Fitbit Inspire 2 review: a solid value choice for tracking wellness and sleep stats

The Fitbit Inspire 2 is Fitbit's more budget-friendly offering amongst its wide selection of trackers and smartwatches. As one of the best sleep trackers, it stands out thanks to being so lightweight and comfortable to wear and – of course – being able to track your sleeping patterns effectively too. 

It's a little basic in places, lacking GPS and Fitbit Pay support. Also, we're not huge fans of its tiny 1.4-inch OLED display, but as a simple way to track the basics and help you monitor your stress levels, too, it's refreshingly straightforward. That's further helped by its 10-day battery life, which means you won't have to think too hard about maintaining it either. 

While it might not be the best Fitbit for everyone, if you can stretch that far as the Fitbit Charge 4 (or Charge 5 etc.), the Fitbit Inspire 2 is still a good bet if money is tight or you simply don't want to invest in anything too feature-rich. If you have a little more cash to burn, check out the successor of this fitness band, the all-around excellent Fitbit Inspire 3. Or you can just window-shop the best fitness trackers.

Fitbit Inspire 2 review: price and release date

The Fitbit Inspire 2 is available for £89.99/$99.95/AU$149.95 in either black, lunar white, or desert rose. The Fitbit Inspire 2 can be purchased directly from Fitbit and selected third party retailers.

The main features of the Fitbit Inspire 2 include 24/7 heart rate monitoring, Active Zone minutes, activity tracking, sleep tracking, 20 goal-based exercises, and a 10-day battery life. 

Fitbit Inspire 2 review: setup and use

The Fitbit Inspire 2 is incredibly simple to set up. We're talking minutes to go from unpacking it to placing it on your wrist and enjoying it tracking everything you could want. The wrist strap is a simple plastic band that doesn't require you to measure it or do anything too complicated with setup undertaken via the Fitbit app. If you've previously used a Fitbit before, you can sign in with your existing account, choosing to sync a new device in the form of the Fitbit Inspire 2. It's simple stuff and the kind of thing anyone can manage, even if they're not particularly tech savvy. 

If you're new to Fitbit, all you need to do is enter a few key details like your age, weight, height and fitness aims, and Fitbit Inspire 2 adjusts things accordingly so it knows roughly what to expect of your heart rate and general performance throughout the day. 

After that's done, it's all fairly hands-off if you want it to be. You'll receive occasional notifications letting you know of how your steps are going throughout the day but the Fitbit Inspire 2 mostly blends in. Similarly, you can check in on the app (which is useful for sleep tracking. More on that later) but it's not vital if you have a busy day. A 10-day battery life certainly helps here as you won't have to worry about recharging it too often either. 

Fitbit Inspire 2 review: design and build quality 

Subtle to wear, the Fitbit Inspire 2 is very comfortable which is useful when you're embarking on tracking your sleep. Designed like a smallish wrist strap rather than a watch, it's thin and lightweight so you'll soon forget you're wearing it. We had the desert rose variety which is the brightest option out of the three but it still blends in with what you're wearing quite well. 

The build quality feels reasonably competent for the price too. There aren't really any parts you'll worry about knocking and water resistance up to 50m means you won't need to worry about taking it off for a bath or shower either. This is a device designed to be worn long term.

Where things falter is the Fitbit Inspire 2's 1.4-inch backlit OLED display. It's fine and can show some limited information but it's pretty basic. Receiving notifications can be a bit limited here with chunky bezels further limiting what you can see. It's not the greatest in bright lights either and it's all pretty rudimentary. Still, it does the job. 

On either side of the display are capacitive buttons which are subtle but sometimes a little inaccurate to the touch. In conjunction with them, you can swipe up or down the display to view different stats such as how many steps you've taken or how many active zone minutes you've achieved so far today, as well as your sleep score. 

A nice feature included in the Fitbit Inspire 2 is also its Tile integration in case you happen to misplace it. Just download the Tile app to get started with that. 

Fitbit Inspire 2 review: features

The Fitbit Inspire 2 lacks GPS and we mention that quickly because it's a big downside if you intend on using it as a fitness tracker. While the tracker offers 20 goal-based exercises much like its bigger sibling, the Fitbit Versa 3, don't count on tracking where you've actually been with it. On the plus side, it does retain SmartTrack which automatically recognises your workouts and records them for you. For the most part, it's reasonably accurate too although we did notice the Fitbit Inspire 2 mistakenly think a brisk walk was an outdoor cycle for a few moments.

Alongside the exercises profiles is Fitbit's Active Zone Minutes system. This tracks your heart rate and checks if you've reached the fat burn zone or your cardio peak depending on what you're doing. It's a good way of helping you push yourself a little further in a responsible way. You don't need to set it up either with the Fitbit Inspire 2 automatically monitoring this.

Other features include stress management tools which encourage you to track how you're feeling so you can see if there are certain mental health pressure points during your day and week. Alongside that are guided breathing sessions to help you feel a bit calmer when you need it. 

Tapping more into the smartwatch aesthetic, it's also possible to use the Fitbit Inspire 2 to track notifications from your phone such as any incoming calls, texts, WhatsApp messages and so forth. The tiny screen means it's not ideal but it's a little easier than needing to dig out your phone regularly or leave it with the sound switched on. 

Don't count on music playback or Fitbit Pay here. You'll need to pay the extra for the Fitbit Charge 4 instead if those features are essential to you. 

Fitbit Inspire 2 review: sleep tracking

When it comes to sleep tracking and general health monitoring, the Fitbit Inspire 2 does a really good job in this area. That's helped by the fact it's so lightweight and comfortable to wear so you won't begrudge wearing it while you sleep.

Via a combination of heart rate monitoring and monitoring how still you are, each morning you're assigned extensive stats by the Fitbit app. These include giving you a score out of 100 of how well you slept, the length of time you were asleep, before breaking things down according to sleep stages. After all, REM sleep isn't the same as a light snooze so it's important for a good quality sleep tracker to be able to tell the difference here. In our time with it, the Fitbit Inspire 2 seemed to be on track too. 

Upgrade to Fitbit Premium and you get to view your sleeping heart rate too and see how that may affect your sleeping pattern. 

It's all very clearly laid out via the Fitbit app so you feel in control of things. Granted, sometimes you'll feel a bit disheartened at just what a rough night's sleep you may have had but it's useful to see which times during the night might be an issue for and see how you may be able to change that. While the Fitbit Inspire 2's screen is fairly mediocre, the app more than makes up for its shortcomings. 

Fitbit Inspire 2 review: comfort and fit

Everything about the Fitbit Inspire 2 is incredibly comfortable. We've tested many different smartwatches and fitness trackers and the Fitbit Inspire 2 is the kind you almost forget you're wearing. Its plastic strap has plenty of rungs to choose from so you can easily find a fit that works for you. 

More importantly, it's all lightweight and everything associated with the Fitbit Inspire 2 has curved edges so you don't have to worry about anything digging in. 

It's ideally suited for wearing all day and night which is the point, of course. Its water resistance means you won't have to worry about taking it off for a shower either so again, you'll forget all about it. The extended battery life is the main advantage that comes from the lack of GPS so if you're anything like us, you may be prone to forgetting where you put the proprietary charger because it doesn't need charging often. 

Fitbit Inspire 2 review: alternatives to consider

There's no shortage of the best fitness trackers to choose from out there which is why we're fairly convinced that the Fitbit Inspire 2 is best as a sleep tracker instead. That's thanks to how comfy it is but there are alternatives.

The Fitbit Charge 4 is more expensive but offers GPS and the same sleep tracking tools you'll see on the Fitbit Inspire 2. It's a similar weight too so you won't have to worry about any disruption while snoozing. 

Alternatively, a budget offering like the Xiaomi Mi Band 4 can be a good option if you want to spend even less but it's far from as comfortable as the Fitbit Inspire 2. Still, it's also about a quarter of the price at only about £20. It still has a heart rate tracker too so it's reasonably accurate while you sleep.

There's also the option of the potential overkill purchase – the Apple Watch Series 6. Far more expensive than anything else mentioned here, it's worth it if you'll use it. With a brighter always-on display than previous Apple Watches, it looks gorgeous. It also has excellent app support so you can try a lot of different health and fitness options. An array of health sensors including a blood oxygen monitor and ECG facility further provides some peace of mind. Expect to pay for the privilege though. 

Fitbit Inspire 2 review: verdict

The Fitbit Inspire 2 is a good fitness tracker providing you know you'll be content with the basics. At this price range, it offers much of the functionality you'll need but it's more of a general wellness device than one aimed at fitness enthusiasts. 

If you want to go phone-free or track exactly where you've been, you need something like the Fitbit Charge 4 to benefit from these features. However, if you simply want to track your heart rate and how many Active Zone Minutes you're achieving each day, the Fitbit Inspire 2 has a lot to like about it. That goes even more so when you consider how well it tracks your sleep, stress levels, and even other basic essentials like allowing you to log how much water you drink each day.

So, it all comes down to why you're considering buying a fitness tracker. If you're an active runner or cyclist, consider something with a built-in GPS. Depending on your budget, that could be the Fitbit Charge 4 or even an Apple Watch Series 6. 

For those on a budget though that simply want to keep an eye on the core basics to enriching your life, the Fitbit Inspire 2 still scratches that itch pretty well. If you can find it at a discounted price, it's even more appealing. 

Fitbit Inspire 2 review: also consider

The Huawei Band 6 is a capable fitness tracker with a range of health and wellness features for an excellent price. In terms of functionality, it's similar to the Inspire 2 but has a larger screen which might make it more appealing to some people. If you need a fitness band that can track everyday activities with relative accuracy, the Band 6 is one of your best options.

The Samsung Galaxy Fit2 offers some good, basic health tracking capabilities wrapped up in a compact and sleek design at a great price. You will need to install an insane amount of bloatware on your phone to get it up and running, not to mention the questionable accuracy of this fitness tracker. It's cheap, though.