Of the three new Fitbits unveiled this week, the Fitbit Inspire 3 is absolutely my favorite from a design perspective. I love the introduction of the Lux-style Pebble structure for the Inspire 3, even if it means the Lux may eventually be phased out. Adding a clip accessory adds versatility to the Inspire 3 unit, allowing it to be detached from the band while remaining usable.
However, there’s something about it that I really don’t like, and it’s entirely an extension of my biggest problem with Fitbit. It’s the Fitbit premium paywall, which I’ve always endured, even when other devices like the Garmin offer their comparable companion app services for free. Despite a string of PR mishaps recently, the Fitbit Premium has historically been great.
In the past, the Fitbit Inspire range was the cheapest way to start using Fitbit’s excellent, beginner-friendly services. This was not just because the unit was reasonably priced and often discounted during major deal events, but also that the Inspire 3’s predecessor, the Inspire 2, came with a free year of Fitbit Premium, which is usually priced at Rs. Will be $9.99 / £7.99 / AU. $15.49 per month, although you can save a few months by purchasing an annual subscription.
The premium service allows Fitbit users to gain access to a variety of features, including your daily readiness score, sleep profile and actionable sleep tips, historical graphs of your activity, heart rate, sleep data, stress levels, and more than 1,000 workouts, recipes, and guides. allows. Meditation
It’s a really great service, but since some of the best features on your device are bundled with premium, you’re effectively adding the cost of the subscription to the value of the device.
All Fitbit devices come with a free six-month trial of Premium, but the Fitbit Inspire 2 was unique in offering a year of free service. Along with being the cheapest Fitbit, the bundled subscription made the Inspire 2 a good value package. The Fitbit Inspire 3, on the other hand, only offers six months in line with the rest of the range, effectively adding an additional $40, £40, or about AU$70, to the cost of the fitness tracker.
When you look at it that way, the Fitbit Inspire 3 stops looking like such a big deal, and looks a bit much for what it is. Billed as the cheapest, entry-level tracker to steer you toward a healthier life in a sustainable way, the materials aren’t premium, the Luxe Pebble’s metal casing has been replaced with plastic, and Fitbit’s top-of-the-line casing has been replaced by plastic. It lacks many features of other trackers. Like Lux and Charge 5. The Garmin Vivosmart 5, which normally retails for around $150, is a one-time payment, including free Garmin Connect service.
I love the Fitbit Inspire 3’s radical overhaul, but the lack of value in this package means I’d probably recommend Garmin or other competitors, even cheaper bands, over this smart fitness tracker, which gives you the best of its best. Turns out good features unless you pay a premium. If you haven’t used Garmin Connect before, you can check out five of our favorite Garmin Connect features here.