
<p><a href=” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”>Evidence also shows</a> the best fitness trackers can do wonders for your motivation levels and daily activity. Plus, they’ll also help you handle the daily grind, tracking stress levels and helping you spot when it’s time to get stuck in or take a step back. Heck, the smarter fitness watches like the <a href=” target=”_blank”>Apple Watch</a> even offer tools to help boost your productivity.</p><p>Given the impressive capabilities of these new-gen models from the likes of <a href=” target=”_blank”>Garmin</a>, Apple, <a href=” target=”_blank”>Fitbit</a>, Polar, Coros and more, it’s no surprise the global smartwatch market is projected to hit a mega $58.1 billion by 2028.</p><p>However, choosing a tracker is now a trickier task. So to help you pick the best wearable for your training needs, our team of health and fitness experts strapped on the best fitness trackers and watches you can buy right now and put them through rigorous testing, from roads and trails to the gym floor. </p><p class=”body-tip”>More fitness tech reviews: <a href=” target=”_blank”>The Best Garmin Watches</a> | <a href=” target=”_blank”>The Best Apple Watches</a> | <a href=” target=”_blank”>The Best Garmin Alternatives</a> | <a href=” target=”_blank” data-vars-ga-outbound-link=” data-vars-ga-ux-element=”Hyperlink” data-vars-ga-call-to-action=”Whoop 4.0 Review: Is it Worth the Cost?”>Whoop 4.0 Review: Is it Worth the Cost?</a> | <a href=” target=”_blank” data-vars-ga-outbound-link=” data-vars-ga-ux-element=”Hyperlink” data-vars-ga-call-to-action=”Oura Ring: Our Fitness Editor’s Honest Verdict”>Oura Ring: Our Honest Verdict</a></p><h2 class=”body-h2″>How to Choose a Fitness Tracker</h2><p>With all the choice on the fitness wearables shelves, finding the tracker that suits you best can be overwhelming. It pays to be really clear about your priorities and how you plan to train. If you’re hitting the gym three times a week for HIIT classes or strength sessions, you’ll want a very different wearable to someone who’s planning big off-grid adventures.</p><p>The big brands to consider range from Garmin, Polar, COROS and Sunnto, who all tend to make devices primarily built for sport tracking first but with some smartwatch tools. Fitbit, Huawei and Amazift tend to offer more day-to-day fitness trackers while the very best smartwatches with fitness capabilities come from Apple, Samsung and Google. For continuous, detailed health tracking without a screen, look towards Whoop or Oura.</p><p>In terms of budget, you can expect to spend anything from £99 right up to £1,000+ for the most capable multisport trackers and smartwatches. But there’s a whole host of devices from £200-£500 that cover the fitness tracking needs of most.</p><h3 class=”body-h3″>What to Consider</h3><p>Fitness trackers now serve up a vast array of fitness, health and wellbeing features. Here are some of the key tricks and tools to look out for.</p><h4 class=”body-h4″>AMOLED Screen</h4><p>When it comes to bright, crisps, responsive touchscreens, smartwatches like the Apple Watch set the pace but fitness trackers are increasingly following. The kicker here is that you tend to trade battery life for sparkly screens but the best devices are pushing those limits too. But if you want the sharpest display, AMOLED is the way.</p><h4 class=”body-h4″>Dual-Frequency GPS</h4><p>Dual frequency GPS lets devices receive satellite signals from multiple frequencies – in theory helping to plug gaps and weed out inaccurate reads in more challenging environments like built up urban areas. Just because a watch offers dual frequency doesn’t guarantee better accuracy but it’s a good sign you’ll log better training traces.</p><h4 class=”body-h4″>Heart rate (HR)</h4><p>Keeping tabs on your BPM during a workout is one of the most effective ways to make sure you’re getting the most from your training. The majority of fitness trackers will monitor heart rate and offer heart rate zone training, but the rate at which it’s recorded (outside of workout tracking) can vary from device to device.</p><p>It’s not all about your fitness or calorie burn, though. Many fitness trackers now continuously measure your resting heart rate (RHR) — the number of beats every 60 seconds at rest – as a reliable way of checking your heart health. They also used it to feed stress readouts. If heart health is a focus, it’s also worth looking for devices that offer ECG readings and irregular heart rate alerts.</p><h4 class=”body-h4″>Readiness, sleep, recovery and HRV insights</h4><p>The rise of readiness redouts has been pretty swift. These attempt to crunch things like your sleep quantity and quality, skin temperature and your heart rate variability into one estimate that helps you understand how hard you should push that day. But be warned: once you start combining estimated metrics into singles scores, it increases the room for error. Taking a simple, same time, same protocol heart rate variability reading daily is a far more reliable way to get a window into how your body is handling the stresses of training and life.</p><h4 class=”body-h4″>Other smarts</h4><p>When it comes to the tools for handling daily life, music, contactless payments, weather and chat/messaging, bona-fide smartwatches like the Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra win this battle hands down. But we’re seeing brands like Garmin playing some catch up offering offline music, contactless payments, camera controls and even chat.</p><h2 class=”body-h2″>How We Test Fitness Trackers</h2><p>Our team has put more than 50 fitness trackers and smartwatches to the test to find the best. We lived for weeks at a time with each watch, ran, swam, hiked, biked and worked out, testing each feature of these powerful training partners, before rating the results.</p><p>For each model, we looked at the design, comfort and durability, conducted detailed side-by-side tests of the GPS accuracy, battery life and optical heart rate performance up against a chest strap. We sized up the in- and post-workout insights and recovery recommendations, including all the features that help you make progress.</p>” data-next-head/>
We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article.


A 53-time marathon finisher, 14-time ultramarathoner (including a top 100 position in the Marathon des Sables) and cofounder of The Run Testers, a YouTube running gear reviews channel, Kieran has been testing the latest running gear for more than a decade. A sub-3 marathon runner, you’ll find him covering everything from virtual reality and smart scales to the latest health trackers. Kieran is also passionate about using the latest technology to hack his health in search of marginal gains and you’ll always find him with a running watch on either wrist.
Luke Chamberlain is the ecommerce editor for Men’s Health UK where he compiles expert-led buying guides and in-depth product reviews across gym wear, fitness tech, supplements, and grooming. Responsible for testing everything from the latest gym headphones to the best manscaping tools, Luke also enlists the help of leading health and wellness experts to help readers make informed choices when shopping online – whether it’s to debunk the latest viral hair growth trend or to get the lowdown on a new type of recovery tech. He also covers major sales events for Men’s Health, such as Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day, scouting and verifying hundreds of discounts in order to recommend only the most genuine deals on offer. A magazine journalism graduate from the University of Sheffield in 2018, Luke has also worked as assistant editor for Outdoor Swimmer magazine and as an ecommerce writer for The Recommended. When he’s not testing the latest health and fitness products, he’s busy plotting routes for his next trail run or gravel ride out of London. Follow Luke on Instagram at @lukeochamb
Priyankaa is our sleep and wellness expert, specialising in expert-tested reviews and roundups on the latest health and fitness products. From walking boots to running machines, Priyankaa has written about hundreds of products and is passionate about providing in-depth, unbiased reviews. Plus, as an avid runner and gymgoer, she knows exactly what to look for when finding the right gymwear, fitness tracker or earphones.
Priyankaa has an MA in Magazine Journalism from Cardiff University and over five years’ experience in health and fitness journalism. Priyankaa has written for Stylist’s Strong Women Training Club, where she regularly wrote about diversity in the fitness industry, nutrition tips, training advice and her experience completing various fitness challenges. She has also written for a variety of publications including Business Insider, Glamour, Bustle, Metro, HuffPost UK, gal-dem and more. Outside of work, Priyankaa can usually be found trying out a new gym class, seeking out London’s best eats or watching a Spanish TV show in a bid to keep up her language skills.
Watch Next

Advertisement – Continue Reading Below
Advertisement – Continue Reading Below
Advertisement – Continue Reading Below
link