The Best Fitness Trackers for Every Type of Workout and Lifestyle
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Many homes, yards and neighborhoods were transformed into gyms over the past year and a half — and with studios reopening, post-lockdown life has inspired people to keep up with their fitness routines. One of the best tools to accomplish that is with is a fitness tracker.
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Whether you opt for a simple band or a smartwatch, a fitness tracking device will remind you to work up a sweat, track your activity level and monitor your workouts. Essentially, they’re like personal trainers in your pocket — or on your wrist. Some go the extra mile (pun intended) with features like smartphone notifications, heart rate monitoring, stress and respiration tracking, and blood-oxygen level sensors. Make the most of your tracker by finding one that suits your lifestyle and workouts best.
To help you do just that, we’ve rounded up the best fitness trackers in every category — see our top picks below, from screen-free wearables and options for runners, to smartwatches that can also keep track of sleep and menstrual cycles. Bonus: Many of these gift-ready options are also on sale during Black Friday, including popular brands like Fitbit, Garmin, Amazon Halo and more.
1. Fitbit Charge 5 Fitness & Health Tracker
BEST FITNESS TRACKER OVERALL
Monitoring: Fitness activity, calories, heart rate, blood oxygen, sleep, stress
GPS: Yes
Connectivity: Call, text and app notifications
Water resistance: Up to 50 meters
Music player: No
Voice assistant: No
Battery life: Up to 7 days
Subscription: Fitbit Premium (optional), $10 monthly or $80 annually
When you think about what you need from a fitness tracker, the new Fitbit Charge 5 checks off all the boxes. (Will Smith is a Fitbit celebrity ambassador.) Ten times thinner and two times brighter than its predecessor (which is also still a good option for those on a budget), the GPS-enabled health and fitness wearable is now equipped with stress, heart health and blood oxygen (spO2) monitors so you can better track your overall well-being. With a Fitbit Premium membership (six months included for free, then $10 monthly or $80 annually), you’ll also get a Daily Readiness Score to help you optimize your workout routine or determine if you should focus on rest and recovery instead.
The Fitbit Charge 5 lets you track your resting heart rate to more accurately measure calorie burn; it lets you track workouts in real-time with more than 20 exercise modes; and it’s waterproof, so you can take it for a swim or in the shower. The built-in GPS lets you see your real-time pace and distance during runs, hikes, bike rides, swimming and other workouts, and you can even see your heart-rate changes in the workout intensity map. It works when you’re asleep, tracking your sleep stages and showing you the quality of your snoozes. Plus, you can control the Spotify app from your wrist to manage your playlist, as well as get calls, texts and app notifications. It syncs with both iPhone and Android devices, and the battery lasts up to seven days. That long list of perks is what makes it the best fitness tracker.
Buy: Fitbit Charge 5 Fitness & Health Tracker (reg. $180) $128.95
2. Apple Watch Series 7
BEST APPLE FITNESS TRACKER
Monitoring: Fitness activity, calorie count, heart rate, blood oxygen, sleep
GPS: Yes
Connectivity: Calls (with cellular model) text and app notifications
Water resistance: Up to 50 meters
Music player: Yes
Voice assistant: Siri
Battery life: Up to 18 hours
Subscription: Apple Fitness+ (optional), $10 monthly
Apple is known for making one of the best fitness trackers, and the new Apple Watch Series 7 is no exception. The water-resistant device covers all the bases and a whole lot more, thanks to a much faster charging time (you’ll get up to 80% charge in about 45 minutes), a brighter and larger crack-resistant screen and new 41 and 45-millimeter case sizes. In addition to tracking your fitness activities, you can also monitor your blood oxygen, heart and sleep quality. It’s even integrated with Fitness+, Apple’s new on-demand fitness streaming service that will link your workout with the watch, iPhone and Apple TV. Plus, the smart Always-On Retina display is 70 percent brighter indoors.
Buy: Apple Watch Series 7 $329.00
3. Fitbit Sense Smartwatch
BEST OVERALL FITNESS TRACKER
Monitoring: Fitness activity, calorie count, heart rate, blood oxygen, body temperature, sleep, stress
GPS: Yes
Connectivity:Call, text and app notifications
Water resistance: Up to 50 meters
Music player: Yes
Voice assistant: Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant
Battery life: Up to six days
Subscription: Fitbit Premium (optional); six months free included
If you’re looking for one of the best fitness trackers that also keeps you updated on emails, the Fitbit Sense is the best smartwatch-meets-health monitoring device. The GPS-enabled tracker monitors your overall health, from your heart rate (including atrial fibrillation monitoring) and sleep quality to your stress levels and more. Fitbit’s app provides personalized wellness insight, including on how to get better sleep and workout inspiration, find trends in your health metrics and much more.
Buy: Fitbit Sense Smartwatch (reg. $300) $195.95
4. Amazfit Band 5 Fitness Tracker
BEST BUDGET FITNESS TRACKER
Monitoring: Fitness activity, calorie count, heart rate, body temperature, steps, mileage, blood oxygen, sleep, menstrual cycle
GPS: Yes
Connectivity: Call, text and app notifications
Water resistance: Up to 50 meters
Music player: Yes
Voice assistant: Amazon Alexa
Battery life: Up to 25 days in power-saving mode; up to 15 days with average use
Subscription: None needed
You can still get all the basics you need with the waterproof Amazfit Band 5, making it the best fitness tracker that’s on the budget-friendly side. Equipped with a 1.3-inch touchscreen, the device works with Android smartphones and tracks 11 types of fitness activities as well as steps, mileage and calories; and monitors and provides insights on your health, fitness actiity and sleep quality. For women, it can predict and record menstrual cycles and send smart notifications and reminders.
Buy: Amazfit Band 5 Fitness Tracker (reg. $40) $29.88
5. Amazon Halo View
BEST FOR PLANNING MEALS
Monitoring: Fitness activity, heart rate, calories burned, steps, sleep
GPS: Yes
Connectivity: Text notifications
Water resistance: Up to 50 meters
Music player: No
Voice assistant: Yes
Battery life: Up to 7 days
Subscription: Amazon Halo Fitness (one year free, then $4 monthly)
Available for pre-order for Dec. 8 delivery, the new Halo View watch and tracker — part of Amazon’s newest lineup of devices — was created for fitness enthusiasts who want to plan their meals as well as track their exercise, health and wellness routines. The vibrant AMOLED color display lets wearers see their sleep scores, blood oxygen levels, everyday and workout activity, heart rate, temperature and other personal health stats, while the haptic feedback gives gentle reminders.
Use Amazon’s new Halo Fitness membership to get access to hundreds of on-demand workouts, including yoga, cardio, mobility, strength training led by industry experts alongside content from popular fitness studios and brands such as Orangetheory Fitness, Sweat and Halle Berry’s Rē-spin. Coming soon is the tech company’s Halo Nutrition program, which helps users create personalized meal plans and health goals, get pre-curated menus geared towards keto, Mediterranean, Nordic, paleo, vegan and vegetarian diets, and easily add ingredients to their grocery list via Alexa voice commands.
6. Amazon Halo Band
BEST SCREEN-FREE FITNESS TRACKER
Monitoring: Fitness activity, heart rate, steps, sleep; membership includes calories burned, body composition and additional movement and sleep insights
GPS: No
Connectivity: None
Water resistance: Up to 50 meters
Music player: No
Voice assistant: Amazon Alexa
Battery life: Up to 2 days with Tone or up to 7 days without
Subscription: Free for the first six months, then $4 monthly
Feel like you spend your entire life staring at screens? Amazon’s minimalist Halo Band is the best fitness tracker for you. It comes with a free membership for six months and then auto-renews at $4 per month plus tax. The membership unlocks sleep and activity tracking, body composition measurements, tone of voice analysis to improve your communication and more, along with programs like at-home workouts, guided meditations, sleep sounds and others to keep your mind and body healthy from experts such as Lifesum, Sweat and Headspace.
Buy: Amazon Halo Band (reg. $100) $54.99
7. Garmin Forerunner 245 Running Watch
BEST FOR RUNNERS
Monitoring: Fitness activity, running time, stride length, vertical ratio, heart rate
GPS: Yes
Connectivity: Call, text and app notifications
Phone notifications: No
Water resistance: No
Music player: Yes
Voice assistant: No
Battery life: Up to 7 days in smartwatch mode or up to 6 hours in GPS mode
Subscription: Garmin Coach (free)
Sure, all of the best fitness trackers work for runners, but for those who are truly dedicated, it’s worth it to get a fitness tracker designed specifically for the sport. Garmin’s Forerunner 245 GPS running watch allows you to customize both the watch and your training. The display type is visible even outdoors in the bright sun, so you can check your heart rate and other stats like laps and times. You can also receive emails, texts, call alerts, calendar reminders and more from your compatible smartphone on the fitness tracker. Plus, it also tracks walking, yoga and a few other activities.
Buy: Garmin Forerunner 245 Running Watch (reg. $350) $297.94
8. Coros Apex Premium Multisport GPS Watch
BEST FOR CROSS TRAINING
Monitoring: Fitness activity, heart rate, body temperature, sleep, steps, calories
GPS: Yes
Connectivity:Call, text and app notifications
Water resistance: No
Music player: Yes
Voice assistant: No
Battery life: Up to 24 days in smartwatch mode or 25 hours in GPS mode
Subscription: Free training plans on Coros.com
For those who love to mix up their rugged workouts with everything from running to mountain biking, swimming, cardio, strength and water sports, the Coros Apex Multi-Sport GPS watch is the best fitness tracker for you. It has a mode for practically every type of movement, including interval, structured, triathlon and strength training, with training programs and plans created by Coros athletes and coaches. Best of all, all of those plans are free on the brand’s website. Made with a stainless steel bezel and a sapphire glass screen to stand up to the toughest workouts, it comes with an optical heart rate monitor, barometric altimeter, accelerometer, compass, gyroscope and thermometer with 24/7 heart rate monitoring, sleep, step and calorie tracking.
Buy: Coros Apex Premium Multisport GPS Watch $299.00
9. Samsung Galaxy Watch Active
BEST ANDROID FITNESS TRACKER
Monitoring: Fitness activity, heart rate, body temperature, sleep, steps, calories
GPS: Yes
Connectivity:Call, text and app notifications
Water resistance: Up to 50 meters
Music player: Yes
Voice assistant: Yes
Battery life: Up to several days
Subscription: None needed
One of the best fitness trackers for Android users is the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active, which is also compatible with Apple smartphones. Equipped with a scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass screen, it automatically detects up to six exercises and can track up to 39 types of workouts, and monitors your sleep patterns and heart health so you can optimize your rest, too. The watch syncs with your phone to stream your playlist, gets notifications and much more, all from your wrist. It automatically recognizes six exercises and can track 39 more, plus it analyzes your sleep and heart health. Swimmers will be happy to know that the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active is water-resistant up to 10 meters and can be submerged up to 50 meters.
Buy: Samsung Galaxy Watch Active $216.00
10. Amazfit GTR3 Pro Smartwatch
BEST BUDGET SMARTWATCH WITH FITNESS TRACKER
Monitoring: Fitness activity, blood oxygen, heart rate, breathing and stress
GPS: Yes
Connectivity: Make phone calls, get text and app notifications
Water resistance: Up to 50 meters
Music player: Yes
Voice assistant: Amazon Alexa
Battery life: Up to 12 days
Subscription: None needed
Amazfit’s GTR 3 Pro sports smartwatch tracks over 150 fitness activities while monitoring your heart rate, calories burned and more. Get instant health metrics on your blood oxygen levels, stress, and breathing and heart rates in as little as 45 seconds with one tap, plus receive calls via Bluetooth and control music on your phone. The watch boasts a bright 1.45-inch screen that is visible even in daylight, and you can store up to 470 songs so you can work out to your favorite playlist. It also works with Amazon’s Alexa, so you can tell the watch to set an alarm, request translations, start tracking with a specific sports mode and much more.
Buy: Amazfit GTR 3 Pro Smart Watch $229.99
11. Garmin Vivoactive 4 Smartwatch
BEST FOR STRESS MANAGEMENT
Monitoring: Fitness activity, blood oxygen, heart rate, hydration, sleep, energy, stress, menstrual cycle
GPS: GPS
Connectivity: Make phone calls, get text and app notifications
Water resistance: Yes
Music player: Yes
Voice assistant: No
Battery life: Up to 8 days in smart watch mode, up to 6 hours in GPS and music mode
Subscription: Garmin Coach (free)
These are stressful times, so we could all use a little help managing that. In addition to tracking your workouts, the Garmin Vivoactive 4 delivers insights about your stress levels, along with breathing, energy, hydration and sleep, making it one of the best fitness trackers for managing stress. There are more than 20 preloaded GPS and indoor sports apps — including yoga, running, swimming and more — to see your workout progress. You can download music straight to your watch and personalize it with thousands of free watch faces, apps and widgets.
Buy: Garmin Vivoactive 4 Smartwatch (reg. $350) $249.99
12. Polar Grit X Multi-Sport GPS Smart Watch
BEST FITNESS TRACKER FOR OUTDOOR SPORTS
Monitoring: Fitness activity, heart rate, distance, pace, elevation
GPS: Yes
Connectivity: None
Water resistance: Up to 100 meters
Music player: No
Voice assistant: No
Battery life: Up to 7 days in watch mode, up to 40 hours with GPS and health tracking
Subscription: None needed
When most of your sweat sessions are in the great outdoors, such as hiking and running, Polar’s lightweight Grit X multi-sport GPS smartwatch is the best fitness tracker for you with over 130 sports profiles. It takes rugged sports seriously with its range of outdoor-specific features. It has military-grade durability, with the ability to withstand extreme temperatures, drops and humidity, all with a water resistance up to 100 meters. In addition to built-in GPS, it has a compass and altimeter and can help you plan multi-day routes to safely explore new ground. To help you meet your goals, its automatic Hill Splitter tells you how you performed on the ascent and descent sections of your route determined by your speed, distance and altitude data.
Buy: Polar Grit X Multi-Sport GPS Smart Watch (reg. $430) $368.77
13. Fitbit Inspire 2
BEST FOR BEGINNERS
Monitoring: Fitness activity, steps, distance, heart rate, calories burned, sleep
GPS: No
Connectivity: Call, text and app notifications
Water resistance: Tk
Music player: Tk
Voice assistant: Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant
Battery life: Up to 10 days
Subscription: Fitbit Premium (one year free)
For those who don’t need all the bells and whistles or are new to fitness wearables, the Fitbit Inspire 2 is the best fitness tracker has everything required to get going with healthier habits. Boasting an easy-to-use touchscreen, it’ll monitor your activity and heart rate all day, sending you alerts when you hit your goals, and also give you a Sleep Score. It has more than 20 workout modes, many which start tracking automatically, to make it user-friendly. The Fitbit app collects all of your data, so you can see your progress and set new goals on your smartphone.
Buy: Fitbit Inspire 2 Fitness Tracker (reg. $100) $69.40
