Top Fitness Trackers for 2024: Stay Active with These Outstanding Wellness Devices

Fitness trackers are essential tools that offer a wealth of information about your health, monitor your workouts, and encourage a healthier lifestyle. If getting fit in 2024 is your goal, investing in one of these devices could be highly beneficial. These trackers monitor metrics like sleep, steps, calories burned, and workout logs. By analyzing this data, they provide insights into your overall health and fitness, helping you adopt healthier habits.

Fitness trackers come in various forms, including fitness bands, smartwatches, and smart rings. Each type tracks steps, monitors heart rate, and provides health and fitness guidance. Key features to consider include long battery life, comfort, built-in GPS, and comprehensive fitness and heart rate tracking.

Depending on your budget, you may choose more advanced fitness trackers with additional features. While many top smartwatches and running watches have fitness tracking capabilities, they tend to be more expensive than basic fitness bands.

1. Fitbit Charge 6

The Fitbit Charge 6 is currently the most sophisticated band-style fitness tracker offered by Fitbit, surpassing the features found in the Fitbit Luxe, which also ranks high on our list. This makes it our top recommendation for those seeking a versatile tracker suitable for various needs and workout types.

Visually, the Fitbit Charge 6 resembles a smaller, more streamlined version of the Fitbit Sense 2. It boasts high-end functionalities, such as ECG heart health monitoring and an EDA stress sensor.

While it’s an impressive device, it doesn’t earn the title of the best overall Fitbit due to its subpar GPS tracking. For those who run with their phone, this isn’t a significant issue, but this tracker can’t compete with the best running watches available.

However, if you’re looking for a casual wearable tracker for multiple purposes, the Fitbit Charge 6 is an excellent choice. Additionally, Fitbit’s sleep tracking with this model continues to be reliably superior.

SPECIFICATIONS

Screen: Yes
Heart rate tracker: Yes
Waterproof: Yes, 5ATM
Activity tracking: Yes
GPS: Yes
Battery life: Up to 7 days
Compatibility: Android/iOS

2. Fitbit Luxe

The Fitbit Luxe stands out as our top fitness tracker, offering excellent health monitoring features, a sleek design, and the robust Fitbit app to complement it.

The Luxe monitors daily activities, sleep, heart rate, respiration, and workouts. During our tests, its heart rate accuracy was particularly impressive, rivaling that of more expensive running watches. The daily data is displayed on a sharp color AMOLED screen, providing detailed information without excessive scrolling—a significant advantage.

Aesthetically, the Luxe is Fitbit’s most attractive tracker yet, featuring a stainless steel case and buckle with options for a soft silicone band or a gold-toned stainless steel bracelet. It proved comfortable for all-day and all-night wear, helping us capture a comprehensive picture of our activity and sleep patterns.

Fitness trackers are most effective when worn consistently, and the Luxe is one you’ll be eager to wear daily. Its main limitation is the lack of built-in GPS, requiring a phone connection for location tracking. If this is a concern, consider the slightly more expensive Fitbit Charge 5.

SPECIFICATIONS

Screen: Yes
Heart rate tracker: Yes
Waterproof: Yes
Activity tracking: Yes
GPS: No
Battery life: Up to 7 days
Compatibility: Android/iOS

3. Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro

The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro stands out as an exceptional choice for budget-conscious buyers seeking a top-notch fitness tracker. Despite its affordable price tag, it boasts impressive features. Equipped with reliable GPS, it particularly shines for outdoor activities. During our tests, its fitness tracking capabilities rivaled those of even the Apple Watch.

The device sports a large, vibrant color display that offers clear readability, allowing users to effortlessly monitor their workout stats with just a glance. Its heart rate monitor proved consistently accurate. While some users might miss physical buttons, navigating through the watch’s interface was intuitive.

Although the setup process isn’t flawless and its sleep tracking is somewhat basic, the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro excels as a fitness tracker. It lacks certain amenities found in pricier models, such as NFC payment and support for third-party apps like Spotify for audio. Nevertheless, given its affordability, it earns our enthusiastic recommendation for anyone prioritizing fitness tracking capabilities.

SPECIFICATIONS

Screen: Yes
Heart rate tracker: Yes
Waterproof: Yes
Activity tracking: Yes
GPS: Yes
Battery life: 14 days standby
Compatibility: Android/iOS

4. Apple Watch SE 2

The Apple Watch SE 2 is the ideal choice for most consumers. Although the Apple Watch Ultra 2 stands out as the most advanced option technically, its $799 / £799 / AU$1,399 price tag makes it less appealing for the average buyer looking through this guide.

As Apple’s most affordable current model, the SE 2 distinguishes itself as a genuine smartwatch, unlike many other options listed here. It integrates effortlessly with your iPhone, providing a comprehensive communication experience rather than just basic notifications.

While it’s not as inexpensive as some fitness bands mentioned, the SE 2 is a robust fitness device featuring a wide range of excellent third-party apps like All Trails and Smartgym. Its built-in Workout app is particularly effective, especially for running and cycling, thanks to the watchOS 10 update.

In our review, we stated that “Apple’s cheaper smartwatch is all most people will need.” Additionally, it boasts useful safety features such as Car Crash Detection, making it arguably the top fitness tracker for iOS users.

SPECIFICATIONS

Screen: Yes
Heart rate tracker: Yes
Waterproof: Yes, 5ATM
Activity tracking: Yes
GPS: Yes
Battery life: 18 hours
Compatibility: iOS

5. Garmin Vivosmart 5

The Garmin Vivosmart 5 is Garmin’s band-shaped fitness tracker. Though it shows its age, it remains a solid option for those seeking a band-based activity tracker with access to Garmin’s exceptional Garmin Connect app.

Despite lacking onboard GPS and being somewhat outdated, the Vivosmart 5 offers a comprehensive suite of features for monitoring your health and wellness. Its sleep tracking stands out, not only monitoring sleep stages but also providing practical advice to optimize your sleep.

Unlike Fitbit devices, there are no additional paywalls. The Garmin Connect app offers detailed insights, training plans, historical data, recovery monitoring, and more. However, the absence of onboard GPS for tracking outdoor cardio workouts is a notable drawback, especially considering Garmin’s strength in this area.

SPECIFICATIONS

Screen: Yes, monochrome touchscreen
Heart rate tracker: Yes
Waterproof: Yes
Activity tracking: Yes
GPS: No
Battery life: 7 days
Compatibility: Android/iOS

When selecting a fitness tracker, consider the type of activity you enjoy most. If you primarily enjoy outdoor walks, a budget-friendly watch without GPS tracking will suffice. However, if you are into cycling or running, a device like the Fitbit Charge 6, with its built-in GPS, will better track your route and speed.

Consider how much detail you need. Some trackers, like the Charge 6, provide extensive stats and detailed analysis, while others, such as the Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 8 Pro, offer a more straightforward approach.

Personal style is also important. Since fitness trackers are most effective when worn continuously, their appearance matters. If you prefer not to replace your favorite watch, the Oura smart ring is a great alternative; it’s lightweight and so compact that you might forget you’re wearing it.

Additionally, consider screen size and resolution. If you find it challenging to read small screens, opting for a fitness tracker with an AMOLED display, which is brighter and clearer than the typical memory-in-pixel (MiP) screens found on many cheaper devices, could be beneficial.

What is a Fitness Tracker?

A fitness tracker is a device, often worn on the wrist, that records various health and activity metrics such as heart rate, daily steps, and workout duration. While Fitbit bands are commonly associated with fitness tracking, other devices like Apple Watches and smart rings also serve this purpose. These devices typically include multiple exercise-specific modes and some feature GPS to track your location during activities like running, walking, and cycling. Additionally, most fitness trackers monitor your sleep patterns, including the duration spent in different sleep stages. The collected data is synced to an app on your smartphone, allowing you to track your progress over time. Many apps also offer virtual rewards for reaching specific goals, such as completing 10,000 steps in a day or maintaining a consistent bedtime.

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