Like every piece From the equipment you wear on your body day in and day out, fitness trackers are incredibly personal. The best fitness tracker should be comfortable, attractive, and fit your lifestyle, including when and how you like to exercise. Do you bike, row, or do strength training? Do you run on the trails for hours at a time, or do you just want a reminder to stand up every hour? Do you want to wear it on your wrist, on your finger, or put it inside your bra?
No matter your needs, there’s never been a better time to find a powerful, cutting-edge tool that can help you improve your workouts or jump-start your routine. We test dozens of fitness trackers every year while running, climbing, hiking, or just doing workout videos on our iPads at night, to bring you these picks.
Updated January 2025: We added Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED, Ora Ring 4, Xiaomi Smart Band 9, Garmin Lily 2 Active, Amazfit T-Rex 3, Amazfit Active, and Polar Vantage M3.
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Fitness trackers vs smartwatches
Don’t see anything that exactly fits your style here? Check out our guide to Best smart watches. Although the categories may overlap, fitness trackers are less feature-rich. I’m less concerned with whether a fitness tracker can replicate every feature on your smartphone than I am with whether the health feature set is robust and accurate; If it can track multiple activities; And if it remains stable and secure while doing multiple fitness activities.
Some fitness trackers feature the ability to read emails and control music, but the screens are often smaller and less bright. However, battery life is often much better, which makes a difference, especially if you track your sleep over time. However, if you’re more interested in the option of accessing apps without having to pull out your phone, you may want to consider purchasing a smartwatch. (If you don’t want any notifications at all, get Smart ring instead of.)
Troubleshooting a fitness tracker
Are you having trouble with the new fitness device you just bought? Here are some ways you can easily treat what ails you (or your device):
Make sure it fits. The optical sensors will not work if your device slides loosely around your wrist. You can customize most devices with new bars. Make sure it is securely fastened one inch above your wrist.
Wash it! I’m horrified by the number of people who tell me that their fitness trackers give them wrist rashes. Wipe it down with a little dish soap and water after your sweat session.
Get out from under the cover of the tree. Does your device use multiple satellite positioning systems to track your location when you start exercising outdoors? This is much harder to do if you are under power lines, trees, or even (gulp) indoors.
Establish a routine. There’s nothing quite as frustrating as opening your tracking app and finding out the battery ran out before you went to bed last night. Keep your app updated regularly. Check whether your tracker is connected to your phone or not Keep the chargers everywhere.
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