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14 Of The Best Fitness Trackers For Staying Active This Summer
The perfect fit for movers, shakers and everyone in between
Fitness trackers are as much of a fashion essential nowadays as sliders in spring and a panama hat in the summer. Like questioning whether trees falling in a forest truly make a sound, if a person goes for a jog and doesn't track it, does it really count as a run? (Of course it does, but you see where we’re going with this.)
Like with dating, cooking, working and socialising, technology has transformed the way people interact with fitness during lockdown. And now, even with the easing of restrictions, many former gym bunnies are sticking with at-home fitness workouts via apps and live streaming platforms, saving time and money on costly memberships.
However, choosing the best fitness tracker – that counts your steps, checks your vital signs, keeps track of calories, monitors your sleep and allows you to play music via Bluetooth – is pretty tricky when there's so many on the market. Especially now they come in all shapes, sizes, with varying price tags and rainbow-coloured straps.
To make the task a little bit easier, our Hearst Institute wellness expert took some of the top models on the market out for a spin to cut through the noise and bring you their six top picks.
And, if that’s not enough, our fitness-obsessed ELLE UK editors have also put their personal know-how to good use, scouring the internet to bring you some of their favourites - don’t say we never do anything for you.
What is the best fitness tracker?
Hearst Institute's tried and tested options:
- Best fitness tracker: Fitbit Charge 4
- Best for ease of use: Polar Ignite 2
- Best for quick charging: Huawei Watch Fit Elegant
- Best for discretion: Fitbit Inspire 2
- Best for style: Withings Steel HR
- Best for the gym: Garmin Vivosmart 4
Editor's picks:
- Apple Watch, Gold Stainless Steel Case with Leather Link
- Garmin Vivoactive 3 GPS Smartwatch
- Fitbit Versa 2 Smart Fitness Watch
- Huawei Band 4 Pro
- Fitbit Versa 2 Health and Fitness Smartwatch
- Apple Watch Series 3
- Garmin Forerunner 735XT GPS Multisport and Running Watch
- Hybrid Smartwatch
- Huawei Watch GT2
What to look for when buying a fitness tracker
First, ignore the fancy features and make sure you actually like the look of your fitness tracker. It’s all well and good having a timepiece that can record your VO2 max, but it’s not going to be much use if you never wear it. Keep an eye out for interchangeable straps for a fully customisable aesthetic, too.
Right, now that’s out of the way, let’s talk tech. The bare minimum you should ask of any modern fitness tracker is for it to monitor your steps, distance covered, heart rate, estimated calorie burn (this is only ever a ballpark figure as accurately calculating the number of calories you burn would rely on more variables than any tracker can monitor) and sleep.
When recording sleep, a few fitness trackers will only provide basic data on your time spent snoozing, while others can break your night down into heavy, light and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, while also handing out (much-needed) tips on how to optimise your time between the sheets (hint: whiling away the early hours scrolling through social media is not ideal... who knew?).
Some models will be water resistant and able to track your swimming sessions, recording your number of lengths and total distance covered which is perfect if you’ve got a penchant for the pool.
Battery life is another key feature to look out for. Most trackers will last more than seven days on a single tank, while others will 'survive' for more than three weeks which is ideal if you’re always forgetting to give your tech some juice. And, if you’re something of a socialite, many models will now ping, vibrate, display and (in some cases) even allow you to respond to notifications from a smartphone they are synced with, meaning you can stay in the loop with just a glance at your wrist.
How we test fitness trackers
We took more than 30 top trackers and put them through their paces, quite literally. Each one was worn for a selection of sports and workouts, and then stayed on our wrists as we went about our everyday activities. The models that made this list tracked our health stats accurately, looked great, felt comfortable and had innovative features that set them apart from their competitors.
Here are the select few that made the cut:
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