Withings Steel HR

Discover the hybrid watch with heart.

Plenty of people now want to wear a fitness tracker to keep an eye on their steps and exercise regime, but not everyone wants an eye-catching, plastic gadget on their wrists – and that’s where Withings’ Steel HR comes in. It’s a hybrid device that combines fitness tracking with classic watch looks – making it both useful and stylish at the same time. The question is: does the Steel HR do enough on its own to justify its hyrid smartwatch status, or do you need to combine it with a traditional tracker as well?

Design and features

The Steel HR is certainly the most watch-like fitness tracker we’ve ever seen and is slimmer than rivals from big name watch brands. We used the 40mm version, but you can also get a 36mm model if you have slimmer wrists. For us, though, this is the perfect size. It’s slightly thicker than other Withings devices, which was presumably necessary to put a heart rate tracker inside the thing, but it’s still not much thicker than your average watch. Its slim size and smaller design also make it more comfortable to wear than rival smartwatches. The Steel HR’s strap choices are durable and comfortable too – the black silicon one on the watch we tested didn’t cause skin irritation (unlike some) and is easy to enough to clean if you get sweaty during a workout. Silicon straps are also available in white, yellow, blue and red for £25 ($30) each; or you can plump for a premium leather strap in black or brown for £70 ($80).