Can you make phone calls on the Fitbit Alta HR?
Best Answer: No. While the Fitbit Alta HR can alert you when you have an incoming call, you are not able to answer it on the Alta HR itself. When it comes to making calls, since the Alta HR only receives notifications for both calls and texts, there is no way to make an outbound call or text from your Alta HR. For that, you're going to need a smartwatch like the Apple Watch. If you want a Fitbit that will just allow you to receive calls, the Versa is for you.Apple: Apple Watch ($399+)Fitbit: Fitbit Alta HR ($100)Fitbit: Fitbit Versa ($180)
So I can only get notifications for calls, texts, and calendar alerts on my Alta HR?
Yup, pretty much. The Alta HR has a sharp, backlit OLED tap display, which tells you your daily steps, calories, and heart rate. When calls, texts, and calendar alerts come in, as long as you have it set up to notify you, those notifications get displayed on the OLED tap display as well. However it's only limited to 40 characters on the screen, so if you get a call from someone with a super long name or receive a long text, it'll be truncated.
The Alta HR is a sleek activity tracker, but it is still not a smartwatch. Even Fitbit's smartwatches, such as the Versa, while you can accept or reject a call, you aren't able to talk directly through the smartwatch since they don't have a microphone. If you're just looking for the ability to receive calls on your wearable, the Versa might be what you're looking for.
If you want the ability to answer and make calls from your wrist, then you should look into a smartwatch like the Apple Watch.
How do I set up the notifications?
You'll need to follow a few steps to ensure that the Alta HR receives notifications for your incoming calls, texts, and calendar events.
- Go to your iPhone's Settings, find Bluetooth, and make sure that it's paired and actively connected to your Alta HR.
- In Settings, find Do Not Disturb, or use Control Center. Make sure that your phone is not currently in Do Not Disturb mode, because this prevents your phone from sending out notifications to any connected device, including the Alta HR.
- Ensure that Notifications are on for each application you want alerts for. With Calls, texts, and calendar events, you'll want to set it to Allow Notifications and also toggle Show History on. Messages should have Show on Lock Screen and Show as Banners enabled as well.
Finally, for all of this to work properly, notifications for the Fitbit app itself should be on. This is easily done by going to your account dashboard, selecting your device (Alta HR), and then select Notifications. Toggle the categories that you want to receive alerts for, such as calls.
The all-in-one
Apple Watch may not be Fitbit, but it does everything a Fitbit can do and has the ability to take and make calls. If calling directly on your wearable matters most to you, the Apple Watch is what you want.
A quality step tracker and heart rate monitor.
The Fitbit Alta HR is a great activity tracker with continuous heart rate monitoring. It can also receive notifications for your incoming calls, texts, and calendar alerts.
A fitness tracker you can receive calls on for less.
The Fitbit Versa is a solid smartwatch alternative with more features than the Alta HR. It may not be as robust as the Apple Watch, but it's also more reasonably priced for most people.
