Buy Fitness Band
I'm PCMag's expert on fitness and smart home technology, and I've written more than 6,000 articles and reviews in the 10-plus years I've been here. I unbox, set up, test, and review a wide range of consumer tech products from my home in Florida, often with the help of my pitbull Bradley. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade.
buy fitness band
With so many excellent options on the market, which one is right for you? We've gathered the best models we've tested here to help you decide. Read on for our top picks, followed by what to look for when choosing a fitness tracker.
The Apple Watch Series 8 offers a broad suite of built-in fitness, health, and safety tools, not to mention the best selection of third-party apps (such as Runkeeper, Strava, and Nike Run Club) for any smartwatch.
The Apple Watch Series 8 is best for iPhone users in search of a wearable that doubles as a fitness tracker for workouts and a smartwatch for connectivity features. It requires an iPhone 8 or later that runs iOS 16 or higher, so it's not an option if you use Android.
For fitness tracking, the Charge 5 features 20 sport profiles (six of which you can add to the device at a time), a built-in GPS so you don't need to bring your phone to track your route during outdoor runs, and a 24/7 heart rate monitor. Its SmartTrack feature automatically recognizes and records certain workouts including walking and running, while its Active Zone Minutes metric motivates you to meet the American Heart Association's recommendation of 150 minutes of moderate to intense activity per week. The Fitbit app offers plenty of post-workout data, including intensity maps showing your pace and heart rate zones throughout your route. On the safety front, the Charge 5 alerts you if your heart rate is unusually high or low.
With top-notch fitness, sleep, and stress-tracking features; an attractive design; and a reasonable price, the Fitbit Charge 5 is the best standalone fitness tracker for most people. It motivates you to meet your workout goals, get to bed earlier, and incorporate mindfulness into your daily routine.
One limitation, however, is that the Charge 5 lacks Spotify support. If you need music streaming controls on your wrist, look elsewhere. Moreover, if you're new to fitness or don't see yourself tracking outdoor runs, bike rides, or hikes, consider a more affordable wearable without a built-in GPS.
The Garmin Vivoactive 4 is a GPS-equipped fitness tracker and smartwatch hybrid that stands out because of its stylish design, excellent visibility in bright sunlight, and long battery life. Inside its classy stainless steel bezel is a color touch screen with a durable Corning Gorilla Glass 3 cover and an always-on display option. It comes with a comfortable textured silicone strap and is compatible with standard quick-release bands(Opens in a new window).
On the fitness front, it boasts more than 20 preloaded sports apps, guided workouts with form animations, and personalized training plans. It tracks advanced metrics such as your respiration and SpO2, plus can even monitor your heart rate underwater.
The Vivoactive 4 gets about eight days of battery life per charge, a major advantage compared to the Apple Watch Series 8 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, both of which you typically need to recharge daily with normal use. Though fitness is its main focus, the Vivoactive 4 supports several useful lifestyle features including downloadable apps, onboard music storage for 500 songs, Bluetooth headphones, and contactless payments.
The third-generation model offers all the excellent fitness and health features that made the Versa line a favorite of ours for years, including 24/7 heart rate monitoring, guided breathing exercises, and automatic exercise recognition. It also adds a GPS for pace, distance, and route-tracking without your phone, plus features an SpO2 sensor to measure the amount of oxygen in your blood while you sleep.
If you're in the market for a budget-friendly fitness tracker and smartwatch hybrid, the Versa 3 is a strong contender, especially for Android users. With an always-on color touch screen, long battery life, ample fitness and sleep tracking tools, and key lifestyle features, it offers tremendous value for the price.
When you wear the watch to bed and place a compatible smartphone on your nightstand, they can work together to listen for snoring and even record it. The watch also tracks your sleep duration, stages (awake, light, deep, and REM), and overnight SpO2. For fitness tracking, the Watch5 series supports more than 90 different workouts (everything from walking and running to archery and flying disc), and can automatically detect certain activities.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 series is best for Android users in the market for a feature-rich smartwatch with cutting-edge fitness- and health-tracking tools. Similar to how the Apple Watch only works with iOS devices, the Galaxy Watch 5 series is exclusive to Android. Samsung's latest smartwatches work with smartphones running Android 8.0 (or newer) that have more than 1.5GB of RAM.
The Watch SE is the smallest and least expensive smartwatch in Apple's lineup. Except for an always-on display and a few health sensors (ECG, SpO2, and temperature), it includes almost all the same connectivity, safety, and fitness features of the Series 8 for $150 less.
Designed specifically for women, the Garmin Lily fitness tracker and smartwatch hybrid stands out for its classic, jewelry-like design. It features a beautiful, patterned face, an aluminum or stainless steel bezel, and a 14mm band that's much slimmer than most smartwatch straps, so you can wear it alongside other bracelets. More than just attractive, the Lily can track health stats such as your calories burned, energy level, heart rate, respiration, sleep, SpO2, steps, stress, and workouts. It also offers smartwatch features such as phone notifications, music playback controls, and useful calendar and weather widgets. It's water-resistant to 164 feet and can last up to five days on a charge.
If you want a fitness tracker that doesn't look like one, the Garmin Lily might be perfect. Its attractive, female-focused design is its biggest selling point, but the Garmin Lily also offers an impressive feature set for its small size.
It lacks a color, always-on display and several other features you get with the Vivoactive 4 and 4S, but it also costs significantly less. And while it isn't quite as value-rich as the similarly priced Versa 3, the Lily is a top choice if you're looking for a fitness-focused tracker and smartwatch hybrid that prioritizes style.
If you need some motivation to get active, but don't want to spend big bucks on a fitness tracker you're not sure you will stick with, the Amazon Halo View is worth a look. It lacks GPS functionality, but still presents a holistic view of your wellness. Its excellent companion app (available on Android and iOS) offers useful guidance and tools to help improve your health and fitness.
The Oura Generation 3 is like a mood ring on steroids: It looks like a basic metal band, but it houses small sensors to keep tabs on your activity, physical and mental health, and sleep. It can even monitor your heart rate and body temperature around the clock, as well as predict your next period. This finger-based fitness tracker also keeps tabs on your HRV, overnight SpO2, and respiration rate.
It's about as thick as the average wedding band, super lightweight, and can last about a week on a charge. The ring is water-resistant up to 328 feet, so you can wear it while swimming, showering, diving, or just doing the dishes.
If you're not into watches or wristbands but still need some motivation to improve your health and fitness, check out the Oura Ring Generation 3. Offering more sensors than its predecessor, an excellent companion app, and long battery life, the third-generation Oura is the best fitness-tracking ring we've tested.
It tracks your activities, heart rate, sleep, and recovery, plus offers personalized daily workout guidance to help you train smarter as well as guided breathing exercises to help you de-stress. On the design front, the Ignite 2 features stylish engravings on its metal bezel, a bright color touch screen, and accessory bands with Swarovski crystals (sold separately) for those who like a bit of bling.
The Ignite 2 lasts up to five days on a charge, or up to 20 hours if you turn on the GPS and heart rate tracking features. It's water-resistant to around 98 feet, which makes it safe to wear in the shower or when you swim. Though it's primarily a fitness-focused wearable, the Ignite 2 offers smartwatch features like music controls and weather forecasts, too.
The Ignite 2 is meant for fitness enthusiasts who prioritize style. If you're looking for a capable GPS fitness watch that transitions well from the gym to a night out, the Polar Ignite 2 is an excellent choice.
More expensive trackers usually include built-in optical heart rate monitors and GPS. Often, these features are meant to tempt athletes and exercise enthusiasts. Don't get suckered into buying an expensive tracker if your primary activity is walking. If you walk and don't do much else, there are great options in the $25 to $99 range. If you work out a lot and want ample fitness-tracking features, we recommend spending at least $99 to get the tracking tools you might want or need.
With most fitness trackers, you pay one price for the device and can access all or most of its accompanying software features for free. Some, like the Whoop strap, have a different pricing model. Whoop offers its basic black wristband for free with the purchase of a membership, which unlocks access to its app. Whoop justifies its ongoing membership fees through regular app updates and timely features.
One important question to ask yourself before choosing a fitness tracker is the type of design you want. Most trackers are wrist-based, though there are also clip-on options and fitness-tracking rings. Bracelets and watches are typically hard to lose. That said, they can get in the way of some daily activities, such as sleep, for example. 041b061a72