Review: HidrateSpark Steel water bottle with Apple Health integration

Last month, Hidrate launched the HidrateSpark PRO STEEL with 32 oz (around 900 ml). This water bottle features a premium look and Apple Health integration and I must admit, I got a bit too excited about a water bottle that reminds me to drink water.

With that in mind, I decided to buy the HidrateSpark Steel water bottle with 21 oz (620 ml) a few weeks ago to understand whether it would improve my daily routine of drinking water to have a pretty nice bottle to carry around. Discover how it’s going below.

Disclaimer: HidrateSpark Steel and HidrateSpark PRO are the same water bottles, the company just rebranded the first with the latter.

HidrateSpark Steel is an amazing water bottle for itself…

Before talking about the tech part of this product, the HidrateSpark Steel water bottle itself is gorgeous. You can choose between the black or silver model, but I’m sure the black version is the go-to option.

The product is made of stainless steel (early customers would complain that the other models available looked cheap because they were made of plastic). With a vacuum-unslated chug, it keeps drinks cold for up to 24 hours, and, believe me, I left the HidrateSpark Steel in the hot Californian sun for about three hours in the car, and while the bottle itself was ridiculously hot, my water was as cold as I remembered. 10/10.

Apart from the stainless steel finish, its bottom is made of plastic with an LED smart sensor inside of it. Apart from the chug lid, you can open the bottle from its bottom to remove the LED smart sensor and charge the water bottle with a proprietary charger.

I also need to say that this model is more resistant than I’d have guessed. In these past weeks, I was able to drop the HidrateSpark Steel three times on the floor, and, to my surprise, it has no scratches or visible marks. Phew.

… HidrateSpark app, on the other hand, is not that good

While the HidrateSpark Steel water bottle’s hardware shines, its app is kind of lame. Many developers rely on Apple’s style when creating a new application, but Hidrate Inc. prefers to go with its own solution.

Every time I think about a pretty third-party app, CARROT and Gentler Streak come to mind. Maybe it’s just me, but apart from the ugly interface, the app itself is OK to use.

The main page shows your water ring and how much water you should’ve drank at the moment. It estimates how much based on your Apple Health data + daily exercises.

The Home page resembles the Fitness app with your water ring, your goal percentage, bottles to go, and the ability to manually add the water you drank if it wasn’t with the Hidrate Spark Steel water bottle.

You can also compete with friends “in fun hydration challenges and earn trophies for your collection.” One thing I found a bit off is that while you can choose different colors for the bottle to glow when you need to drink water if you want to customize the colors, you need to pay extra, which is… wrong? I mean, what a weird in-app purchase for a bottle that I already paid $70, and it’s literally one of the main functions.

You can choose when the bottle glows – for me, only when I’m behind – and the app also sends you motivational notifications on your iPhone/Apple Watch.

Last but not least, HidrateSpark offers an Apple Watch app that shows your water ring and also has widgets for your iPhone. The user interface could be prettier, but it does work.

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Apple Health integration is one of the reasons I decided to give it a try

I really enjoy having so much data about myself thanks to the Apple Watch. I love the trends tab, knowing how my cardio fitness, running pace, and more are doing. Adding information about how many bottles of water I drink per day is also great.

OK, I know. I didn’t need a smart water bottle, I could only use an app with a prettier interface, but it’s nice that the water bottle does it all for me.

I just have to fill it up, wait a few seconds for it to synchronize with the app, then I can drink the water and see the app adding how many millimeters I drank.

Battery, pricing, and final thoughts on the HidrateSpark Steel water bottle

Before I end this review, you must be asking: how’s the battery of the HidrateSpark Steel water bottle? Well, I charged it on May 11, and so far it has up to 80% of its battery left. The company promotes 10-14 days of battery life, but I do think I can make it last way longer. Its charging time is 2.5 hours.

The model I reviewed is the HidrateSpark Steel bottle with 21 oz (620 ml). I think it’s the perfect size to carry on a backpack or to have at home without having to fill it a lot throughout the day. The version they just launched has 32 oz (910 ml), but I thought it was a lot.

After a couple of weeks, I must say I’m loving having this water bottle around. When I go out and don’t take the water bottle with me, I can always add how many glasses of water I drank later – or even the next day.

For $69.95, the HidrateSpark Steel water bottle is a bit expensive, but also I don’t think it is completely out of range of a really well-finished water bottle. The stainless steel finish is totally worth it – and if I get some smartness from this product, I do think I’m in luck.

It offers two chug lids and a bonus straw lid. You can buy it at Apple or at the Amazon store here, which can usually offer you better deals.

Would you consider buying a smart water bottle? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.