Our pick
The Fitbit Inspire HR is an advanced tracker that monitors your heart rate, which in turn allows it to monitor several other things. It can also monitor your various stages of sleep and, most importantly, it can track many kinds of exercises, automatically.
For
- Excellent health and fitness tracker
- Heart rate tracking
- Tracks your sleep stages
- Guided breathing
- Tracks many types of exercise
Against
- Costs more than Fitbit Inspire
- No built-in GPS
- Only one color available
- Can't be worn as a clip
Money saver
The less expensive Fitbit Inspire doesn't monitor your heart rate or have any of the features that entails, but it still has plenty to offer. Like the Inspire HR, it tracks your steps, activity, calories burned, and menstrual cycle. It monitors your sleep, and it lets you get notifications and alerts from your connected smartphone.
For
- Costs 30% less than Inspire HR
- Feature-rich health and fitness tracker
- Comes in two different colors
- Can be worn as a clip
Against
- Does not monitor heart rate
- No built-in GPS
While I personally would go for the Fitbit Inspire HR, it's not a one-size-fits-all situation. If you don't need the extra feature set, why pay extra for them? Both options offer a lot for their price tag.
Bigger price, bigger feature set
The Fitbit Inspire HR, and the Fitbit Inspire have a lot in common. They are both excellent fitness and health trackers that count your steps and calories burned. Both monitor your activity and automatically register your exercise. They additionally track fertility and menstrual cycles and sleep (offering a silent vibration alarm to awaken you without disturbing your partner).
Outside of tracking, both will send you move reminders to keep you on track to meet hourly 250-step goals. They'll also both connect to your smartphone so you can receive text, calendar, app alerts, and call notifications.
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Fitbit Inspire HR | Fitbit Inspire |
|---|---|---|
| Steps and activity tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Calories burned | Yes | Yes |
| Sleep tracking and silent alarm | Yes | Yes |
| Female cycle tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Automatic exercise recognition | Yes | Yes |
| Move reminders | Yes | Yes |
| Notifications and alerts from phone | Yes | Yes |
| Heart rate tracking | Yes | No |
| Sleep stages (light, deep, REM) | Yes | No |
| Guided breathing | Yes | No |
| Swim tracking | Yes | No |
| 15+ Excercise modes | Yes | No |
| Cardio fitness level | Yes | No |
The main difference between the Fitbit Inspire and the Inspire HR is in the names: the Inspire HR monitors heart rate while the Inspire does not. However, this one feature has implications that go far beyond just measuring heart rate.
If none of the added features that the Fitbit Inspire HR has to offer appeal to you, why pay more money for it?
For example, the Inspire HR can use your heart rate to create a much deeper picture of your sleep cycles. While the Inspire does indeed monitor your sleep, the Inspire HR takes it a step further by automatically tracking your time in light, deep, and REM sleep. Guided breathing is another feature you'll only find on the Inspire HR, since it reads your heart rate to help you lower it.
The Inspire HR's heart rate tracking also allows it to create a much deeper picture of your exercise habits with more than a dozen different exercise modes and real-time stats. The Inspire HR offers swim tracking, whereas the Inspire does not. You can also monitor your cardio fitness level. The Inspire HR can utilize your smartphone's GPS to see real-time pace and distance during runs and bike rides.
While the Fitbit Inspire HR does come with three choices of band color (Black, Lilac, White), the Fitbit Inspire HR itself comes in only one color: Black. Oddly enough, the lower-priced Fitbit Inspire comes in two different colors: Black or Sangria, each with a matching band. Band color is less critical because you can always buy more bands. But if you want the Sangria color option, and you don't need the added features the Inspire HR has to offer, then you might prefer the Fitbit Inspire.
Another style thing of note: the Inspire can be worn as a clip, while the Inspire HR cannot. That's because the Inspire HR needs to be worn on your wrist to detect your heart rate.
Yes, the Fitbit Inspire and the Inspire HR are almost the same minus the heart rate tracking, but that's going to be the dealbreaker. If none of the added features that the Fitbit Inspire HR has to offer appeal to you, why pay more money for it? The Fitbit Inspire is a solid choice if you want a health and fitness tracker and don't need the heart rate-related features. The fact it comes in more colors than the Inspire HR is a nice bonus, too.
More features
Sure, the Fitbit Inspire HR costs more than its scaled-down counterpart, but you're getting a lot for your money. You get the added heart rate tracking, but that allows so many other features, such as guided breathing, more detailed sleep monitoring, swim tracking, and far more detailed exercise tracking.
Better price point
The Fitbit Inspire doesn't have heart rate tracking and other features that the Inspire HR offers, but it still has plenty to offer. If you don't need the Inspire HR's extra features, save some money with the Inspire. You also get the Sangria color option, which you can't get with the Inspire HR.
