Fastrack Reflex – Review – Stylish fitness band for the young you!

Fastrack, which is a brand by Titan, has introduced a product called the Fastrack Reflex. Fastrack Reflex is a smart fitness band, the first of its kind from Fastrack. Fortunately I got to play with the fitness band for over a week and here is my review of the Fastrack Reflex.

If you know you, you will know that I take fitness seriously. I make sure that I don’t miss my morning jogging routine. I have been trying out many fitness bands in the past. The Fastrack Reflex is not something new, but it has got a few advantages over the other bands in this price range.

In the box

• Fastrack Reflex band with tracker
• User Manual

Design

The band is made of good quality rubber and it is a composite material of two colors. Fastrack Reflex comes in three trendy colors, which is iconic to the brand’s image. Fastrack Reflex appeals to the youth with its strong sense of style and wrist presence. The material is neither too soft nor hard. It is comfortable to wear in the hand and it does not irritate the skin. It fits in multiple wrist sizes. The metal fasteners goes around the loop to latch on to the grooves. I would never fall off easily. The tracker can be removed from the band and it fits in very tightly. The tracker has a USB plug built into it, just like the GoQII band 2. It has a small dimple on its face which is the touch sensitive area. The OLED screen is off and it can be lit up only by touching the dimple.

The Fastrack Reflex would survive a few water splashes and your sweat. But it is not a water-resistant device. The design is slightly bulky, but it is definitely trendy. It has a bold style and owing to its size and thickness, people notice it easily.

Display

Fastrack Reflex has an OLED screen on the tracker. The display shows Time, battery status, step count, distance, calories burns, alarm reminders, target achievement. Apart from these fitness data, Reflex shows sedentary reminder, phone calls and SMS notification. At the moment, the watch does not show notification from any third-party apps, but Fastrack is working on it. The display is bright and clear indoors. Under direct sunlight, the brightness is a bit low, but very much visible. Also it does not activate on twist of arm and that might be a problem while riding bike or while the other hand is engaged.

Companion App

The companion App can be downloaded from Play store or iStore. The visual design of the app is a bit rudimentary. Pairing and syncing the device to the app is quite simple. Once paired, the data sync every time the app is opened. After pairing you would have create a profile. You have to enter your height, age and other details. You would also have to entire stride length. The accuracy of the tracker largely depends on the accuracy of your profile. Opening up the app, you would see 4 sections: Steps, Calories, Distance and Sleep. These sections show the current data from the band. Clicking on each section, you can drill down and view more data. But you will have to be on this second screen to see the app settings. I don’t see Saturdays in the calendar on my Pixel XL. But when installed on my Redmi Note 4, it shows Saturdays. The labels are also not clear. I don’t understand what the % is under sleep monitoring. This app needs to be improved visually and also must be debugged for better user experience. Also the app lacks social media integration.

Fitness tracking

It is a fitness tracker it is fairly accurate for a first gen product. It tracks distance and calories with its pedometer. It also gives a sedentary reminder. While jogging, I take a regular 5 KM route. Like the other non-GPS based trackers, Reflex is also 70-75% accurate. But it is very inconsistent. Somedays, it shows 3.8km and other days it goes as low as 2.8km, for the same 5 KM tracked by a GPS tracker. It is quite normal for a pedometer. You cannot completely trust it for distance accuracy, but it will give you an approximate measure of your lifestyle. If you are serious about the accuracy, you must get a GPS based tracker like the Xiaomi Amazfit.

Sleep Tracking

Fastrack Reflex also tracks your sleep. Though I am not sure how sleep data can really help you, the tracker on Reflex was not at all accurate when it comes to measuring sleep. Putting it on the sleep mode was also a bit clunky experience. You will have to specify your sleep time and it will track sleep only on that specified interval. I still love the ways Mi Band 2 tracks sleep automatically. Though sleep data cannot be verified, I feel that the sleep tracking on the Fastrack Reflex is just useless, like the entire concept of sleep tracking.

Battery

Fastrack promises 7 days of battery life with notifications and everything enabled. I charged the device 7 days ago and still the battery percentage has not come down below 75%. This is a low powered device and thanks to the OLED screen, it consumes very less power. Battery on the Fastrack Reflex is very impressive.

Verdict

Fastrack Reflex is priced at Rs 1995. At this price it competes directly with the Mi Band 2. The Mi Band 2 is a versatile and a fairly accurate fitness band. But Fastrack is a trusted band and Reflex will be available across all of Titan Fastrack channels. Also when it comes to warranty and support, an established Indian company like Titan can always be trusted with closed eyes. The Reflex has a trendy style quotient, fairly accurate tracker and a good battery life. It may not have a heart rate monitor or an accurate sleep tracking mechanism. But both these features remain marketing jargon, unless tracked with lab grade measurement tools. Those are not deal breakers for a fitness band. The Fastrack Reflex is a good buy for anyone looking to get a Fitness tracker from a reliable brand.