10 Reasons to Avoid the Fitbit Inspire 3 Fitness Tracker
As a computer expert who loves evaluating the latest digital health gadgets, I was excited to get my hands on the new Fitbit Inspire 3 fitness tracker. Fitbit has long been a leader in the activity tracker space, known for their easy-to-use devices packed with health monitoring features. And with the Inspire 3‘s affordable $99 price point, it seems poised to be a popular entry-level option.
However, after thoroughly testing the Inspire 3 for several weeks, I‘ve concluded there are some significant drawbacks that make it hard to recommend, especially for serious fitness enthusiasts. While it handles basic activity tracking competently, the Inspire 3 falls short in terms of accuracy, insights, and overall user experience compared to slightly pricier Fitbits like the Charge 5 or competitors such as the Apple Watch SE or Garmin Venu Sq. Here are the top 10 reasons I would personally avoid the Fitbit Inspire 3:
- Small, hard-to-read display
One of my biggest disappointments with the Inspire 3 is its tiny grayscale OLED screen. Measuring just 0.72 inches, it‘s one of the smallest displays you‘ll find on any modern fitness tracker. The small size and lack of color make the screen difficult to read in bright sunlight or quickly glance at during a workout to check your real-time metrics.
While the Inspire 3‘s screen is an upgrade over the previous Inspire 2 model, it still pales in comparison to the larger, full-color displays on pricier Fitbits and rival devices from Garmin and Apple. Those allow you to more easily view notifications, health data, and even workout animations at a glance.
- Questionable accuracy of health metrics
Like all Fitbits, the Inspire 3 tracks a wide range of health metrics 24/7 – including steps, heart rate, calories burned, Active Zone Minutes, and sleep. However, in my testing, I found the accuracy of many of these metrics to be hit-or-miss compared to a chest strap heart rate monitor and more advanced trackers.
For example, during an intense HIIT workout, the Inspire 3 often struggled to keep up with quick changes in my heart rate, at times showing readings up to 10-15 bpm lower than a chest strap. It also tended to overestimate my calorie burn during strength training sessions where my heart rate stayed relatively low but I was still exerting a lot of effort.
Sleep tracking was another area where the Inspire 3 came up short for me. While it did a decent job at capturing my overall time asleep, the breakdowns of sleep stages (light, deep, REM) often seemed way off compared to a sleep tracking mat and more advanced Fitbit models with SpO2 sensors. Without a pulse oximeter to measure blood oxygen levels, the Inspire 3 is basically just guessing about your sleep quality.
- Missing advanced health sensors
On the topic of SpO2, this is probably the most glaring omission on the Inspire 3 compared to pricier trackers. Blood oxygen measurement has become an increasingly common feature on fitness watches as an indicator of overall health, sleep quality, and altitude acclimation. It can potentially help detect issues like sleep apnea.
While the Inspire 3 does include Fitbit‘s robust sleep tracking and "Irregular Heart Rhythm Notifications" that can flag signs of AFib, the lack of SpO2 puts it a notch below the Charge 5, Versa 3, Sense and most competitors above $100. Temperature tracking is another advanced health sensor you won‘t find on the Inspire.
- Paywalled data and insights
As a data geek, one of my biggest gripes with Fitbit is increasingly putting its most useful health analytics behind a $10/month Premium subscription paywall. While the Inspire 3 shows you basic stats like steps and current heart rate for free, you‘ll need to pony up for Premium to see your full cardio fitness score (a VO2 max estimate), detailed sleep stage breakdowns, and personalized guided recommendations.
The Inspire 3 does come with a generous 6-month trial of Fitbit Premium, but that still means an extra $60/year on top of the purchase price to continue accessing your full data and insights. Considering Apple and Garmin don‘t charge any ongoing fees for most of their health metrics, Fitbit‘s Premium subscription leaves a sour taste.
- Can‘t control music playback
If you like to listen to music or podcasts during workouts, not being able to control playback from your watch can be a real drag – especially if your phone is tucked away. Unfortunately, due to its small screen and basic controls, this is one feature the Inspire 3 lacks compared to all of Fitbit‘s pricier models.
So if you want to pause a song, skip tracks or adjust volume, you‘ll have to fumble with your phone mid-workout instead of tapping a couple buttons on your wrist. The lack of music controls may not be a dealbreaker for some, but it does limit the Inspire 3‘s utility as a workout companion compared to something like the $180 Charge 5.
- Very limited watch face customization
Having an attractive, informative, customizable watch face is one of the joys of wearing a smartwatch or advanced fitness tracker. But unfortunately, this is another area where the Inspire 3 disappoints. The device comes preloaded with just a handful of very basic watch faces to choose from, none of which are particularly stylish or offer much in the way of customization.
Whereas most Fitbits, Garmins, and Apple Watches let you pick from hundreds or thousands of 1st and 3rd party watch faces (or even design your own), the Inspire 3 limits you to around a dozen bland, uncustomizable options. You can‘t tweak the colors, add complications to show metrics of your choice, or download designs from an app store. It makes the Inspire 3 feel much less "smart" than most rival devices.
- No guided workouts or coaching
One area where Fitbit (and Apple) have lagged behind Garmin is providing on-wrist guided workouts with animations. Higher-end Garmins can store simple workout routines with names of exercises, rep counts, and stick figure graphics right on the device that you can follow along with. They also support audio coaching for runs and walks.
The Inspire 3, on the other hand, offers none of these workout guidance features. The most you get is auto-detection of certain activities and real-time pace/distance audio cues if you start an "Exercise" activity specifically. But there are no animations or on-screen prompts telling you what to do during a strength training session, for example. You‘ll need to spring for the Fitbit Versa 3, Sense, or Charge 5 to access guided workouts.
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No contactless payments
Another smart feature reserved for Fitbit‘s higher-end models is NFC contactless payments. With a Charge 5, Versa 3, or Sense you can load a credit card and tap to pay at retail terminals, which is super handy if you‘ve left your wallet behind on a jog or at the gym. The Inspire 3 lacks NFC, so you‘ll have to carry a card or cash to make any purchases on the go. -
Lacks always-on display mode
With its already tiny, dim screen, the fact that the Inspire 3 lacks an always-on display (AOD) mode is a real bummer. With AOD enabled, key information like the time and core metrics stay visible on the screen even when your arm is down at your side. It makes it easier to discreetly check your stats without an exaggerated wrist raise gesture.
Every Apple Watch and most Fitbits, Garmins, and other trackers over $200 now support AOD, but the Inspire 3 is still stuck with a short 2-3 second raise-to-wake setting that some people find too quick and sensitive compared to pricier models. It‘s a small detail, but one that makes the Inspire 3 feel dated.
- Better options for a bit more money
When you add up all of the Inspire 3‘s limitations and consider what else you can get in the ~$200 price range, it becomes harder to recommend Fitbit‘s budget model for all but the most casual users. Devices like the Apple Watch SE ($249), Fitbit Charge 5 ($180), and Garmin Venu Sq ($200) offer significantly larger screens, more accurate health tracking, useful smart features, and expansive customization for only a modest price bump.
For iPhone users, the Apple Watch SE is a no-brainer upgrade pick, with its gorgeous Retina display, ECG/SpO2 sensors, best-in-class notifications, and deep Activity syncing with your iPhone. The Venu Sq brings Garmin‘s revered GPS and workout tracking to a sleek smartwatch form factor. And the Charge 5 is essentially a supercharged Inspire 3 with an ECG, EDA stress sensor, and sleeker design.
So unless you‘re really trying to spend under $100 on a recognized brand name tracker, I would steer most buyers to wait for a sale and snag one of these more capable, well-rounded watches. The Apple Watch SE can frequently be found for $199, and the Fitbit Charge dips under $150.
The Bottom Line
While the Fitbit Inspire 3 is certainly a very lightweight, low-profile, and affordable fitness tracker, it comes saddled with too many significant compromises in accuracy, features, and user experience for me to broadly recommend it. The tiny, dim display, iffy heart rate and sleep stage data, lack of GPS and SpO2, limited customization, and paywalled insights make it feel more like an overpriced pedometer than a cutting-edge health device.
If you‘re new to activity tracking and just want an unobtrusive, inexpensive way to monitor basic health data and receive phone notifications, the Inspire 3 may suit you fine. But athletes, outdoor enthusiasts, and data nerds will be much better served by Fitbit‘s Charge 5 or Sense models, the Apple Watch SE, or a Garmin Venu. Those devices provide noticeably better accuracy, smart features, and user experience that is well worth the added cost in my testing.
So as much as I wanted to love the Inspire 3 as an affordable entry-point to the Fitbit ecosystem, I just found myself missing too many important features and doubting the data too often to wholeheartedly endorse it. Serious athletes and health nuts will definitely want to invest a bit more in a better tracker.
