Withings | Pulse HR (Discontinued)

Initially, I really liked it. It has a super long batter life. I went through several activity rackers or smart watches. I agree that this may not be the most accurate tracker. For example, this tracker even registered as steps when I waived my hands. But I didn't care about exact steps or distance. I just wanted to have a rough idea so it was good enough for me. HOWEVER, I have this for little less than 2 months. It was already broken. The plastic part where a band is connected simply snapped. Somebody already posted a picture. I didn't handle this roughly or anything. But I was wearing a long sleeve shirt and sweater so I felt that this tracker was tight under my sleeve. But it shouldn't snap like that. So, I wouldn't recommend this.UPDATE1Amazon replaced mine; IT BROKE AGAIN at the same spot.UPDATE2After experiencing the damage on the same spot (little more than 1 month), I contacted Withings directly. They responded immediately and offered either refund or an upgrade to Steel HR.Once again, I would not recommend this because of flimsy nature. I was told that a new product should not have this problem. So it is possible that my replacement was from an old stock. But, Withings customer support is TWO THUMBS UP.

I’ve owned the Withings Pulse HR for several days now and wanted to share my thoughts and maybe clear up some confusion. First, this is my first Amazon review in nearly 13 years; I thought it was important to write a review for this product because there isn’t much information out there and because I love Withings’s products.First off, the pedometer is usually relatively accurate–despite the fact that one reviewer said his iPhone logged 2-3 times as many steps as his Pulse HR. I don’t think the difference should be this extreme. I tested my Pulse HR against my Garmin Forerunner 235 watch, and, though the Withings’s step count was consistently lower, the difference wasn’t that great. Here are my step counts for three consecutive days while wearing both watches (the Pulse HR on my left hand vs. the Forerunner 235 on my right):Day 1: 11,625 vs. 13,281Day 2: 12,639 vs. 15,934Day 3: 11,090 vs. 18,145So it seems there is a difference in the number of steps between these two watches. I don’t have an iPhone or an Apple Watch, so I was not able to compare the Pulse HR with one of those devices. I’m not sure which pedometer is more accurate, but the one good thing I can say is, with the Pulse HR, you are more likely to walk too many steps than too few.On to the functionality of the Pulse HR. If you’re looking for a watch with a big display and lots of information, this isn’t the watch for you. However, I feel that, because the Pulse HR only displays essential information (time, date, goal percentage, heart rate, steps, distance, calories, alarm, and, of course, notifications), one is less likely to get bogged down in details and will be more likely to stick to his or her diet and exercise regimen.Despite the fact Withings makes this feature unclear, you can set up more notifications than they show in the marketing material. For example, I added my Gmail to the notifications, and now my Pulse HR vibrates and shows a scrolling subject and from field on the display. The notifications show up on the display for about 10 seconds, so you have enough time to read the entire subject. Withings told me that one can set up notifications for over 100 apps.I tested the sleep function this morning, and it seems to work well. The Pulse HR vibrates for at least 10 seconds, and it was enough for me to wake up.The accompanying Withings app, called Health Mate, is very intuitive and feature-packed. I’ve been looking at my Health Mate app on my phone and on Withings.com almost constantly for over a week, and it has been great for my diet. I’ve owned the Withings Body+ scale for over a year and the Withings BPM blood pressure monitor for about a week. While no one likes being told they need to buy more stuff, I believe that owning these other two products will make dieting more effective–and fun.The design and construction of the Pulse HR are good, nothing fancy, but good. I do like that the case back is made out of stainless steel. It adds a nice touch. The device is easy to use; one only needs to push a single button to switch between modes. Tapping the screen while the display is on will also switch between modes.In conclusion, I think the Withings Pulse HR is a good watch that does everything it’s supposed to do. It’s not overpriced. It works well with other Withings products. It’s easy to use, with just one button. It gets good battery life. The only thing I would recommend to Withings for future models is to look into the accuracy of the pedometer. But, overall, it’s a great watch with a great price.

First off I want to say my experience with fitness trackers started with a Misfit Shine, a Jawbone Up, and Apple Watch 1. So when I decided to look for a new fitness tracker I almost automatically bought a FitBit Alta HR or the slightly more expensive Charge 3. I was hesitant to try the Pulse HR because I wanted something that was popular, proven and been around awhile like the FitBit but I went ahead a took a chance because Withings is a reputable French health technology company and the Pulse HR has more features than the Alta HR for a lower price.Why is the Pulse HR better than Alta HR?1. It has a slimmer profile to prevent you from banging it against walls and things.2. Connected-GPS (only found on Charge 3).3. A physical button which is useful when trying to use the FitBit touch controls with wet fingers or gloves.4. It's water proof (only Charge 3 is waterproof, Alta HR is water-resistant).5. It's also a sleep tracker6. The artwork in their Health Mate app is nice, overall design of the app is easy to use7. There's integration with Apple Health and Runkeeper which I use.8. Longer battery life that last 20 days (both FitBits batteries last around 7 days).9. Overall the stainless steel and plastic materials feel nice.What bothers me so far with the Pulse HR?1. The support, I tweeted @AskWithings and @WithingsEN asking why I see duplicate entries for activities and should I delete one of them or keep both and they told me to go to their website and contact support, I feel this is a question they should easily be able to answer (once I find out, I will share it).2. There are no band sizes for smaller wrists so the end of the strap sometimes gets caught on sleeve or blankets if you wear it to sleep.3. The screen is unreadable in direct sunlight.Is this the best fitness tracker in its category?After testing this for 2 weeks I do find it useful, I mostly wear it for workouts since I prefer wearing traditional mechanical watches for work. I do like the sleep tracking as well but still testing how accurate it is. I mostly want it for tracking heart rate and calories burned which it seems to be working fine. I have a couple weeks to decide if this is a keeper. Stay tuned!

I have 5 other Withings products and love them. This was uncomfortable to wear, too high on heart rate, too low on step count, and often didn't sync with the app. Based on excellent quality of other Withings devices, I wonder if I just got a lemon. I returned it.

I like that the battery charge will last over a week. The heart rate monitor is accurate. Sleep tracking is not so good no tracking of REM and not good at determing if you are asleep. I have a ResMed sleep tracker to compare sleep evaluations.