Test of the Withings Steel HR Sport: a connected watch for health, hidden behind mechanical hands

Who says connected watch often says very modern design. This is particularly the case at Apple with the Apple Watch, but also at third-party manufacturers, such asFitbit and others. It is not uncommon to see the mechanical hands of classic watches disappear to make way only for a digital display. The other side of the coin,autonomy is often reduced to a few days. Withings, French manufacturer of connected objects, with its newSteel HR Sport, wants to go against this trend. His watch is in fact presented as apowerful activity tracker, while drawing inspiration from classic watches:

The Withings Steel HR Sport watch is available herein two black or white versions

Moreover, without knowing its characteristics, nothing indicates that it integrates all the elements to monitor the sport and the health of its wearer. No doubt she could with thishybrid formatinterest many users, particularly those accustomed tohands of yesteryear models. So, as part of anew test in our series to be found here, we were able to try this Withings Steel HR Sport. Here without further adonos impressions:

Discovery and getting started

In the box are the union minimum, namely the watch of course, accompanied by a charging roller and a small manual.

It is recommended to fully recharge before first use, which allows time to install the iOS app. This is necessary to configure the watch and take full advantage of all its activity tracking capabilities.

The companion app in question isWithings Health Mate,available here on the App Store for free.

Once in the app, you have to pair the watch with the smartphone. Here is a summary of the steps for a first synchronization:

create a Withings account
choose the product to install
perform product update
perform needle calibration
enter the first information concerning your profile: weight, height daily activity objectives, etc.

Concerning this procedure, although on the surface it seems simple and quick, in practice, we encountered some problems. During the initialization phase, the process hung several times while downloading the new firmware version. 5 to 6 tests were necessary, each time with the launch of a new procedure. At the end of the day, the download was completed and the update could be done... Phew!

We hope this is an isolated case. All the same, as a first contact, it is not encouraging.

As for the watch itself, no unpleasant surprises to report. The case is well finished. The sports bracelet provided is flexible and pleasant. We had the black version of the Steel HR Sport in our hands and found it quite attractive.

On the dial, a small hand indicates the day's activity, the other two display the time like a classic watch. Obviously, the hands and even the dial are not backlit. This makes reading time difficult in the dark.

More generally, dressed in black, the Withings Steel HR Sport may be a little too dark for some people's tastes with fine gray hands and very, perhaps too discreet to remain clearly visible in low light situations. It would probably have been more appropriate to offer hands in a color other than gray, on a background that was also gray. For that,white version can be preferred!

At the back, we find the heart sensor. The case also includes a vibration motor to alert notifications arriving on the phone.

Moreover, the small screen of the watch is very practical for displaying some basic information: name of the sender of a message, current sporting activity, day on the calendar, etc. It is monochrome though and turns off quickly. But it is at this price that the watch benefits from amonster autonomy, see below on this subject.

Finally, the bracelet is easily detachable thanks to a system different from the Apple Watch, but no less practical. Note that the bracelet provided is oddly very long. It can almost go around the wrist twice on very thin arms. It may need to be changed in these cases.

Concerning autonomy precisely, Withings announces25 days under normal use, in addition to a reserve mode. The latter adds 20 days of autonomy, but only allows you to read the time and track activity. So no more notifications and heart rate measurement. This makes45 days total, which is huge compared to more traditional connected watches.

For our part, without having been able to test it over such a period, we can simply say that after 3 days of regular testing of the different functions, the watch still displayed 100% autonomy.

L’application

The companion app is Withings Health Mate,available here on the App Store. It aggregates data from different Withings connected health products, including the Steel HR Sport. As seen in the first chapter, it is also used to initialize the latter.

On the home page, the app displays a summary log of the latest events concerning your health: latest activity, weekly objectives, etc.

Thanks to a dashboard, it allows you to easily monitor numerous data on your health, weight, quality of sleep, average heart rate, etc. But in addition to that, in a dedicated section, the app offers guided health programs, with weekly publications.

In addition, it is very easy to add data to the application, via the “+” button. We can then launch an activity, a heart rate measurement, or add a new weight or even a new meal taken recently.

Finally, the icing on the cake, the user can choose to protect the app via access code or Touch ID. This prevents other people from viewing the app data and guarantees a certain confidentiality, in the event of the iPhone being stolen, for example.

In short, frankly, this application is reallywell thought outetvery pleasantto use.

Conclusions

With its Steel HR Sport, Withing has gone all the way. Beneath its classic watch appearance, the watch hides great capabilities in terms of health and activity monitoring. In particular, it can track more than thirty sports, ranging from surfing to swimming (waterproof up to 50m), including boxing or walking and others, in addition to providing interesting reports on sleep .

And while it is rarely possible with a classic connected watch to keep it on your wrist for more than 24 hours due to limited autonomy, with the Steel HR Sport, this is not a problem. The user can enjoy it formore than two weeksby measuring your daily sporting activity, without needing to go through the recharge box.

Too bad it doesn't have a GPS sensor, so you can go out without the iPhone in your pocket and still be able to follow your route.

Otherwise, we regret a few small points in terms of design, mainly thetoo much hardness of the control buttonetthe absence of backlight. But displayed at a priceclose to 200 euros, the watch presents good value for money and an interesting positioning for those who do not need all the connected capabilities of an Apple Watch for example.