Sporting a fitness tracker on your wrist is a low-maintenance way to stay on the pulse of important personal health metrics and track your trends and progress over time. And in the fitness tracker game, Fitbit makes some of the highest-quality affordable wearables for athletes of all levels.
Whether you want to simply count your daily steps or dive deep into your sleep performance and blood oxygen levels to maximize athletic performance, there’s a Fitbit with the right features for your needs.
The most pared-down Fitbits are budget-friendly and have batteries that last for a week or more. They monitor basics like your daily steps and heart rate and connect with your smartphone so you don’t miss an email or text. On the feature-heavier end, Fitbit’s newer models provide 24/7 skin temperature readings, in-depth sleep data, and GPS tracking so you can analyze workouts on the corresponding app.
Fitbit products have become more connected to both the wearer and other technology in the past few years, with several of the newer models offering integration with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. This partnership can help you design and stay accountable to a healthy sleep routine by setting reminders and alarms before bed and in the morning.
When buying a new fitness tracker, there are a few important features to take note of, like features, price, and battery life, as well as extras like GPS and music storage.
Features: Pricier Fitbits have more high-tech features and tend to be larger. If you prefer wearing a more minimalist wrist accessory, you may have to sacrifice some of the smartwatch-style features you’ll find on a higher-end Fitbit like the Sense, which includes stress and temperature sensors.
Price: On the other hand, if you’d rather spring for a product that offers more data and takes up a little more real estate on your wrist, the more expensive models will give you access to handy features like Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa integration, voice activation, improved heartrate monitoring, and blood oxygen tracking.
Battery Life: The battery life also varies from watch to watch. In general, more feature-rich models tend to have shorter battery spans, but most Fitbits will last for at least 5 days (less if you’re using GPS).
Extras: GPS is a great feature for endurance athletes who want to check out their route and performance after a run, bike, or hike. And if you want to leave your phone at home, opt for a Fitbit with room for music storage, such as the Sense or Versa 3 (note that you’ll have to pay separately for a music subscription).
However you plan to use your Fitbit, these are the best models available in 2022 and what you should consider before investing in a new fitness tracker.
Rubber wristband is not as sturdy as other materials
This fully outfitted tracker is great for runners, hikers, cyclists, walkers, and more (it has over 20 exercise modes!). The built-in GPS tracks and displays your pace and distance on the move. Post-workout, consult the app to check your overall workout intensity.
The wearable is also dialed into your personal goals and stats: It gently buzzes when you hit a target heart-rate zone during the day and tracks your sleep for insight into rest and recovery. The Charge 4 also connects to Spotify, so you can control music and podcasts without pulling out your phone.
This thin, minimalist fitness tracker is a great budget-friendly choice. It tracks activity and sleep performance 24/7 and pairs with your smartphone to alert you to texts, emails, and other important notifications.
The watch has an impressive 10-day battery life and is safe to swim in up to 50 meters deep. And you don’t have to worry about losing the device, thanks to Fitbit’s partnership with Tile: The location technology comes built into the watch in case it goes missing.
Streams music from your phone but doesn’t store music
The Versa 3 is Fitbit’s answer to data-rich smartwatches from competitive brands. This smartwatch has GPS to track stats during a workout and offers gentle encouragement by buzzing when you enter a new heart-rate zone during a sweat session.
Fitbit’s PurePulse 2.0 technology offers improved heart rate tracking and even displays your blood oxygen levels, which is a useful metric to prevent and track illness. The watch also has voice activation and happily takes commands such as setting alarms, answering the phone, and coordinating with your smart home device.
EDA scan can help detect your stress response for better management
High and low heart-rate alerts
More expensive than other options
Get even more insight into your body’s physical ability, readiness, and recovery with this sensor-rich Fitbit. The watch provides a daily readiness score that indicates whether now is a good time to push yourself or if you need a day of recovery (genius!).
The watch arrives at this personal score based on data from several sensors: an EDA scan to detect electrodermal activity (related to your stress response), a temperature sensor, a blood oxygen meter, and a heart rate sensor. The watch also syncs with your Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa to help create a sleeping and waking routine, answer phone calls, and manage music.
This cute and colorful kid-sized smartwatch helps motivate movement in little ones. It tracks steps and active minutes every day, whether that means martial arts, swimming, or playing tag at recess.
The watch adds a fun gamified element with badges and celebrations when wearers meet their goals. Kids can also create activity competitions to challenge their friends and send encouragement with cheers and messages in the app on a parent’s phone.
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