How much do you know about fitness trackers as part of your overall health and fitness goals? If you aren't already using one, it can be a great addition to your routine to help you stay on track... for the upcoming summer months and all year long.
Fitness trackers provide you with essential, real-time feedback on a wide range of metrics. They help keep you motivated while optimizing your fitness routines and overall health with Sleep, Stress, Fitness, and Heart-Rate Monitoring.
But with so many tracker options to choose from, the question becomes… which fitness tracker is right for you? It all depends on what you’re looking for and how much you want to invest in your piece of wearable fitness technology.
To help you make that decision, we’re featuring five of our favorite fitness trackers right now. These wearable fitness trackers monitor everything from calories burned to heart rate to your sleep schedule. But they're each unique in their own way, checking off different boxes depending on your specific needs, budget, and style preferences.
Here’s our fitness tracker roundup:
- Best for the all-around athlete: Fitbit Charge 5
- Best value: Xiaomi Mi Band 6
- Best for the fashion-forward: Fitbit Luxe
- Best for iPhone users: Apple Watch SE
- Best for small wrists: Garmin Lily
But Wait... Read This First!
Can you imagine starting off on a long race that you plan to finish before stretching first? In the same way, you don't want to jump right in to investing in a fitness tracker before you do the preliminary work of figuring out your unique goals and plans for achieving them.
Here is what we recommend as your "must do" first steps...
- Pinpoint Your Unique Calorie Goal - Use the 310 Calorie Calculator to determine your unique calorie goal to aim for each day for weight loss.
- Map Your Journey - Once you know your calorie goal, you can help yourself stay on track with a daily wellness journal that allows you to input what you eat, calories, accomplishments and more.
- Join the 310 Community - Get more support on your journey by joining a Community of like-minded people also on track for their goals. Get motivation, recipe ideas, advice and encouragement to overcome obstacles and keep moving forward.
- Create a 310 Shake Plan of Action - Finally, once you have everything in line to go after your goals, make sure you have your 310 Shake "plan of action" ready, and supplies on hand. For weight loss, it's recommended to replace 2 meals with shakes per day, and 1 meal per day for weight maintenance. There are also a number of additional healthy lifestyle products that can help you succeed!
Now that we told you some key points for success, we're happy to give you the run-down on the trackers. But remember, the device is only as good as the plan of action you've devised to succeed. Happy tracking!
For the all-around athlete: Fitbit Charge 5
Image credit: Fitbit
If you’re looking for the fitness tracker of all fitness trackers, this is the one for you. The Fitbit Charge 5 is the latest Charge model with all the bells and whistles. The new sleek design has a color touch screen and all the fitness and sleep tracking numbers you could ever want. And although it isn’t technically a smartwatch, it does offer similar features like app notifications and contactless payments. So if you’re looking for the fitness tracker that does and tracks it all—and you’re willing to pay a little bit extra for it—we recommend the Fitbit Charge 5.
Price: $180 on FitBit, $119 on Heart Rate Monitors USA Heart Rate Monitors USA, $180 at REI
Top Features:
- Built-in GPS (track your outdoor workouts!)
- Electrocardiogram app (looks out for heart rhythm irregularities that you can then share with your doctor)
- Activity tracking (tracks your steps, calories burned, distance, and more!)
- Health metrics (heart rate variability, breathing rate, skin temperature, VO2 max, and other helpful metrics)
- Sleep score and sleep stages (track your deep and REM sleep cycles)
- Daily Readiness Score (lets you know if your body is ready for a workout!)
- Stress Management Score (measures your body’s in-the-moment stress levels)
- Guided workouts and meditations
- Menstrual health tracking (log periods, record symptoms, and discover patterns in your cycle)
Pros: Reviews tout this tracker’s long battery life, color display (with new always-on option), and robust tracking features. The Fitbit Charge 5 is cheaper than Fitbit’s Smartwatch models—like the Fitbit Sense and Fitbit Versa 3—but has almost all the same features, making it a better deal overall for what you’re getting.
Cons: The downside of this fitness tracker is that it comes with a cost. Not only are you paying that $119+ upfront, but many of the Fitbit’s features, like their Daily Readiness score and guided workouts, come with a $10/month premium subscription. Although your purchase comes with six months of this premium subscription, don’t get too attached to the extra features unless you’re willing to dole out the extra cash once those six months are up.
Who should get it? This fitness tracker offers something for everyone. But it’s only worth the investment if you’re interested in having a lot of information at your fingertips. If you just want to count your steps and calories, it might not be worth paying for all the extra fitness, sleep, and stress metrics.
For the best value: Xiaomi Mi Band 6
Image credit: Xiaomi
It’s very rare to find high-end fitness tracker features for less than $50, but that’s the kind of value you get with the Xiaomi Mi Band. This fitness tracker features a smartphone-like display, with sleep tracking, 24/7 heart rate monitoring, and 30 different fitness modes to track all your workouts. Plus you even get some other smart features like an alarm clock, music control, activity goal setting, and app notifications.
Price: $44 on Amazon, $49 on Walmart
Top Features:
- Heart rate monitoring (resting heart rate, heart rate curve, and more)
- Sleep monitoring (tracks your deep, light, and REM sleep cycles and sleep breathing quality)
- Menstrual health tracking (monitor the patterns of your cycle, log periods, and track ovulation)
- Stress monitoring (featuring breathing exercises, PAI vitality index assessment, idle alerts, step counter, and goal setting)
- Activity tracking (tracks your steps, calories burned, distance, and more with 30 different fitness modes!)
Pros: You can’t beat the Xiaomi Mi Band’s battery life. Reviews say that you can go almost two weeks without charging! And its tracking accuracy matches that of higher-priced fitness trackers, making this one more than worth its very low price tag.
Cons: You’re not going to get all the features and functionality you’ll find on higher-end brands like the Fitbit or Apple Watch. This results in some downsides like slower app syncing and a several-second delay for raise-to-wake. And the wrist strap quality is a little lacking, with some reviews indicating that it has faster wear and tear than other brands. But for the price, you’re getting more than what you pay for.
Who should get it? This is the go-to fitness tracker when you’re on a budget but don’t want to sacrifice on the must-have health metrics. It has all the basics (and more!) that you could need at a price tag that doesn’t break the bank.
For the fashion-forward: Fitbit Luxe
Image credit: Fitbit
Slightly less expensive than the Fitbit Charge 5—and far more stylish—is the Fitbit Luxe. This fashion-forward fitness tracker offers a stainless steel casing with multiple bracelet-like band options so you can match your wardrobe while still staying on top of your health. Like the Fitbit Charge 5, it offers a plethora of fitness, stress, and sleep metrics like 24/7 heart rate monitoring, sleep quality, breathing rate, step count, calories burned, and more.
Price: $150 on FitBitFitbit, $150 at Kohl's, $150 at BestBuy
Top Features:
- Activity tracking (tracks your steps, calories burned, distance, and more!)
- Health metrics (heart rate variability, breathing rate, skin temperature, and other helpful metrics)
- Sleep score and sleep stages (track your deep and REM sleep cycles)
- Daily Readiness Score (lets you know if your body is ready for a workout!)
- Stress Management Score (measures your body’s in-the-moment stress levels)
- Guided workouts and meditations
- Menstrual health tracking (log periods, record symptoms, track ovulation and more)
Pros: The Luxe is the ultimate combination of both style and functionality, with reviews touting its long battery life and comfortable fit (especially for those with smaller wrists). It’s like wearing a smart piece of jewelry!
Cons: While it tracks a lot of the same health metrics as the Fitbit Charge 5, you’re sacrificing on screen size to get that thinner sleek design. The Luxe also forgoes the built-in GPS and contactless payment that you’ll get with the Fitbit Charge 5. And like all other Fitbit models, you’re going to need that extra $10/month premium subscription to get all the features.
Who should get it? If you want to track your health metrics but don’t want to wear a clunky piece of metal on your wrist to do it, the Luxe offers the ultimate compromise. It’s perfect for the fitness lover who wants that jewelry-like look.
For iPhone users: Apple Watch SE
Image credit: Apple
While the Apple Watch Series 7 is the latest high-end Apple Watch model, if it’s a fitness tracker you’re after and not a full-scale smartwatch, we recommend the cheaper Apple Watch SE. Technically still a smartwatch, the SE offers all the functionality you could want in a fitness tracker plus the features of a smartphone right on your wrist (like messaging, calling, music, app integration, wallet, Siri, maps, and so on!).
Price: Starting at $279 at Apple
Top Features:
- Health metrics (high and low heart rate, irregular heart rhythm notifications, VO2 max, and more)
- Built-in GPS (track your outdoor workouts!)
- Activity tracking (tracks your steps, calories burned, and distance, with over 40 different exercise options to choose from)
- Activity rings (reminds you to move throughout the day)
- Mindfulness app (featuring daily meditations)
- Sleep app (monitors your sleep trends and schedule)
- Menstrual health tracking
- Fall detection (if you’ve taken a fall and are unresponsive the watch will call emergency services for you and send your GPS coordinates!)
Pros: With an Apple Watch you’re getting top-of-the-line functionality. It’s pretty much a phone on your wrist which means it does far more than your average fitness tracker. For example, the watch gives you a notification when the noise levels you’re experiencing could be damaging to your ears! All this functionality is great, but it could be too much depending on what you’re looking for.
Cons: It’s definitely on the higher end of the price spectrum, meaning you have to want all the bells and whistles to make it worth it. But if you just want the basics of fitness tracking, this would be more than what you need.
Who should get it? If you’re a big Apple fan and love having all the features and functionality at your fingertips, then it makes sense to pair your iPhone with an Apple Watch. It offers a seamless experience for iPhone users, but that experience comes with a hefty price tag.
For small wrists: Garmin Lily
Image credit: Garmin
With its small circular design and slim fit, the Garmin Lily looks more like a traditional wristwatch than some of the other fitness trackers on this list. It was designed specifically with women in mind. So it has all the functionality of a Garmin watch but features a jewelry-like design with a much smaller band. It covers all the major elements of a fitness tracker including 24/7 heart-rate monitoring, workout activity, and sleep tracking.
Price: $250 on Garmin, $150 on Heart Rate Monitors USAHeart Rate Monitors USA, $200 at Kohl's, $150 on Amazon, $200 at BestBuy
Top Features:
- Body battery energy monitoring (like Fitbit Charge 5, this lets you see your body’s energy levels throughout the day so you can find the best times for activity and rest)
- Heart rate monitoring (24/7 heart-rate monitoring with high and low heart-rate alerts)
- Stress tracking (track your stress levels and get relaxation reminders)
- Menstrual health tracking (track your menstrual cycle or pregnancy)
- Sleep monitoring (tracks your deep, light, and REM sleep cycles)
- Safety and tracking features (send for assistance when you need help)
- Activity tracking (tracks your steps, calories burned, distance, and more!)
Pros: For such a small watch it certainly knows how to pack a punch. It has a ton of functionality fused into a classic design, making it feel more like a piece of jewelry than a full-fledged fitness tracker. Plus the watch features both Android and iPhone integration, although you can only send quick replies in the watch with an Android phone.
Cons: The biggest downside to the Garmin Lily is the price. All those amazing features bump up the cost putting it right into the higher-end category. There’s also no built-in GPS. So if you’re planning on going for a run or bike ride you’ll need to take your phone with you. And unlike the other fitness trackers on this list, the Garmin Lily uses a monochrome LCD touchscreen instead of a color display. But while this makes it less visually enhancing, this does save on battery life in the long run. And the watch even features a stylish patterned lens in the background!
Who should get it? If you’re not into the massive wristwatch look and feel (or you’re struggling to find a fitness tracker that fits on your smaller wrist) then this is a great option. It offers a sleek, stylish design with full-fledged fitness tracker functionality that’s built for the woman on-the-go.
Once you make your decision and purchase the right fitness tracker for your needs, make sure to check out our blog on how to get the most out of your fitness tracker, featuring 16 tips and tricks. And join our Facebook community to let us know how your fitness and health journey is going!
