The best fitness trackers you can buy

The fitness wrist band remains very popular, despite the growing attraction of smartwatches, which can perform many of the same functions, with added convenience and notifications. The reason fitness bands aren’t going anywhere is because they’re often well-priced, lighter, more compact, and more focused as a product than even the most basic smartwatch.

If you’re looking for a wrist band to help motivate you get more exercise, track your calories, or even keep a log of your sleep patterns, then you’ll probably be surprised by the amount of choice out there. We’ve collected seven of our favorite fitness tracking wearables, to help make the buying process a little easier.

Our pick

Fitbit Blaze

Why you should buy this: It’s versatile and attractive, with an incredible mobile app and top-shelf motion detection

NEEDS PRODUCT CARD: “The Fitbit Blaze combines looks, power, and convenience into one incredible package.”

Who’s it for: Anyone and everyone, except swimmers

How much will it cost: $150

Why we picked the Fitbit Blaze

Aesthetics are important when it comes to wearable tech. So is battery life, and waterproofing, and a number of other factors. The most important thing, though — in our view, anyway — is convenience. Nobody wants to spend half their allotted workout time fiddling with their tracker’s settings or slogging through a cumbersome mobile app, and Fitbit has taken this into consideration.

As a result, the Blaze (and its companion app) works like a charm, offering accurate tracking of everything from hours slept to steps taken. The watch itself — a handsome square touchscreen designed to slot into bands of several materials and colors — displays a quick overview of your fitness statistics for the day, and allows you to select different types of workouts to track. The companion app offers a wealth of useful information; the Blaze tracks your heart rate while resting and while exercising, and counts calories for you. Setting daily goals is extremely easy, and the app is a breeze to navigate. If you’d like to enter your food and water intake, you can do that too, to more accurately manage nutrition.

The Blaze can control your smartphone’s music, too, as long as you’ve got your phone on you, and you can quickly view text messages or phone calls directly from your wrist. The Blaze is lightweight and comfortable (as long as you wash the band regularly), and its battery lasts a few days with regular use. One drawback: It’s water resistant, not waterproof, so don’t take it in the pool. If you’re short on cash, the Fitbit Blaze may not be for you, but otherwise it’s tough to beat.

Our full review

Best choice for Android users

Samsung Gear Fit 2

Why you should buy this: You want a stellar fitness band with GPS, a display, storage for music, and some smartwatch features

Our Score

The Best Tracker for Android

Samsung Gear Fit 2

The Gear Fit 2 is the best fitness tracker we’ve tried in just about every way. Sadly, it requires an Android phone.

$127.94 from Amazon

$179.99 from Samsung

Who’s it for: Any Android user who’s teetering on the edge between a fitness band and smartwatch

How much will it cost: $180

Why we picked the Samsung Gear Fit 2

Samsung’s Gear Fit 2 is one of the best fitness trackers we’ve used. Its subtle design, smartwatch-like features, and ability to stream music during your workouts make it stand out from the ever-increasing mob of cheap, crappy, ugly fitness trackers. The auto-workout tracking is awesome and it really works, so you can exercise naturally without having to press a button every time you go out for a run. It offers built-in GPS and 4GB of music storage, so you can leave your phone at home when you hit the gym.

The 1.5-inch curved AMOLED screen is absolutely stunning and you can view all your metrics on it in full color at any time. You can even view a map of your route, thanks to its built-in GPS. It’s customizable with fun watch faces and you can download a bunch of handy apps from the Gear app store, including Spotify, which allows you to stream music from the Gear Fit 2 during workouts. The Fit 2 recognizes and automatically tracks a number of activities, and everything syncs with the S Health app, which offers a super detailed view of your progress on your smartphone.

Although its main purpose is fitness tracking, the Gear Fit 2 can also perform many smartwatch functions, including notifications, the ability to reply to messages, and download apps. The extra smarts aren’t thrown in your face; they are subtle and helpful. This is the device for anyone who wants a fitness tracker, but is smartwatch-curious. The battery lasts about 3 days, though GPS will eat into that estimate.

For $180 it is a great deal. The Gear Fit 2 is significantly cheaper than any smartwatch you can buy, and it’s even cheaper than some Fitbit devices, despite having more features. If you’re looking for a smart fitness tracker with heart rate, GPS, and notifications, the Gear Fit 2 is for you. The only bad news? You have to have an Android phone; it doesn’t work with iOS.

Our full review

Best choice for iPhone users

Garmin Vivosmart HR+

Why you should buy this: You want a subtle fitness tracker you’ll never have to charge

The Best Tracker for iOS

Garmin Vivosmart HR+

It’s not the prettiest fitness band, but Garmin’s Vivosmart HR+ is a reliable, affordable band for iPhone owners.

$149.99 from Amazon

$149.99 from Target

Who’s it for: Any iPhone or Android user who wants a full-featured fitness tracker

How much will it cost: $220

Why we picked the Garmin Vivosmart HR+

Garmin’s Vivosmart HR+ brings GPS, a heart rate monitor, sleep tracking, automatic workout tracking, and more to the table. It’s a typical looking fitness tracker with a black and white screen for reading your metrics. It’s also water-resistant for your runs in the rain.

If you’re a runner, the built-in GPS and special running features — including personal records, a virtual pacer, Auto Pause, Auto Lap, and a walk/run mode — will appeal to you. You can also see a map of your route in the app. It auto-detects your workouts, so you don’t have to start and stop them. When you turn on GPS, the battery takes a hit down to 8 hours, but the Vivosmart HR+ usually gets 5 days of battery life before it conks out.

You can sync with the Garmin Connect app to view more detailed metrics and get an overview of your progress over time. The app offers challenges in which you compete with fellow Garmin users if you need extra motivation to achieve your goals.

It is not the most stylish band in town, but you do have color and size options. The Vivosmart HR+ comes in black/shark fin gray, imperial purple/kona purple, and midnight blue/bolt blue in the regular size. If you have a larger wrist, you can opt for the extra-large size in only the black/shark fin gray color.

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Best low-maintenance fitness band

Moov Now

Why you should buy this: The battery lasts forever, and motion tracking is crazy accurate

NEEDS PRODUCT CARD: “The Moov Now will guide you through workouts and track your every move without running out of juice”

Who’s it for: Anyone looking for a covert, versatile, affordable tracker

How much will it cost: $60

Why we picked the Moov Now

Who needs a touchscreen? Hell, who needs a screen, period? The Moov Now eschews onboard functionality in favor of excellent battery life, comfort, and understated beauty — and it works. The Moov is so light you won’t even notice its presence on your wrist, but rest assured it’s there, and it’s collecting tons of data for your benefit.

The mobile app is absolutely loaded with different types of workouts, including cool training programs that’ll put you through several exercises in order. For many trackers, this type of programming is a reach, but it works with the Moov largely because of its accurate tracking. For example, when you select a boxing workout, the Now can differentiate between a jab and a cross, a hook and an uppercut. If you keep your phone on you during a workout or run (and if you’ve got earphones in), a helpful voice will let you know whether you’re properly carrying out the assigned regimen. The voice will give you helpful tips to correct your form, or it’ll play a sound when you get it right. Soon, this sound will result in a Pavlovian release of endorphins.

The webby design is cool, but not too flashy, and the included array of sensors is fairly standard for a low-price wearable (there’s no heart rate monitor, for example). If you truly want a workout companion, though, the Moov is nearly unbeatable; its feedback is timely and effective, its battery lasts for months, and the app is packed with different types of exercises to choose from. At $60, it’s a home run.

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