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The first activity tracker and watch hybrid by Withings, the Withings Activité was touted as a Swiss Made dual purpose device: a watch that was also a fitness and activity tracker. The idea, and design, were appealing to many, but the price was less so. For what it offered the $450 price of the Activité was pretty steep. The brand has reworked their recipe a bit and this week introduced the $150 priced Withings Activité Pop.
The Withings Activité Pop carries over the functions of the Activité packed into a differently constructed watch. The Swiss Made label, one of the selling points of the Activité is gone from the Pop, which provides some portion of the price break. Along with that is the case, which for the Pop is made of “PVD-coated metal” rather than 316L stainless steel, and rubber straps are used rather than leather. The last difference is the water resistance which drops to 30M from 50M in the Pop. All of these changes add up to a $300 price decrease over the Activité, which should allow the Pop to appeal to a much broader audience.
So the materials are different between the two models, but what about the functions? Like the more expensive Activité, the Pop tracks all of the basics expected in a fitness tracker: steps, distance, swimming, calories burned, your sleep and even has a vibrating alarm. Of course you don’t see all this data on the watch, it instead is transmitted to the accompanying Health Mate app via Bluetooth V4 (iOS only with Android “coming soon”). The dial functions are the same across watches as well, time via the two hands and a large off-set sub-dial to show percentage of daily step goal. Unlike other fitness bands or smart watches the Pop uses a cell battery that will give the watch eight months of use before it needs to be replaced, as with traditional quartz watches.
The Activité Pop is available in three colors: Shark Gray (basically black), Azure (blue), and Sand (beige) with a variety of rubber strap colors and is on sale now for $150 at retailer Best Buy. For those who want to wear a watch and a fitness tracker the Pop is a great choice combining them both into one device. But to look at it more broadly, at $150, this is a potential alternative to many quartz and entry level watches out there. Firstly, it really is quite nice looking. The design is minimal, but not boring, with a great use of color and that awesome oversized counter. If it didn’t have the added tech, that all would still be true… The functionality then adds a layer that few if any other watches can compete with, especially at the price. You can find more information on the Withings Activité Pop on their website.
