Withings Activité Pop review

You don’t always want a flashy smartwatch on your wrist, but you'll probably always want all of the fitness tracking tech, even if it's plugged inside a stylish wearable.

That’s where the Withings Activité Pop comes in. It gives you a lot of the step tracking features you see on a normal smartwatch, but combines them with an analog watchface, making for a wearable that no-one would assume was a fitness device.

The problem Withings faces is this market is already becoming crowded with products such as the Misfit Phase – but the Activité Pop doesn't cost as much, so it's got that going for it. Price alone is rarely enough though, so how does Withings wearable compare to the rest of the market?

Withings Activité Pop price and release date 

• Retails for $129.95 (£99.99, about AU$160)

The Withings Activité Pop isn’t all that cheap at $129.95 (£99.99, about AU$160) but offers a lot for the money and matches up well with a lot of the competition in this market.

In fact, the Withings Activité Pop is actually at the cheaper end, with the similar Misfit Phase for example costing £165 ($175, AU$246). In the UK we've also seen the price of the Activité Pop drop slightly too as it originally launched at £120.

Design

• Slim design, unlike some other smartwatches
• Some bold color choices that may not suit a professional
• Easy to read screen and comfortable to wear strap

The Withings Activité Pop won’t have a design that everybody loves, but it’s good to have a smartwatch choice that isn’t powered by a full-blown AMOLED display you need to charge every night.

Instead, the Activité Pop is much like any normal analog watch, with a watchface you’ve seen on every other normal watch you’ve ever owned. It has a glass front, with a slightly raised design. You won’t be able to interact with the watch face and there's no crown to program the watch or to change any features.

Instead everything is controlled through your smartphone. But the lack of buttons to press means you can always see the time, and you can see your step count in the smaller counter on the bottom right.

The step counter reads from 0 to 100 and works as a percentage of your step count for the whole day. If you set your target in the app to 12,000 and walk 6,000 steps you'll see it reach the 50% point.

It's useful to be able to change your step target and still see your percentage completed without the Activité Pop having to include a digital screen.

The strap for the Activité Pop is comfortable to wear thanks to the durable silicone material,, but it can feel a little bit weak when you’re out for a run and slide about on your wrist. The silicone is a good material and won’t irritate your wrist like some fitness trackers, but it’s not the best for keeping it in place.

We didn't find ourselves wearing it all day - especially when typing at a desk - which means it can get left behind quite easily and you'll not always be tracking your steps. It is lightweight though so you likely won't notice the Activité Pop  when you're out walking.

The Activité Pop may be attractive in its overall design, but it might not work in a professional or formal setting, especially if you go for the pink option. You have the choice of four colors: blue - pictured throughout this review - black, pink or off-white.

The off-white color isn’t very attractive, while the pink is particularly bold. If you’re looking for a formal watch you may be better off looking toward the Withings Steel HR.

The strap is easy to take on and off though and because it doesn't have to include a huge battery Withings has managed to keep the device slim and close to your wrist.