If you want to develop healthier habits and need a little push to help you along the way, a fitness tracker can be a great tool. It's a wrist-based device that tracks your movements and other stats throughout the day and encourages you to walk a little more, try a workout that will raise your heart rate, drink more water, and take the stairs instead of the elevator. They are small changes, but they all contribute to a healthier lifestyle. The fitness tracker connects to an app on your phone, where you can view stats like your heart rate, sleep patterns, and step counts over time, often receiving virtual badges to reward your efforts. Some fitness trackers also allow you to connect with friends, share your successes, and take on little challenges.
(Image credit: Fitbit) Fitbit is a brand that's almost synonymous with fitness tracking, and it's one of the best fitness trackers out there, but it's not your only option. For example, the Chinese company Amazfit has released some great and very affordable fitness trackers in recent months, including the Amazfit Bip. Huawei's fitness trackers are also worth considering; The Huawei Band 6 offers a lot for your money, and if you can afford to spend a little more, the Huawei Watch Fit is one of the best fitness trackers in its class.
Fitness tracker features
The first fitness trackers were simple pedometers that recorded the number of steps you took each day and encouraged you to reach a certain goal. They were helpful enough, but they couldn't tell you how your efforts improved your health or made the difference between walking and more strenuous activities. Almost all modern fitness trackers can also measure your heart rate throughout the day. This is done using an optical sensor: an LED shines on your wrist, and the sensor detects changes in light reflected from your skin as your heart beats. This has several purposes. A lower resting heart rate is often a sign of better fitness, and if your resting heart rate drops as you change your daily habits, that's a good indication you're on the right track. Measuring changes in heart rate also allows the device to determine how hard you push yourself during a workout and how quickly your heart rate returns to normal afterward. The World Health Organization recommends that adults get between 150 and 300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity each week; or at least 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or a combination of both. Most fitness trackers use these guidelines (or very similar guidelines) and encourage you to achieve those goals.
(Image credit: Garmin) Heart rate monitoring also helps a fitness tracker monitor your sleep patterns. Most modern fitness trackers have an accelerometer, which allows them to detect body movements in 3D space. When your heart rate drops and you are still, the device determines that you are asleep and can estimate sleep stages based on restlessness and heart rate changes. Many fitness trackers can also connect to your phone's GPS receiver, allowing them to track your location over time during outdoor activities and therefore calculate your distance and speed. This type of positioning is fine for casual walks, runs, and bike rides, but for the most accurate results, you should look for a fitness tracker with built-in GPS that doesn't rely on a connection to your phone. It also means you can leave your phone at home during workouts, while still seeing your speed, distance and route. If you're preparing for your first 5K or 10K race, this is a feature to consider.
Fitness tracker or smart watch?
There are many crosses between fitness trackers and smartwatches, and many of them are very similar. The main difference is that smartwatches perform more functions and are loaded with a wider variety of apps, while fitness trackers are all about wellness. For example, the Fitbit Inspire 2 measures your heart rate 24/7, tracks your breathing rate (with guided breathing sessions when you're feeling stressed), counts steps, tracks how much time you spend at different heart rate zones and monitors sleep patterns. . . It does have some non-fitness features, including the ability to receive smartphone notifications, but everything else is wellness-oriented and you can't install any additional apps on it. Apple Watch 6 does all of this and more, including letting you listen to music, audiobooks, and podcasts, make and receive phone calls, use Siri voice commands, access maps, and most importantly, choose from thousands of specially designed Apple Watch apps. designed. .
The Apple Watch 6 is a smartwatch (Image credit: Future) Stargazing, language translation, checking restaurant reviews, checking sports scores, voice recording, and online banking — there's an app for just about everything. Unsurprisingly, all of this comes at a cost, and a high-end smartwatch can easily cost several times more than a fitness tracker of equivalent quality. If you're not sure whether a fitness tracker or smartwatch would be right for you, some devices straddle the line. The Fitbit Versa 3, for example, offers all the fitness tracking tools of the Fitbit Inspire 2, plus contactless payments via Fitbit Pay, the ability to stream music from Deezer and Pandora (or control your Spotify playlist). ) and make calls from your wrist via a Bluetooth connection to your phone. You can also download additional apps from the Fitbit store, though the selection is much smaller than what's available for the Apple Watch.
The Fitbit Versa 3 blurs the line between fitness tracker and smartwatch (Image credit: Fitbit) Devices like this sit somewhere between fitness trackers and all-dancing smartwatches in terms of price, and strike a nice balance of the two in terms of functionality.
Fitness tracker or sports watch?
If you're seriously involved in a particular sport, like cycling, running, or swimming, you'd be better served by a dedicated sports watch from a company like Garmin, Polar, or Coros (we've rounded up the best running watches available today , but many of them are also great for other sports). These devices come with onboard GPS to accurately map your activities, and many can also provide turn-by-turn directions to help you navigate new routes and return home afterwards.
The Garmin Forerunner 945 is a sports watch (Image credit: Garmin) If you're more comfortable on the course, a dedicated golf watch will be a better option than a fitness tracker. These come pre-programmed with maps for thousands of courses around the world, plus yardage, shot tracking, wind speed and direction, and sometimes even a virtual caddy to help you pick the right club. These purpose-built sports watches are typically much more expensive than fitness trackers and are likely overkill if you enjoy sports more casually. If you're more interested in ad hoc workouts, a fitness tracker will be your best bet. Today's best Fitbit deals
