In all iterations, I found Whoop to be remarkably intuitive and low-maintenance. The app interface is clear and helpful, surfacing daily sleep scores, recovery insights, and strain levels right up front. I love that it auto-detects workouts of all lengths and intensities (you can also manually add these in after if it missed a session), and then you can review your performance afterward in the app. The Forerunner 265 uses Garmin’s best-in-class GPS and heart rate tech to deliver highly reliable metrics during every workout. During runs, the watch shows just the right amount of information — pace, time, distance, splits, and heart rate zones — all on a crisp AMOLED display. It even has a Garmin Run Coach that, when synced with your headphones, will tell you to slow your pace for a more sustainable heart rate.

Best running app for Garmin users

At $350, the Pixel Watch 4 includes luxuries once reserved for pricier sport watches, like dual-band GPS for precise location tracking, satellite connectivity for off-grid emergencies and an easy-to-repair build. The real standout, though, is Gemini, a hands-free AI assistant that’s genuinely helpful and won’t leave you screaming at your wrist. The Apple Watch Series 11 won CNET’s Lab Award for being the most accurate heart rate monitor, thanks to its average heart rate error of less than 1%.

If you like the look of a fitness tracker that could almost be mistaken for a smartwatch, that’s what you get with the Oppo Watch Free. It drops a 1.64-inch AMOLED touchscreen on your wrist with 2.5D glass to raise that glossy screen look with a strap that straddles formal and gym-friendly looks. You’ll comfortably get over a week’s battery out of it and longer depending on what features you’re using and it all adds up to a solid fitness tracker experience.

Best Fitness Trackers (without phone): Comparison

Across books, magazines and websites, he’s covered a broad range of topics for a range of clients including Major League Baseball, Golf Digest, the National Trust and the NHS. He has an MA in Professional Writing from Falmouth University and is a qualified bicycle mechanic. He has been a cycling enthusiast from an early age, partly due to watching the Tour de France on TV.

As for design, the Pixel Watch 4 maintains the line’s iconic circular silhouette but adds a domed Actua 360 display that’s 50% brighter and framed by thinner bezels. The result is a minimalist look that is easily one of my favorite watch builds. Inside, it packs the Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 plus a zippy AI co‑processor, delivering noticeably longer battery life (up to ~40 hours on the 45 mm) and super‑fast charging. It also adds additional Gemini tools, including personalized health coaching, and introduces repairability.

Battery life is also something to consider, as are display, resolution, and design. If you’re training for an arduous multi-day hike up a mountain or a marathon, you might be better off with a proper fitness watch or a tracker with GPS like the Fitbit Charge 5. If you frequently find yourself too tired to exercise, the Vivosmart 5’s Body Battery metric can monitor your recovery and tell you the best time to work out. Compared to Fitbit’s ecosystem, Garmin’s platform can be a bit overwhelming at first. However, I find it extremely insightful, especially for anyone working toward specific fitness goals, and Garmin-specific tools like Body Battery streamline some of the key guided workout plans data you’ll collect.

Top Brand: Fitbit

This alone makes it stand out in a market where many smartwatches require daily or near-daily charging. Our tester found this monitor to be incredibly comfortable to use and wear for running and strength training workouts. Without a wristband or ring to restrict movement or pinch when grabbing dumbbells, she found herself preferring this armband to other options for strength training workouts.

See the whole picture with holistic health tracking

• It also includes nutrition and mindfulness tips for a more holistic approach.
• From simple fitness bands and rugged sports watches to rings, these are the best trackers you can get.
• If you frequently find yourself too tired to exercise, the Vivosmart 5’s Body Battery metric can monitor your recovery and tell you the best time to work out.
• More so with sleep, where data like duration and sleep stages felt very reliable.
• The app allows you to create a personalized journal or training diary to set your fitness goals, and record training sessions, and movement history.
• To monitor your progress with any workout — along with your heart rate, steps, calories burned and more — a fitness tracker can do all the work for you so you can focus on the activity at hand.

Along with your workouts, Avo provides easy-to-follow recipes to help you stay on track and reach your goals. The app offers a blend of at-home and gym workouts, so you can get your training in no matter where you find yourself. Whatever you choose, you won’t get bored, plus you will have access to trainers and even nutrition support! For fitness, the watch has built-in Fitbit tracking with more than 50 workout types to choose from, with more in-depth data compared to other Fitbits like the Fitbit Charge 6. You can build custom workouts, including custom runs with stages, intervals and more.

Apple Watch SE 3

It accurately tracks your workouts, whether it’s running, walking, cycling, or any other physical activity. For Samsung loyalists, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 is the best Fitbit alternative in Samsung’s ecosystem. It builds on everything the previous generations have done well, including advanced health tracking, strong app support, and tight One UI integration, while also boasting the key updates of the latest Wear OS 6. While it doesn’t use Fitbit’s platform directly, it brings a similarly accessible health experience with Samsung Health.

Asana Rebel: Fitness Meets Mindfulness

It’s swim-friendly and you don’t have to take it off to charge it up because the battery lasts for a whole year. My six-year-old enjoyed wearing the watch as she’s a big fan of Disney princesses. After I synced it to an app on my phone and she played some games, she was desperate to get outside and move, as some features of the app are only unlocked if the wearer is active enough. For extra motivation, it’s super easy to sync the watch to the brand’s app, which is available for both Android and Apple users.

Along with the different courses, you’ll run alongside other people, using their times for encouragement or competition. Whether you’re just starting out, coming back from injury, or training for a milestone event like your first ultra. That’s why having a plan that’s personalized to your ability and adjusts your sessions, mileage, and paces to suit you is so important, and Coopah does this brilliantly. Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards. Luke Friend has worked as a writer, editor and copywriter for over twenty five years.

Bodyweight

You can find out how Cycling Weekly’s former Tech Editor got on when he gave it a go. You can browse popular routes nearby – and can also search for bike shops and public bathrooms. The functionality to send your Komoot ‘Tours’ to some of the best bike computers directly makes it that little bit quicker to get rolling. An interesting new feature is the ability to use Siri, Spotlight search or home screen widgets to quickly find a route. The segment leaderboards are arguably the most popular feature, allowing you to compare times with friends, followers, pros, and your previous efforts.

Best for health monitoring

It’s hard to know the difference between the best fitness trackers and smartwatches nowadays. To my mind, as someone who has used plenty of both, one of the biggest differentiators is the price. Testing cheap fitness trackers mainly involves using them in our day-to-day for a week or more. That’s the best and most efficient way of seeing how much data they gather, how accurate they are, how well they perform, and how comfortable they are on our wrists. The Fitbit Inspire 3 has replaced its predecessor, the Inspire 2, as the best cheap fitness tracker for beginners you can buy today. Although there are other activity bands with more modest price tags, the Inspire 3 offers the most bang for your buck.

How to choose the best cheap fitness tracker

You still get access to core Fitbit features like sleep and activity tracking, heart rate monitoring, and Fitbit Premium insights, but now they’re bundled with all the best of Google’s toolkit. For everything else, the Google Play Store offers an extensive library of apps and watch faces. But the reason to choose the Fenix 8 over other premium smartwatches is its plethora of fitness features. The free, built-in Garmin Coach offers running, cycling, and strength training plans, and will make tweaks based on data it collects about your health and how you’re performing in workouts. It will also suggest daily workouts, provide an estimated recovery time, and plot out a recommended pace time for long races using GPS data.