The 11 Best Fitness Trackers and Watches for Everyone [Updated September 2020]

[Karlston]

The 11 Best Fitness Trackers and Watches for Everyone

Whether you're backcountry skiing or running around the backyard, we have an activity tracker for you.

 

 

As the saying goes, “the best gear is the gear you’ll actually use.” Nowhere does this apply more than with your fitness tracker, which you need to wear constantly to monitor your step count, heart rate, and sleep quality. Studies might be mixed on their benefits, but fitness watches have longer battery life, better software, and more stylish designs than ever before. We've tested dozens over the past three years to bring you these picks.

 

It's worth noting that Apple recently debuted the Watch Series 6 and Watch SE, which we're testing at the moment alongside new Fitbit, Samsung, and Garmin watches. Looking for more options? Check out our guides to the Best Smartwatches and Best Running Gear.

 

Updated September 2020: We added new trackers and watches, such as the Oura Ring.

 

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  Photograph: Fitbit 

  Best All-Around

  Fitbit Charge 4

   

  The question I most often field is: Should I get a Fitbit, Apple Watch, or Garmin? If you're asking that question, you probably don't need Apple's or Garmin's advanced capabilities and are best off with a basic Fitbit. With every major tech company trying to eat their wearable lunch, it's remarkable that Fitbit's trackers remain affordable, attractive, and comfortable, with an easy-to-use app and a huge, devoted community. The Charge 4 is its best yet, with features like built-in GPS that I've seen only in much more expensive trackers.

   

  The Charge 4 also has some smart upgrades, like a Zone Minutes metric that encourages newbies to explore high-intensity exercise and an "outdoor workout" category for rambling hikes and golf games. Fitbit also has the best sleep-tracking hardware and software that I've used. It's just too bad you can't access some of its best features without an $80-per-year Premium subscription.

   

  $150 at Amazon

  $150 $141 at Best Buy

   

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  Photograph: Fitbit

  Also a Good Pick

  Fitbit Versa Lite Edition

   

  For years, one version or another of Fitbit's groundbreaking smartwatch has been at the top of this list. The Versa Lite is still a great pick for anyone who wants a smartwatch/fitness tracker combo at an affordable price. Unlike the Apple Watch, it works with both Android and iPhones. Long battery life means you can wear it while sleeping and take advantage of Fitbit's comprehensive sleep-tracking features, which are some of the best on the market. Unfortunately, it only has connected GPS (it relies on your phone for location), no altimeter, and it doesn't track lap swimming. The Versa 2 offers more features if you don't mind spending for them.

   

  $160 $149 at Amazon

  $160 $130 at Best Buy

   

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  Photograph: Letsfit 

  Best Budget Tracker 

  Letsfit Fitness Tracker

   

  Letsfit's smartwatch is a knockoff of the Fitbit Versa, right down to the font on the watch face, but the differences are obvious to anyone who has used (and loved) a real Versa. The latch is made from cheap plastic; the tracked metrics on the watch face are rudimentary; and the VeryFitPro app is unattractive and not a joy to consult.

   

  But it's waterproof, and the pedometer is reasonably accurate. The battery life is about a week, and the band is soft and comfortable. If you want an even cheaper, simpler tracker, I also like the Xiaomi Mi Band 3, which also has a long-lasting battery, is waterproof, and is comfortable. But if you're willing to spend a little more, it's worth looking for older Garmin or Fitbit models that regularly go on sale for well under $100.

   

  $36 at Amazon

 

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  Photograph: Apple 

  Best Fitness Tracker … if You Have an iPhone

  Apple Watch Series 6

   

  Apple recently launched two new Watches, the Series 6 and the SE. My colleague Lauren Goode and I are still testing both versions. However, given our past glowing reviews of Apple watches, I feel confident in saying the Series 6 will probably be our best fitness tracker if you have an iPhone. In addition to the activity-closing rings and electrocardiogram, other new features include a blood oxygen sensor, new bands and case colors, and integration with Fitness+, an on-demand streaming service that will integrate between the watch and your phone screen or your Apple TV.

   

  The SE won't have the blood-monitoring tech or always-on display, but it does have the same processor and many of the same features as the Apple Watch Series 5 (our previous pick in this category). The Series 3 will remain on sale as the true budget fitness option for $199—still a very competitive price for a decent fitness tracker.

   

  $399 at Apple

  $399 at Best Buy

   

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  Photograph: Oura

  Best Ring

  Oura Ring

   

  With the demise of the Motiv Ring earlier this year, the Oura is now one of the few good fitness-tracker rings around. I was prepared to dislike it based on nothing more than the hype and its privileged mystique. To my surprise, its sensors are extremely sensitive (that's a good thing) and its algorithm is smart and digestible.

   

  Rather than giving you raw data, the Oura measures deviations from your two-week baseline and crunches them into three understandable metrics—your activity goal progress, your sleep score, and your readiness. Measuring your deviations from yourself, rather than against the general population, is a much-less-anxiety-inducing way to track your health. It was also sensitive enough to detect my temperature dropping right before my period started, which is an upgrade from female health apps that require you to plug in your own data.

   

  $299 at Oura

   

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  Photograph: Withings 

  Best Analog Watch Dupe

  Withings Move ECG

   

  Withings' smartwatches have analog faces, which make them an affordable option for anyone who doesn't want to wear a tiny computer on their wrist. Of their latest styles, I like the Move ECG the best. It's marketed as an affordable replacement to an ECG watch like the Apple Series 6, but it also reliably records activities automatically and can track sleep (although not as well as a tracker with an optical heart rate monitor).

   

  Unfortunately, the Move ECG is not yet shipping in the US. Good alternatives are the more affordable Move and the Steel HR. The best part? All of them use a watch battery, so you don't have to charge them every night or week.

   

  $130 at Withings

   

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  Photograph: Garmin

  Best Outdoors Watch

  Garmin Fenix 6S Pro

   

  Garmin's Fenix 6S Pro (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is the best outdoor multisport watch I've had the pleasure of using. Unlike the bigger 6X Pro Solar, it doesn't have solar charging. But in addition to Garmin's impressive satellite navigation systems and tons of different sport modes, it also has a plethora of new power management features to extend the battery life if it looks like you'll end up outside for longer than you thought. It also includes Garmin's new emergency alert and incident detection system.

   

  The watch is small and comfortable like the Fenix 5S but with a larger, colorful, sunlight-visible display and comprehensive onboard topographic maps.

   

  $700 at REI

 

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  Photograph: Garmin

  Best Running Watch

  Garmin Forerunner 645 Music

   

  Garmin makes the most accurate GPS watches. WIRED editor in chief Nick Thompson prefers the Forerunner 935, but because I'm spoiled, I love the Forerunner 645 Music. It's small, light, and waterproof, with a display that's readable in sunlight and navigable via a five-button system. In addition to giving you recommendations on rest and recovery time, it can measure your stride length and estimate your times for a 5K, half-marathon, or marathon. It also has contactless payments for when you need a burrito on a 20-mile run. It can store 500 songs.

   

  $450 $338 at Amazon

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  Photograph: Samsung

  Best for Galaxy Phone Owners

  Samsung Galaxy Watch Active

   

  If you own or are lusting after an expensive Samsung Galaxy S20, you may want the Galaxy Watch Active (8/10, WIRED Recommends). I also reviewed the newer Active2, but unless you have your heart set on a digital bezel, the Active is the better deal.

   

  It's light, attractive, and half the price of the Apple Watch. It's also dust- and water-resistant and has built-in GPS, continuous heart rate tracking, and cheery notifications when you accomplish the smallest fitness goals. You can even use your Samsung phone to charge it with the Power Share feature! Aside from a few big names like Spotify and Strava, there aren't a lot of high-quality apps in Samsung's app store, but the built-in apps work well. We're also testing the new Galaxy Watch 3, which adds blood oxygen saturation tracking and some other niceties, but at nearly double the price.

   

  $199 $170 at Amazon

  $200 at Samsung

   

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  Photograph: Suunto

  Best for Android Phone Users

  Suunto Suunto 7

   

  For years, Suunto has struggled to move beyond its core user group of hardcore alpine guides who mountain-run for fun. This year at CES, the company debuted the Suunto 7, which is the best sports watch that uses Google's Wear OS smartwatch platform.

   

  The merger between Suunto's excellent hardware and Wear OS needs ironing out. For example, when tracking a sport and using offline maps, you have to make sure to select the separate Suunto Wear app instead of Google Fit. (Google Fit has its own limitations—it still doesn't track swimming, for example.) But Wear OS makes the watch much easier to use daily than any other Suunto watch that came before. If you ever wished that Suunto made a usable smartwatch, this is it.

   

  $499 at REI

   

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  Photograph: Garmin

  My Favorite Tracker

  Garmin Instinct Solar

   

  Everyone enjoys different activities, so it's hard to recommend a fitness tracker that will work for everyone. But on the chance that anyone likes the exact same things I do—casual backcountry camping, paddling, and trail running where you need GPS but not fully detailed maps—the Garmin Instinct Solar is my favorite sports watch. This year's update includes a pulse oximeter to track your blood oxygen levels while sleeping, the Garmin-specific Body Battery metric to tell you how pumped up you are for the day, and, of course, solar charging with a Power Glass face.

   

  Solar charging doesn't extend the battery life by quite as much as you'd think, but it's a useful supplement, especially if you spend a long periods outside. If you're in the market for a hardy, GPS-enabled backcountry watch that charges surreptitiously while you're paddling a canoe or chasing after your kids, the Instinct Solar is your best pick.

   

  $390 at Amazon

  $400 at REI

  $395 at Walmart

  $399 at Best Buy

 

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  Photograph: Garmin

  Honorable Mentions

  Other Trackers We Like

   

  The Garmin Venu is a versatile watch that combines Garmin's data-tracking acumen with a gorgeous AMOLED screen. Reviewer Scott Gilbertson says it's a good all-around Garmin watch; I prefer the Venu to the slightly wonky touchscreen of the Vivomove Luxe.

   

  I like the low profile of the Polar Ignite. If extremely granular data interests you, you can also check how factors like heart rate variability, breathing rate, and heart rate all combine to ramp up your autonomic nervous system.

   

  I ran with a Timex Ironman for years, so I was pleased to see Timex come out with the new Ironman GPS R300. This is a great price for a GPS-enabled watch. It also lets you tinker with the distance measurement after your run, in case the GPS fudged up your mileage a little bit.

   

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  Photograph: Zepp

  Buyer Beware

  I Did Not Like These Trackers

   

  I test new fitness trackers all the time. Some of them are duds.

   

  At first glance, the Zepp-E Circle ($250) and its Apple Watch dupe, the Square, are great-looking, bezel-less fitness trackers. But the band is stiff and feels cheap; it was constantly disconnecting; the app requires a lot of tinkering to make it useful; and I found Zepp's proprietary fitness metric of earning PAI (Personalized Activity Intelligence) too puzzling and unintuitive. It costs too much for what it offers.

   

  The best thing you can say about the PowerWatch 2 ($500) is that the recharging from body heat and solar power really works. I wore it for more than three weeks without having to recharge it. However, it's huge and clunky. The heart rate monitor was inaccurate, and it was hard to change the display. The app was beset by technical problems, and I constantly had to reinstall and reconnect the watch. For such an expensive watch, it was just too hard to use.

 

The 11 Best Fitness Trackers and Watches for Everyone