Withings Activite Review

The Activite activity tracker from Withings isn’t about notifications and small distractions disguising themselves as help. A wearable is sometimes best when it simply doesn’t get in your way. This is exactly what the French developer had in mind when it created its Activite device. On top of this, these activity trackers have something pretty unique: the devices have classic dials and round faces, so they don’t really look like any activity tracker we’ve seen so far. The Activite from Withings isn’t exactly a traditional fitness device, nor is it entirely a smartwatch. We love this aspect but you should be aware that these devices are probably not for everyone.

Here is our Withings Activite review.

Hardware

The devices come in two versions, Activite and Activite Pop. The normal Activite is the more expensive of the two and costs $450. We had on our hands a unit that came with a black face and black leather strap. But if this isn’t your style, you’ll be happy to know that the device also comes with a brown band and a blue trim. They feel like they would be more suited to wear while going out than to the gym but the silicone strap included in the package really helps when you’re working out.

It’s pretty cool that the company decided to include the silicon strap with the device but the leather one looks more elegant and my wrist got very sweaty under the plastic strap.

The normal Activite is very elegant, while the Activite Pop looks more like a Swatch watch. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as the Activite Pop does all the things the regular one does but in a more colorful body and a less expensive build. The Pop comes with a silicon strap that you can remove and replace with another one with the help of a very simple latch. The less expensive material used to build the Pop is pretty much the only thing that is different from the premium version. Activite is built with a shiny alloy and the Pop uses a PVD treated stainless steel. The glass on the Pop is made out of mineral glass and the premium version uses a sapphire that’s also scratchproof.

The Pop is not as comfortable as the premium version, mainly because of the silicone strap, but if your wrist doesn’t get particularly sweaty you’ll be just fine wearing it for long periods of time.

The Activite will show you how many steps you’ve taken with the use of a small dial on its face. The default goal is 10,000 steps but you can change this with the help of the companion app. It’s obvious that Withings tried to make a very useful device without stuffing it with a surplus of somewhat unnecessary features. The device comes with different watch faces and Withings built them thinking about both genders. While it would have been cool to have a more dazzling and larger design, the device gets the job done.

The device doesn’t come with a charger and instead, the company decided to use a button-cell battery. Withings claims that a battery can last around eight months before you need to change it.

Software

Because the two watches don’t really do all that much by themselves, Withings made a companion app called Withings Health Mate that helps the two devices. The app is pretty much the display the watch lacks. You can use the companion app to program your fitness goals, weight and height and then Withings Health Mate combines all your movement, sleep data and heart rate into a neat single feed. While this works well, you might find yourself a little confused by the tiny graphs and numbers that fill the screen of your smartphone.

The Activite collects a lot of data and one of the most awesome tricks the app has up its sleeve is the possibility to check your heart rate with the use of your iPhone’s camera. The app detects your heart rate with the help of the LED light. While this is pretty accurate, trying to find out your heart rate in a very bright room can be pretty tricky as the Health Mate app detects your pulse through the skin of your finger pressed against the bright LED light.

While sleeping with something on your wrist may not attract you all that much, Activite does a good job of analyzing your sleep hours. However, it does seem overly pessimistic when it comes to sleep cycles. Some nights the app reported I didn’t get as much sleep as I did. It probably matters how well you sleep but it did make me wonder if it’s all that accurate at all. While the app isn’t probably as accurate as you’d want it to be, it did tell me that I needed more sleep. (I already knew that, but it did remind me of it.)

There are some design decisions that don’t really seem that great. You earn badges when you complete some challenges but this doesn’t show up in your profile page where they should normally appear, instead, they show up in your timeline. It’s true this isn’t a major problem but it’s pretty annoying nonetheless.

One bigger problem is the alarm clock. When you set an alarm, you have to drag a bar down and up the screen to choose when the alarm will set off. When you first look at it, it seems kind of cool but when you want to set an alarm for eight hours (or more) since that moment, you have to drag the bar to the edge of your smartphone’s screen and wait for the app to cycle until the slider lands on your desired time. A much easier solution would have been to implement a text box. Fitbit and Jawbone are definitely winners when it comes to the design of their companion apps. It would be nice to see some improvements in the updates to come.

The competition

The Activites from Withings are both great devices but there are other great smartwatches on the market. Fitbit’s devices such as the Surge and the Flex are great for everyone and the $100 Flex imposes quite the competition for the Activite. The Flex tracks your sleep and steps, just as the Activite, but at a smaller price.

For the price you would pay on Activite you could choose a fancier Android Wear smartwatch. The Moto 360 and the LG G Watch cost less than the device from Withings and do a lot more.

Wrapping up

PROS

– Good materials and beautiful design

– User friendly interface

– Step counter works really well

CONS

– Very expensive

– The companion app isn’t very polished

– The smartwatches don’t have a lot of features

Verdict

If you want a wearable that’s both a fashion statement and an activity tracker, consider buying the Withings Activite. The device is built with premium materials, such as stainless steel, leather for the strap and a sapphire crystal. However, its looks are overshadowed by its limited functionality other than to count your steps and show you the time. The $450 Withings Activite is definitely a beautiful device and you won’t feel embarrassed by wearing it but you will definitely feel somewhat poorer.

Images source: 1, 2

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Nancy Young

When I was younger I used to spend almost all of my free time playing computer games. My mom and dad would go mental over this. “You’re never going to do anything with your life if you are going to play games all day” they used to say. What was even more unusual was the fact that I played more games than most of the guys in my friend group. Looking back, I have to admit that I probably played a bit too much, but I also learned a lot of great things. When I turned 20 I decided that it was high-time to make some money of my own, but the only jobs I could get were that of waitress or cashier. How exciting. After several excruciating months of serving tables I had a great idea: since I love gaming so much, why don’t I write about it? That’s when I started doing small writing projects on Elance. Eventually, I got an offer for a part-time job. During that time I learned all about content marketing strategies and how search engines work. I started writing about various topics such as technology, health and lifestyle and discovered that I was actually good at it. On November 24, 2014, I became part of the ArgyllFreePress team.