Fastrack Reflex 3.0 Review: Basic Fitness Tracker that bets on limited functionality

Fitness trackers have their own place in the tech industry. Wearable technology is a long way from where we started, and every smartwatch on the market comes with fitness tracking features like step counting and a heart rate monitor. Fitness trackers have their own simplicity, however, and are still popular among fitness-minded users, as running or exercising with a sturdy smartwatch on your wrist can become irritating. Fitness trackers offer more limited functionality than smartwatches because they focus more on the fitness part of usability. However, not all fitness trackers can be trusted due to vital sign accuracy, product quality, and more importantly, data storage practices. Fitbit would be the industry leader in fitness trackers as it is the brand that started the category and popularized it with the public. However, now we are seeing more and more unconventional brands making their way into the market to offer a wider range. One of those brands (not so unconventional given the fitness-focused marketing) is owned by Titan fast track. Fastrack Reflex 3.0 was launched in the Indian market earlier this year at a price of Rs 2,199. I’ve spent quite some time with the Fastrack Reflex 3.0, and this is what I feel:

The Fastrack Reflex 3.0 is instantly designed as your conventional fitness tracker, with a rectangular 1-inch TFT touch-sensitive display. The fitness tracker comes with multiple features such as a heart rate sensor, pedometer, sleep tracking, various training modes, breathing assistance and more. In terms of design, it comes with a simple rectangular display with a silicone wristband. There is a dotted pattern at the bottom of the screen, which is done in a braided pattern on the strap. The band also features “Fastrack” branding on the top edge and there is a logo directly on the clip that attaches to the fitness tracker around your wrist. In terms of design, it resembles any other fitness tracker – a safe approach to Fastrack. A major design flaw with the Fastrack Reflex 3.0 is that it doesn’t show where the Home button is. The Home button does exist directly below the screen, but there is no marking to indicate that it does exist.

The display on the Fastrack Reflex 3.0 is a TFT display and is bright enough to use in a variety of environments. The touch on the screen isn’t the best we’ve seen as it often gives wrong feedback. Although it is something that can be annoying in the early stages, as we are used to very nice and responsive touch panels on gadgets in 2021, it is something that one will get used to after a while with the product.

In terms of features, the Fastrack Reflex 3.0 comes with many features such as 24×7 heart rate monitoring, pedometer, sleep tracking, multiple training modes and more. The heart rate monitor on the Fastrack Reflex 3.0 is quite accurate. We compared the results with an EKG machine in a hospital and it showed similar results in terms of the person’s heart rate. The pedometer is also accurate on the Fastrack Reflex 3.0 and gives users a good idea of ​​how many steps they have walked during their day. Even training modes on the Fastrack Reflex 3.0 help quite a bit, as they tell users how much time they trained, how many calories they burned, and what their average heart rate was during the workout — all this, it shows with a certain level of accuracy. The Fastrack Reflex 3.0 also comes with IP68 rating so you can do all your workouts without worrying about sweat damaging your device. There is also a breathing exercise that tells users to breathe in and out slowly, hoping to calm themselves.

While these basic functions on the fitness tracker work quite well, many functions are not accurate at all and show random data at random times without the user entering anything. For example, the Sleep Tracker is not accurate at all. During my month-long time with the Fastrack Reflex 3.0, I was unable to figure out how to track my sleep. Sometimes it randomly showed data in the “Sleep” section of the fitness tracker, so it wasn’t exactly clear where it came from. Apart from this, another annoyance about the Fastrack Reflex 3.0 is that it doesn’t show any notifications on the fitness band. As mentioned in the details of the tracker, it is supposed to show notifications. While it did show me notifications when I first connected it to my phone and turned notifications on, it hasn’t shown up since. The fitness tracker does show who is calling you, but that’s the only notification you get after the first use, at least in our case.

The Fastrack Reflex 3.0 works through an app called Fastrack Reflex. The app is good and makes using the very limited fitness tracker just that little bit smoother. The app allows users to connect and sync their fitness tracker to their smartphones and track their vital signs in a more detailed way. The app also allows users to change settings and watch faces and enable/disable notifications on their Fastrack Reflex 3.0.

In short, the Fastrack Reflex 3.0 is the most basic fitness tracker you can buy. During my time with the band, the most commonly used feature was the pedometer, which is thankfully accurate. There are disappointments in many areas such as touch sensitivity, sleep tracking, notifications and the fact that there is nothing to indicate the presence of the home button. The Fastrack Reflex 3.0 isn’t the best fitness tracker in its price segment, as it offers a fairly limited user experience and doesn’t live up to its claims in a smooth way. My recommendation would be to look at options from Xiaomi, OnePlus, GoQii and the like within this price range as they offer a lot more features and a more user-friendly experience.