Are you one of those fitness buffs who hit the gym every day? More and more people are using wearable gadgets to live a healthier lifestyle. Among them, fitness tracker is the most common.
Once only used by athletes, fitness trackers are now all the rage. Everyone from gym nuts to casual runners now wear fitness bands.
Countless wearable trackers in the market feed into this collective obsession. For first time buyers, the tricky question will be: how do I choose the right fitness tracker for me?
Countless wearable trackers in the market feed into this collective obsession. For first time buyers, the tricky question will be: how do I choose the right fitness tracker for me?
First word of advice: choose one that fit your individual training needs. Various fitness devices are available to let you track different activities. If you want heart rate tracking, step counting, or sleep monitoring, there is a device for everything.
But the overwhelming number of products still make buying tricky even if you know your fitness needs. Every brand claims to be the best and it becomes difficult to decide which feature sets are best for us.
Ready to get informed before you buy? Here are our top tips for picking the right fitness tracker.
Do you need a fitness tracker?
Before you hop on the fitness tracker bandwagon, hold on for a second and ask yourself what an activity tracker really does: why you need them in your daily fitness routine?
Generally speaking, the job of fitness trackers is to keep a track record of your physical activities. These could be steps, sleep, and various exercises. They can also monitor diet, calories, biorhythms, and different body parameters.
The latest wearables offer advanced features include GPS-trackers, built-in heart rate monitors, water resistance etc. You will also find built-in apps, smartphone notifications, and easy syncing of data as value-add features.
Technology development has blurred the lines between an activity tracker and a smartwatch. Fitness smart watches are more robust in smart features and can be less accurate in fitness tracking.
Which means, using a fitness tracker goes beyond supplying you with fitness data to improve your health, but also makes your day-to-day life easier so you can stay connected while phone free.
Which fitness tracker is best for me?
One-size-fits-all philosophy doesn’t apply to wearable trackers. The design of every tracker is unique and caters to the needs of different users. So, there will be separate trackers for gym junkies and for newbies.
Depends on how you intend to use your trackers, there are different aspects to look at before you buy. We compiled a list of 9 things to consider when making a purchase decision.
9 Things to Consider When Choosing the Right Tracker For You
1) Determine the Activities You Want to Track
Want to find the best tracker for your life? First list out your priorities, set your goals, and determine what’s important for you. Do you want a smart stylish gadget to track workout calories, or a device that can also update your Twitter status?
Or if you are aim for more intensive fitness programs, decide what sort of activities you will do to achieve your goals. For instance, if you have decided to go swimming and do boxing to burn calories, then Moov Now is best for you. It is an ideal gadget to track casual swimming and cardio boxing. But for serious swimmers, gadgets like Apple Watch 4 and Samsung Galaxy Watch are better.
Top-rated wearables for cycling and running are Garmin Forerunner 935 and Garmin Fenix 5 Sapphire. These gadgets offer high-quality information about your workout with help of their sensors. Moreover, they provide heart-monitoring and track sleep and steps.
2) Wrist, Pocket or Ankle – Where Do You Want To Wear Your Tracker?
There are different ways to wear a fitness tracker. Some wrap around your wrist, while some others go on your ankle. Some devices come with clips or dongles that let you hook them on your clothes so you can be at ease on your walks.
Some devices offer both; wrist-wrap and clip-on fitness tracker options to its users such as Withings Go and Misfit Shine 2. Some devices like Misfit Ray and Fitbit Flex 2 come with accessories and you can wear them like a pendant.
There is also a variety of third-party accessories available as add-ons for these trackers. You can buy bracelets, pendants and ankle wrap bands for Misfit and Fitbit. Pick the accessories according to your convenience and workout plan.
You can also turn your Fitbit fitness tracker into ankle fitness tracker. For this purpose you’ll need ankle use compatibility bands. Ankle fitness trackers enhance the efficiency of tracking steps.
Fancy something more fashionable like a wristwatch? Then opt for a fitness trackers resembling analog watches. Trackers like Withings Activité Steel or Steel HR are stylish watch-style trackers that can pass off as fashion accessories.
3) Waterproof or Splash-proof
This feature is essential to look out for if you are an avid swimmer, surfer or want to wear your tracker at all times including in the shower.
Not all wearable devices can handle more than a splash of water. Most wear out as soon as you stay underwater for a few secs. For instance, Fitbit Charge 2 that’s not waterproof but just splash-proof.
To track your swimming sessions, you need devices like Misfit Shine 2. Such devices are very efficient in recording the length you travelled in water. To keep a record of the duration and calories burnt under water, you can pick Nokia Go.
For basic swimming metrics, you should consider Fitbit Flex 2 and Misfit Speedo. These waterproof trackers will provide all the strokes, swolf, pace and distance data. For committed swimmers and professionals, Moov Now is the best option. It offers advanced statistics about your techniques, swolf and detect strokes.
4) Heart-rate Tracking for A Stronger Heart
Resting heart rate predicts a lot about health, fatigue, longevity, and chances of a stroke of the user. Athletes take heart-rate zone training quite seriously to achieve their performance goals.
Optical sensor technology is used in trackers to monitor heart rate. Most trackers automatically record your resting heart rate which is helpful in determining your fitness level. Resting heart rate is basically the number of times your heart will beat while it’s at complete rest.
Trackers like Fitbit Charge 2, and Apple Watch Series 2, come with the latest technology. The colored LEDs on the back of the wristband send light into the blood vessels. And this light pass through the skin and measures heart-rate.
These wristbands provide correct readings, but they aren’t accurate. For more precise heart-rate monitoring, you should consider chest straps.
5) Go the Distance with GPS Tracking
They will update you about your struggles with the specific terrain. They’ll also record your pace, intervals, elevation, distance covered, heart-rate and so on.
Some advanced GPS-equipped devices offer cellular connectivity and internal storage. With these, you won’t need to carry a smartphone to make a call or an iPod to listen to music.
GPS-equipped Fitness trackers are quite expensive and serious trainers should go for them. For regular usage, you can use trackers like Charge 3. They can be paired with your smartphone and extract GPS information from there.
General activity trackers come with a built-in 3 axis accelerometer. This accelerometer is enough for monitoring regular movements. GPS-based navigation system will be helpful for you if you want to track your distance.
6) Colour Display or Black & White? Choose the Right Display Type
Some people prefer to check their phone during a workout, while others find alerts and performance data quite distracting. No matter from which club you belong, several options are available for you.
You can get a large colored screen, OLED display, black and white display or a couple of LED lights. That all depends upon your preferred workout style.
Fitbit Charge 2 comes with an OLED display and Fitbit Blaze offers a large 1.25-inch color display. Their large display provides enough data about your workout. Furthermore, they will keep notifying you about your performance.
Curved OLED display of Garmin Vivosmart 3 and Gear Fit 2 gives them an attractive feel. But the downside is that they’ll provide limited data about your workouts.
If you aren’t inclined towards large displays, then go for simple designs. Options like Fitbit Flex 2 and Moov Now promise great results with a simple design. They will track all your activities without distracting you.
7) Battery life matters
No one wants their activity tracker to die during a workout. Battery life is one of the most crucial factors to check when choosing your first fitness tracker.
It varies with the type of tracker you buy. From one day to six months, you can get different battery life from different trackers.
Fitness bands like Garmin, Fitbit Alta HR, and Xiaomi Mi Band Pulse come with a USB cable. They need regular charging and average battery life of these fitness bands is 5 days. Whereas the battery life of Apple Watch is 1-2 days
If you don’t want the hassle of regular charging, then pick fitness devices that use watch batteries. Garmin Vivofit 3, Withings Activite Pop, or Moov Now will be the best match for you. They use watch batteries which frees you from having to plug it in regularly. You do have to replace the batteries every 6 to 12 months, as well as having to do with more basic feature sets.
Fitness trackers with GPS have shorter battery life because GPS drains the battery. So, if GPS is your preference then look out for a gadget whose battery lasts for at least four hours.
8) Built-In and 3rd Party Fitness Apps
Fitness trackers come with a mobile app that lets you track your workout data. Apps offer different features, like challenging your friends, setting goals and daily targets.
Automatic data recording is not for those who want to record data of different exercise. In that case, you need to manually input your workout data. Apps such as for Fitbit fitness gadgets allow you to manually input all the workout details on a granular level.
Most trackers offer mobile apps for both Android and iOS but the quality of the apps may differ. For instance, Misfit’s iOS app version offers much more features than its Android version.
Thus, before you buy a gadget, go through the reviews about its app. Go to the Google Play store and Apple’s App store for comments of users.
Apps with intuitive layouts and clean typography are easier to use. Bold colors and performance charts also make it easy to monitor progress.
9) Compatibility With Smartphones
Almost all fitness trackers are compatible with smartphones. They let you sync your fitness band with your smartphone and you can monitor data on your smartphone.
Some wearables even provide smartphone notifications on your band’s screen. Gadgets like Fitbit Charge 2, and Fitbit Flex, perfectly syncs with your smartphone. They will send call notifications, text messages, and email alerts on your wrist. Some advanced smart bracelets even let you make and receive phone calls.
There are fitness trackers that don’t require a smartphone for their functioning. For instance, Fitbit Alta, and Fitbit HR, these fitness trackers are PC compatible. Their USB dongle will help you connect them to your system and track your workout data.
Some fitness trackers come with onboard storage, such as TomTom Spark3 Cardio+ Music. They will let you enjoy your favorite music while exercising.
It will save you much trouble if you check the compatibility of the fitness tracker with your phone before buying. For instance, Apple watch only syncs with iPhones, and won’t it suit users with Android phones.
Fitness Trackers V.S. Smartwatches:
Do you only want to track your calories and fitness data? Or do you want to use your fitness tracker for smart notifications and more? Your answer will determine whether a fitness tracker or smartwatch is more suitable for you.
Fitness trackers have one function in mind which is to track your fitness, and they excel at this. These wearables motivate you to stay healthy and focused on your fitness goals.
Communication and notifications aren’t fitness trackers’ forte. Some fitness bands display smartphone notifications but to a limited degree. The small screen makes it difficult to read content or reply to messages.
Smartwatches on the other hand are the extensions of your smartphones. They provide all the essential smartphone features, including receiving and replying to messages, emails,, calendar alerts, etc. Some standalone smartwatches even allow making phone calls right from your wrist.
Most smart wrist watches often come with exercise apps to that offer basic activity tracking. Some of them, like Apple Watch Series 2 and Samsung Gear S3 offer advance fitness features. You can get limited waterproof, heart rate monitoring and built-in GPS with them.
In recent years, rapid development in wearable tech has blurred the lines between smartwatches and fitness trackers. Devices like Huawei Watch 2 is trying to become your all-in-one wearable that offer advanced sports tracking with powerful computing power. It won’t take long before you only need one device for your every need.
Commonly Asked Questions
Can fitness trackers work without a phone?
Yes, they can but there are not enough choices. For step counting, sleep tracking and heart rate monitoring you can use Fitbit Charge HR. This fitness tracker doesn’t need a smartphone to operate.
This fitness tracker is PC compatible and will need a laptop to set it up. Activity data on this gadget will reset every night. So, it’s better to sync the device with apps like Jiff which you can even use in a web browser.
How do fitness trackers track sleep?
If you want wearable gadgets to track your sleep, then you should activate “sleep mode” before going to bed. Reset the sleep mode in the morning, else they’ll consider you asleep while you are moving around.
Activity trackers utilize actigraphy to measure sleep quality. But the results they provide aren’t reliable at all. If you don’t activate sleep mode, fitness trackers won’t provide accurate data. They will not be able to distinguish between a sleepy and active person.
Are fitness trackers safe to wear?
Although there is no scientific proof of harm yet, we can’t definitely conclude that fitness trackers are 100% safe to wear. It is important to note that fitness trackers use low-level radio frequency waves to send data to your smartphone.
We have written about smartwatch radiation in great detail in this article which could answer some of the common doubts as well. It is advised by some health experts to take off your tracker at night when you sleep, so that you don’t risk exposing your brain to such radio frequency waves.
Final thoughts
Being healthy and fit is no longer a trend but has become a lifestyle. People are turning to fitness trackers to monitor their workouts. Being informed about your health is a huge motivator to stay in the best shape.
Although finding the right tracker for you might be a daunting task, once you have figured out what activities you want to track, and what bonus features will provide the most value for your day-to-day life, you are already in a good place to find what you need.
So, what are you waiting for? Do your research, pick the best fitness tracker and get started. Because fitness is the key to a healthy life.
