Best Fitness Trackers for 2024: Monitor Your Workouts

Whether you’re a fitness enthusiast, a goal-setter, or just health-conscious, a fitness tracker can be a great tool. The best trackers are fun and easy to use, helping you set goals and track your progress. They can also monitor other important things like sleep, body temperature, and overall readiness. Kira Jones, a certified personal trainer and founder of Cacti Wellness Collective, points out that the main benefit of using a fitness tracker is getting clear data about your fitness and health. “Knowledge is power,” she says, and a good tracker can give you valuable insights into your daily activities and workouts.

When choosing a fitness tracker, focus on accuracy and the metrics it tracks. You’ll want a device that suits your activity level, lifestyle, and goals. To find the best options, we tested 16 popular fitness trackers at home for over a month. We also had a certified personal trainer review the article for accuracy, including tips on how to use a tracker to understand and improve your health and wellness.

Best Overall

Garmin Vivomove Sport

Our Ratings

• Comfort 4.8/5
• Ease of Use 4.7/5
• Accuracy 5/5

Pros

• Very accurate
• Exercise-specific features
• Clear, straightforward display

Cons

• Shorter battery life
• Limited iOS compatibility

Key Specs

Battery Life: Up to 5 days | Water Resistance: Yes, up to 164 feet underwater | GPS: No | Our Overall Rating: 4.9/5

Who It’s For

Best for a well-rounded view of your health and fitness with a fitness tracker that’s intuitive, comfortable, and accurate. 

Why We Love It

The Garmin Vivomove Sport Watch is our top choice because it’s accurate, comfortable, and easy to use. Whether tracking steps, calories burned, or sleep, the metrics are always reliable. But it doesn’t stop there—the watch also monitors blood oxygen levels, stress, menstrual cycles, and more. It even has reminders to relax, incident detection for certain activities, and features for running, cycling, and swimming. You can also receive calls, texts, and calendar notifications right on the watch.

Setting up the watch and pairing it with the Garmin Connect app is a breeze. The app displays all your data and daily insights clearly and simply. The watch also has a five-day battery life and is water-resistant up to 164 feet, so you can wear it underwater without worry.

Potential Flaws

• Other picks on our list can hold a charge for longer and have a higher ATM rating.
• You can’t respond to text messages from the watch unless you have an Android phone.

Best for Running

COROS Pace 2

Our Ratings

• Comfort5/5
• Ease of Use4.8/5
• Accuracy4.9/5

Pros

• Lightweight
• Highly water-resistant
• Long battery life

ons

• Not as versatile
• Settings may be overwhelming to some

Key Specs

Battery Life: Up to 14 days | Water Resistance: Yes, up to 164 feet underwater | GPS: Yes | Our Overall Rating: 4.9/5

Who It’s For

Best if you’re a runner who supplements your runs with strength training, as it offers over 200 pre-programmed exercises for the upper body, lower body, core, and more.

Why We Love It

The Coros Pace 2 GPS Sport Watch is one of the best running watches we’ve tested. It tracks your location, distance, pace, time, stride length, and more, all with great accuracy. It’s also one of the lightest GPS watches out there, making it comfortable for long runs. A standout feature is the post-workout muscle heatmap, which shows which muscle groups you worked the hardest over a day, week, or month. It also tracks other useful metrics like heart rate, sleep, and body temperature.

The watch provides phone notifications and caller ID, and it can connect to third-party apps like Strava and Apple Health. Like our top overall pick, it has a water resistance rating of 5 ATM, so you can wear it while swimming. However, it surpasses our top pick with a battery life of up to 14 days on a single charge. We rely on the watch’s tracking capabilities to monitor our running progress, including steps, heart rate, calories burned, time, elevation, best mile, average pace, and GPS accuracy.

Potential Flaws

• The features offered may not be the best for tracking exercises other than strength and running.
• The multitude of features and settings may be too overwhelming for some.

Best Low-Profile

Fitbit Inspire 3

Our Ratings

• Comfort5/5
• Ease of Use5/5
• Accuracy4.2/5

Pros

• Budget-friendly
• Lightweight
• Easy to use

Cons

• Step counter is slightly sensitive
• Requires paid membership after free trial

Key Specs

Battery Life: Up to 10 days | Water Resistance: Yes, up to 164 feet underwater | GPS: No | Our Overall Rating: 4.7/5

Who It’s For

Best for beginners or those looking for a budget-friendly, low-profile fitness tracker that’s easy to use and comfortable.

Why We Love It

The Fitbit Inspire 3 is a great choice for its ease of use, comfort, and overall value. It tracks your distance, calories burned, heart rate, and other useful stats. In the Fitbit app, you can also see wellness metrics like sleep and stress management scores, and join guided breathing sessions and workouts.

While wearing this minimalist tracker, you’ll get alerts for irregular heart rates and reminders to move, as well as call, text, and app notifications. The notifications come as gentle vibrations, which are noticeable without being disruptive. We especially like the vibrating alarm, which wakes you up during your optimal sleep stage, helping you feel more refreshed throughout the day.

Potential Flaws

• We found the step counter to be slightly sensitive, logging steps during other activities like making the bed. 
• After the free six-month Fitbit Premium membership, you’ll have to pay extra to access most key features, such as your daily readiness score, stress management score, and access to Fitbit’s workouts on the app.

Best for Training

Polar Vantage V2 Smartwatch

Our Ratings

• Comfort4.8/5
• Ease of Use4.9/5
• Accuracy4.8/5

Pros

• Highly water resistant
• Unique recovery features
• Advanced sleep tracking

Cons

• Nutrition statistics may not be as accurate
• Pricier than other options

Key Specs

Battery Life: Up to 100 hours | Water Resistance: Yes, up to 333 feet underwater | GPS: Yes | Our Overall Rating: 4.6/5

Who It’s For

With advanced metric tracking, this fitness tracker is best for anyone who trains intensively.

Why We Love It

Polar’s Vantage V2 Smartwatch stands out with its performance and recovery tests, offering a unique way to track your training progress. For instance, if your heart rate isn’t as high as expected during a workout, the heart rate tracking can let you know it’s time to step it up—perfect for HIIT sessions like EMOM. The leg recovery test also guides you through three jumps to estimate your leg muscle recovery status. Throughout testing, we used this watch to monitor heart rate, steps, and calories burned, and it provided accurate data for running, strength training, and other activities.

One of the best features is how it alerts you if you’re training too much or not enough. It doesn’t just give numbers; it tells you which energy sources (carbs, proteins, or fats) were used during each workout. You’ll also get a daily sleep score to gauge how ready you are for the day. The sleep tracking feature is great for seeing how much time you spend in each sleep cycle. Plus, it’s waterproof up to 333 feet—double the depth of our top pick—making it excellent for tracking calories burned while swimming.

Potential Flaws

• According to our nutrition editor, the carb, protein, and fat consumption information may not be incredibly accurate—so take it with a grain of salt. 
• If you’re not an athlete or training on a daily basis, we think you can save money and choose a more well-rounded tracker, like Garmin’s Vivomove Sport Hybrid Smartwatch.

Most Stylish

Garmin Lily

Our Ratings

• Comfort4.5/5
• Ease of Use5/5
• Accuracy5/5

Pros

• Wide range of colors
• Delivers morning reports
• Very accurate

Cons

• Limited iOS compatibility
• Limited activity tracking

Key Specs

Battery Life: Up to 5 days | Water Resistance: Yes, up to 164 feet underwater | GPS: No | Our Overall Rating: 4.6/5

Who It’s For

Best if style and functionality are equally important to you.

Why We Love It

Garmin’s Lily Watch is a great choice if you’re looking to track steps, sleep, stress, and energy levels. It’s perfect for setting and achieving fitness goals, and the pre-programmed workouts are a fun way to mix up your routine. What really sets this watch apart is its stylish design and unique morning report feature, which gives you a quick summary of the weather, your energy level, step goals, menstrual cycle stage, and your first calendar event of the day.

We also love the built-in apps for yoga, cardio, walking, and mindful breathing—they’ve become a regular part of our routine. Plus, the Garmin Connect app makes it easy to view all your health data at a glance, with an intuitive and user-friendly interface. The Lily Watch is not only comfortable and easy to use but also accurate in tracking metrics like blood oxygen saturation and hydration. With its reasonable price and stylish look, it’s a fantastic choice for anyone wanting to keep an eye on their health while looking good.

Potential Flaws

• Note that you can only respond to texts on the watch if you have an Android phone.
• Although the tracker tracks basic activities, it doesn’t have as in-depth activity tracking as other fitness trackers on our list.

Also Read: 7 Mental Strength Exercises for Toughness in 2024

Best Battery Life

Withings ScanWatch Hybrid Smartwatch

Our Ratings

• Comfort4.2/5
• Ease of Use4.7/5
• Accuracy4.4/5

Pros

• Sleek design
• Highly water-resistant
• Comes with a carry case and extra band

Cons

• Alarm may be too gentle for some
• Step counter is slightly sensitive

Key Specs

Battery Life: Up to 30 days | Water Resistance: Yes, up to 164 feet underwater | GPS: Yes | Our Overall Rating: 4.3/5

Who It’s For

Best for people who are on the go or frequent travelers, since it charges quickly and stays charged for up to 30 days.

Why We Love It

Withings’ Scanwatch is a sleek and user-friendly fitness tracker with advanced health-tracking features. It sends helpful reminders like “unwind,” “take 100 steps,” and “go on a lunch walk,” making it easy to stay active. You can also set it to wake you up at the optimal time in your sleep cycle, a feature we found simple to set up in the app. This watch accurately tracks distance, heart rate, blood oxygen level, menstrual cycles, sleep, and more. The Withings Health Mate app provides explanations for each metric, helping you understand why they matter.

With a water resistance rating of 5 ATM, you can wear this tracker while swimming in the pool or ocean up to 164 feet deep. While it may not be the most budget-friendly option, its high-quality design, impressive tracking capabilities, and long-lasting battery life make it worth the investment. Plus, it comes with a carrying case and a spare band.

Potential Flaws

• The wake-up alarm is so gentle that, for deep sleepers, we recommend setting a louder backup alarm.
• During testing, we found that the step counter was sensitive, counting other movements as steps.

Best With GPS Tracking

Fitbit Charge 5

Our Ratings

• Comfort5/5
• Ease of Use4.6/5
• Accuracy3.7/5

Pros

• Useful in-app metrics visualization
• Precise activity tracking
• Daily mood log

Cons

• Calorie tracker isn’t very reliable
• Requires paid membership after free trial

Key Specs

Battery Life: Up to 7 days | Water Resistance: Yes, up to 164 feet underwater | GPS: Yes | Our Overall Rating: 4.4/5

Who It’s For

Best if you enjoy exercising outdoors without your phone, thanks to its built-in GPS that tracks distance and pace in real time.

Why We Love It

Fitbit’s Charge 5 is their most advanced wearable, offering a more robust version of the Inspire 3. With built-in GPS, you can run, hike, and ride without needing your phone. After a workout, you can check your pace and heart rate zones on a visual map in the Fitbit app, which is especially useful if you’re training for a marathon or enjoy seeing your progress visually.

We use this device for various activities like CrossFit and strength training, and we find its metrics to be accurate. Beyond fitness, it also tracks your sleep, stress, and readiness scores, giving you insights into how to approach each day. Like the Inspire 3, the Charge 5 can wake you up with a gentle vibration at the best point in your sleep cycle and deliver call, text, app, and calendar notifications from your phone. Plus, you can log your mood each day in the app, which is a nice touch.

Potential Flaws

• Most metrics are precise, but the watch slightly overestimated the amount of calories burned when it comes to activities like running and walking.
• After the free six-month Fitbit Premium membership trial, you’ll have to pay extra to access most of the valuable tracking metrics.

Best for Sleep

Oura Ring

Our Ratings

• Comfort4.8/5
• Ease of Use3.6/5
• Accuracy3.8/5

Pros

• Sleek design
• Easy to use
• Converts statistics into daily scores

Cons

• Limited activity tracking

Key Specs

Battery Life: Up to 7 days | Water Resistance: Yes, up to 328 feet underwater | GPS: No | Our Overall Rating: 4.1/5 

Who It’s For

Best if you want a holistic health overview with detailed sleep and menstrual cycle metrics.

Why We Love It

If tracking your sleep, readiness, and menstrual cycle is important to you, Oura’s Ring Gen 3 is a great choice. This lightweight, stylish wearable fits on your finger and uses tiny sensors to send helpful health data to your phone in seconds. It tracks total sleep time, efficiency, restfulness, and time spent in each sleep cycle to give you daily sleep and readiness scores in the Oura app. Keep in mind, though, that accessing some features requires a paid membership.

The ring also provides a daily activity score based on your inactivity time, training frequency, and more. While the Oura Ring Gen 3 is an investment, it’s worth it if you’re looking for detailed sleep and menstrual cycle tracking. Plus, it connects to the Natural Cycles app, which helps you sync your workouts with the different phases of your menstrual cycle.

Potential Flaws

• We found activity tracking was limited and inaccurate, providing the wrong time, distance, and calories during a walk and not recording any activity during Pilates or yoga. We think this tracker is best for readiness and sleep, not activity monitoring.

Best Budget

Amazfit Band 7

Our Ratings

• Comfort3.7/5
• Ease of Use4.3/5
• Accuracy4.4/5

Pros

• Amazon Alexa is built in
• Charges quickly
• Over 120 sport modes

Cons

• Doesn’t track workouts automatically
• Metrics aren’t as in-depth

Key Specs

Battery Life: Up to 18 days | Water Resistance: Yes, up to 164 feet underwater | GPS: No | Our Overall Rating: 4.1/5

Who It’s For

Best for anyone who’s not used to wearing a fitness tracker because it’s ultra-lightweight.

Why We Love It

Amazfit’s Band 7 is one of the best budget fitness trackers out there. It’s affordable but still offers useful health data. We love it for its accurate tracking of sleep, stress, and fitness activities. Plus, it has Amazon Alexa built in, so you can set alarms and manage other tasks hands-free.

Despite being lightweight and sleek, the Amazfit Band 7 comes packed with great features. It alerts you to abnormal heart rates, blood oxygen levels, and stress. It also boasts over 120 sport modes and an impressive 18-day battery life. You can even track your menstrual cycle and view all your stats through the easy-to-use Zepp app.

Potential Flaws

• You have to press a button in order for it to record a workout.
• There are no additional in-depth health metrics, GPS capabilities, or recovery tracking.

Most Durable

Garmin Instinct 2

Our Ratings

• Comfort4/5
• Ease of Use4/5
• Accuracy5/5

Pros

• Detailed GPS tracking
• Long battery life
• Rugged design

Cons

• Pricier than other options
• Limited iOS compatibility

Key Specs

Battery Life: Up to 28 days | Water Resistance: Yes, up to 333 feet underwater | GPS: Yes | Overall Rating: 4.2/5

Who It’s For

Best for skiers, hikers, swimmers, and other outdoor fitness enthusiasts, thanks to its durable construction and high-tech features.

Why We Love It

The Garmin Instinct 2 is the third Garmin watch on our list and it packs all the great features we loved in the Vivomove and Lily into one rugged device. It tracks everything from sleep and stress to fitness and menstrual cycles. Whether we’re hiking, climbing, or running, the metrics it provides are always spot-on and easily accessible through the Garmin Connect app.

Even though it’s loaded with features, the Instinct 2 is user-friendly with its GPS tracking and intuitive interface. It also offers cool extras like daily workout suggestions and even connects to apps like Starbucks. For all it offers, we think it’s definitely worth the investment.

Potential Flaws

• It’s one of the higher-priced items on our list. We think it’s worth it for very active individuals, but may not be necessary for beginner users. 
• Like other Garmin sports watches on our list, you can only respond to texts on the watch if you have an Android phone.

Best for Heart Rate Monitoring

Scosche Rhythm24 Waterproof Armband Heart Rate Monitor

Our Ratings

• Ease of Use3.9/5
• Comfort5/5
• Precision5/5

Pros

• Very precise heart rate monitoring
• Bluetooth connectivity
• Comfortable to wear

Cons

• Tricky setup process
• Heart rate zone alerts can be subtle

Key Specs

Battery Life: 24 hours | Water Resistance: Yes, up to 9.8 feet underwater | GPS: No | Overall Rating: 4.7/5

Who It’s For

Best for anyone who uses target heart rate zones during their workouts.

Why We Love It

We really like Scosche’s Rhythm24 Armband Heart Rate Monitor because it accurately tracks both big and small changes in our heart rate, even when we’re just resting. It has all the essential features you expect from a fitness tracker but focuses especially on monitoring your heart rate during workouts. The monitor shows which of the five heart rate zones we’re in by lighting up in different colors, helping us gauge how hard we’re working and whether we’re using aerobic or anaerobic metabolism.

Unlike a traditional smartwatch that sits on your wrist, this one is an armband that wraps around your forearm, just below the elbow. This design makes it super comfortable and keeps it from bouncing around like wristbands can. It’s especially handy for longer or more intense workouts where a wristwatch might get in the way.

Potential Flaws

• It took us three tries to connect this monitor to our phone’s Bluetooth, so we wish the user guide was easier to follow.
• The heart rate zone alerts change via subtle colors, so they are hard to notice if you’re wearing a long-sleeved shirt or not looking down at the monitor often.

Best Multi-Use

MyZone MZ-Switch Heart Rate Monitor

Our Ratings

• Ease of Use4.7/5
• Comfort3.7/5
• Precision4.8/5

Pros

• Can be worn around the chest, arm, or wrist
• Battery life lasts up to 6 months
• Easy to use

Cons

• Not as comfortable as other options

Key Specs

Battery Life: Up to 6 months | Water Resistance: Yes, up to 32 feet underwater | GPS: No | Overall Rating: 4.7/5

Who It’s For

Best for someone who wants to wear their heart rate monitor in different ways for different workouts. 

Why We Love It

MyZone’s MZ-Switch Heart Rate Monitor is super easy to use. Setting it up and installing the app is a breeze. The device is tiny—about the size of a pinky nail—and can be attached to different bands and worn on your arm, chest, or wrist. It’s versatile enough for various workouts and water-resistant up to 32 feet, so it handles sweat and spills without a hitch. Plus, you get real-time heart rate data, so you don’t have to wait until after your workout to check your stats.

We also love that it features five color-coded heart rate zones on its monitor, which helps you see how hard you’re working during your exercise. This keeps us motivated and pushes us to do our best. What’s even better is its ultra-long battery life—it lasts up to six months, so charging it is a rare event.

Potential Flaws

• The heart rate monitor isn’t as comfortable as other options, and when worn on our wrist, we did find that it slipped a bit. But we got used to it after a few wears.

What to Look for When Shopping for Fitness Trackers

• Water Resistance: Fitness trackers that are water-resistant up to 50 meters (or about 164 feet) are good for swimming in pools. If you need one for open water, like the ocean, look for trackers that are water-resistant up to 100 meters (around 333 feet).
• Battery Life: Battery life can be a big deal when choosing a heart rate monitor. Many fitness trackers last between 7 to 10 days on a full charge, though using GPS can reduce this to less than 24 hours. Some trackers last up to 30 days or even longer.
• Compatibility: Many modern fitness trackers work with smartphones, so you can get text, call, and app notifications right on your wrist. Some let you stream music from your phone or even respond to calls and texts. Make sure the tracker you choose is compatible with your phone—many only work with iOS or Android.
• Heart Rate Tracking: All the fitness trackers on our list have built-in heart rate sensors to monitor your heart rate throughout the day. However, some budget models might not have this feature. If heart rate tracking is important to you, make sure the tracker you’re considering includes it.
• Metrics: What you track depends on your fitness goals. Most people like to monitor steps, heart rate, and active minutes. Runners, bikers, and swimmers might also want to track distance and pace. Sleep tracking is also important for many people.
• Price: For basic data like sleep cycles and daily steps, a budget-friendly tracker will do. But if you want advanced features like safety alerts, vibrating alarms, and recovery status, you might need to spend a bit more.

How We Tested the Fitness Trackers

Fitness trackers work best when you use them daily over a longer period, so we didn’t just test them for a day in the lab. Instead, we tried out 16 different trackers at home for a whole month. At the end of the month, we rated each tracker from 1 (not recommended) to 5 (highly recommended) based on how easy it was to set up, how comfortable it was, how user-friendly it was, how accurate it was, and its overall value. Here’s how we judge each factor:

• Setup and Ease of Use: When we first get the trackers, we see how easy it is to set them up. Each tracker has different features, so we check which metrics they offer and see how well they fit with different lifestyles. We also look at how smoothly the tracker connects to apps like Apple Health, if it has one.
• Comfort: We wear the trackers during various workouts to see how comfortable they are. We pay attention to whether the strap or sensor feels secure and doesn’t irritate or chafe our skin. It’s important that the tracker doesn’t get in the way or make workouts uncomfortable.
• Precision: When you spend money on a fitness tracker, you want accurate data. We check how well the tracker monitors changes in heart rate (like when we go from walking to jogging) and compare its data with other trackers or heart rate monitors we have. We also look at whether it tracks other health metrics beyond basic stats like steps and heart rate.
• Value: We test each tracker without knowing its price, so we can judge it purely on its features and performance. After testing, we consider whether we’d buy it at its current price based on what it offers and how well it performs.

Our Experts

Before we started testing the fitness trackers, we reached out to three experts to get their advice on what features to focus on and what potential issues to watch out for. We also asked them for their top recommendations and used their input to pick which trackers to test. The experts we consulted were:

• Kira Jones, CPT and founder of Cacti Wellness Collective in New York City.
• Noelle McKenzie, ACE-CPT and co-founder of Leading Edge Personal Trainers.
• Neel Chokshi, MD, MBA, director of the Penn Center for Digital Cardiology and medical director of the Penn Sports Cardiology and Fitness Program.