Go ahead and call it a comeback. After buying itself back from Nokia, which had acquired the company almost two years ago, French consumer electronics company Withings is reintroducing itself to the public in a big way. It’s got a new logo, website and stylish new product — the Steel HR Sport, a hybrid smartwatch and fitness tracker that marks the first new device from the company since moving ownership away from Nokia.
The new device sports GPS connectivity, is water resistant, comes with an OLED display and is the first from Withings to offer Fitness Level assessments. There’s a new indicator along those lines that measures the heart’s and the muscles’ ability to convert oxygen into energy during physical exercise. The fitter you are, the higher that score will be.
The device is available starting today for $199.95 and is available via Amazon and the Withings website.
The Steel HR Sport “has the classic Withings analog face that shows the time, as well as a sub-dial that shows the percentage of daily activity goals achieved,” the company explains in a blog post. “You can set and manage goals within the free Health Mate app, available for iOS or Android. The device’s discrete OLED display shows important health and sports data such as daily steps, calories, distance and heart rate and can be navigated with a push of a button. The display also shows smartphone notifications, which appear automatically along with a discreet vibration.”
Among its other features:
The HR Sport offers multisport tracking for more than 30 different activities, everything from yoga to boxing and ice hockey. During sessions, the tracker will show you how intense your workout was with heart rate zones and the amount of calories burned.
When you pair it with a smartphone, the device can also help you track your pace, distance, elevation and map your workouts whether you’re walking, running or cycling. Heart rate can be tracked live on a connected smartphone, and the device’s new fitness metric can help you optimize training and, the company hopes, better achieve long-term goals.
It’s got 25 days of battery life that can be extended for another 20 days in power-conservation mode. It’s got a built-in sleep tracker that analyzes sleep length and quality and gives you a Sleep Score. There’s also a Smart Wake-up feature that will buzz you awake with a silent vibrating alarm “at the most optimal time in your sleep cycle.” Plus, you get recommendations on how you can improve sleep patterns.
“During waking hours,” the company says by way of wrapping up its announcement, “Steel HR Sport helps you keep on top of your daily communications. Both Steel HR Sport as well as the existing Steel HR now benefit from enhanced notification capabilities, allowing app notifications to be displayed on the digital screen. Previously limited to calls, text messages, and events, the Steel HR line is now compatible with notifications from all apps –just customize to get the ones that are important to you. Whether it’s flight alerts, breaking news, or messages from friends and family on social channels, notifications will appear on the watch with a content preview.”
