Fitness
The Best Fitness Trackers of 2024
Plan and track your fitness journey by investing in one of the best fitness trackers, and make your health and fitness your priority.
What to Look for in a Fitness Tracker
No two fitness trackers are the same, so before you buy one, it’s worth considering what you’re looking to get from your device. Dedicated fitness trackers may lack some of the additional functionality of certain smartwatches, which can help keep costs down if measuring your health and wellness metrics is your main focus.
Are you looking to push your body to its limits or simply looking to improve your overall health? Considering this can help choose the right device for you. Fitness trackers such as the Fitbit Charge 6 (our best overall choice) are great for covering a broad range of general workouts and activities, and for monitoring your body’s response to those sessions.
However, devices such as the Garmin Fenix 8 are much more feature-rich and better suited to those serious about their outdoor pursuits, thanks to its rugged design and comprehensive route planning features. These extra features are likely to be redundant to anybody looking for more general fitness tracking capabilities.
Below, we have shortlisted some of the best fitness trackers and smartwatches, covering a variety of needs and catering to different budgets to help you narrow down the options and find the perfect fitness tracker for you.
How Did We Research |
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How-To Geek’s product recommendations come from the same team of experts who have helped people fix their gadgets over one billion times. We only recommend the best products based on our research and expertise. We never accept payment to endorse or review a product. Read More »
Pros |
Cons |
---|---|
Has over 40 exercise modes |
Some features are locked behind a subscription |
Built-in GPS |
|
Compatible with Google Maps and Google Wallet |
The Fitbit Charge 6 provides comprehensive fitness tracking throughout various activities. This feature-rich wearable boasts more than 40 exercise modes, built-in GPS, heart rate monitoring, automatic exercise tracking, cardio fitness level readings, and more.
Among its many health and wellness metrics, it offers blood oxygen level monitoring, stress management readouts, and nightly sleep scores. It can also be synced with compatible exercise equipment (such as treadmills, rowers, and exercise bikes) to give accurate heart rate readings in real-time.
Compatible with Google Maps, the Fitbit Charge 6 keeps you on track during runs, rides, or treks, and with Google Wallet compatibility as well, you can leave your wallet at home while you work out. Plus, with on-board YouTube Music controls, you’ll have your favorite tracks to keep you company while you train.
As an optional extra, you can choose to subscribe to Fitbit Premium to gain access to a library of different trainer-led workouts, including HIIT, strength training, cardio, cycling, and many more. Premium also unlocks your Daily Readiness Score, so you can plan your rest days around your exercise regime and gain insights to help you reach your fitness goals.
The Fitbit Charge 6 features a crystal clear 1.4-inch AMOLED touchscreen display and provides lightweight, all-day comfort through even the most strenuous workouts. This is undoubtedly Fitbit’s best fitness tracker yet.
Best Fitness Tracker Overall
Fitbit Charge 6
$126 $160 Save
$34
The Fitbit Charge 6 is a feature-packed fitness tracker with 40+ exercise modes, GPS, heart rate monitoring, blood oxygen tracking, stress management, and sleep scores. It syncs with gym equipment, supports Google Maps and Wallet, offers music controls, and optional Fitbit Premium access, all on a vibrant AMOLED display.
Pros |
Cons |
---|---|
Affordable |
Lacks built-in GPS |
Supports more than 20 exercise modes |
Not voice assistant compatible |
Receive smartphone notifications |
For budget buyers, the Fitbit Inspire 3 packs many features to help keep you active and motivated without breaking the bank. It offers more than 20 exercise modes, automatic sleep tracking, 24/7 heart rate tracking, stress management scores, and more—all for less than $100.
In addition to its health and wellness metrics, this discreet fitness wearable helps you stay connected through calls, text messages, and smartphone notifications. It lacks built-in GPS but works with connected GPS via your smartphone. There’s no voice assistant compatibility here either, but that’s to be expected at this price point.
As an extra incentive, the Fitbit Inspire 3 includes a six-month membership to Fitbit Premium, which provides trainer-led video workouts, your daily readiness score, sleep profile, and mindfulness sessions. With a full annual subscription costing $79.99, a free trial is a welcome addition, allowing you to judge for yourself whether it’s worth the additional cost.
It’s also economical on battery life, too, giving you up to 10 days of wear from a full charge, so your fitness tracking needn’t be interrupted by constantly charging your device. Plus, with the Fitbit Inspire 3’s slim and lightweight form factor, you’ll barely even notice that you’re wearing it.
Best Budget Fitness Tracker
Fitbit Inspire 3
$95 $100 Save
$5
The Fitbit Inspire 3 is a budget-friendly tracker offering 20+ exercise modes, 24/7 heart rate tracking, stress scores, and sleep tracking. With up to 10-day battery life, smartphone notifications, and a 6-month Fitbit Premium trial, it’s a lightweight, affordable choice to stay active and motivated for under $100.
Pros |
Cons |
---|---|
Tons of fun movement-based games for kids |
Similarly priced to many fully functioning fitness trackers |
Smartphone-less voice calls and messaging |
|
School Time mode |
Aside from earning you some serious ‘cool’ points with your pre-tweens, there are some practical reasons why investing in a kids’ smartwatch is a good idea and the Fitbit Ace LTE is one of the best on the market.
Subscribe to the Fitbit Ace data plan, and your child will have access to every game in the Fitbit Arcade. These are movement-based games they can play with their Fitbit Ace, which will keep them active and engaged for hours, recording their achievements and rewarding their hard work with fun animations, trophies, and more.
Not only that, but the Ace Pass provides access to features such as GPS location sharing, so you can keep tabs on your child while they’re out playing with friends or catching the bus to school. It also enables them to make smartphone-free voice calls and send messages to you to let you know when they will return home. Plus, you can add up to 20 contacts who can call or message them via the Fitbit Ace app.
Handy features such as the School Time mode allow you to disable games and notifications while your kids are in class, allowing them to focus on their schoolwork with minimal distractions. It’s also packed with kid-friendly fun features, such as customizable eerie characters that ‘celebrate’ when daily movement goals are achieved.
Although the prospect of taking out an additional data plan may put some potential buyers off (approximately $9.99 a month), The Fitbit Ace LTE is tons of fun for younger children and provides much-needed peace of mind for parents, allowing them to stay in touch throughout the day.
Best Fitness Tracker for Kids
Fitbit Google Ace
The Fitbit Ace LTE is a fun, practical kids’ smartwatch offering GPS location sharing, smartphone-free calls, and movement-based games. With School Time mode, customizable characters, and fitness rewards, it keeps kids active and connected while providing peace of mind to parents.
Best Fitness Tracker With GPS: Garmin Fenix 8
Pros |
Cons |
---|---|
Solar powered |
Very expensive |
Multi-band GPS |
|
Excellent battery life |
With a price tag large enough to make most ordinary Joes faint, the Garmin Fenix 8 is not for casuals. This is a premium multisport GPS smartwatch for serious outdoor enthusiasts, and itfeatures all the bells and whistles you could want for planning and recording your al-fresco pursuits.
It has a 1.4-inch solar-powered always-on AMOLED display, a highly durable and scratch-resistant sapphire lens, and a built-in LED flashlight. Its case is made from a fiber-reinforced polymer and metal blend and has a 40-meter dive rating for scuba diving and extreme sports. Plus, the watch itself is packed to the rafters with sports, activity, and health and wellness tracking features.
It’s an absolute beast for battery life, too, giving you a huge 48 days when used in smartwatch mode with solar charging and up to 149 hours in GPS mode with solar charging. Speaking of GPS, the Fenix 8 has multi-band GPS with SatIQ technology, along with built-in sensors for its 3-axis compass, gyroscope, and barometric altimeter, as well as topographical maps, so you’ll never lose your way when you’re in the great outdoors.
With its built-in speaker and mic, you can make or take calls from your wrist, and use your smartphone’s voice assistant to respond to text messages. Plus, a dynamic round-routing feature allows you to set your target distance and receive real-time directions to keep you on track during your workouts and training routes.
Though you may balk at the Garmin Fenix 8’s price, its sheer quality is undeniable. If you’re looking for a smartwatch to push you to your limits in the great outdoors, this is the one.
Best Fitness Tracker With GPS
Garmin Fenix 8
The Garmin Fenix 8 is a premium multisport GPS smartwatch for serious adventurers, featuring a solar-powered AMOLED display, multi-band GPS, 48-day battery life, advanced health tracking, and rugged durability. With dive ratings, topographic maps, and built-in calls, it’s the ultimate companion for extreme outdoor pursuits.
Pros |
Cons |
---|---|
Larger and brighter display |
Premium price tag |
Supports over 24 different exercise types |
Not suitable for Android users |
Call, text, and stream from your wrist |
The Apple Watch Series 10 introduces a 30 percent bigger and 40 percent brighter OLED display for iPhone users and a thinner and more lightweight design. It also boasts advanced health and fitness features to help you smash your PBs and reach those all-important fitness goals.
The Series 10 supports over 24 exercise types, including HIIT, yoga, running, and even kickboxing, with on-screen metrics for you to analyze. Apple’s Activity app tracks your daily fitness levels, encouraging you to close your Activity Rings every day and adjust your fitness goals to fit around your schedule. The Series 10’s training load feature helps you assess your body’s recovery rate over time.
Its advanced sensors provide sleep apnea notifications, irregular rhythm notifications (IRNs), and on-demand ECG readings, and it uses the Vitals app to get accurate readings on your heart rate, respiratory rate, and sleep stats. You’ll also find many included safety features, such as Emergency SOS, international emergency calling, and crash and fall detection, to help you feel safe and connected when you’re out and about.
Plus, with this GPS + Cellular version of the Series 10, you can call, text, or stream music from your wrist, even if you don’t have your iPhone nearby (provided that you have a cellular plan in place). For Apple users, the Apple Watch Series 10 is the best way to track your fitness journey, providing seamless connectivity with your iPhone.
Best Fitness Tracker for iPhone Users
Apple Watch Series 10
$449 $499 Save
$50
The Apple Watch Series 10 features a 30% larger, brighter OLED display and a sleek, lightweight design. With advanced health tracking, 24+ workout modes, sleep apnea alerts, and cellular connectivity, it’s perfect for iPhone users aiming to achieve fitness goals while staying safe and connected on the go.
Best Screenless Fitness Tracker: WHOOP 4.0
Pros |
Cons |
---|---|
Comprehensive health and fitness tracking |
Expensive |
Monitors and assesses your daily activities |
Requires a subscription |
Wireless charging |
The WHOOP 4.0 is not your ordinary fitness tracker. This screenless wearable offers 24/7 health and wellness tracking with on-the-go wireless charging, so you never need to remove it from your wrist. It is one of the only fitness trackers to provide unbroken coverage of all your vital statistics, building a comprehensive picture of your overall health and fitness levels.
With this device, you can measure your performance in dozens of sports and workouts while monitoring your physiological data, such as heart rate, respiratory rate, blood oxygen levels, and sleep cycles. Furthermore, the WHOOP 4.0 assesses your daily behaviors, such as your caffeine intake, diet, and alcohol consumption, with the WHOOP journal. It then calculates which behaviors aid or impede your sleep and recovery the most, encouraging you to make healthier choices.
The WHOOP app is seamlessly compatible with smartphones and tracks your steps, sleep, calories burned, and more. Call notifications, messages, and reminders are delivered to your WHOOP device via subtle vibrations, so you’ll never miss a thing while you work out.
Included with your purchase is a 12-month subscription to the WHOOP app, which you will need to access WHOOP’s suite of features. Once this initial subscription ends, you will need to renew it to maintain your access. This is something to be aware of, as the WHOOP 4.0 device is quite expensive, so the prospect of additional cost may put some buyers off.
However, given the sheer wealth of fitness tracking features on offer, the WHOOP 4.0 offers plenty of value if you’re serious about your fitness goals.
Best Screenless Fitness Tracker
Whoop 4.0
$199 $239 Save
$40
The WHOOP 4.0 is a screenless fitness tracker offering 24/7 health monitoring, on-the-go charging, and comprehensive data on vital stats like heart rate, sleep, and recovery. It includes a 12-month WHOOP app subscription, which analyzes habits and encourages healthier choices, making it ideal for anyone serious about their fitness and wellness.
FAQ
How do I connect my fitness tracker to my smartphone?
Most fitness trackers use a bespoke app, which you will need to download and pair with your device, to enable your device to send data to the associated app for you to review.
What is the difference between a fitness tracker and a smartwatch?
There are many similarities between smartwatches and fitness trackers, with many smartwatches offering similar features to fitness trackers. However, fitness trackers tend to emphasize health and wellness functionality, while smartphones tend to offer a wider range of features. For this reason, fitness trackers are usually a little bit cheaper than smartwatches.
Are fitness trackers only smartwatches?
No, fitness trackers are not just smartwatches. But they do tend to be wrist-worn wearables for the most part, with the exception of some other devices, such as smart rings. However, most fitness trackers feature a touchscreen display, like smartwatches, to make it easier and more convenient to track your exercise data.
Can a fitness tracker track blood pressure?
Yes. Many fitness trackers have the facility to track your blood pressure, although the degree of accuracy by which they do this is arguable and may be less reliable than that of a doctor’s blood pressure monitor.
How do fitness trackers track sleep?
Fitness trackers track and monitor your movement and heart rate throughout the day. When your body sleeps, your heart rate will slow, and you will show as being inactive. By monitoring your movement throughout the day, your fitness tracker’s sensors can estimate when you’re most likely to be asleep, by matching any duration of inactive time with a slowed heart rate.