPhone 7 Plus and one of the first things you need to do is set up a Nokia Health Mate Journal via a free app download. This is easy to create and then the system allows you to see a dashboard either on your phone or on a web page on a computer of how you are performing. You also use the app to set the time, set alarms etc. It’s all very easy – no rocket science involved.
The watch comes with a USB charging cradle – I have worn the watch for three days and I have 80% battery life left – which is pleasing.
I am delighted with the Nokia Steel HR – if you appreciate a nice time piece with added functionality then this may be for you.
It’s also got the kudos of a big brand like Nokia behind it.
Five stars – I think Nokia are on to a winner.
Great watch and heart rate monito
I have seen other reviews which tell if problems with the face on this watch misting up. So far that hasn’t happened to me but I’ll update the review later if it does. I’m really pleased with this product. Looks elegant and is a great heart rate and activity monitor as well as a normal watch. Doesn’t look too sporty either which I think is a plus. Very easy to use and set up. Very happy so fa