Withings, a company which is now owned by Nokia, has today announced the launch of its new watch — Steel HR. The wristwatch can also comes with fitness tracking and smartphone notifications.
Just like its previous iteration – Activité, the Steel HR is a French-designed watch with a stainless steel case. It has chrome hands and silicone straps. The Steel HR watch comes with an optical heart rate sensor and a new digital sub-display for smartphone notifications. The most striking new addition is the sub-display.
Withings has included a round display inside the analog watch interface. The display is used to display steps count, heart rate and notification messages. While the idea isn’t new but the implementation of Withings looks better.
Using the company’s Android or iOS, you can determine what is displayed on the screen. You can also cycle through options by pushing the multi-function button that sits on the location of the crown.
The company’s focus has always been on style and battery life rather than adding too much of technology. The Steel HR also follows the same vision of the company, and thus, the battery life on the watch is measured in months and not days.
Withings is offering up to 45 days of usage from a single charge of the watch. However, there is a catch. For the first 25 days, it will provide all functionality, included continuous heart rate monitoring. After that, the watch will go into power saving mode, giving another 20 days of battery life, with just step and activity tracking.
The Steel HR will go on sale in October on the company’s official website. By the end of that month, it will also be available in offline stores. It will be available in two sizes — 36 millimeter and 40 millimeter, for a price of $179.95 and $199.95, respectively.
