If you’re interested in tracking activity, receiving wellness insights, improving sleep habits, or just want a more accurate pedometer than your smartphone, there are plenty of fitness trackers on the market.
The variety of features can seem overwhelming, and with so many options, it can be hard to choose which wearable best fits your needs. To help you decide, I compiled a list of the best fitness trackers based on features, aesthetics, comfort, budget, and my own experience.
Also: The best smart rings that are reliable
For other ideas to improve your fitness, consider our picks for the best fitness rings, the best home gym equipment, and the best workout apps!
Fitbit has long been known as one of the leading brands for fitness trackers, so it is no surprise that it leads the pack as the best fitness tracker you can buy. Along with calorie tracking, the Charge 5 calculates Sp02, skin temperature variation, and heart rate variability (HRV).
The Fitbit Charge 5’s modern form factor is almost as impressive as its functionality with a display that’s still versatile despite being a little over one inch wide. This is fantastic if you want a sleek, comfortable screen that doesn’t engulf your entire wrist.
“The display is small but feels large for a tracker with extremely crisp fonts and brilliant colors. It lies fairly flat against your wrist and the touchscreen is very responsive,” said longtime ZDNET contributor Matt Miller in his Charge 5 review.
Review: Fitbit Charge 5: Best fitness tracker with color display, GPS, and elegant form factor
If you’re directionally challenged or just want to track your running route, another standout feature of the Charge 5 is a GPS map. In Miller’s experience, the GPS feature “did an excellent job with walks, but [had] a couple of inconsistent experiences on runs.”
Built into the Fitbit ecosystem, you’ll also get access to a suite of meditations, workout videos, and a “daily readiness score.” However, after a six-month trial, you’ll be required to pay a fee to access Fitbit premium features.
Don’t like the bulky design or constant notifications that come with wearing a smartwatch, but want wellness insights? Enter the Oura Ring. Taking up a fraction of the real estate, the Oura Ring tracks exercise, sleep, and more. While a bit thick, the high-quality titanium ring with PVD coating looks and feels more like an everyday accessory than a fitness tracker.
ZDNET’s Sherin Shibu recently purchased the ring for herself and was impressed by its minimalist design and comfortability along with its detailed and actionable insights, all without implementing a screen.
The ring is even subtle and sleek enough to wear at night. In fact, you’re supposed to. Equipped with Sp02 sensors, the Oura Ring tracks heart rate variability (HRV) along with overall blood saturation levels during the night.
Much like its design, the Oura ring takes a more well-rounded approach to fitness rather than giving immediate stats. Using an intuitive app interface, you can access data on your own time, getting insight into data beyond activity tracked and calories burned. This insight includes recovery and readiness, and is quite comprehensive.
“I think of the Oura as what happens overnight. It’s more of a big level view of myself and my wellness, taking a step out and considering the consequences of what you’ve been doing for the past few weeks/days,” said Dr. Jason Fanning, an assistant professor at Wake Forest University who researches the use of commercial and research-grade activity monitors.
“If I’m training too hard or too little, getting sick, if I’ve had too much alcohol – all those things show up and give an idea on how I’ll be feeling,” Fanning elaborated.
The Oura Ring also features bedtime guidance, period prediction, and an “automatic nap” prompt. The only downside? In addition to the $299 price tag and custom fitting process, you’ll need a membership fee to access the full suite of features. Non-paying members only have access to sleep, readiness, and activity.
Review: Is the Oura Ring 3 worth buying in 2023? Yes, if you value these features
Apple was an early adopter of the fitness-tracking trend, and the Apple Watch lineup continues to improve. I know, I know, it is a smartwatch, but with the right band, it can be more of a subtle statement than a techy eyesore. Plus, with upgraded battery life, top-quality performance, and a pretty accurate HRV, it’s worth the consideration.
I reviewed the Apple Watch Series 8 in October and was quickly impressed with the quick charge time despite having a shorter battery life than competitors. The more advanced workout features, like showing your mile split and debuting a multi-sport function, also make the Series 8 a standout tracker. And, along with tracking your stride the Series 8 also made strides in women’s health and sleep tracking features.
Review: Apple Watch 8 is a sleeper hit, even if it doesn’t match Samsung’s sensors
I found the sleep tracking stats to be extremely insightful, and the bedtime feature got me on a much-needed post-grad sleep schedule. While sleeping with a watch took some getting used to, I’m now conditioned to wake up from it buzzing on my wrist.
If you’re an Apple user, this fitness tracker will work seamlessly with your device ecosystem and introduce new healthy habits aside from the typical workout tracking it’s known for.
If you prefer a timepiece with a timeless look, the Garmin Vívomove Trend is the perfect work-to-workout watch. Upon first glance, you might not notice that Garmin’s latest hybrid watch is equipped with workout modes, oxygen monitoring, heart rate tracking, sleep tracking, and step counting capabilities.
The Garmin Vívomove Trend marries a traditional analog watch design – motorized hands and all – with a one-inch touchscreen display.
ZDNET Technology Editor June Wan tested the Vívomove Trend, and while he didn’t put the watch through a tough mudder, he commended the watch’s unique approach to tracking.
“It’s a clever, fun scoring system that’s calculated based on your sleep data, stress levels, physical activity, and more, to suggest when your body is capable of exerting more energy and when you should take a back seat,” he said.
Review: Garmin’s new Vívomove Trend fixes my biggest issue with its smartwatches
Aside from performance and aesthetics, the Vívomove Trend also packs an impressive battery life. During testing, Wan averaged about four days of use per charge. Along with ditching the massive display screen, you can also say goodbye to yet another charging cable, because the Vívomove Trend totes wireless charging.
According to an article from Johns Hopkins, sleep trackers can be a useful tool for identifying sleep patterns. However, sleeping with a bulky screen on your wrist can potentially have the opposite effect. The Whoop 4.0 is a screen-less band that calculates your sleep performance by measuring the sleep you got versus the sleep your body needs.
Review: Whoop 4.0: Screenless wearable helps you avoid injuries, track sleep details
Given the detailed bodily insights, it makes sense why Whoop wearables are so popular among athletes. Former University of Notre Dame softball athlete Quinn Biggio started using the Whoop after hanging up her cleats for good and witnessing it successfully keeping her teammates in tune with their bodies.
“No longer was anyone telling me to wake up at 6:00 a.m. and go run or lift. I became fully in charge of my own workouts and schedule,” she said.
The Whoop employs a nuanced sleep-tracking approach to how it tracks exercise. Rather than simply displaying workout stats, the Whoop calculates what it calls “strain” on its proprietary 0 to 21 scale. Strain accounts for exercise as well as lifestyle factors that make up our overall health: work, anxiety, travel, parenting, and more. A “strain coach” uses that score to make daily exertion recommendations to prevent burnout, which Quinn said helped evaluate her workout habits.
While the band itself is only $30, it requires a monthly membership that starts at $30 with a 12-month commitment. Annual membership goes up to $239 for access to the full Whoop suite.
Interested in the subtlety and features Whoop offers, but deterred by the pricey subscription? The Halo band is a more budget-conscious alternative. While it’s $70 as opposed to $30 upfront, there’s a six-month-long free trial. After that, a $3.99 per month membership kicks in – which is much lower than Whoop’s $30 minimum monthly subscription that locks you in for a year.
Another feature that makes the Halo unique from fitness tracking competitors is its ability to analyze your body composition, claiming it can measure fat percentage, which is not to be confused with Body mass index or BMI. As always, remember that the Halo band can be a tool, but as smart as it is, it’s not as smart as your doctor or physician – especially when it comes to body comp.
However, note that to access its extensive workout and wellness suite, including Sweat, Orangetheory, and Weight Watchers partnerships, you’ll have to pay the $3.99 monthly Halo membership fee after the initial six-month trial.
Ever wonder how many steps Serena Williams tracks in a tennis match? What about how many steps running back Tyreek Hill takes? With LaceClips, a Bluetooth fitness tracker that strings through and secures to your shoelaces, you can find out – and even compete against them.
Sure, you can use your smartphone to track steps or have a step competition with your mom, but I want a more competitive opponent – no offense, mom. That’s why in January, I kicked off my new year’s movement goals by testing the LaceClips.
The LaceClips come in a pair, but only one is a tracking device equipped with a micro USB charging port. The other can be utilized for matching purposes or simply to keep your laces in place. While it took eight hours for mine to fully charge, I usually got a good seven days’ worth of wear as I employed them to track my four-mile round trip walking to work commute.
Unlike a smartphone or fitness watch, the clips don’t passively track your steps. You’ll have to download the LaceClip app, pair the clips, and actively select a workout for it to record your run, walk, or tennis match. Despite the extra step, the results were accurate and insightful, sure to count every one of your extra steps. As a super cool bonus, I could even see an outline of the exact path or course I’d taken and compete with myself.
To see how it stacks up against the other picks on my list, here is an overview of the best fitness trackers.
I also considered my personal experience with fitness trackers I’ve tested and the hands-on experience of my fellow ZDNET team members. To get perspective outside of the ZDNET network, I talked to a former D1 athlete, Quinn Biggio, and Wake Forest Professor Dr. Jason Fanning.
Biggio’s insight as an athlete helped me understand the benefits of choosing Whoop, especially when it comes to training and recovery. Dr. Fanning helped break down the aspects of health trackers I haven’t personally tested, like the Oura Ring.
Fitness trackers such as the Apple Watch Series 8, the Oura ring Gen 3, and the Whoop measure HRV as a health metric using embedded sensors.
But what does that mean? According to Dr. Jason Fanning, it’s measuring how responsive we are.
“If you think about your body at rest, you’re able to stay at rest. But if somebody were to throw a rock at your head, you’d want to be able to mobilize and use energy to jump out of the way,” he said. “Heart rate variability is a measure of sort of how responsive your system is. And it should be able to ramp up and back down again quickly.”
Implementing HRV as a common metric prompts a more dynamic approach to fitness trackers, signaling overall wellness patterns to look out for over time as opposed to an immediate measurement.
As Dr. Fanning said, “if somebody’s getting sick, their heart rate variability compresses, and they get less variability when they’re at rest.”
Recently, Dr. Fanning experienced the power of the HRV metric via his Oura ring first-hand, “I just got over COVID last week and in the days prior to getting sick, my heart rate variability went through the floor.”
