Fitbit Inspire 2 review

Our Verdict

The Fitbit Inspire ii is the all-time action band nether $100, especially for fitness-tracking beginners. Plus it comes with a costless year of Fitbit Premium.

For

Affordable
Comfortable, lightweight design
Nifty for first-fourth dimension fettle tracker users
Comes with free year of Fitbit Premium

Against

Lackluster display
No on-board GPS

Tom'southward Guide Verdict

The Fitbit Inspire 2 is the best activity band under $100, especially for fettle-tracking beginners. Plus information technology comes with a complimentary year of Fitbit Premium.

Pros

+
Affordable
+
Comfortable, lightweight design
+
Not bad for start-time fitness tracker users
+
Comes with free yr of Fitbit Premium

Cons

-
Lackluster brandish
-
No on-lath GPS

Fitbit Inspire 2: Specs

Price: $99.99
Size: 1.47 ten 0.66 10 0.5 inches
Display: Grayscale OLED
Water resistance: 164 feet
GPS: No
Battery life: 10 days

If you're new to fitness tracking, the $99 Fitbit Inspire 2 is the ultimate entry-level activity band. For a third of the price of the company's smartwatches, the Inspire 2 gets basic wellness metrics, automatic conditioning tracking and accurate sleep insights. It too comes with a costless yr of Fitbit Premium.

Equally this Fitbit Inspire 2 review explains, in that location are some trade-offs for choosing it over the $329 stress-detecting Fitbit Sense or $149 Fitbit Accuse 4. But for heart rate reading, footstep counting and banking more Active Zone Minutes, it's one of the best fitness trackers you can buy right now. And the best Fitbit for those on a budget.

Fitbit Inspire two review: Cheat canvass

The $99 Inspire 2 is the electric current entry-level Fitbit for adults, launched also the $229 Fitbit Versa 3 and $329 Fitbit Sense smartwatches.
As an activeness tracker, the Inspire 2 doesn't support many apps, just it tracks your key wellness metrics. This includes center rate, pace count, practice, calories burned and sleep quality. You can also employ information technology to fix timers and see notifications.
So what'due south missing? The Inspire ii doesn't accept GPS, support for contactless payments or music storage. Information technology also doesn't accept advanced health sensors for claret oxygen monitoring or ECG readings.

Fitbit Inspire two review: Price and availability

The Fitbit Inspire ii is available at present and costs $99, making it the almost affordable Fitbit model also the kid-friendly Fitbit Ace 3. You lot can also discover the Inspire 2 on auction with the all-time Fitbit deals from time to fourth dimension.

Better nonetheless, the Inspire two comes with a total gratis year of Fitbit Premium, which normally costs $9.99 per month or $80 per twelvemonth. It's a pretty practiced hook into the company'southward advanced health tracking and coaching services.

Fitbit Inspire 2 review: Pattern

The Fitbit Inspire 2 is a refreshed version of the Fitbit Inspire Hour, continuing a similar, slightly-understated design language. Fitbit curved the Inspire 2's edges and slimmed down its depth, so it sits more than flush to your wrist.

It also adopted dual haptic side buttons in lieu of the physical button, which likely adds to its lightweight feel. Merely unlike the haptic button on the rest of concluding year's Fitbit's, you demand to pinch both sides of the Inspire ii simultaneously to access the settings menu or return to your home screen.

While it might not look much different than subtle, less expensive activeness bands like the Amazfit Band 5 or Wyze Band, the Inspire 2's durable buckle adds to its quality. I found Fitbit's tracker molded more comfortably to my arm than those other bands, too.

Where the Inspire two feels a fiddling less impressive than the other best inexpensive fettle trackers is its display.

Although the greyscale interface is perfectly responsive to swipes, showing you lot data like your step count, calories burned, notifications and more, it looks apathetic. It shouldn't be a dealbreaker in most cases, simply there are quite a few affordable activeness bands out in that location with brilliant, colorful displays.

Fitbit Inspire 2 review: Fitness tracking

Similar some pricier trackers, the Inspire 2 offers automatic workout tracking for select practise types, although you can easily begin a workout from the do app on your wrist. The workout types include merely are not express to running, walking, weights, interval workouts, biking and pond. There'due south no on-board GPS like on the Fitbit Charge iv, then you'll need your phone for more accurately tracking your mileage and viewing your road on a map.

You lot can't see all your metrics mid-activity at once, simply you lot can swipe through the exercise app to come across calories burned, heart rate, time elapsed and Agile Zone Minutes earned.

I'm a big fan of Active Zone Minutes, which monitors the time you spend in the fat burn, cardio or peak heart-rate zones while exercising. Your goal is to earn the AHA'southward and WHO'south recommended 150 Active Zone Minutes each week. In my experience, working out for about 30 minutes v times per week lets me attain that threshold.

Just as someone who ordinarily works out more that, I similar to see more of my workout data at once, peculiarly during cardio workouts where swiping on my wrist poses a distraction. For people who are looking to get more motivated, though, the Inspire two does as its name suggests. You tin get encouraging activity reminders and invites for challenges with your Fitbit contacts.

When you lot activate your included costless year of Fitbit Premium, you'll get even more than health and wellness tools. In add-on to new mindful meditation sessions with Deepak Chopra, guided nutrition programs, workout plans, advanced sleep tracking and more.

Fitbit Inspire 2 review: Sleep tracking and other health features

Speaking of sleep tracking, the Inspire two can tell yous how well (or not) you sleep each night when yous wearable information technology to bed. I've been tracking my zzz's on a multitude of fitness trackers, and plant the Inspire 2 is one of the more accurate wearables when it comes to detecting whether I'm awake. Often I wake upwards (or should I say my domestic dog wakes me up) earlier than I similar, so I go back to slumber. The Inspire ii detected that I stirred, simply didn't end my sleep tracking for the morning.

In add-on to slumber tracking, you lot tin use the Inspire two to log your water intake, changes in your weight and your menstrual bicycle. I didn't take advantage of these features much, simply I could encounter them being useful for rounding out your wellness goals. You can likewise gear up mindfulness goals based on how many times per week y'all want to work on animate or meditation.

For a complete picture of your nerveless health data, you'll demand to apply the Fitbit app (iOS, Android) on your smartphone. In terms of viewable data, the Inspire 2 is peradventure more limited than fettle trackers with fuller displays.

Fitbit Inspire two review: Battery life

Fitbit rates the Inspire 2 battery life for ten days, which makes it the longest-lasting Fitbit. The Fitbit Charge 4 merely lasts up to seven days, or 5 hours with continuous GPS. Since the Inspire ii doesn't have congenital-in GPS, activeness tracking on runs or wheel rides isn't as much of a power drain.

Based on my usage, I think I could eke out closer to 11 days from my Inspire two review unit, but at the expense of it dying while information technology was tracking my sleep overnight. I hooked it up to its proprietary charger with x% of battery left on the tenth day of article of clothing. Information technology charged dorsum up in just under two hours.

Fitbit Inspire 2 review: Verdict

I've recommended the Fitbit Inspire 2 to a few acquaintances who were looking to outset fitness tracking without the fusiness of a full-fledged smartwatch or GPS sports sentry. The Inspire ii nails the basics, and for the price, yous won't notice another activeness band that offers the aforementioned composure.

That said, if you find the Fitbit Charge 4 on sale (or you can spare an additional $50,) it'due south worth the extra greenbacks. It has on-lath GPS, a larger brandish and an SpO2 sensor for more informed sleep data. If you're really on a budget, the Amazfit Ring 5 is the next best option. Only, similar about wearable makers, Amazfit's wellness features, wellness profiles and original programming can't friction match Fitbit'south. And for only $100, the Inspire 2 grants you entry to it all.

Kate Kozuch is a senior writer at Tom's Guide covering wearables, TVs and everything smart-home related. When she's not in cyborg mode, you can find her on an practise bike or channeling her inner celebrity chef. She and her robot army volition dominion the earth 1 day, but until and so, attain her at kate.kozuch@futurenet.com.