10.12.2017

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.

9.12.2017

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 ofdifferent 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.

4.12.2017

*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.

1.12.2017

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 musthave 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.

9.12.2017

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.

5.12.2017

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 willlast the twenty five days advertised.Included in the box is:Nokia Steel HR Smart WatchUSB Charging CableQuick installation guideFree 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.

28.7.2018

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.

8.12.2017

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 mmNokia - 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.

24.7.2019

This is a very attractive hybrid watch/activity monitor that I bought to replace my Fitbit Ionic. This review is based on years of using various Fitbit devices and a number of other smartwatches. This was purchased as a Prime Day deal for just over £100, well below the normal Amazon price.Size: the Steel HR is a very slender and compact watch well suited to a small to medium adult wrist. The fit is very comfortable but I will probably swapo the silicone strap for a more formal alternative.Activity monitor: the step counter seems about as accurate as the Fitbit and is certainly good enough to differentiate active from inactive days. It recognises different activities well and monitors sleep well enough to pick a good from a bad night's sleep.The heart rate monitor jumps around a bit and I'm not convinced it's particularly accurate, but I found a similar experience with Fitbit and other smartwatches. The analogue progress dial on the face is a useful touch.On screen display: the digital display is small and monochrome, but very clear in most conditions. It is near impossible to read in bright daylight. The data displayed is easy to customise but for some reason the data and time are on the same display and the date screen swaps out too quickly; I hope that this is improved through software as it would be helpful to have the date as a single viewable item.Smartwatch: Connectivity to android phone is reliable and steady, way better than the Fitbit which really struggled to connect to my Note 9 or Motorola Play 2. Notifications work well with all the apps I've tried and it's easy to choose which you want to get to your wrist. Notifications must be set up via the connected phone but can be disabled and enabled as a whole on the watch.Battery life: this was my primary reason for switching to a hybrid from a pure smartwatch. My Fitibit Ionic struggled to last two days without a charge. It's still early days with the Steel HR but so far it's lasted a week and has 28% left from a full charge. On the basis of initial use, I wouldn't risk a two week holiday without a charger, but a week seems very safe even allowing for about an hour a day of recorded exercise, two daily alarms and notifications on. I'll update the battery life impressions over time.Other issues: there are three alarms that can be one off, or repeated daily or weekly to pretty much any pattern. It would be nice to be able to set more alarms, but not a big issue. The alarms need to be set via phone but can be disabled and enabled on the watch. It would be nice to have watch hand tips that glowed at night and a stopwatch or countdown timer function but I can live without them.All in all an excellent device that looks good, works well and comfortably survives with a weekly charge.

14.3.2018

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.

11.12.2017

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,

5.12.2017

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,

2.12.2017

Review of Nokia Steel HR – Heart Rate & Activity Watch, 36mm, whiteEdit 21/12/2017My 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 editI 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.

13.4.2019

I bought the Withings Steel HR direct from Withings. I had the rose gold in blue and it looks really good and makes a change from other watches in my collection.The watch came with two straps, the blue silicone and blue leather. I have only used the silicone one so far. The first issue is that within a couple of days the rose gold clasp was already showing marks. That was not expected.The watch is very comfortable to wear. Size at 36mm is a perfect match for other dress watches that I wear and I have no worries about wearing the piece for formal and casual situations, albeit that I might change the strap to match. That notes, the silicone strap is not at all out of place, like the watch itself,

29.11.2017

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,

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