Best fitness trackers 2020: Top activity bands to buy today
The fitness tracker market is as crowded as it's ever been, and only getting busier with time. Still, the benefit of that competition is that more and more devices are releasing that do a great job of tracking your wellbeing and fitness without costing a bomb.
Still, though, filtering through to the best devices can be a bit of a challenge. Luckily, we're here to help. We've weeded out the weaklings to select only the best fitness trackers on the market for you to choose from. We've also got distinct features for best smartwatches and best GPS sport watches too, for those who'd prefer a different flavour of wearable.
If what you want is step counting, calorie tracking, sleep advice and maybe even heart rate tracking and GPS connectivity, you're absolutely in the right spot.
The best fitness tracker to buy today
Here's the best fitness tracker on the market at the moment, balancing ease of use with price and all round features...
Fitbit Charge 3
squirrel_widget_145405
The Fitbit Charge 3 is a fantastic evolution for the Charge family. The third-gen model adds water-resistance, a lighter build, touchscreen interface, and more features, cementing this as the fitness tracker to consider if a smartwatch isn't for you. The Fitbit platform is brilliant, as is the battery life of the Charge 3, and it delivers great, accurate activity and sleep tracking.
There is no built-in GPS, but the Charge 3 offers plenty for its very reasonable price tag including interchangeable straps for those that want to smarten it up and smartphone notifications alongside all its fitness features. It's an excellent fitness tracker.
The best of the rest...
The Fitbit Charge 3 isn't for everyone though. Luckily, there are plenty of other great fitness trackers to consider that we've reviewed if you want to get up, start moving and stay ahead of the game. Here are a few other fitness trackers that are worth considering:
Fitbit Inspire HR
squirrel_widget_147357
The Fitbit Inspire HR offers almost everything the Charge 3 does but in a slimmer, cheaper package. It's not as premium in appearance as the Charge 3 but it offers great value for money, interchangeable straps and plenty of features including heart rate tracking, exercise tracking and advanced sleep tracking.
The Inspire HR replaces the Fitbit Alta and Fitbit Flex lines, offering a good OLED display, great performance, good battery life, smartphone notifications and it is also waterproof. For it's £90 price tag, the Inspire HR is an excellent fitness tracker.
Garmin Forerunner 645 Music
squirrel_widget_145223
The Garmin Forerunner 645 Music is more sports watch than standard activity tracker but it offers song storage, waterproofing, changeable straps, heart rate, GPS, altitude, cadence and motion so it is a great option for those all about data.
It offers the functionality of most smartwatches with notifications and functions, while offering excellent sports and activity tracking, a compact design for this style of activity tracker and it is comfortable to wear whilst also being compatible with Bluetooth headphones. It's very expensive when compared to the likes of the Fitbit Charge 3 however and while the battery life is better than many smartwatches, it isn't better than the likes of the Charge 3 or Inspire HR.
Garmin Fenix 6 Pro
squirrel_widget_167642
Garmin's most recent flagship line, the Fenix 6, is a stone-cold stunner of a smartwatch, and its fitness features are pretty much best-in-class. The reason we haven't placed it further up this list, though, is that it's pretty unlikely to be in many people's budgets. The Forerunner 645 has a great set of features at a big price, but the Fenix 6 Pro takes the even further on both counts.
If you're willing to spend big, you're getting a great two-week battery life, with some of the best tracking in any device, and mapping that can take you as far off the beaten track as you're willing to go. PacePro, meanwhile, is a revelation if you're into racing, and will genuinely help you regulate your pace for those elusive personal bests.
Fitbit Versa 2
squirrel_widget_166714
Fitbit's leaning further into smartwatch territory with the Fitbit Versa 2, offering a coloured display, NFC for Fitbit Pay and many smartwatch features, including some third party apps. There is a heart rate monitor, an altimeter and the Versa 2 is waterproof too.
Like the Charge 3, it misses out on built-in GPS, offering connected GPS instead, but it allows you to connect to Bluetooth headphones for listening to music and it offers all the excellent features of the Fitbit platform. You'll pay more for this device than the Charge 3 but if you want something more substantial without going full smartwatch, the Versa 2 is a good option.
Fitbit Versa Lite Edition
squirrel_widget_148336
The Fitbit Versa Lite Edition is a little cheaper than the Fitbit Versa 2 (above), offering an a near-identical design and some great features. Like the Versa 2, the Versa Lite Edition is waterproof, has several smartwatch features including some third party apps and it offers all the great Fitbit platform features too.
It misses out on Fitbit Pay, it doesn't offer music on board and it isn't as capable in terms of swim tracking as the more expensive Versa 2. Overall though, the Versa Lite Edition is a good price for the features it does offer and it comes in some great colour options, including a purple and blue that feature colour-matched aluminium casings and straps.
Garmin Vivosmart HR+
squirrel_widget_139123
The Garmin Vivosmart HR+ stuffs a lot of functionality into a device that's only a little larger than some other fitness tracker bands on this list, and significantly smaller than some others. It isn't as good looking as Fitbit's latest devices, but it's the feature set that appeals, with both heart rate monitoring and GPS on board.
The Garmin Vivosmart HR+ is an ideal device for someone who wants to track daily activity as well as record runs or walks in more detail, but doesn't want to go the whole hog and start wearing a running watch all the time.
Withings Steel HR Sport
squirrel_widget_146284
The Withings Steel HR Sport is the newer model of the Withings Steel HR, a little further down this list. It offers a similar design but it introduces a different strap, along with VO2 Max measuring and GPS.
This activity tracker fills gaps left by other hybrid watches and fully smart watches. It delivers a fantastic battery life, nice analogue face and it isn't excessively expensive. The Steel HR Sport tracks over 30 sports, it is lightweight and durable and it's equipped with enough features to ensure fitness enthusiasts aren't left feeling short-changed.
Polar Vantage V
squirrel_widget_158294
Polar has been quietly gaining a steady reputation for smart, attractive fitness devices, and the Polar Vantage V is proof of its pedigree. This is a tracker-come-smartwatch that looks great on the wrist, but importantly packs some real smarts.
Its speciality is the smart feedback it can give you as it monitors your daily life, including tips about your patterns and exercise plan. It's also got a lovely display. It took a while to get updated to this quality, but the Vantage V now represents a really nice, less popular choice for a fitness tracker.
Fitbit Alta HR
squirrel_widget_140455
The Fitbit Alta HR has been replaced by the Inspire HR, which offers more features but in a slightly wider and cheaper build. The Alta HR is still a great fitness tracker though, and cheap now, offering access to Fitbit's platform in a slim and stylish form.
There is no waterproofing, GPS or elevation data and the Alta HR isn't as feature rich as the larger and newer Charge 3, or the Inspire HR, but it offers a slim, stylish everyday activity tracker with good heart rate tracking and general day-to-day activity monitoring. Sleep tracking is also great and it comes with interchangeable straps so you can switch bands out for a smarter look.
Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2
squirrel_widget_166890
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 is another option that's slightly more watch than activity tracker, but it is still packed full of features including waterproofing, heart rate and built-in GPS. It also offers fully-fledged smartwatch capabilities
It's one of the most attractive designs on the list, too - we're big fans of its subdued looks. Like the Garmin Forerunner 645 Music though, you won't get the battery life of devices like the Fitbit Charge 3 and Fitbit Inspire HR, and sleep tracking isn't as accomplished on Fitbit's range of options.
Fitbit Inspire
squirrel_widget_147539
The Fitbit Inspire has a very similar design to the Inspire HR, a little further up this list. The Inspire misses out on a few of the Inspire HR's features, including heart rate tracking, advanced sleep tracking and exercise tracking, but it is waterproof and comfortable to wear.
There's no swim tracking like, but the Fitbit Inspire has a lovely OLED display, smartphone notifications and for the basic activity tracking features it does offer, it performs very well.
Fitbit Ionic
squirrel_widget_142566
The Fitbit Ionic not only brings a solid, lightweight design with a beautiful screen, it also adds built-in GPS and dedicated swim functionality that the earlier Blaze, was lacking. With a new and improved heart-rate monitor, smart notifications, payment capability and all the features Fitbit users will have come to know and love, the Ionic was Fitbit's first genuinely strong smartwatch.
It's not cheap though and there are a few annoyances, such as the lack of advanced smartwatch features. The Ionic successfully bridges the gap between fitness tracker and smartwatch though so if you're looking for a device that fulfils both these categories, this might be the one for you.
Suunto 9
squirrel_widget_145901
The Suunto 9 is a big sports watch so it won't be suitable for everyone but it offers an excellent battery life - 10 days - along with 100m water resistance and multiple sports tracking with plenty of detail in the breakdown.
The app isn't as good as Garmin or Fitbit alternatives and the design isn't as stylish as others on this list either but the Suunto 9 is an accomplished multi-sport watch that is brilliant for triathletes.
Garmin Vivomove
squirrel_widget_137579
The Garmin Vivomove is a wearable for those who want tech to infiltrate their lives in a less obvious, attention-seeking manner. It's an activity tracker that carries out its job in an understated manner - a wearable that will get you moving without looking like you're making an effort, and offer encouragement on the most basic of fitness goals - increased movement.
Even when compared with other simplistic analogue activity trackers, the Vivomove is in a league of its own when it comes to design. It's a stunning piece of kit. If there was a vibration motor for smartphone notifications, a heart rate monitor and a more robust app to back it up, this would be the ultimate offering of its type.
Withings Activité Steel HR
squirrel_widget_138675
The Withings Activité Steel HR is a beautifully designed device that does a great job of delivering style and smarts in a one package. It offers a classic design with premium materials and it's certainly an activity tracker that steps away from the standard glorified rubber band look of many competitors.
Heart-rate tracking is good, as is sleep tracking, while the battery life is excellent. The design isn't as subtle as the likes of the Fitbit Inspire HR, which offers the same features, and the Steel HR doesn't do sleep tracking in as much depth as the Alta HR either. That said, if you want heart-rate monitoring with some added analogue appeal, this Withings number is a great choice.
from Pocket-lint https://ift.tt/2qN4Sge
via IFTTT
No comments: