Wrist-worn health trackers that may monitor your steps and coronary heart price have been as soon as seen as cutting-edge gadgets. Now these wearables have gotten extra high-tech with every launch, geared up with options like customized exercise applications and the marketed potential to observe stress or sleep high quality.
Since 2015, we’ve been working, strolling, swimming, biking, sleeping, and principally residing with 46 completely different health trackers day and night time, to evaluate their accuracy, ease of use, and luxury. Though no tracker completely recorded each metric we examined, we discovered that the merely designed but feature-packed Fitbit Encourage 3 is the best choice for most individuals who need to monitor their actions, with metrics like distance traveled, step depend, coronary heart price, and estimated energy burned.
Our choose
This easy-to-use tracker is comfy to put on all day and supplies correct measurements, with out an excessive amount of muddle on the homescreen.
The Fitbit Encourage 3 was essentially the most correct health tracker for step depend and close to the highest of the rankings for each different check we carried out. The touchscreen show is just one.5 inches tall however is straightforward to navigate, because of its sharp colours and simply readable textual content and icons. The skinny, half-inch band doesn’t really feel clunky throughout exercises or on a regular basis use, and the Encourage 3 weighs simply 0.32 ounce—lighter than a typical USB flash drive.
Fitbit has a free app the place you’ll be able to join with different Fitbit customers, log info to study stress administration, and dig deeper into information comparable to heart-rate historical past (a premium model of the app prices $10 per 30 days or $80 per 12 months) and presents entry to apps like Calm for sleep and meditation). The Encourage 3’s battery is marketed as lasting 10 days earlier than charging, though we discovered it to return in a good bit in need of that mark.
Battery life: as much as 10 days
Water resistance: sure, for as much as 50 meters
GPS: when linked to a cellphone
Runner-up
The most recent model of the Cost sequence continues a convention of correct exercise monitoring, however lots of the new additions require Google integration.
The Fitbit Cost 6 presents a number of upgrades from the Cost 5 , which we beforehand advisable as a runner-up choose. Probably the most notable improve is a haptic aspect button that enables for simpler display navigation than swiping on the touchscreen (which, we discovered, generally isn’t responsive). The Cost 6 additionally has built-in GPS, which the Encourage 3 doesn’t have, along with entry to Google Maps, Google Pockets, and YouTube Music (with subscription). However on the subject of monitoring distance, the Encourage 3 carried out higher in our checks.
Battery life: as much as seven days
Water resistance: sure, for as much as 50 meters
GPS: inbuilt
Additionally nice
The Apple Watch SE delivers a number of the most exact readouts and—with a cellular plan—can be utilized for calls and messaging. However its battery life is far shorter than that of our Fitbit picks.
The second-generation Apple Watch SE has a vibrant, clear show and the most effective intuitive touchscreen of the gadgets we examined. Even in case you’re not linked to an iPhone, you’ll be able to reap the benefits of a big library of apps. Efficiency-wise, the Apple Watch SE—additionally our finances choose smartwatch for iPhone customers—precisely measured coronary heart price, steps, and distance. However for individuals who need to go on a run and simply observe, say, their tempo and distance, the Apple Watch SE could be overkill, particularly given its larger value and restricted battery life.
Battery life: as much as 18 hours
Water resistance: sure, as much as 50 meters
GPS: inbuilt
