The Best Fitness Trackers for 2024

The Apple Watch Series 9 offers a broad suite of built-in fitness, health, and safety tools, along with the best selection of third-party apps (such as AllTrails, Nike Run Club, Peloton, and Strava) for any smartwatch. In testing, the Series 9 offered accurate workout pulse readings compared with a chest strap and a dedicated optical armband heart rate monitor. Moreover, while many wrist-based optical heart rate trackers exhibit a slight lag when detecting rapid pulse change during workouts, Apple Watches tend to be spot on.

Its Activity, Exercise, and Stand rings can help motivate you to get moving, while its companion Fitness+ workout streaming service ($9.99 per month or $79.99 per year after a three-month trial) offers a variety of studio-style classes with excellent music and instruction for the home or gym. It goes beyond the basics with a Multisport tracking option for triathletes and advanced running metrics such as real-time power, stride length, ground contact time, and vertical oscillation.

On the health front, it accurately tracks your activity, blood oxygen saturation (SpO2), body temperature deviations, fertility windows, menstrual cycle, overnight respiration, sleep, and more. The Series 9 can alert you if it detects a high or low heart rate, irregular heart rhythm, and loud sounds that can damage your hearing. It also supports Emergency SOS and international emergency calling, as well as automatically calls for help if it detects a hard fall. We also like the Apple Watch automatic 20-second handwashing timer, which keeps you honest when you scrub up.

The Apple Watch Series 9 is best for iPhone users in search of a capable fitness tracker with excellent connectivity features. It requires an iPhone XS or later with iOS 17, so it’s not an option if you use Android. 

It’s a particularly excellent choice for runners, swimmers, and cyclists. Its wrist-based running power measurements help you gauge your effort in real time, a WR50 rating makes it safe for shallow-water activities like swimming in a pool or the ocean, and automatic bike ride detection ensures you never lose credit for an Outdoor Cycle workout. Meanwhile, the $799 Apple Watch Ultra 2, which features a more rugged build and longer battery life, should strongly appeal to outdoor adventurers, endurance athletes, and ocean enthusiasts with deep pockets. With its WR100 water-resistance rating, the Ultra 2 is suitable for high-speed water sports and recreational diving.

The Fitbit Charge has long been among the most value-rich fitness trackers, and the sixth-generation model extends that legacy. It now offers 40 sport profiles (up from 20 last generation) and a new feature that lets you send your heart rate via Bluetooth to gym equipment. In addition, the Charge 6 has a color touch screen, a 5ATM water-resistance rating, multi-day battery life, a built-in GPS, sensors to monitor key overnight health metrics like skin temperature and SpO2, and support for on-demand ECG heart health and EDA stress readings. Though it’s primarily for fitness and health tracking, the Charge 6 features several Google lifestyle apps, including Google Maps, Google Wallet (which replaces Fitbit Pay), and YouTube Music. We also appreciate its newly revamped companion app, which allows for more customization to highlight metrics related to your goal.

With ample tools for monitoring your activity and health, key lifestyle features, and a fantastic companion app, the Charge 6 is the best standalone fitness tracker for most people. Fitbit’s latest tracker is compatible with most phones running at least Android 9.0 or iOS 15 via the Fitbit app (which requires a Google Account to log in).

If you’re new to fitness or don’t see yourself tracking outdoor runs, bike rides, or hikes, consider a more affordable wearable without a built-in GPS like the excellent Fitbit Inspire 3. And if you want a tracker that looks more like jewelry than gym wear, check out the Garmin Lily 2 or the Fitbit Luxe.

With long battery life, a color AMOLED touch screen, and all the basic activity and sleep features you need, the Fitbit Inspire 3 is the best fitness tracker you can get for less than $100. Its design screams basic unlike the pricier, jewelry-inspired Fitbit Luxe, but we appreciate its bright screen that can stay on all day. The tracker’s simple interface and well-designed companion app make it easy to monitor key fitness and health metrics, including your steps, heart rate, calories burned, sleep, overnight SpO2, and more. Despite a slight decrease in battery life from the previous model, it’s still the longest-lasting Fitbit available, and the most affordable. 

The Fitbit Inspire 3 is a top choice for fitness beginners who are just starting on a path to better health, as well as those on a budget. It lacks a built-in GPS, so it must connect to your phone to accurately track your pace and distance during outdoor walks, runs, hikes, and bike rides. This won’t be a problem if you plan to tote your phone during outdoor workouts, but it may be a drawback if you prefer to disconnect while you work up a sweat. 

Designed specifically for women, the Garmin Lily 2 stands out for its classic, jewelry-like design. It features a beautiful, patterned face, an aluminum bezel and case, and a 14mm quick-release band that’s much slimmer than most smartwatch straps, so you can wear it alongside other bracelets. More than just attractive, the Lily 2 can track health stats such as your calories burned, energy level, heart rate, respiration, sleep, SpO2, steps, stress, and workouts. It also offers smartwatch features such as phone notifications, music playback controls, and useful calendar and weather widgets. It’s water-resistant to 164 feet and can last up to five days on a charge. 

If you want a fitness tracker that seamlessly transitions from fitness classes to fancy dinners, the Garmin Lily 2 is a top choice. Though it lacks some features of the more affordable Fitbit Charge 6, including an integrated GPS and the ability to sync your heart rate to gym equipment, the Lily 2 is a much more aesthetically pleasing wellness wearable and much more comfortable for small wrists than a bulky sports watch.

In the crowded fitness smartwatch market, Garmin’s Venu Sq 2 stands out for its practicality. It’s the least expensive of the excellent Garmin Venu 2 lineup, with a squarish design that improves text legibility and a battery that lasted for up to nine days in testing. It doesn’t track the number of floors you climb and lacks animated workout graphics, but otherwise offers all the excellent health and fitness features of the round Venu 2 for $150 less, including an integrated GPS, support for on-demand SpO2 readings, and Garmin Pay.

If you’re searching for a reasonably priced smartwatch with a fitness focus, the Garmin Venu Sq 2 is worth checking out. The similarly priced Apple Watch SE and Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 offer more apps and lifestyle features, but can’t last nearly as long per charge. If you prefer a round design, the Garmin Vivoactive 5 is an excellent alternative to the Venu Sq 2 that costs $50 more but adds onboard music storage.

Samsung’s smartwatches offer some of the most innovative health-tracking features we’ve seen, including wrist-based body composition measurements and overnight snore tracking, tools that are not available on the Apple Watch. After a 15-second scan, the watch displays your skeletal muscle mass, fat mass, body fat percentage, body mass index (BMI, a measure of body size based on your weight and height), body water mass, and basal metabolic rate (BMR, or the minimum necessary energy needed in an inactive state). It also shows whether your results for each metric fall within the low, normal, or high range.

When you wear the watch to bed and place a compatible smartphone on your nightstand, they can work together to listen for snoring and even record it. The watch also tracks your sleep duration, stages (awake, light, deep, and REM), and overnight SpO2. For fitness tracking, the Watch 6 series supports more than 100 different workouts (everything from walking and running to archery and flying disc), and can automatically detect certain activities. It also gives you access to many third-party fitness, health, and sports apps via the Play Store, including C25K, Cardiogram, Golf GPS Rangefinder, Komoot, MyFitnessPal, Seven Minute Workout, and Strava.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 series is best for Android users in the market for a feature-rich smartwatch with cutting-edge fitness- and health-tracking tools. Similar to how the Apple Watch only works with iOS devices, the Galaxy Watch 6 series is exclusive to Android. For an alternative Android watch with stellar battery life, the OnePlus Watch 2 offers most of the same sensors and health tracking features for the same price.

If you like a bit of bling, the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, which features a shiny stainless steel case (vs. matte aluminum on the standard model) and a rotating bezel for quick scrolling, is worth its $100 upcharge. As a more rugged option, the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro offers longer battery life and exclusive outdoor features including turn-by-turn cycling and hiking directions. It’s a nice choice for mountain bikers, runners, hikers, and those who work outdoors, as well as anyone who wants a fully-featured Android-compatible smartwatch that lasts more than a single day on a charge. 

The Watch SE is the smallest and least expensive smartwatch in Apple’s lineup. Except for an always-on display and a few health sensors (ECG, SpO2, and temperature), it includes almost all the same connectivity, safety, and fitness features of the Series 9 for $150 less. 

The second-generation SE, which launched in the fall of 2022, looks just like its predecessor, but costs $30 less and packs some nice under-the-hood upgrades, including a faster processor, a new motion sensor for Crash Detection, and significantly more battery life. It offered excellent performance overall in testing, with a responsive touch screen and 37 hours of battery life per charge.

The Apple Watch SE is a solid option for its target audience of first-time smartwatch users, children, teens, and older adults. The Series 9 is our top pick for most Apple Watch buyers, but the second-gen SE is a worthy alternative for staying active, connected, and safe on a budget. 

It notably works with Apple’s Family Setup feature, which lets you set up and manage an Apple Watch for a family member who doesn’t have an iPhone. During the setup process, the iPhone-based Watch app asks if you’re setting it up for yourself or a family member, then guides you through the process.

The Oura Generation 3 is like a mood ring on steroids: It looks like a basic metal band, but it houses small sensors to keep tabs on your activity, physical and mental health, and sleep. It can even monitor your heart rate and body temperature around the clock, as well as predict your next period. This finger-based fitness tracker also keeps tabs on your HRV, overnight SpO2, and respiration rate. 

The previous-generation Oura was terrific for monitoring your sleep and recovery but fell short as an activity tracker. That’s still largely the case, but the latest model is a bit better on this front with a Workout Heart Rate feature that can help you understand how exercise impacts your health.

It’s about as thick as the average wedding band, super lightweight, and can last about a week on a charge. The ring is water-resistant up to 328 feet, so you can wear it while swimming, showering, diving, or just doing the dishes. Offering more sensors than its predecessor, an excellent companion app, and long battery life, the third-generation Oura is the best fitness-tracking ring we’ve tested. 

If you’re not into watches or wristbands but still need some motivation to improve your health and fitness, check out the Oura Ring Generation 3. Like the Garmin Lily, the Oura’s biggest differentiator is its stylish design.

Keep in mind that the Oura Generation 3 requires a membership ($5.99 a month) for in-depth metrics. The Oura membership also offers a library of about 80 guided meditations and breathing exercises, and daily personalized guidance to help you tailor your workouts. Without a membership, you can see only your daily Activity, Readiness, and Sleep scores. 

If you don’t like the idea of a monthly membership fee, the RingConn Smart Ring is less expensive upfront and doesn’t have a monthly cost, but its app isn’t as polished as Oura’s. If you don’t mind something less discreet, the Fitbit Charge 6 is better for fitness tracking. 

The Polar Pacer Pro running watch helps you level up your training with a number of tools and features designed to safely maximize your workouts, including running power measurements, ascent and descent tracking, sleep and recovery stats, personalized recommendations, and more. The wrist-based power meter lets you seamlessly monitor your real-time output, a useful metric for sprints, short intervals, and hilly terrain. It’s also comfortable to wear 24/7 and lasts up to a week on battery.

If you want to run faster or have another goal in mind, such as achieving a six-minute mile or completing a 5K in less than 30 minutes, the Polar Pacer Pro is a worthy training companion. If you’re new to running, the more affordable Pacer is a compelling option, with most of the same features as the Pro model, including the running test that calculates your VO2Max and custom training zones. But for advanced runners, the Pro version is easy to recommend for its extra insights, including wrist-based running power measurements, Komoot turn-by-turn route guidance, and Hill Splitter ascent and descent tracking.

The Fitbit Ace 3 is a fun, attractive fitness band for younger kids that keeps tabs on activity and sleep without a monthly subscription fee. It focuses on basics such as step counts and rest, but it doesn’t offer location or GPS tracking. The Ace 3 is safe for swimming and offers about eight days of battery life per charge.

If you’re interested in ensuring your child is getting adequate activity during the day and enough sleep at night, the Fitbit Ace 3 does that reliably and affordably. Parents who want to keep tabs on their children from afar should consider a dedicated tracking device such as the Verizon Gizmo Watch 3 or the gaming-focused Fitbit Ace LTE.