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Best fitness tracker 2026: Reviewed, tested, and compared

The watch also tracks your sleep duration, stages (awake, light, deep, and REM), and overnight SpO2. With a gorgeous display, long battery life, and bountiful health insights, the Garmin Vivoactive 5 is an excellent wellness-focused smartwatch. Nicolette Accardi is the Fitness Commerce Editor at Women’s Health with a specialty in running content and athleisure. She likes to chase her next best time by testing out shoes and other running gear, and styling her workout clothes as streetwear. She’s also a certified personal trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). Nicolette studied journalism and health sociology at Rutgers University.

I’ve tested dozens of fitness trackers — here are the best ones for beginners, runners and more

Because fitness trackers connect via an app on your smart device or computer, most allow you to post about your activities on social media.. Some can also connect with other fitness monitors or devices, like a chest strap heart-rate monitor, a bike computer for cross-training, or headphones. Smart wearables tend to use photoplethysmography, a technology that employs optical sensors to detect blood flow and determine heart rate. If you look at the underside of a smartwatch, you might see a bright light emitted by one of these sensors. Studies have shown that heart rate measurements picked up by fitness trackers tend to be relatively accurate. That is because fitness trackers do not measure calories directly — they use a combination of different data points to assess your approximate energy expenditure.

Gaming Monitors

But battery doesn’t always equate to quality, given that something like the Apple Watch Series 10 needs to be charged every day for optimal use. “Simplicity” perfectly encapsulates the Fitbit Inspire 2, which is the best tracker for beginners. Its sleek design, light-up touchscreen and easy-to-navigate app make it perfect for anyone new to using these devices. In addition to the fitness features of the Inspire 2, we were able to seamlessly connect to smartphone notifications. Sure, your workouts are still a key part of what these devices do, but in addition they’re also tracking your sleep, heart rhythm patterns, blood oxygen levels, HRV, stress, and even caffeine consumption.

Fitbit vs Apple Watch: which is better?

So if you’re training for a marathon or tracking events that last 6 or more hours, the device may die on you while tracking. The watch comes with three months of Apple’s Fitness+ services, which cost $9.99 a month after that. The entry-level variant of this Apple smartwatch is priced far below Apple’s other watches and comes in two bevel sizes 44mm or 40mm for smaller wrists. Still, it offers a feature-packed tracking experience, with all your activity stats displayed through a simplified version of Apple’s Fitness app. Runners who want to track their sleep, steps, general activity, and 24/7 heart rate—as well as their dedicated workouts—need a watch or tracker with accurate, built-in GPS. These features can be fun and useful, but may be unnecessary, as well as complicated to learn—and watches with these perks are generally more expensive.

Best fitness tracker 2026: Top picks from Apple, Fitbit, Garmin and more

It’s an impressive tracker, but it’s not the best Fitbit overall because we found the GPS tracking to be significantly lacking. But this tracker certainly won’t compete with the best running watches out there. For a very reasonable price, you get a 1.6-inch 256 x 402px AMOLED display.

Suunto Run Watch

• Though it is not a full-fledged smartwatch, it still offers a ton of smart features.
• To serve her diverse patients, she demonstrates cultural sensitivity and knowledge of customary food practices.
• While the material is breathable, it most likely isn’t as good as a silicone strap when it comes to wicking away sweat and cleaning.
• I appreciate this format over picking and choosing randomzied workouts.
• Offline Quran playback matters if you want to listen during outdoor runs or gym sessions without carrying your phone.
• 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.

We started cross comparing fitness trackers as early as 2017, when we broke down the best fitness trackers for activities like strength training, running, hiking, golf, and more. Now in 2026, we’re more dialed into the state of fitness trackers than ever before as nearly all our editors are wearing some sort of device on a daily basis. For the past eight years, our fitness and gear editors have been testing all the top fitness trackers as they release.

We like the color combinations, like the lunar gold bezel with the bone-hued band or the matching metallic pink watch and band for a bold statement. The watch is made of lightweight aluminum with two watch face sizes (40 or 44 millimeters). You can use the Samsung Augmented Reality feature on your Android phone to virtually try on various Galaxy watch styles. Samsung has a kid-friendly watch, too, so the whole family can stay active together. Based on which you choose, the app will put together a running program for you.

Samsung Health — Best for Samsung device users

There’s also an AI-powered voice assistant that’s useful for opening apps on the watch, but not much else. There’s also support for NFC payments, something often lacking in wallet-friendly wearables. Sleep reports, though not as detailed as Garmin’s, prove valuable and fairly accurate in our testing. You get insights into your time spent asleep, sleep cycles, REM and any noted disturbances, along with a daily sleep score out of 100. Similar to Garmin’s Body Battery and Fitbit’s Readiness Score, the Active 2 also presents a daily Readiness Score to help you make the most of your energy and day.

Polar H10 Heart Rate Sensor

If you’re looking for a fitness tracker for everyday wear, walking, strength training, or mostly indoor activities, you might appreciate a lightweight design. But, of course, it all comes down to personal preference and what feels best for your wrist size. We love a fitness tracker that needs minimal charging, and we also love a fitness tracker that can run for a long time when running its GPS mode. There’s a wide range in the functionality and price of fitness trackers and smartwatches, which makes shopping for the best one such an individual pursuit. Here, we recommend the best fitness trackers—some of which double as high-end smartwatches and some that aren’t watches at all. All are specially designed to give you insights into your fitness goals, training progress, and overall health.

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“This is great if you have an injury or just aren’t feeling a specific exercise that day,” she says. In a study published in the September 2019 JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth, college students who used fitness apps were more active than students who didn’t use apps. The researchers attributed this to the fact that app users felt like they had higher levels of social support and self-efficacy than non-users.

One of our testers said, “I was resistant to revert back to buttons after using a touch screen watch for so long, but the second I tried it, I was hooked. Gone are the days of sweaty fingers not registering on a screen; I can easily scroll through data without even looking at my watch now! ” The Forerunner does lack a quick access screen that both other Garmins have, and it is a feature we missed. This involved comparing the effort it took to set up each device and how intuitive it is to navigate and use the tracker. We also noted what other features, such as smart watch madmuscles app review features or other tracking capabilities that each device had, and the phone platforms that they were compatible with.

Best for Tracking Runs and Bike Rides

This top-notch fitness tracker provides feedback on your current training status and offers custom workouts and adaptive training plans to help ramp up your run. Like many other popular fitness trackers, the Amazfit Band 5 is water-resistant up to 164 ft. (50 m), meaning it can be used for swimming or other water sports. In addition to monitoring your daily activity, it also measures blood oxygen saturation, tracks heart rate, analyzes sleep quality, and monitors menstrual cycles. First up, Garmin Fitness Coach, the long-awaited training plan creator, has finally rolled out to Garmin Connect users. These plans work just like running and cycling plans in the Garmin Coach feature, only they’re for general fitness, incorporating specific strength training and endurance workouts. In the Training & Planning section of the Garmin Connect app, select Garmin Coach Plans and Improve Fitness, at which point you’re able to select Garmin Fitness Coach and create a plan.