Are Fitness Activity Trackers & Watches Worth the Money?

For more fitness tracking braceletinformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.

Since the introduction of the Fitbit in 2009, wearable fitness trackers have taken the country by storm. These days, it seems everyone is sporting one of these little gadgets on their wrist or clipped to a belt. People who use them love them, too. Give them a chance and they’ll talk your ear off about how many steps they’ve taken that day, how much weight they’ve lost, how their resting heart rate has improved, and on and on.

While there are plenty of worthwhile fitness trends, most come with a steep price tag. According to The Sweethome, the best fitness trackers range from $60 for a modest clip-on to $220 for a bulky band aimed at hardcore athletes. At those prices, many people who haven’t jumped on the fitness tracker bandwagon yet are wondering: Are these gizmos worth the money?

How Fitness Trackers Work

Fitness trackers have a variety of different functions, and some of them work better than others. Here’s a rundown of what fitness bands can do as well as the technology behind them:

• Count Your Steps. Pretty much every fitness tracker contains an accelerometer, a device that measures how fast something is changing its speed or direction. Using this tool, the tracker can count the number of steps you take as well as measure your movements from side to side or up and down.
• Measure Other Movements. Fancier trackers also contain various other sensors to track your movement. For instance, they can use a gyroscope, which can spin in any direction around a fixed axis, to figure out whether you’re sitting, standing, or lying down. A barometer, which measures atmospheric pressure, can calculate your altitude to determine how many flights of stairs you’ve climbed. And a tiny GPS unit can track your location, which is handy for recording your route on a long run or bike ride.
• Check Your Vital Signs. Many fitness trackers contain a heart rate monitor to measure your pulse, both during exercise and while at rest. Some can also detect your skin temperature and level of perspiration. They combine this data with your pulse rate to figure out just how hard you’re working out.
• Keep Track of Calories. Some fitness trackers use your heart rate to estimate how many calories you’ve burned during the day. A few also come with an app that lets you record how many calories you consume. That way, you can track calories consumed against calories burned to help with weight loss.
• Monitor Your Sleep. Many fitness trackers can supposedly track how well you’re sleeping. They detect motion while you’re lying down to figure out when you’re awake, lightly asleep, or in deep sleep. However, this function doesn’t work all that well. The devices often claim that you’ve slept either more or fewer hours than you really did.
• Sync With Other Devices. Fitness trackers often work with a smartphone app. These apps can track your activity and sleep over time to help you form healthy habits. Some trackers can also pair with other devices, such as a “smart” bathroom scale or a heart rate monitor.
• Send You Messages. Another way fitness trackers work with your phone is to alert you when you have new messages. They can notify you about incoming calls, texts, e-mail, and even social media posts. Also, some trackers send you messages of their own. For instance, they can send a “move alert” to let you know when you’ve been sitting still for too long. They can also send you messages of praise when you hit an activity goal. In many cases, you can use your tracker to share reports of your activity with your friends online. This can lead to friendly competition that can motivate you to work harder. A few trackers can even share health info with your doctor. Sharing your progress is a proven way to achieve your goals.

Not all trackers have all of these functions, however. In general, they fall into two main types. Basic “all-day trackers” keep track of your daily activity, such as steps taken, calories burned, and periods of activity and sleep. Fancier “training trackers” do all this and also add more features for hard-core athletes. They track your heart rate and breathing, the miles you’ve logged, your speed, and even your altitude – a nice bit of info for cyclists and skiers. Some of them even provide music to go with your workout.

Benefits of Fitness Trackers

Why do people love their fitness trackers so much? The main benefit, most of them will tell you, is that wearing the tracker motivates them to be more active. For many people, exercise is more rewarding when they can see numbers in black and white telling them how well they’re doing. They get more excited about hitting a specific target, like 10,000 steps per day, than about the vague goal of being healthier.

Fitness trackers are designed to encourage this kind of thinking. They send messages to cheer you on when you meet a goal, giving you an ego boost. Plus, you can share the messages with your friends to let them know how active you’re being. For many people, this brings out their competitive instinct.

Studies on Fitness Trackers

Still, it’s not clear how good a job fitness trackers do of making people more active. Studies on the subject show mixed results.

For instance, a 2015 study in the American Journal of Public Medicine (AJPM) gave fitness trackers to one group of overweight women and pedometers to another group. The women who used the trackers increased their levels of exercise by about 38 minutes per week. That’s far less than the goal of 10,000 steps per day they were aiming for, but it’s more than twice what they were getting before. The control group didn’t increase its exercise levels at all.

However, other studies were less successful. A 2016 meta-study in the Journal of Medical Internet Research found no clear evidence that fitness trackers encourage kids or adolescents to be more active. And a 2016 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that obese people who wore fitness trackers actually lost less weight over two years than those who tracked diet and activity on their own.

Other Benefits of Fitness Trackers

Fitness trackers can help you in other ways, too. For instance, you can use them to:

• Understand Your Overall Health. Using a fitness tracker can help you figure out if you’re getting enough steps every day to be healthy. You can use it to see if you’re getting enough sleep or to measure your resting heart rate.
• Measure Progress Toward Goals. If any of these numbers isn’t what you’d like it to be, you can take steps to improve it – and the fitness tracker can help you see how the numbers change over time. This can help you figure out which strategies work or don’t work for you.
• Train More Effectively. If you’re trying to lose weight, a fitness tracker can show you when your heart rate is in the ideal zone for exercise. This can help you get the most benefit out of your workouts. If you’re a serious athlete, a fitness tracker can track your speed and distance traveled, so you can see how well your training regimen is working. If you’re just starting out, try a proven home workout plan.

Drawbacks of Fitness Trackers

Even if the benefits of a fitness tracker are uncertain, they’d clearly be worth it if the devices had no downside. But unfortunately, that’s not true. These gadgets have several drawbacks, including:

• Cost. A good fitness tracker can cost anywhere from $50 to $250. It’s possible to buy one for less, but most of the cheaper ones aren’t very good. The more features you want, the more you should expect to spend. For instance, inexpensive fitness trackers usually don’t have a built-in display, so you have to use your smartphone to check your results. Features such as GPS and a heart-rate monitor also cost extra. Experts at PC Magazine say serious athletes probably need to spend at least $150 for a fitness tracker that meets their needs.
• Inaccurate Results. In 2015, the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity published a meta-study looking into the accuracy of fitness trackers. It found that these devices do a good job of tracking steps, but they’re not so great at measuring other things. They tend to underestimate the distance you’ve traveled when you’re going fast, and they overestimate when you’re moving slowly. Their measurements of overall activity level are iffy. They overestimate total sleep time, and their figures for the number of calories burned can be either high or low. So if you rely on one of these devices as your only guide, you could end up with a skewed view of your overall fitness.
• Loss of Interest. Many people who buy fitness devices lose interest in them after a while. A market study by Endeavor Partners found that about one in three users stops wearing the device within six months of buying it. And according to Rock Health, only half of all registered Fitbit users were still active as of the first quarter of 2015. Of course, the fact that many people abandon their fitness trackers doesn’t prove that you will. Still, it should be enough to make you stop and think carefully about whether you’re likely to stick with the device. If you don’t, that’s $50 to $250 down the drain.
• Obsession with Numbers. A final problem with fitness trackers is that they can lead you to focus too much on numbers and not enough on how exercise makes you feel. You rely on the device to tell you whether you’re healthy or not, rather than listening to your body. You can even lose your motivation whenever the tracker isn’t with you. If you forget your tracker one day, you could decide it isn’t worth trying to be active, because those extra steps won’t get counted. You no longer feel motivated to walk because you enjoy it; it’s just something you do to meet your daily quota.

Alternatives to Fitness Trackers

A fitness tracker isn’t the only tool you can use to monitor your exercise. There are other options that cost less and can do some, though not all, of what a fitness tracker does. Depending on what you want to measure, one of these cheaper tools could serve you just as well or better.

Mobile Health Apps

There are a variety of fitness apps available for your smartphone that can do many of the same things fitness trackers do – and even some things they can’t. For instance, these apps can:

• Count Your Steps. All new iPhones come with a Health app that tracks your step count automatically if you don’t turn it off. For Android users, the free apps Google Fit and Pedometer do the same thing. A 2015 JAMA study found that fitness apps do a better job than wearable devices of counting steps. When researchers watched people working out on a treadmill and counted their steps, their numbers were pretty close to the numbers recorded by the apps. The wearable trackers tended to be off by a larger amount – as much as 20% in one case.
• Log Other Activities. Some apps can track several different activities. For instance, Google Fit and Cyclemeter for iOS can count how many miles you run, walk, or cycle. They keep a log of statistics such as the route you took, your speed, and the number of stops. All this data lets you see how you’re improving over time.
• Track Your Behavior. You can use fitness apps such as My Fitness Pal (free for Android or iOS) to record your calorie intake, your weight, and your daily workouts. However, you have to enter this information by hand; the app can’t detect when you’re eating a doughnut. This means you can only get an accurate count with the device if you’re honest.
• Coach You Through a Workout. If you work out at a gym, the free Jefit Workout app for Android or iOS can help you create a weight-lifting routine and keep track of sets, reps, and amount lifted. If you prefer to work out at home, the Johnson & Johnson Official 7 Minute Workout app can guide you through a complete workout that takes only seven minutes and requires no equipment except a chair. The app adjusts the difficulty of the workout based on your fitness level.
• Get You Moving with Music. Music apps, such as FIT Radio and Spotify, can automatically select music to fit the pace of your workout. These apps are free for iOS and Android, but you can pay for extra features, such as exclusive playlists and no commercials.
• Set Up a Competition. Some apps can tap into your competitive side just like fitness trackers do. For example, the free iOS or Android app Strava publishes route and speed details for everyone who uses it so that you can compete against everyone else on the app. You can also bet real money on yourself with Pact, formerly called GymPact. You promise to work out a specific number of days, and if you meet that goal, you win money from other users who didn’t meet theirs.

Fitness apps have several advantages over wearable fitness trackers. For one thing, most of them cost $5 or less; many are completely free. Also, you don’t need to carry a separate device. If you have your phone with you all the time anyway, having your fitness app built into it means you can’t forget it.

However, these apps can’t do everything a fitness tracker can do. For instance, they can’t check your heart rate while you work out or measure the quality of your sleep. Also, you have to carry your phone to use them. This can be awkward for some sports, such as basketball, and it’s impossible for swimming unless you have a more expensive waterproof device.

Pedometers

As noted above, the job fitness trackers do best is counting your steps – but they’re not the only tool that can do it. For $30 or less, you can get a simple pedometer that does a better job of counting steps than most fitness bands. In the 2015 JAMA study, a pedometer counted steps more accurately than either a wearable device or a smartphone app.

Although pedometers are great at counting steps, they can’t do anything else. You can’t use a pedometer to measure your heart rate, count calories burned, or monitor your sleep. Even more importantly, you can’t use it to share your results with your friends, which is what keeps a lot of users motivated.

That may explain why the 2015 AJPM study found women who used pedometers didn’t increase their steps per day the way the women with fitness trackers did. Even the JAMA study, which found pedometers were highly effective, noted that not many people used them. The article concluded that smartphone apps and fitness trackers, though less accurate, could do a better job of getting people to move more.

Heart Rate Monitors

Another useful tool for tracking your fitness is a dedicated heart rate monitor. Prices for these range from $29 to $200, but you don’t have to pay top dollar for a good one. The best-rated chest-strap models cost around $70, and there are wrist-mounted models that do a good job for as little as $30.

In addition to costing less than a fitness tracker, they tend to be more accurate. Testers at Consumer Reports found that a monitor strapped to your chest measures your heart rate more precisely than the pulse sensors in a fitness wristband. They recommend that if you want a fitness tracker to measure your heart rate, you’re better off with one that syncs to a chest-mounted heart monitor, rather than one that does it all on its own.

How to Decide

As you can see, there are plenty of ways to keep track of your health without wearing a fitness tracker. But that doesn’t mean there’s no good reason to get one. If a wearable device truly motivates you to move more or helps you train harder, it could be a good investment. The question is whether you’ll get enough benefit to outweigh the cost.

Questions to Ask

To decide if a fitness tracker is right for you, ask yourself these questions:

1. What Do You Want to Know? If all you want to do is count your steps, you can do that better with a simple pedometer – or an app that costs nothing at all. But if you want to track all aspects of your health – activity, sleep, heart rate, and so on – then a fitness tracker is the only tool that can do it all.
2. How Do You Work Out? If your main sport is walking, running, or cycling, you’re probably better off trying a smartphone app first. With many fitness trackers, you need to carry your phone anyway to use all the features, so you might as well see if an app alone can do the job. But if you play a sport that makes it hard to carry a phone, a wearable is a better bet. And if swimming is your main sport, you’ll need to make sure you choose one of the few fitness bands that work in the pool.
3. Do You Carry Your Phone Everywhere? If you do, then an app could be a better bet than a basic fitness tracker. It’s cheaper, and it doesn’t require you to carry an extra device. Even if you want the extra features of a fitness tracker, you can get by with a cheaper one that pairs with your phone to give you your results. But if you don’t carry a phone all the time, you’ll need to pay more for a high-end tracker that contains its own display.
4. How Much Can You Spend? There’s not much point in buying a fitness tracker if you can’t afford a good one. So if you don’t have at least $60 to spare, go for a fitness app instead. It’ll give you the most bang for your buck.
5. What Drives You? This is the big question. If you’re competitive, a fitness tracker’s social functions will be a big help for you. Seeing how your friends are doing and trying to outdo them could inspire you to move more when nothing else does. But if all you need to inspire you is a goal to work toward, an app is just as good for tracking your progress.

Try Before You Buy

If you think a fitness tracker sounds useful, but you’re just not sure you’ll get your money’s worth out of it, there’s a way to try it before you take the plunge. Lumoid is a service that lets you lease up to three devices for a week for $35. At the end of the week, if you decide to buy one of them, you can apply $25 of that $35 toward your purchase. And if you don’t, at least you’ve spent less than you would have to buy a device you won’t actually use.

An even cheaper option is to try an app first. That gives you a low-cost way to try out some of the features of a fitness tracker and see how you like them.

If you find these features don’t help you at all, you know there’s no point in wasting money on a full-blown fitness tracker. If you like them, but you don’t like having to carry your phone everywhere, you can buy a tracker knowing that you’ll get good value out of it. And if the app works fine for you, then you can just stick with it and save some money.

Final Word

The real bottom line is whether a fitness tracker will improve your health. Will you work out more when you’re wearing it? Will you eat better or sleep better at night? If a tracker can motivate you to make these positive changes when no other tool can, it’s a good buy.

But maybe you don’t need a fitness tracker to motivate you. Perhaps you can get that same kick in the pants from a free fitness app. You might even find that a low-tech method like working out with a friend is just as effective. Or maybe you implement a S.M.A.R.T. goal system. In that case, there’s no need to spend the money on a fancy gadget.

If you decide to splurge on one of these devices, make sure you get real value out of it. Wear it every day so you can get an accurate picture of how active you are. Be truthful when entering details like your height, weight, and daily diet.

And finally, focus on long-term trends, not each day’s numbers. Instead of worrying about whether you can make it to 10,000 steps today, look at whether you’re getting more exercise overall than you did a few weeks or months ago. If you did, that’s something to celebrate.

Do you use a fitness tracker? If you do, would you say it was a good investment?

Fitness trackers have come a long way from the simple bands that tracked steps and little else. Modern trackers can monitor everything from your heart health to how well you’ve recovered from a hard bout of training. They’ve got sensors galore and, in some cases, can give smartwatches a run for their money. Whatever your fitness goals are, there’s probably a fitness tracker that can help you achieve them.

Compared to some other gadgets, wearables are incredibly personal, which means there are a few extra considerations you’ll have to take into account before reaching for your wallet. It makes it hard to say that any one fitness tracker is the best for everyone. Thankfully, the best thing about fitness trackers in 2024 is that there’s enough variety to fit into every kind of lifestyle. 

What we’re looking for

Audience

Who is this fitness tracker for? The ideal fitness tracker for hardcore athletes will look different than the best one for casual users looking to get a few more steps in.

Battery life

A fitness tracker should be able to go at least two to three days between charges. If it’s a flagship smartwatch, it should at least offer quick charging.

Form factor

Is it a band or a smartwatch? Is it comfortable to wear 24/7?

Metrics

What metrics does this device track? We prioritize active minutes over steps and calorie burn, but health metrics like resting heart rate, VO2 Max, and sleep quality are plusses.

Consistency

Accuracy is nice, but it’s more important for measuring progress that your device delivers consistent results for heart rate, distance tracking, and steps.

Platform

Certain trackers are limited to specific phone ecosystems — others will work regardless of what your phone is. We prioritize the latter wherever possible.

Best fitness tracker overall

Size: 46mm w/ 22mm straps / Weight: 34g / Battery life: Up to 14 days / Display type: OLED touchscreen / GPS: Dual-frequency and six GNSS systems / Connectivity: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi / Water resistance: 5ATM / Music storage: 2.3GB

The Amazfit GTR 4 punches way above its weight. It’s affordable at $199 and includes a whole array of features you’d expect to see on much pricier wearables. That includes a bright OLED screen, blood oxygen monitoring, sleep stage tracking, stress tracking, Amazon Alexa compatibility, and an offline digital assistant. It’s also got a native camera remote and a handy Pomodoro timer built in. And for outdoor fitness enthusiasts, the GTR 4 also has multiband GPS for more accurate GPS tracking in challenging environments. You can even import GPX routes from sites like Strava and Komoot. The GTR 4 takes a more holistic approach to health, trading in steps for PAI points to gauge whether you’re getting the recommended 150 minutes of moderate activity per week.

The OLED display is one of the Amazfit GTR 4’s best features. Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

For smart features, the GTR 4 has all the basics: push notifications, quick text replies on Android, alarms, timers, and the ability to make and take calls over Bluetooth. The only thing the GTR 4 is really missing is contactless payments, but it more than makes up for it, given the expansive feature set and battery life. It lasts about 10–14 days on a single charge with normal use and about a week with heavy usage. It may not have the brand recognition of a Fitbit, but since Google nerfed both the Versa 4 and Sense 2 last year, you might want to overlook that. Plus, the GTR 4 doesn’t have thick bezels like either of those watches. Watchfaces on the OLED display are crisp, and animations are smooth. When you consider that Amazfit watches are often on sale, it’s a no-brainer.

Best fitness watch for casual users

Garmin Venu Sq 2

$ 224

$ 250

10 % off

$ 224

$ 224

$ 250

10 % off

The Garmin Venu Sq 2 is a great replacement for a Fitbit smartwatch. Not only do they look similar, but the Venu Sq 2 has way more fitness features, long battery life, and no subscription.

Sizes: 40mm w/20mm straps / Weight: 38g / Battery life: Up to 11 days / Display type: OLED touchscreen / GPS: All-systems GNSS / Connectivity: Bluetooth, Ant Plus / Water resistance: 5ATM / Music storage: 4GB (for Music Edition)

The $250 Garmin Venu Sq 2 is the watch I recommend for anyone looking to replace their aging Fitbit Versa 2 or 3. It’s got a similar look and vibe, with a much nicer OLED display and longer battery life.

Garmin is known for its comprehensive fitness tracking, and that’s not an exception here. Of course, you get the basics, like steps and calories burned, but you get a whole lot more, too. There’s built-in GPS for tracking walks, runs, and bike rides — as well as plenty of other sports profiles like yoga and strength training. For smart features, you get push notifications, timers, contactless payments, and a bunch of safety features like Garmin’s Incident Detection, which is its take on fall detection. (You will need to carry your phone with you, however, as this doesn’t have LTE.)

The Garmin Venu Sq 2 has a bright, beautiful OLED display and long battery life. Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

If you want the option of onboard music, you can shell out $50 extra for the Music Edition, which comes with enough storage for about 500 songs. I wouldn’t recommend it, however, as you’ll most likely have your phone on you since this isn’t a true standalone watch.

What I like most about this watch, however, is it’s one that you can grow with. On top of recovery metrics and sleep tracking, it also has Garmin Coach — a built-in, free training program for beginner and intermediate-level runners hoping to tackle a 5K, 10K, or half marathon. For health tracking, you can monitor heart rate, blood oxygen, intensity minutes (how many minutes of moderate exercise you get per week), stress, hydration, respiratory rate, and menstrual cycles. And the best part is Garmin doesn’t lock any of this behind a paywall.

One note: there is a Venu 3, which adds a newer heart rate sensor and nap detection. I liked it quite a bit, and it ticks off a lot of the right boxes — except for price. It’s $450, which puts it outside what I’d consider ideal for casual users. I firmly believe older models are still a good choice if all you want is the fitness-tracking basics. This is especially true since newer software updates often make their way to older Garmins. Garmin users also tend to hang onto their device for a good while. Strava’s 2023 year-end survey found that the most popular smartwatch among its users was an eight-year-old Garmin!

Best for serious outdoor athletes

Sizes: 7S Pro: 42mm w/20mm straps, 7: 47mm w/22mm straps, 7X: 51mm w/26mm straps / Weight: 7S Pro: 63g (Solar), 58g or 65g (Sapphire Solar, titanium or stainless steel) 7: 79g (Solar), 73g (Sapphire Solar) 7X: 96g (Solar), 89g (Sapphire Solar) / Battery life: 7S: up to 11 days, 14 w/ Solar, 7: up to 18 days, 22 days w/ solar, 7X: up to 28 days, 37 w/solar / Display type: MIP touchscreen / GPS: All-systems GNSS and dual-frequency GPS / Connectivity: Bluetooth, Ant Plus, Wi-Fi / Water resistance: 10ATM / Music storage: Up to 32GB

Are you interested in learning more about benefits of smartwatch? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!

Garmin’s flagship Fenix 7 series is no joke, and the Fenix 7 Pro lineup takes it up a notch. It’s got built-in multiband GPS, solar charging on all models, the option of touchscreen or button navigation, topographical maps, and oodles upon oodles of data. Plus, every Fenix 7 Pro model has a hands-free LED flashlight, an upgraded heart rate sensor, and an improved memory-in-pixel display that’s slightly easier to read in low lighting.

Garmin wearables are also known for providing extensive, in-depth metrics, and the Fenix 7 Pro lineup is no exception. You get excellent recovery metrics, as well as helpful training guides and coaching programs. The best part is Garmin doesn’t charge extra for those features. That’s good news, as these are expensive watches.

I appreciate how quickly these Fenix 7 watches are able to pick up a GPS signal. That’s a must if you’re training in the dead of winter. These watches can also take a beating. All models are built to military-grade standards and feature up to 10 ATM of water resistance. That means they’re more than capable of a dunk in the ocean.

The hands-free flashlight rules! Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Although the screen is brighter, MIP displays still aren’t my absolute favorite — the OLED on the Garmin Epix 2 and the Epix Pro are a lot easier on the eyes. It’s admittedly tough to pick between the Fenix 7, Fenix 7 Pro, Epix 2, and Epix Pro lineups — especially now that the Epix Pro also has great battery life, the LED flashlight, and now comes in multiple sizes. What it boils down to is whether you prioritize a brighter display, longer battery life, or price.

Personally, I prefer the Epix Pro for better readability, but the Fenix 7 Pro is the better choice if this is your first introduction to Garmin’s platform. You’ll get better battery life, the same LED flashlight, all the same training features, and a lower starting price. (You can also check out our Garmin buying guide if you’d like even more alternatives.)

That said, I still think the standard Fenix 7 lineup is a good choice — especially if solar charging isn’t all that appealing to you. Plus, many of the new features that launched with the Fenix 7 Pro and Epix Pro have trickled down to the standard line via OTA updates. You can also save a couple hundred dollars this way if budget is your main concern. In general, the holiday season is right around the corner, so I recommend keeping your eyes peeled for deals as retailers try to get rid of old inventory.

Best non-wrist tracker

Sizes: 8 proprietary sizes, 6-13, sizing kit needed / Weight: 4–6g (depends on size) / Battery life: Up to 7 days / Display type: None / GPS: None / Connectivity: Bluetooth / Water resistance: Up to 328 feet / Music storage: None

The vast majority of fitness trackers are worn on the wrist, but the $299 Oura Ring isn’t. The smart ring is a good option for people who are looking for something a little more discreet. It’s also less distracting than some other wrist-based options, as it lacks a screen and doesn’t forward push notifications. 

The Oura Ring is one of the most recognizable smart rings around. Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge

While smaller than your average wearable, the Oura Ring still tracks a ton of metrics, including heart rate variability and body temperature. The third iteration of the device also introduces SpO2 sensors, as well as all-day heart rate monitoring and period predictions. Since launching, the Oura Ring has also added activity tracking, blood oxygen levels, chronotypes to help visualize your circadian rhythms, and a new social feature called Circles. It’s also begun rolling out a whole new sleep stages algorithm that it claims is more accurate than before. If you’re looking for some stress relief, the Oura Ring also lets you track guided meditation sessions. 

The Oura Ring tracks typical metrics — such as steps and calories burned —  but its main focus is sleep and recovery. Each day, you’re given three sets of scores for your readiness, sleep, and activity. It’s a simple, holistic look at your overall wellness and an ideal pick if you want a more hands-off experience with your data.

That said, 2024 is shaping up to be the year of the smart ring. Samsung just confirmed it’s working on a Galaxy Ring that’s slated for launch later this year. I’m currently testing a new ring from Movano, and Amazfit is expected to launch another compelling option in the near future — both of these won’t have a subscription. If you can be patient, you might want to wait to see what happens in the smart ring space over the next few months.

Best fitness band

Size: 42mm x 24mm x 12.2mm with 16mm straps / Weight: 28g / Battery life: Up to 18 days / Display type: OLED / GPS: Tethered / Connectivity: Bluetooth / Water resistance: 5ATM / Music storage: None

It’s truly hard to beat the Amazfit Band 7’s $49.99 price — doubly so since you can often find it on sale for even less. Wearing the Band 7 feels like a throwback to 2014, which is great if all you’re looking for is a simple and casual tracker that won’t break the bank.

No one is going to compliment you on the Band 7’s design, but it’s got a handful of cute watchfaces that make good use of its OLED touchscreen. And despite having an OLED display, you’ll still get roughly 14 days of battery life on a single charge. It’s also incredibly lightweight, making it a good option for sleep tracking as well.

The Amazfit Band 7 won’t turn heads, but it’s the type of capable yet affordable fitness band that’s much harder to find nowadays. Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

You also get an absurd number of features for the price. That includes Amazon Alexa, continuous heart rate monitoring, blood oxygen monitoring, stress tracking, advanced sleep tracking, training metrics like VO2 max and load, abnormal heart rate alerts, menstrual tracking, push notifications, find my phone, a camera remote, and even a Pomodoro timer. You’re sacrificing contactless payments and will have to settle for tethered GPS, but this is a fair tradeoff considering everything else you’re getting. It’s not the best option for hardcore fitness tracking, but this is a great option if all you’re looking to do is casually track activity and your steps.

Amazfit’s been making surprisingly good budget trackers for a while. That said, if you’re a little wary of a lesser-known brand, the $159.95 Fitbit Charge 6 is a decent alternative. It’s pricier, but you get a lot of what Amazfit is missing. That includes Google services like YouTube Music, Google Wallet, and Google Maps. Plus, it has built-in GPS and the ability to broadcast your heart rate with some Bluetooth-compatible gym equipment.

Most stylish fitness watch

Withings ScanWatch Light

$ 250

$ 250

0 % off

$ 250

$ 250

$ 250

0 % off

The Withings Scanwatch Light is a hybrid analog smartwatch that tracks the basics like steps and activities, while delivering up to 30 days of battery life.

Sizes: 37mm with 18mm straps / Weight: 45g / Battery life: Up to 39 days / Display type:  OLED display / GPS: Tethered GPS / Connectivity: Bluetooth / Water resistance: 5ATM / Music storage: N/A

The $249.95 Withings ScanWatch Light is a fetching hybrid analog smartwatch. Think of it as a dressier fitness band with some Swatch-like design sensibilities. It’s got all your basics like simple push notifications, timers, and alarms. Plus, you can track steps, sleep, menstrual cycles, and GPS activities straight from the wrist. It looks spiffy on the wrist, and if you like a pop of color, Withings offers minty green and pale blue color options. It’s also got excellent battery life, with an estimated 30 days on a single charge. I got a little less in testing at around 25 days, but that’s still much better than the vast majority of flagship smartwatches. This also looks way more stylish than beefier multisport watches with similar battery life.

Like its name suggests, the Light is a pared down version of the $349.95 ScanWatch 2. The main things you’re missing are an EKG sensor for atrial fibrillation detection, a temperature sensor, blood oxygen tracking, and an altimeter for tracking elevation. For basic fitness tracking, you don’t really need those sensors. That’s why I think the extra $100 in savings is worth it for the Light, especially since both are lacking in safety features, contactless payments, and some other bells and whistles you can get from other watches in the $350 price range. That said, if you want extras, the ScanWatch 2 also gets you a slightly more elegant look thanks to the second step-counter dial.

The ScanWatch 2 is about $100 more but adds more advanced health tracking. Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Another option I like is the $179.99 Garmin Vivomove Sport, which actually dominated this category the past few years. It’s hard to beat the price, especially since it gets you access to Garmin’s platform. However, Garmin’s “hidden” OLED display can get washed out in bright lighting, and battery life was significantly shorter than other hybrid analog watches at around five days. Still, if you’d rather a platform with a focus on fitness rather than wellness, the Vivomove Sport may be the better move over a Withings watch.

Best fitness tracker for iPhone users

Sizes: 41mm, 45mm / Weight: 32g (41mm), 39g (45mm) / Battery life: Up to 18 hours / Display type: Always-on LTPO OLED / GPS: Built-in GPS, plus GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, Beidou / Connectivity: LTE (optional), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi / Water resistance: Up to 50 meters / Music storage: 32GB

If you’re looking for a smartwatch that does fitness well, then iPhone owners need to look no further than the $399 Apple Watch Series 9. (The LTE version costs $50 more.) This year’s updates were pretty iterative, but the updated S9 processor makes this the smartest fitness tracker around for Apple users.

Related

• How to choose which Apple Watch to buy

With watchOS 9, Apple added advanced running metrics and the ability to create custom workouts. This year’s watchOS 10 update adds greater integration with cycling accessories, as well as custom workout plans within Fitness Plus. Hikers also get better maps and directions on the wrist. Otherwise, the watch is incredibly similar to last year’s Series 8. That’s fine! Not only could you save a bit of extra dough by opting for an older model, but you’re still getting the vast majority of the features that matter. Exclusive to the Series 9 are the forthcoming double-tap gesture, brighter screens, and offline Siri capability — but these are fairly minor if your real focus is fitness. But if you want to use Siri to interact with your health and fitness stats, that’s also a Series 9 exclusive.

Of course, we also have to address the Apple Watch ban. As of January 18th, 2024, new Series 9 sold by Apple (and eventually, third-party retailers) will have the blood oxygen feature disabled due to an ongoing patent battle with medical device maker Masimo. This isn’t a huge deal for most people, as this feature isn’t that useful for most people yet. You might want to consider a refurbished Series 7 or 8 if blood oxygen sensing is important to you, however.

If you’re a first-time buyer, you can also opt for the second-gen Apple Watch SE. It’s slightly cheaper at $249, and while you don’t get as many features, it’s a good introduction to the ecosystem. Otherwise, if you’re the type of athlete who covets a Garmin, you may also want to consider splurging on the Apple Watch Ultra 2. It’s more expensive at $799, but it does have the brightest screen of any Apple Watch, comes with dual-frequency GPS, has diving and hiking safety features, and is made of more durable materials.

Best fitness smartwatch for Samsung phones

Sizes: 40mm, 44mm / Weight: 28.7g (40mm), 33.3g (44mm) / Battery life: Up to 30 hours with AOD, 40 hours without AOD / Display type: Always-on OLED / GPS: Built-in GPS / Connectivity: LTE (optional), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi / Water resistance: Up to 50 meters, IP68 / Music storage: 16GB

If you have a Samsung phone, this is the best full-featured smartwatch for fitness tracking. It (and the Watch 6 Classic) are the first watches to get Wear OS 4 and One UI 5 Watch, which adds a bunch of health and sleep tracking improvements like temperature-based cycle tracking, personalized heart rate zones, and custom workouts. It also has the same 3-in-1 sensor, which enables body composition analysis. That’s a unique feature that no other smartwatch at the moment is capable of. You can also access workout videos from the Samsung Health app — though the production values aren’t as good as Fitness Plus or Peloton. 

While I prefer the Classic overall (I mean, rotating bezel!), the base Watch 6 model is our pick for general fitness tracking due to its lighter weight and smaller size. Overall, it’s less distracting during workouts and more comfortable for sleep tracking. That said, the Classic is a very capable tracker, even if its aesthetic and larger size lend it toward being a better smartwatch. However, if you want a more rugged fitness watch with truly multiday battery life, you might be better off with the $449.99 Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. The Pro is also getting some new software updates in One UI 5 Watch, including turn-by-turn navigation for running and walking.

We pick the Galaxy Watch 6 base model (top) as our overall fitness tracking pick due to its lighter weight and smaller size. Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

The big thing with the Galaxy Watch 6 series is that battery life has improved over last year. In my testing, I was able to last an entire day without worrying about battery under various scenarios. For example, on outdoor GPS runs with the always-on display enabled, I only saw a battery drain of 3–4 percent per mile. Fast charging enables you to get eight hours of battery life on a single charge, and the improved bedtime mode mitigates overnight battery drain to 10–15 percent — even if you turn on continuous SpO2 sensing, snore detection, and skin temperature tracking.

While Wear OS 4 and One UI 5 Watch look, feel, and function similar to Wear OS 3 / One UI Watch 4.5, you now get cloud backups. Google has also continued to expand third-party app offerings, so there are more choices than ever. However, some features are limited to Samsung owners, making it hard to wholeheartedly recommend this to non-Samsung Android users.

Best fitness smartwatch for Android

Sizes: 41mm / Weight: 31g / Battery life: Up to 24 hours / Display type: Always-on OLED / GPS: Built-in GPS / Connectivity: LTE (optional), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi / Water resistance: 5ATM / Music storage: 32GB

Last year, the Google Pixel Watch shifted the playing field for Android smartwatches. Now, the Pixel Watch 2 is here, and while it looks the same as its predecessor, it’s a significant improvement over last year.

Under the hood, you get a newer processor, Wear OS 4, and a new multipath sensor. What this translates to is much faster charging, zippier performance, and battery life that actually lasts 24 hours with the always-on display. On the health front, you have more accurate heart rate tracking, automatic workout tracking, and the Fitbit Sense 2’s continuous electrodermal activity sensor for stress tracking. Plus, there are new personal safety features: Safety Check and Safety Signal. The former is a proactive timer that alerts emergency contacts to your location while the latter allows you to use emergency features even if you don’t have an active LTE plan, provided you have a Fitbit Premium subscription. (Note: you still need the LTE version of the watch for Safety Signal to work.)

The Pixel Watch 2 is a significant update over the original. Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

These are the main updates, but there are also a bunch of tiny fixes and updates here and there that address many of the quirks with the first-gen watch. That said, we still have concerns in terms of durability, repairability, and size. The Verge staff has cracked and scratched our devices, and Google doesn’t offer any repair options — just the Preferred Care extended warranty. (And even then, this is a new addition with the Pixel Watch 2 that’s limited to the US and Canada.) And while the 41mm size is fetching on petite wrists, it may appear too dainty for people with larger wrists.

But if you’re looking for alternatives to Google and Samsung, the $299.99 OnePlus Watch 2 was just announced at MWC 2024. I’m still putting that watch through its paces, but so far it looks to be a promising option now that Fossil has decided to quit smartwatches altogether.

Best for early adopters and elite athletes

Whoop 4.0

$ 30

This distraction-free recovery tracker helps you monitor your sleep quality and cardiovascular strain. The hardware is “free,” but it costs $30 per month.

Sizes: 43mm by 28mm by 10mm / Weight: 18g / Battery life: 4–5 days / Display type: None / GPS: None / Connectivity: Bluetooth / Water resistance: Up to 10 meters / Music storage: None

The Whoop 4.0 is not for the casual enthusiast. Not only does it come with an expensive monthly subscription, but the information it provides is only useful if you’re actively training for a cardio-intensive sport. If strength training is your main form of exercise, you’re better off looking elsewhere. Like the Oura Ring, this is a distraction-free tracker that specializes in sleep and recovery. The main difference is this has a more athletic bent. For instance, you’ll get way more insight into how much strain you’ve taken on in the past week. 

Whoop also provides a lot of novel ways to wear its tracker, including in underwear and arm/knee sleeves. This makes it an appealing option if you’re one of those unicorns who needs a secondary tracker to supplement another form of fitness tracking. Again, this is a tracker best appreciated by people who go hard and aren’t afraid to experiment. Plus, Whoop recently lowered its subscription prices in certain tiers, so while it’s still expensive, it’s not quite as pricey as it used to be.

The Whoop 4.0 is best for elite athletes or people who don’t mind experimental trackers. Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge

Update March 11th, 12:54PM ET: Replaced Garmin Vivomove Sport with Withings ScanWatch Light, moved Vivomove Sport to alternatives in same section. Updated other text regarding OnePlus Watch 2 and smart rings.

Want more information on ecg smart watches? Feel free to contact us.