Fitbit Luxe review: This fitness tracker is so sleek, I can live with the pain points

When Fitbit announced the launch of Fitbit Luxe in April 2021, I was psyched. “Fashion-forward fitness and wellness tracker”, “effortlessly chic bracelet design”, “jewellery-like look and feel”, “light, slim form factor”, “maximum comfort”… these words spoke to me, as a fitness enthusiast and Fitbit user for the last eight years who’s constantly looking out for the next sleek model to try.

It’s fair to say that I was won over by the aesthetic of the tracker based on what I saw online, before I knew what it had to offer in terms of functions. Form over function sometimes, right?

I’m a watch-loyal person — I hardly switch up my wrist accessory unless I really have to. I also have pretty small wrists and lean towards a feminine look. The fitness watches and trackers that I’ve seen and tried over the years have been too chunky and manly for my liking.

Touted as Fitbit’s thinnest touchscreen tracker to date, the Luxe seemed like The One, so I readily gave it a go as part of an unsponsored media review.

Here are my honest thoughts about the Fitbit Luxe, having worn it for three months now.

What I love about it

The sleek, feminine form

I’m not gonna lie. I fell in love with how slim and pretty it was at first sight, with gentle curves in the right places. It’s also Fitbit’s thinnest touchscreen tracker to date — a welcome switch from the bulkier and angular Fitbit Charge 4 I was wearing prior to this, which, to be honest, wasn’t that comfy to sleep with.

As someone who doesn’t like to fuss over my daily accessories but still wants to look put together, Fitbit Luxe is perfect with its clean and modern style, as well as its jewellery-like look and feel. Its low-key design goes well with my minimalist style. On the whole, the Fitbit Luxe holds its own in terms of understated elegance.

The colour choices

As a “fashion-forward” tracker that’s targeted at women, Fitbit Luxe comes in strategically pleasing, feminine colours.

The black option is matched with a graphite stainless steel finish for the case, while the white is a pleasing lunar white with a greyish tint, matched with a soft gold finish. There’s also an orchid pink version with a platinum stainless steel finish, catering to pink lovers.

And for those who want to wear the Fitbit Luxe as a jewellery piece, there’s a special edition that comes with a Parker Link bracelet in soft gold stainless steel.

So far, I’ve not regretted my colour choice (lunar white) as it has paired seamlessly with my outfits, from activewear to smart casual dinner dates. The soft gold finishes on the case add polish, making it quite apt for the boardroom, and paired with a blazer (I’m still working from home in loungewear, but one can dream).

When I need to take a breather and focus on my thoughts, I often find myself gazing at the Fitbit Luxe wristband to admire its colour and nice curves. No, I’m not exaggerating.

The unobtrusiveness

With the Fitbit Luxe’s discreet design, I don’t fiddle with it as much as I do with other trackers and smartwatches. It’s remarkably lightweight, has soft and flexible straps, and sits comfortably on my wrist as I wear it in a slightly loose fit.

Most importantly, it has passed my sleep test — I don’t get bothered by it during sleep, and hardly get any watch marks on my wrist when I wake up. That’s a crucial determinator of wearability, since trackers like the Fitbit Luxe are designed to be worn 24/7 in order to monitor our sleep, movements and resting heart rate.

Though this tracker is water-resistant up to 50m, I remove it before I shower and put it back on right after. My wrist gets a break once a week when I charge the Luxe. Speaking of which, the battery life is worth raving about.

The five-day battery life

As any smartwatch and tracker wearer can attest to, having to charge your device daily or every other day — on top of our already long list of gadgets to be charged (think smartphone, laptop, power bank, wireless earphones) — can be a seriously bothersome and draining affair.

That’s one of the reasons why I’ve been a happy camper wearing Fitbit devices over the years — they are relatively low-maintenance, promising at least a five-day battery life.

As somebody who strives towards a minimalist lifestyle and has a max-out mentality, the Fitbit Luxe is right up my alley. It boasts a battery life of up to five days but in reality, it usually lasts for a good seven days before juice runs out.

That’s partly because I don’t use the features heavily, mostly during my twice-weekly runs. I also love how quick the charging is – in about two hours, it can be fully charged and ready to get back onto my wrist.

Though I’m all praise for its sleek and elegant form, the Fitbit Luxe has corresponding trade-offs that affect its user-friendliness.

What I don’t like about it

The fussy touchscreen

Using a buttonless, fully touchscreen tracker like the Fitbit Luxe that relies on intuitive swipes and taps inevitably leads to more guesswork in the control, especially when you’re on the go. Using the touchscreen effectively has been a challenge for me since day one.

Having to toggle between the main screen (clock face) and the rest of the functions such as exercise tracking, timer and notifications is a hit or miss every day.

Measuring 3.5cm (height) by 1.5cm (width), the screen is dainty to begin with. I suppose it works best with petite fingers and fine control, but even with my relatively slim fingers and purposeful touch (eg. double tap on the screen to return to the main screen, swipe right to access the functions), I struggle to achieve what I want, about one out of five times.

Common reasons for my navigation fails: Greasy or wet fingers, and insufficient power in the touch. Sometimes, repeated tapping due to impatience causes the screen to lag or hang.

The height of my frustrations happens when I have trouble starting my run session on the Fitbit Luxe just before I start running, and when I’m looking to activate the timer just before I do a static exercise like the plank.

Overcoming the inertia to work out is challenging enough, so when the Fitbit Luxe complicates my process of starting a workout with its subpar responsiveness, I get suitably upset with it.

In such instances, I miss the side button in the older Fitbit tracker models, such as Fitbit Charge 4. Yes, the long button makes the tracker look a wee bit chunkier, but it has never failed me.

Current feelings about the Fitbit Luxe

Given how I’m in love with the tracker’s neat form and solid battery life, I’m prepared to live with day-to-day touchscreen bugs like those mentioned above.

That said, I’m happy to report that a recent Fitbit software update has improved the responsiveness of the touchscreen, increased the font size, and enabled the always-on display functionality, which means that there’s no need to tap the screen just to check the time. As I’d rather reduce the drain on battery life, I haven’t activated the always-on display function.

The latest version also introduced another nice-to-have feature: the tracking of blood oxygen saturation levels using SpO2 measurements when I sleep.

FYI: Normal oxygen saturation in healthy adults ranges from 95 per cent to 100 per cent. Any level below this could be indicative of medical conditions such as respiratory infections (eg. flu, Covid-19), chronic lung and heart diseases, and anaemia.

Mundane as it sounds, I appreciate the timer and stopwatch functions in this sleek tracker, as they have contributed significantly to the success of my daily tea-making, household chores and bodyweight exercises — touchscreen flops aside.

Knowing that the Fitbit Luxe is water-resistant to 50m and has automatic swim tracking makes me satisfied wearing it, as I can hit the pool or sea anytime with this tracker without worries.

However, this doesn’t mean that I’m pledging lifetime loyalty to the Luxe.

I’m hoping that Fitbit will bring back the side button in future iterations. If Fitbit is planning to keep their trackers fully touchscreen, they’ll have to find a way to improve on the responsiveness and ease of use — before user issues undermine the range of features that Fitbit prides itself for.

Would I recommend the Fitbit Luxe?

For those looking for a stylish, everyday tracker that provides basic stats such as steps, workout duration, calories burned, active zone minutes and heart rate, the Fitbit Luxe does a more-than-decent job, presenting these stats in easy-to-read graphs, charts and scores in the user-friendly Fitbit app.

If you’re a sleep nazi or just want to improve your sleep quality, joining the Fitbit ecosystem, which has amassed billions of nights of sleep data over the years, is a good move.

I’ve learnt many things about my sleep that I never thought I needed to know but have come to appreciate (such as sleeping heart rate and number of hours in REM sleep), thanks to Fitbit’s detailed sleep tracking and insights.

Another good-to-have feature is the stress management score, which provides a daily assessment of your body’s ability to handle stress based on your activity levels, sleep and heart rate.

This is available in Fitbit Premium, a paid subscription service in the Fitbit app that offers deeper insights about your health, plus access to a range of workouts and mindfulness sessions from popular brands such as Deepak Chopra’s Mindful Method.

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Made for the fashion-conscious, the Fitbit Luxe’s elegant and understated chic form definitely stands out from other trackers in its category. I’d also say that the Luxe checks my boxes in terms of 24/7 wearability and comfort — it feels at home on my wrist.

If, like me, you appreciate this sleek, discreet and seemingly durable design, and aren’t too fussed about the occasional touchscreen letdowns, the Fitbit Luxe is likely to stay on your wrist for a long time.

The Fitbit Luxe (U.P. $198, including six months of Fitbit Premium subscription) is available on Lazada, Shopee, Amazon, Harvey Norman and other major retailers in Singapore.

The Fitbit Luxe Special Edition (U.P. $298) with the soft gold stainless steel Parker Link bracelet is available on Shopee, Amazon and other major retailers in Singapore.

If you’re planning to get it, look out for special discounts during 11.11 and this year-end sales period.

This article was first published in Her World Online.