PARIS, Sept 19 — After re-acquiring itself from Nokia in May, Withings, a French start-up producing connected health technology, returns to the health and fitness industry with a multisport hybrid smartwatch.
After developing the first wi-fi connected scale on the market Withings was bought by Nokia in 2016 and rebranded as Nokia Health as part of Nokia’s strategy to expand their portfolio and re-enter the consumer market. When this failed, Eric Carreel, co-founder of the French start-up, bought back the company in May 2018 and relaunched the brand just as promised, this time with a fitness-tracking watch, which was revealed yesterday.
The Steel HR Sport watch features a new look and logo than previously seen on Withings devices, and it encompasses a wide range of smart technology beneath its simple analogue exterior. During its 25-day battery life, the watch can track activity and sleep, monitor blood pressure, and record health and fitness data such as steps, calories, and heart rate.
Specifically, over 30 activities from yoga to rowing can be tracked and used to “optimise training, increase performance, and achieve long-term fitness objectives,” according to the brand. The key feature of this watch that is not present on other Withings devices is the VO2 max, an indicator that measures the rate at which muscles convert oxygen to energy when exercising; the higher the VO2 max, the fitter the individual.
Though some of this data is presented directly on the watch dial, the rest can be found on a free Health Mate app where users can see not only the details of their activities, but understand their overall state of health.
The Withings Steel HR Sport watch is priced at US$199.95 (RM828.90) and available as of yesterday. — AFP-Relaxnews
