Withings Brand Returns With 'Steel HR Sport' Hybrid Smartwatch

[MacRumors]

Withings has returned with a new hybrid smartwatch offering, after one of the company's co-founders bought the brand back from Nokia earlier this year.

Back in 2016, Nokia acquired health startup Withings in a deal estimated at $192 million, hoping to re-establish its presence in the consumer electronics market. It did so by rebranding Withings' line of iOS compatible products under its own name.

But by May 2018, the acquisition was considered a failure, and Nokia announced its intention to sell the division back to Withings co-founder, Eric Carreel. Carreel promised a "relaunch" of its products by the end of 2018, and today's arrival of the Steel HR Sport smartwatch is apparently just the start.

The Steel HR Sport shares many of the features as the Steel HR smartwatch which Nokia released in 2016, such as the heart-rate monitor, sleep tracking, smartphone notifications, and 25-day battery life. But it also packs some additional new features, like the ability to track 30 different activities (yoga, rowing, boxing, skiing, and so on).

Water resistance is now up to 50 meters, while new oxygen intake sensors allow the watch to measure variables like VO2 max, which is supposed to be a good indicator of overall health. Connected to a smartphone, the Steel HR Sport is also able to GPS-track walking, running, and cycling workouts with distance, elevation, and pace metrics recorded in the accompanying iOS Health Mate app.

In addition, the digital readout on the analogue watch face has been tweaked to show notifications from over 100 apps, as well as regular alerts for calls, text messages, and calendar events.

The Steel HR Sport comes in a single 40mm size, costs $200, and is available to order online today from the Withings website or from Amazon.

Article Link: Withings Brand Returns With 'Steel HR Sport' Hybrid Smartwatch

 

[honglong1976]

why on earth do these guys bother?

 

[FourDegrees]

Because there is a market for people who do not want to pay a premium price for an Apple Watch. But then you knew that anyway eh?

 

[Joeie]

Because there is a market for people who do not want to pay a premium price for an Apple Watch. But then you knew that anyway eh?

True but you can get an Apple Watch one for a little cheaper. It won’t have the update (iOS 5) ‍♀️ I don’t think but atleast you would have an Apple Watch and not this knock off. Compared to Apple it just doesn’t look right.

 

[honglong1976]

Because there is a market for people who do not want to pay a premium price for an Apple Watch. But then you knew that anyway eh?

They were Withings and didn't sell that many, they changed to Nokia, they changed back to Withings. At the time when they had moderate success, Fitbit were there competition. Fast forward a few name changes and there is now an Apple Watch. They can't compete with Fitbit and certainly not Apple. Amazfit (Xiaomi) sell their watches super cheap and sell millions.

Cheap good quality watch - Amazfit
Bit more expensive - Fitbit
Expensive - Apple Watch

Fitbit have the mums.
AW have the guys.

Only the kids and old people left.

So from the their design, looks like are going after the old folk (a big market to be tapped in to). Unfortunately, Apple are also going after this market (with the fall detection in S4). Fast forward a few years and they will be gone! Another Jawbone!

You knew all that anyway, right?

 

[44267547]

why on earth do these guys bother?

Is there a reason they shouldn’t offer a smart watch? All the other competitors do, even with the Apple Watch dominance. But at least they offer a round smart watch, which many seemingly would like to see Apple do in comparison.

 

[BillyBobBongo]

Fitbit have the mums.

Yikes, I had no idea that buying a watch would change my gender. They should add that to their USPs!

 

[ginkobiloba]

why on earth do these guys bother?

Because there is a real market for hybrid watches, traditional looking watches with added connectivity features. Many brands offer that ( mostly Fossil ) , but Withings is right now the only one that has a traditional mechanical watch with an added small digital screen .
In fact I might just end up buying one. I love my Apple Watch (series 0), but I love traditional looking watches even more.

 

[maflynn]

Its really nice looking watch, the price isn't excessive and the battery lasts 25 days. I'm liking this a lot, especially since the primary use of my apple is for fitness. The secondary uses though will be hard to give-up

 

[ipedro]

Wait... what? So, all my Withings devices no longer “belong” to Nokia? Did things just go back to how they were? Nokia discountinued the Withings Aura. Does that remain? Wtf is going on nd why would Nokia make such a huge turnaround?

 

[jonnysods]

I'm all for competitive market spaces. Wish them well!!

 

[MDF314159265]

Dear Withings,
Good luck. Try not to be too optimistic.

-not even an  fanboy

 

[4jasontv]

why on earth do these guys bother?

Because their design is better than most, the battery life is rational, and it’s a good option if your job requires you to look at your watch for more than 5 seconds.

I love my Apple Watch, but with only 18 hours of battery I don’t make it a day.

 

[GadgetBen]

Nice looking alternative to Apple Watch.

Do they have ECG support and can they detect Atrial Fibrillation?

 

[Phil A.]

They were Withings and didn't sell that many, they changed to Nokia, they changed back to Withings. At the time when they had moderate success, Fitbit were there competition. Fast forward a few name changes and there is now an Apple Watch. They can't compete with Fitbit and certainly not Apple. Amazfit (Xiaomi) sell their watches super cheap and sell millions.

Cheap good quality watch - Amazfit
Bit more expensive - Fitbit
Expensive - Apple Watch

Fitbit have the mums.
AW have the guys.

Only the kids and old people left.

So from the their design, looks like are going after the old folk (a big market to be tapped in to). Unfortunately, Apple are also going after this market (with the fall detection in S4). Fast forward a few years and they will be gone! Another Jawbone!

You knew all that anyway, right?

That's some generalisation you've got going on there! You also completely ignored the "serious" fitness watch manufacturers such as Garmin and Suunto

 

[OllyW]

Nice looking alternative to Apple Watch.

Do they have ECG support and can they detect Atrial Fibrillation?

Of course it doesn't but neither does the Apple Watch where we live.

 

[pete2106]

Funnily enough I was talking about this with my trainer this morning. I have a series 0 Apple Watch who's battery is playing up (again). I was thinking rather than suffer another soul-destroying trip to the Apple Store to get it looked at, I might just order a new series 4 since they're new. I was looking at it and started to think that the Apple Watch doesn't do anything to justify it's price tag. None of the features are worth £430 especially when they still can't get the battery to last more than a day.

This watch looks like the perfect alternative. Not too expensive, great battery life, and still does the notifications. I'll definitely look into it.

 

[Mansu944]

why on earth do these guys bother?

I’m thinking just the opposite. For a lot of people this is perfect.
[doublepost=1537276739][/doublepost]

They were Withings and didn't sell that many, they changed to Nokia, they changed back to Withings. At the time when they had moderate success, Fitbit were there competition. Fast forward a few name changes and there is now an Apple Watch. They can't compete with Fitbit and certainly not Apple. Amazfit (Xiaomi) sell their watches super cheap and sell millions.

Cheap good quality watch - Amazfit
Bit more expensive - Fitbit
Expensive - Apple Watch

Fitbit have the mums.
AW have the guys.

Only the kids and old people left.

So from the their design, looks like are going after the old folk (a big market to be tapped in to). Unfortunately, Apple are also going after this market (with the fall detection in S4). Fast forward a few years and they will be gone! Another Jawbone!

You knew all that anyway, right?

That’s some Grade A, incoherent rambling right there. Good job.

 

[bluecoast]

I hope they succeed.

25 days of charge is pretty cool and I’m sure that there’s many people who want a traditional looking watch with smartphone/tracker functionality re body readings & a few essential notifications.

Good luck to them (and I may be tempted myself someday if my series 1 breaks anytime soon).

 

[johncarync]

I'll wait for the BLUE STEEL HR...

 

[MrJeffreyGee]

I hope Withings re-enables the Pulse Wave Velocity feature on their Cardio scale after removing it from peoples scales they already bought. I had to take my scale offline, so I didn't lose the feature. Sadly that means no data syncing as well.

 

[macduke]

But by May 2018, the acquisition was considered a failure, and Nokia announced its intention to sell the division back to Withings co-founder, Eric Carreel.

Of course it was, just like everything Nokia does nowadays.

 

[honglong1976]

https://uk.gearbest.com/smart-watch...gEvh6uyJtfH5Cgo-NRoClJkQAvD_BwE&lkid=15731729

https://gloimg.gbtcdn.com/soa/gb/pd...8/07/20/goods_img-v2/20180720100158_85855.jpg

Because there is a real market for hybrid watches, traditional looking watches with added connectivity features. Many brands offer that ( mostly Fossil ) , but Withings is right now the only one that has a traditional mechanical watch with an added small digital screen .
In fact I might just end up buying one. I love my Apple Watch (series 0), but I love traditional looking watches even more.

[doublepost=1537282242][/doublepost]

Is there a reason they shouldn’t offer a smart watch? All the other competitors do, even with the Apple Watch dominance. But at least they offer a round smart watch, which many seemingly would like to see Apple do in comparison.

They weren't doing great before the Apple Watch and several name changes later. As a consumer that doesn't fill me with confidence.

Another company that started the whole fitness tracker craze but somehow got left behind.
[doublepost=1537282486][/doublepost]

That's some generalisation you've got going on there! You also completely ignored the "serious" fitness watch manufacturers such as Garmin and Suunto

You only have to look at Fitbit's marketing and advertisement along with the built in period tracker that it's aimed at the female market. They even changed their logo colour to a more feminine colour. There is nothing wrong with that. Whoever buys the product, target them!

Must have saw hundreds of people in various countries wearing Apple Watches. All men except for 1 lady. Obviously her next watch will be a Fitbit. haha.
[doublepost=1537282588][/doublepost]

Yikes, I had no idea that buying a watch would change my gender. They should add that to their USPs!

You'd be surprised. As a man, the Fitbit's period tracker feature is not useful.

Look at the AW app for example, looks manly in it's colour and design. You can a lot from the design and colour of an app and who it is marketed at.

 

[kwikdeth]

Only problem I have with the withings watches is the cheap glass. Ended up having to replace my original Pop model because the glass was scratched into Oblivion after about a year and a half.
Now I have the discontinued Sapphire glass model and it's a significant improvement in that regard.

 

[honglong1976]

Yikes, I had no idea that buying a watch would change my gender. They should add that to their USPs!

AW got the old guys!
https://www.macrumors.com/2018/09/23/apple-watch-fall-detection-off-by-default/