Fitbit Inspire 3 Review: The Entry Point For Health And Fitness Tracking

Whenever you hear 'wearable' and 'fitness' within the same sentence, more often than not, you'll think of Fitbit. They have not only established themselves as just a brand targeted towards fitness enthusiasts but in the wearable tech market as a whole. Their bands and watches are not only stylish and practical, it also works seamlessly with the ecosystem that they have developed.

Today we are taking a look at the Fitbit Inspire 3, the 3rd iteration of the Inspire health and fitness band. It's probably the most affordable latest-generation band you can get right now for reliable health and fitness tracking.

Design

Looking back on the original Inspire, you can see how Fitbit has made little refinements over time. The Inspire 3 is relatively simple looking yet still maintains the same elegance for casual wear. It comes in 3 different colour options, Midnight Zen which is a very dark shade of green, Lilac Bliss, a light pink colour and an orange one known as Morning Glow, the main display unit is black for all variants. The unit we have here is the Morning Glow version but regardless of which one you pick you'll be able to easily swap out the bands for a variety of other options, such as a stainless steel one.

The default strap for all colours will be the silicone one, which Fitbit also includes an additional extended one for those with larger wrist.

Display and Interface

The main unit has a little screen measuring about half an inch long (using my ruler) and touch responsiveness doesn't disappoint in the slightest, even in wet conditions. The UI is also very well designed so I didn't need to spend too much time setting it up and remembering where everything is.

It starts from the watch face which, there are a variety of designs for (no custom images, for those wondering) and the menus are all arranged in the looping carousel so whichever way you swipe you'll be able to find your desired functions just as quickly. Swiping down gives you a bunch of quick settings options and swiping up gives you an overview of your fitness statistics such as steps, active minutes, etc.

The band also seamlessly updates the data in the app when it gets back within Bluetooth range of your phone so you can take a walk with just the band alone if all you only need track your steps and heart rate.

Overall just two minor nitpicks with the interface, there is a raise-to-wake function which I frequently depend on when I'm using smartwatches but during my time with the Inspire 3, I encountered moments when minor turns with my wrist won't trigger the screen so I had to raise my arm. Particularly inconvenient when I just want to glance at the time.

Another is specifically for notifications, the Inspire 3 doesn't have media controls which is understandable but sometimes notifications will be delayed for a bit and pushed out in batches, this is specifically apparent with Gmail when the band doesn't vibrate when I receive an email but after a certain period, it'll start pinging my wrist non-stop for all the previous mails. However, I do still rely on notifications from my phone itself so the problem doesn't affect me that much, thereby, nitpicks.

Features and Experience

The band will provide simple tracking for steps, heartbeat and statistics for your exercises like running, walking or swimming without Fitbit Premium. I have to admit though, I was a bit contemplative about making the shift to Fitbit tracking as I usually use Strava for my runs and the thought of the band not supporting third-party apps was quite a bummer at first.

But after a good two weeks of using it, I have to say, if you're not that big on the social features of Strava and your main goal is purely gaining insights into your health and fitness. The Fitbit eco-system can do all of that and more...with paid Premium of course.

GPS tracking for runs (not built-in), coupled with heart rate monitoring and pacing info for specific parts of your run can broaden your mindset about your fitness and health. I found out that I tend to push myself at the start of the run and gradually slow down rather than maintaining a constant pace and sprinting to finish, an inference based on looking at my heart rate which seemed to always spike within the first kilometre. Taking the time to analyse and make sense of the data will be informative and you'll find insights into habits that you were not previously aware of.

Other than that, another useful feature is the sleep tracking and profile, I usually don't wear watches to sleep but for the sake of this review, I went and did so. Of course, the band can track your sleep hours and even shows you when you wake up during your slumber. I'm one that likes my sleep hours very much and I won't try to change them in any way therefore I mainly just use the function for sleep reminders and to look at the quality of sleep.

Battery

Pretty stellar, I must say, from 100%, it was able to last through my overseas trip and leave which is a total of about two weeks. When I charged it for the first time, it was still at 15% and it charges using a proprietary charging cable which clips onto the Fitbit, charging it back to 75% took less than 30 minutes. The charging cable is also pretty short so I don't actually leave it to charge overnight, since I also wear it to sleep and all. I top it up here and there with my power bank or PC.

Pricing and Conclusion

The Fitbit Inspire 3 is available in most e-commerce stores and retailers at S$148, it also comes with 6 months of Fitbit Premium (S$13 per month) so effectively the band is just about S$70 which makes a very affordable entry into fitness and health tracking if you are still on the fence.

So if you exercise regularly and you can find some use for the features, do give it a try!