Stay fit with the best fitness trackers you can buy!

If you’re looking for a fitness tracker that does it all, we highly recommend the Fitbit Versa 2 for its wide variety of styles and uses, including automatic activity tracking, on-screen workouts, Fitbit Pay, music storage, and so much more. It’s no wonder that Fitbit continues to be one of the many highly regarded names in the industry with all it has to offer. However, don’t worry if that’s not your cup of tea. There are quite a few other options to choose from. Whether you’re looking for specific software, design, or feature set, you’ll be able to find a fitness tracker that checks all the boxes on your wish list.

The best fitness trackers, at a glance

1. Fitbit Versa 2 — An excellent tracker that is built to provide users with detailed health/activity tracking.
2. Fitbit Versa 3 — This upgrade pic adds onboard GPS and Google Assistant integration to an already fantastic tracker.
3. Fitbit Charge 4 — If you want one of the latest fitness trackers on the market, the Fitbit Charge 4 is equipped with some amazing new features at a great price,
4. Xiaomi Mi Band 5 — The all-new Mi Band 5 is one of the most affordable fitness trackers, and it has tons of features.
5. Garmin Vivosmart 4 — For premium health-tracking features, you’ll appreciate all the Garmin Vivosmart 4.
6. Samsung Galaxy Fit 2 — Samsung is no stranger to the wearable game, and the Galaxy Fit 2 comes with a solid activity tracking suite.
7. Fitbit Inspire 2 — Focuses on heart-rate monitoring among other metrics and offers twice the battery life as before.
8. Wyze Band — A fitness tracker with smart home controls at a tap of the wrist, or a request of Alexa.
9. Amazfit Band 5 — The Amazfit Band 5 is the perfect beginner band, with basic tracking and Amazon Alexa integration.

What are the best fitness trackers?

You’ll be happy to know that there’s no shortage of options when it comes to choosing a fitness tracker. One of the most reputable names, as you may know, is Fitbit. The industry leader makes up a good portion of our list, including options such as the Versa 2, Versa 3, Charge 4, and Inspire 2. They share some features, but each of these trackers is geared toward a slightly different type of user. Whether you want the look and feel of a smartwatch, a dedicated fitness tracker with onboard GPS, or a basic tracker that’s ideal for beginners, Fitbit has it all.

Fitbit isn’t the only name you’ll find here. You’ll also find other major players, like Garmin, Samsung, and Xiaomi, to name a few. Once you’ve decided what type of experience you’re looking for, it’ll be easier to narrow down your options.

Are you seeking the most robust activity tracking suite possible? Perhaps you’re more focused on certain health aspects, like energy, stress, and blood oxygen saturation levels, and so on? If you’re on a tight budget, it also won’t be difficult to find a fitness tracker at a reasonable price.

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Fitbit Versa 2

The Best overall Fitness tracker

Bottom line: As one of the most popular names in the wearable world, Fitbit is always a good option. The Versa 2 is centered around health and fitness tracking, so it’s ideal for workout enthusiasts. You have activity/sleep tracking, heart-rate monitoring, and Fitbit Pay.

Category	Fitbit Versa 2
Display size	40mm / 1.34in 300×300 AMOLED
Replaceable bands	✔️ 22mm
Weight	38g
Battery life	5+ days
OS	Fitbit OS
Voice Assistant	Amazon Alexa
Water Resistance	✔️ (5ATM)
GPS	?
NFC	✔️
Heart rater monitor	✔️
Automated workout-tracking	✔️
Sleep tracking	✔️
Colors	Carbon, Mist Grey, Copper Rose

Pros:

• Compact and lightweight
• Highly customizable
• Affordable price tag
• Robust fitness tracking
• Fitbit Pay
• Water-resistant

Cons:

• No onboard GPS
• Difficult to swap bands
• Bulky charging cable

There’s not much you can’t do with the Fitbit Versa 2. You’ll be able to track the basics, including steps, distance, calories, and floors climbed. Some other perks include menstrual cycle tracking, sleep tracking, guided breathing sessions, on-screen workouts, and 24/7 heart rate monitoring. It also provides you with 15 exercise modes to choose from, such as biking, running, swimming, and even yoga.

It’s not a perfect option — swapping out the Versa 2 band isn’t as easy as some other Fitbit models we’ve seen. Trying to attach a new band is a bit of a challenge. Not only is the pin finicky, but it’s also tricky to get it precisely in the hole. It’s next to impossible if you don’t have long fingernails.

Aside from the band-swapping issue, the Fitbit Versa 2 is the perfect blend of fitness tracker and smartwatch. You can check texts, calls, and notifications while eyeing the heart rate monitor as you jog down the sidewalk. Fitbit Pay is now standard, so you no longer have to pay more to get a model with this feature. The Versa 2 is an excellent wearable choice for those who want to take advantage of a subscription to Fitbit Premium. You’ll enjoy guided programs, detailed health insights, additional sleep score details, and Fitbit Coach.

As you might’ve heard, the Fitbit Versa 3 is now available, and as a result, the Versa 2 is more affordable than ever. Upon comparing the two, it looks like the Versa 3 is an incremental upgrade to an already great fitness tracker in the Versa 2.

Best Overall Fitness Tracker

Fitbit Versa 2

From $149 at Amazon
From $150 at Best Buy
From $149 at Walmart

A well-rounded tracking experience

The Versa 2 boasts a slim design, AMOLED display, improved battery life, and tons of fitness features at an affordable price.

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Fitbit Versa 3

Best Upgraded Fitness Tracker

Bottom line: As one of the most popular names in the wearable world, Fitbit is always a good option. The new Versa 3 is centered around health and fitness tracking, so it’s ideal for workout enthusiasts. You have built-in GPS, activity/sleep tracking, heart-rate monitoring, and Fitbit Pay.

Category	Fitbit Versa 3
Display size	40mm / 1.58″, 336×336 AMOLED
Replaceable bands	✔️(Custom, OSFA)
Weight	40g
Battery life	6+ days
OS	FitbitOS
Voice assistant	Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant
Water-resistant	✔️ (5ATM)
GPS	✔️
NFC	✔️
Heart rate monitor	✔️
Automatic workout tracking	✔️
Sleep tracking	✔️
Colors	Black, Soft Gold

Pros:

• Built-in GPS
• Sleek, attractive design
• Excellent battery life
• Solid smartwatch features
• Built-in Alexa and Google Assistant

Cons:

• Limited app selection
• Old bands won’t work with Versa 3

The Fitbit Versa 3 takes everything that is great about the Versa 2 and kicks it up a notch, putting it in the company of the best Android smartwatches. Though Fitbit didn’t alter the design too much, it did make the case a bit slimmer and rounder, and it dramatically improved the mechanism to swap out bands. The bad news is that any old bands you purchased for your Versa, Versa Lite, or Versa 2 won’t work on this new watch.

It does all the same tracker things as the Versa 2, but with an improved heart rate sensor, SpO2 monitoring, and a new Active Zone Minutes feature. All versions of the watch include Fitbit Pay for contactless payments, and the watch now includes built-in GPS, so you can accurately track your workout without bringing your phone along for the ride (or run). It also offers on-screen workouts that you can follow along with.

The Versa 3 has smartphone notifications that are easy to navigate and an app store with popular names such as Spotify and Starbucks. You can also talk directly to Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa and hear responses. If your ears perked about Spotify, the good news is that there is storage for 300+ songs on the Versa 3.

Best Upgraded Fitness Tracker

Fitbit Versa 3

$200 at Amazon
$230 at Best Buy
$230 at Walmart

Adding missing features from its predecessor

The Versa 3 improves on everything over the original, including better battery life, Google Assistant integration, and built-in GPS.

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Fitbit Charge 4

The best value fitness tracker

Bottom line: The Fitbit Charge 4 is the most well-rounded fitness tracker for the money. It features NFC for contactless payments, onboard GPS to track your workouts without a phone, and easily replaceable bands for convenience and style. Plus, you get all of the regular fitness tracking goodies like step tracking, sleep tracking, automatic workout-tracking, and active zone minutes.

Category	Fitbit Charge 4
Display size	1in grayscale, OLED
Replaceable bands	✔️
Weight	30g
Battery life	2-3 days
OS	Fitbit OS
Water Resistance	✔️ (5ATM)
GPS	✔️
NFC	✔️
Heart rater monitor	✔️
Automated workout-tracking	✔️
Sleep tracking	✔️
Colors	Black, Rosewood, Storm Blue

Pros:

• Crisp, responsive screen
• Thin, comfortable design
• Improved notifications
• GPS is built-in
• Waterproofing

Cons:

• Finicky side button
• No local music storage

Before it made smartwatches, Fitbit was known for its excellent fitness bands. The Charge 4 takes everything the company has learned about the form factor over the years and stands out as one of the most polished and refined devices Fitbit’s released to-date.

The big draw to the Charge 4 is that it has GPS built right in. This allows you to map outdoor runs, walks, and bike rides without needing to bring your phone with you — something you won’t even find on the Versa 2 mentioned above. It also has all of the other fitness features you’d expect, such as all-day activity tracking, sleep tracking, heart-rate monitoring, and automatic workout detection. There’s also 50-meter waterproofing if you want to use the Charge 4 for tracking any swims.

The design is lightweight and comfortable to wear, and thanks to seven-day battery life, you can wear the Charge 4 for a full week without having to stress out over how much gas is left in the tank.

Fitbit offers a few great smart features, including Fitbit Pay, notifications from your phone, and a Spotify app to control music playback. It would have been great to see local music storage to give the Charge 4 even more independence from your phone, but even so, this is an incredibly complete package.

Best Value Fitness Tracker

Fitbit Charge 4

$129 at Amazon
$120 at Best Buy
$119 at Walmart

Everything you need at a remarkable value

With built-in GPS, Fitbit Pay, and 24/7 heart-rate monitoring, the Charge 4 packs a lot of features into a small package.

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Xiaomi Mi Band 5

The best on-a-budget fitness tracker

Bottom line: When you’re looking for a fitness tracker that won’t break the bank, look no further than the Xiaomi Mi Band. It’s the company’s latest tracker and offers heart-rate monitoring, activity/sleep tracking, 11 sport modes, and female health tracking.

Category	Xiaomi Mi Band 5
Display size	1.1in, AMOLED
Replaceable bands	✔️
Weight	11.9g
Battery life	14 days
OS	Xiaomi
Water Resistance	✔️ (5ATM)
GPS	?
NFC	?
Heart rater monitor	✔️
Automated workout-tracking	?
Sleep tracking	✔️
Colors	Black, Yellow, Teal, Navy Blue, Orange, Mint Green

Pros:

• 11 sports modes
• Activity/sleep tracking
• Heart-rate monitoring
• Female health tracking
• 14-day battery life
• Affordable

Cons:

• Lacks built-in GPS
• No NFC payments
• Doesn’t automatically track workouts

When you want to be able to cover your bases with your fitness tracker without breaking the bank in the process, you’ll love the Xiaomi Mi Band 5. It’s a definite improvement from its predecessor, sporting a 20% larger display area that’s easier to read and navigate. More importantly, it offers a satisfying list of tracking abilities and other features that are hard to find at this low price point.

You’ll be able to choose from up to 11 sport modes, which include outdoor running, treadmill running, indoor cycling, outdoor cycling, pool swimming, yoga, and more.

Other than that, you’ll have a solid 14 days of battery life, which can be stretched up to 20 days in power-saving mode. You’ll also enjoy sleep tracking, and all-day heart rate monitoring, and female health tracking. It might not be a smartwatch and is missing features like built-in GPS, but it’s difficult to complain about this powerful little tracker at this price point.

Best On-A-Budget Fitness Tracker

Xiaomi Mi Band 5

$35 at Amazon
$25 at Walmart

As cheap as it gets

Be kind to your wallet with the Mi Band 5. You get connected GPS, heart-rate monitoring, activity/sleep tracking, and more.

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Garmin Vivosmart 4

The best premium tracking suite on a fitness tracker

Bottom line: If you’re all about health tracking, there’s no better choice than the Garmin Vivosmart 4. It tracks your activity and sleep patterns while also monitoring your heart rate, stress, energy, and blood oxygen saturation levels.

Category	Garmin Vivosmart 4
Display size	.70in OLED
Replaceable bands	?
Weight	17g
Battery life	7 days
OS	Garmin
Water Resistance	✔️ (5ATM)
GPS	?
NFC	?
Heart rater monitor	✔️
Automated workout-tracking	✔️
Sleep tracking	✔️
Colors	Black, Gray, Berry, Azure Blue

Pros:

• Ultra-lightweight design
• Premium health tracking
• Helpful Body Battery Energy Monitor
• All-day stress tracking
• 7-day battery life

Cons:

• No built-in GPS
• Slim screen can be hard to navigate
• Bands cannot be changed

The Garmin Vivosmart 4 does everything you would expect it to as a fitness tracker. It keeps track of your steps, sleep, calories burned, floors climbed, various exercises, and heart rate. However, where this tracker shines is its health-tracking features.

For starters, you’ll have advanced sleep tracking with REM sleep. It can also gauge blood oxygen saturation levels during the night with its wrist-based Pulse Ox sensor. A relaxation breathing timer complements the all-day stress tracking feature. Lastly, the “Body Battery” monitor helps optimize your daily activities based on your energy levels.

A couple of things you’ll miss include GPS and replaceable bands. You’ll still have access to smartphone notifications on your wrist. If you’re an Android user, you can respond with preset quick replies. If you want detailed health tracking data, the Garmin Vivosmart 4 is the way to go.

Best Health Tracking Suite on a Fitness Tracker

Garmin Vivosmart 4

From $100 at Amazon
$100 at Best Buy
$88 at Walmart

A health enthusiast’s dream come true

This tracker offers more health monitoring features than most other options in its price range. It’s also slim and easy to use.

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Samsung Galaxy Fit 2

The best alternative tracking suite on a fitness tracker

Bottom line: The Galaxy Fit 2 is ideal for users who are committed to in-depth activity tracking. You’ll have access to automatic workout-tracking, heart-rate monitoring, and sleep tracking. It’s also made to be highly durable, which is great for intense workouts.

Category	Samsung Galaxy Fit 2
Display size	1.1in, AMOLED
Replaceable bands	?
Weight	91g
Battery life	Up to 21 days
OS	FreeRTOS
Water Resistance	✔️ (5ATM)
GPS	?
NFC	?
Heart rater monitor	✔️
Automated workout-tracking	✔️
Sleep tracking	✔️
Colors	Black, Scarlet

Pros:

• Lightweight durability
• Fantastic 21-day battery life
• Impressive activity tracking suite
• Multiple exercise modes
• Stress monitoring
• Smartphone notifications

Cons:

• Lacks built-in GPS
• Bands are not interchangeable
• Limited watch face options

If you’ve been searching for the perfect fitness companion that’ll go the distance for any activity you have in mind, you’ll have met your match with the Samsung Galaxy Fit 2. In addition to being water-resistant to 50 meters and compliant with military-level durability standards, this handy device is built for endless activity tracking.

You’ll have the convenience of automatic activity tracking for five workouts, and you can also use the Samsung Health mobile app to manually select from over 90 workouts, 10 of which can be customized and set as preferred activities.

The Galaxy Fit 2 will also monitor your heart rate, sleep patterns, and stress levels. You might notice that GPS is lacking here, but this robust activity tracking suite is hard to pass up. The FreeRTOS on this fitness tracker isn’t nearly as sophisticated as Tizen OS found on Samsung smartwatches, but it just takes some getting used to.

Best Alternative Activity Tracking Suite on a Fitness Tracker

Samsung Galaxy Fit 2

$50 at Amazon
$60 at Best Buy

Track all of your activities

The robust activity tracking suite, heart rate sensor, and low price tag are a few reasons why the Galaxy Fit 2 is a great tracker.

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Fitbit Inspire 2

The best heart rate monitor on a fitness tracker

Bottom line: As one of the most popular names in the wearable world, Fitbit is always a good option. The Inspire 2 features an improved 24/7 heart rate monitor, female health and sleep tracking, and an astounding 10+ day battery life.

Category	Samsung Galaxy Fit 2
Display size	1.4in, OLED
Replaceable bands	✔️
Weight	30g
Battery life	10+ days
OS	Fitbit OS
Water Resistance	✔️ (5ATM)
GPS	?
NFC	?
Heart rater monitor	✔️
Automated workout-tracking	✔️
Sleep tracking	✔️
Colors	Black, Rose, White

Pros:

• Attractive design
• Generous battery life
• Lightweight and inconspicuous
• One free year of Fitbit Premium

Cons:

• No altimeter or built-in GPS
• No quick replies
• No Fitbit Pay

The Fitbit Inspire 2 is so compact and lightweight, you’ll likely forget you’re wearing it. This tracker also offers a more traditional buckle band as opposed to the peg-and-loop style. The bands are stylish and easy to switch when you feel like changing it up.

You’ll need to swipe up to see additional stats and squeeze both sides with the haptic “button” panels to return to the home screen. Swipe down when you’re ready to start exercising. With all that said, there are some restrictions to having such a small screen. You’ll need to go to the app to set alarms and bring your phone with you to utilize GPS. This is a great option if you want to monitor your heart rate but don’t care about other fancy features. It’ll help you with the basics, but you’ll miss out on features like Fitbit Pay and an altimeter.

Best Heart-Rate Monitor on a fitness tracker

Fitbit Inspire 2

$69 at Amazon
$80 at Best Buy
$79 at Walmart

An easy, budget-friendly way to track your heart-rate

The Inspire 2 proves good things come in tiny packages. All the tracking and bonus features make it an affordable front-runner.

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Wyze Band

Track your health and control your smart home

Bottom line: Those who are just beginning their fitness-tracking journey may want to ease into it. The Amazfit Band 5 is a great way to go about that. You’ll have activity/sleep tracking, heart-rate monitoring, female health-tracking, smartphone notifications, and more.

Category	Wyze Band
Display size	.95in color AMOLED
Replaceable bands	?
Weight	73g
Battery life	10 days
Voice Assistant	Amazon Alexa
Water Resistance	✔️ (5 ATM)
GPS	?
NFC	?
Heart rate monitor	✔️
Automated workout-tracking	✔️(running)
Smart home controls	✔️ (Wyze products)
Sleep tracking	✔️
Female health tracking	?
Colors	Black

Pros:

• Color AMOLED screen
• Amazon Alexa integration
• 10-day battery life
• Smart home controls

Cons:

• No social competitions or integrations
• Only sport tracked is running
• No GPS support

Wyze is a company better known for making affordable smart home devices like cameras and lights than it is for making wearables, but don’t let that dissuade you from trying this fitness tracker out. Sitting somewhere in-between the size of a Fitbit Inspire 2 and Fitbit Charge 4, the Wyze Band brings a large color AMOLED display and comfortable silicone band to your wrist.

While it may not have all of the advanced health tracking features of a Fitbit or Garmin device, it does all the basics well. It doesn’t do automated workout tracking, and the only fitness mode onboard is for running, but that might be enough for you. Plus, it brings features to the table that other bands can’t match, like the ability to control your Wyze smart home devices by tapping on the screen of your tracker or the ability to issue commands to Alexa through the included microphone.

The AMOLED display is quite striking, and you can change the colors and patterns to suit your preference. The biggest downside to this device, in our opinion, is the fact that it doesn’t currently integrate with social competition apps like Strava or MapMyFitness. Perhaps that will come in a future update.

Best Fitness Tracker for the Smart Home

Wyze Band

$30 at Amazon

The Wyze smart home choice

The Wyze band can measure your steps and sleep, track a run, or control your Wyze smart home with the tap or with Amazon’s Alexa.

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Amazfit Band 5

The best fitness tracker for beginners

Bottom line: Those who are just beginning their fitness-tracking journey may want to ease into it. The Amazfit Band 5 is a great way to go about that. You’ll have activity/sleep tracking, heart-rate monitoring, female health-tracking, smartphone notifications, and more.

Category	Amazfit Band 5
Display size	1.1in color OLED
Replaceable bands	?
Weight	12g
Battery life	11-15 days
Voice Assistant	Amazon Alexa
Water Resistance	✔️ Splash-proof
GPS	?
NFC	?
Heart rate monitor	✔️
Automated workout-tracking	?
Health assessment system	✔️ (Huami PAI)
Sleep tracking	✔️
Female health tracking	✔️
Colors	Orange, Midnight Black

Pros:

• Activity/sleep tracking
• Heart-rate monitoring
• Female health tracking
• Stellar battery life

Cons:

• Lacks built-in GPS
• No NFC for contactless payments

Amazfit has built a solid reputation for making quality Android smartwatches and fitness trackers at an affordable price point. Whether you want a full-fledged smartwatch like the GTS 2 or a more basic retro watch like the Neo, you’re sure to find something suitable from this company.

The Band 5 has a similar name, look, and price to its rival Xiaomi, but Amazfit does have a few tricks up its sleeve to differentiate it from the low-priced competition. For starters, this is one of the only pure fitness trackers to have built-in Amazon Alexa integration, the others being the Fitbit Versa 2 and 3, and the Wyze Band. The other important feature of the Amazfit Band 5 is its innovative PAI health assessment system. Using data from the heart rate monitor, daily activity tracking, and other health metrics, the Amazfit Band 5 can easily understand your overall health and fitness score. This can help you to make adjustments and decisions to improve your health and improve your life!

The Amazfit Band 5 also includes table-stakes features like a heart rate monitor and accelerometer for step tracking. Still, unlike many affordable bands, this one can also handle female health tracking and SpO2 monitoring. For this price, you’re not going to find a better starter band than this one.

Best Fitness Tracker for Beginners

Amazfit Band 5

From $39 at Amazon
$50 at B&H

For those who are new to fitness tracking

The Amazfit Band 5 is a great introductory fitness tracker that can measure SpO2, women’s health, steps, sleep, heart-rate monitoring, and more.

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How to pick the best fitness tracker

When it comes right down to it, the Fitbit Versa 2 takes the top spot on our list for a variety of reasons. For starters, the number of features you get for the price is simply unmatched. You’ll have battery life for days, on-screen workouts with Fitbit Premium, heart-rate monitoring, convenient music storage, Fitbit Pay, sleep tracking, and much more.

While there might be some drawbacks to the lack of onboard GPS and experiencing difficulties when swapping out the band, these concerns don’t hold a candle to the slew of features it offers at such an affordable price. You can track every step taken, floor climbed, and lap swam. You can do all this while listening to music, checking notifications, and monitoring your heart rate.

If you’re looking for the best fitness tracker for your needs, you may find yourself stuck in one of those infamous internet black holes. How do you know which activity tracker has the features you want at a price you can afford—and won’t feel like you’ve strapped a brick to your wrist?

If you’re starting your search, here are a few tips to help you decide which fitness tracker is best for you:

1. Start with price

Depending on which features you want, your new fitness tracker could be surprisingly affordable, or it could end up setting you back quite a bit. (Yeah, we eyed a smartwatch that was nearing the quadruple digits for a good 30 seconds before our conscience brought us back to reality.)

Of course, you should still be cautious about buying anything that’s dirt cheap. Most cheap fitness trackers are just that: cheap. Even less costly models by well-known brands like Fitbit won’t come with a full display, so you’ll need to swap to the app to get all the details on your latest workout.

2. Decide on features

Narrow down your search by deciding which features you need. If your primary goal is to track your steps as you stroll around the neighborhood, you probably won’t need a heart rate monitor or GPS.

But if you’re using your tracker to keep tabs on calories burned, heart rate, and miles traveled while you hit the trail on your mountain bike, you’ll want both a heart rate monitor and GPS.

And if you plan on wearing your tracker while you swim laps in the pool, you’ll want to pay attention to the waterproof rating. And make sure the model you pick out tracks swimming.

3. Look at the wristband

If you’re blessed with average-sized wrists, wristband fit likely isn’t an issue for you. But if your wrists are on the slimmer or thicker side, you’ll want to pay attention to the bands that come with fitness trackers.

Brands like Fitbit typically offer fitness trackers in different sizes ranging from small/medium to large. Others offer adjustable bands that provide a snug fit for wrists of all sizes.

Another thing to note about the wristbands is the strap style. Is it a traditional watch-style strap with a buckle? Or does it simply “button” together? The button style sometimes feels less secure, especially if we’re at the gym tackling three-point rows and deadlifts.

Luckily, most fitness trackers come with band replacements. This lets you upgrade the material, color, and fit if you like. We’re all about having choices.

4. Consider style

Are you content with a fitness tracker that looks like a fitness tracker? Or do you prefer something that looks like a traditional watch?

Activity trackers come in all shapes and sizes, so you can go as simple or fancy, modern or traditional, as you like.

If you’re looking for a smartwatch that could fool a coworker into thinking it’s an actual watch, we’re impressed by the design of the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active. If you’re looking for something simple, the Fitbit Inspire and Fitbit Inspire HR are slim and uncomplicated.

5. Don’t forget about the apps

Our favorite fitness tracker app is Fitbit, hands down. It’s user-friendly and offers a full range of features. It even has menstrual cycle tracking, which we’ve never seen on any other fitness tracker apps.

The Fitbit app also integrates well with many popular third-party apps for a more robust tracking system that meets your needs. Here are some of our favorites:

Top 5 health and wellness apps:

1. MyFitnessPal
2. Calm
3. C25K
4. Headspace
5. Strava

How do fitness trackers work?

Each fitness tracker works slightly differently, but some sensors and technology are relatively common across them all, like altimeters, accelerometers, and optical sensors. Here’s some of the technology you may stumble upon if you break into your fitness watch.

1. 3-axis accelerometer — This measures your movements in every direction and helps track those steps.
2. Gyroscope — This gets a read on your orientation and rotation as you move. Now it’s time for some split squats!
3. Altimeter — Whether you’re tracking your hike up the mountain or climbing stairs on your work break, this keeps track of your altitude.
4. Optical sensors — These shine light into your capillaries to measure how quickly or slowly your blood is pumping to give you an idea of your current heart rate.
5. Actigraphy — Ever wondered how activity trackers monitor your sleep? Actigraphy identifies your sleep patterns by tracking your activity and rest cycles, then gives you an idea of how much you tossed and turned last night.
6. GPS — The GPS receiver collects data from different satellites to calculate your position as a set of coordinates. This lets you track your terrain and distance after a trail run or day on the slopes.

Of course, not all fitness trackers are created equal when it comes to their sensors’ accuracy. For the most part, actigraphy isn’t as accurate as measuring your sleep cycle in a lab, and optical sensors aren’t as precise as bioimpedance sensors when it comes to monitoring your heart rate.

What are the best fitness watches for large wrists?

When you’re shopping for a fitness tracker, it’s important to keep size in mind. Luckily, most bands can be adjusted to fit your wrist without an issue. If you have a particularly large wrist circumference, you’ll want to keep an eye out for options that’ll work for you.

Out of our list of 10 top fitness trackers, here’s what we recommend for large wrists:

3 best fitness watches for large wrists

1. Fitbit Charge 4 — The large size band will fit comfortably on larger wrists that range from 7.1 to 8.7 inches in circumference.
2. Fitbit Versa 2 —While the Versa couldn’t look more different than the Charge 4, it can also fit 7.1 to 8.7 inches.
3. Xiaomi Mi Band 5 —This may not be the biggest tracker on the market, but it can still accommodate wrists from 6.1 to 8.6 inches.

What are the best fitness trackers for small wrists?

If you’ve got an especially dainty wrist, it can be even more challenging to find the right fit. The last thing you want is for your tracker to be sliding around as you go about your day.

So what should you do? We think these activity trackers fit like a glove—er, watch:

3 best fitness trackers for small wrists

1. Garmin Vivosmart 4 —The small/medium band can fit wrists as small as 4.8 inches and as large as 7.4 inches. Now, that’s impressive.
2. Fitbit Inspire 2 — This tracker is lightweight and compact. Did we mention it can fit wrists that measure between 5.5 and 8.7 inches?

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Now that you’ve found your fitness tracker match, you’re one step closer to running laps around your goals. #YouCanDoIt

Credits — The team that worked on this guide

Courtney Lynch is a freelance writer at Android Central. She’s obsessed with all things health, fitness, and music. At any given time, she can be found checking out the latest and greatest gadgets while simultaneously petting her dog and sipping iced coffee.

Joe Maring is Android Central’s News Editor and has had a love for anything with a screen and CPU since he can remember. He’s been talking/writing about Android in one form or another since 2012 and often does so while camping out at the nearest coffee shop.

Jeramy Johnson is proud to help Keep Austin Weird and loves hiking in the hill country of central Texas with a breakfast taco in each hand. When he’s not writing about smart home gadgets and wearables, he’s defending his relationship with his smart voice assistants to his family. You can follow him on Twitter at @jeramyutgw.