Fitbit Inspire 2 review

The latest Fitbit lineup is here, and it’s packing even more of what we love into its smallest, most lightweight package yet. The Fitbit Inspire 2 is the manufacturer’s lowest cost fitness tracker, but despite its sub-$200 price tag, it’s home to some serious health-tracking tech. But is it worth the cost when there are so many similar devices out there?

Comfortable and light, albeit a little cheap looking.

Owners of the O.G. Inspire and the older Alta and Alta HR models will notice a similarly slim design in the Inspire 2, which has a black body and comes in three band colours: black, lunar white and desert rose. I tested the lunar white model, which, despite its light colour, managed to stay looking as good as new even after a couple of weeks of runs, rainy days and chores.

One noticeable difference is that Fitbit, like with the Versa 3, has done away with a physical button on the Inspire 2, opting instead for a haptic pinching motion on both sides of the device.

It’s extremely lightweight and comfortable - so much so, I often forgot I was wearing it. Owing to its plastic body and silicone watch strap, it doesn’t exactly feel like a premium device, which is a bit of a shame given the now-defunct Alta had such a sleek stainless steel casing.

As for the display, it’s pretty on par with all of Fitbit’s previous budget fitness trackers. It’s black and white, reasonably bright (with the option to dim the screen) and big enough to show the basics, with a decent handful of both stats-heavy and more minimalist watch faces to choose from. That said, there are rather large bezels around the display, which I can’t help but wish were taken up by the screen itself.

Nothing particularly groundbreaking, but still a solid experience.

If you’ve owned a Fitbit before, the Inspire 2 will feel like very familiar territory. The watch interface is simple and easy to navigate, with shortcuts for common exercises, relaxation breathing, timers and alarms accessible by swiping down. You can also see a snapshot of the day’s activities (steps, active zone minutes, heart rate, calories burned etc) and last night’s sleep by swiping up.

The accompanying app is as robust and user-friendly as always, offering a more detailed look at your day (and night), all while allowing you to set silent alarms, log your food and water intake, track your menstrual cycle, set movement reminders, add friends and more.

From the app, you can also control which phone notifications will appear on your Fitbit, whether you only want call and text alerts or the whole notifications gamut of Facebook, Instagram, email and more. However, other than displaying notifications, the Inspire 2 certainly isn’t a smartwatch. You can’t quick reply to messages, answer calls, pay with your watch or check the weather, so if that’s something important to you, consider the Versa 3 instead.

For your workouts, there are more than 20 exercise modes to choose from, otherwise, you can let Fitbit’s SmartTrack feature automatically record any workout lasting 15 minutes or longer, including heart rate zones, steps and everything else you’d expect to be tracked.

How does 10 days sound?

By far the best thing about the Inspire 2 is its battery life. Fitbit reports it to be around the 10-day mark, and from my experience, that’s pretty much bang-on. One of my biggest gripes with fitness trackers (and smartwatches in particular) has been lacklustre longevity, but I’m happy to report that this little dynamo will comfortably get you through the week and beyond.

Yes, but Fitbit’s other offerings are even better.

I can’t help but feel like the Fitbit Inspire 2 is slightly overpriced given its cheaper build, but at the same time, I can’t complain about its features. Fitbit’s fitness and health tracking technology is market-leading, and even its lowest-cost model is getting in on the action. If all you’re looking for is something basic to track your workouts, time laps and get you moving throughout the day, the Inspire 2 will do you just fine. However, if you can afford the upgrade, the Versa 3 is our top pick.