Fitbit Luxe review: Luxe like we made it

6.7 Luxe bucks

Luxe by name and luxurious by nature, this Fitbit doesn’t want to labour over the difficult things – like paying for things or GPS tracking without the help of a paired phone. It’s still packed with some of the best health-tracking sensors in the industry. So if you want impressive heart rate/sleep and exercise monitoring, it’s a compelling offering.

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Fitness trackers are mighty useful, but rarely fashionable. Or that’s what Fitbit thought when it released the Fitbit Luxe — a tracker that’s supposed to look more like a piece of jewellery than a watch. But is it be able to keep you on track?

According to the newly-owned-by-Google wearable company, the Luxe is designed for those who want style with their stats. Our review unit came with a plain old black band which took away from the ‘fashion’ aesthetic — but it’s supposed to look like a bracelet-inspired fitness tracker.

At least it features decent five-day battery life. We would’ve liked to see more, however, like GPS, NFC, phone calls or Spotify support.

It’s called fashion, honey

Don’t mind the fact that the Luxe looks scarily similar to the Fitbit Inspire 2. No. Stop comparing them. They’re totally completely different. Somehow. 

Jokes aside, the Luxe draws heavily from the Inspire 2’s design, just this time you can add fancy jewellery-esque bands to make it look less… plain. 

Granted, it’s a touch fancier, swapping plastic for stainless steel (with a matching buckle, there are black or gold/white colour options). There’s either a silicone band or a steel link bracelet if you want to really embrace the ‘jewellery’ aspect of the thing. The sporty strap is comfortable even when sleeping and ideal for smaller wrists — depending on your style of course. 

‘But it’s pretty’

On to what really matters — the tech. Sitting snugly in the steel frame is a 0.76in AMOLED screen. Albeit tiny, it’s bright and offers up vibrant colours. We’d say it’s about the size of the average thumbnail, which doesn’t leave much room for notifications. And it’s not all that sensitive to touch: you really have to give it a firm tap if you want a reaction.

Gym-goers, fitness fans and sleep-aholics. All of the above are all catered for with 24/7 heart-rate monitoring, step counting and 20 exercise modes plus sleep and stress insights. It’s also fully waterproof for wannabe merpeople. 

You also get access to the wonderful Fitbit app. It’s long been one of the best fitness tracker apps. It’s a feast of stats, offering detailed breakdowns of heart-rate zones and sleep quality. If you sign up for Premium (R150/m) you’ll get extra mindfulness sessions, video workouts and more expansive SpO2 data.

It’s what you don’t get that makes this one a bit of a head-scratcher, especially considering the asking price. It doesn’t offer onboard GPS (so no runs without your phone), no NFC (so no tappy-pay option) and no onboard phone calls or Spotify support. 

Fairly plain, actually

Despite offering users the same tech as older Fitbit bands (at a similar price) in a slightly different package, the Luxe does exactly what it promises. It tracks things and it works, and it looks good while doing it. 

You can add a bunch of customisable health alerts as gentle reminders to stop yourself from being a sedentary wedge of brie. It’ll also last up to a week on a charge, depending on how often you can get yourself to move. 

Fitbit Luxe Verdict

Luxe by name and luxurious by nature, this Fitbit doesn’t want to labour over the difficult things – like paying for things or GPS tracking without the help of a paired phone. But it’s still packed with some of the best health-tracking sensors in the industry. So if you want impressive heart rate/sleep and exercise monitoring, it’s a compelling offering. But like anything ‘luxe’, at R3,400 it’s a little on the expensive side. If all you’re concerned with is technical features, the Fitbit Charge 4 offers more smarts for less money.