Sooner or later, everyone will need some kind of fitness gadget to keep track of what they’re doing. If you want to know how many steps you took in a certain time or how many calories you ate in that devil-may-care trip to Burger King, a fitness tracker can be your best friend and can stop you from making any wrong moves with its many options for analysis and health tracking. However, how do you know what to buy? Well, let’s break that down now.
We’ve read a lot about fitness trackers and we compiled a list of the best ones to buy, based on their pros and cons. The criteria by which these gadgets were chosen were first and foremost, how good they are at their task and how well they can monitor your progress, as well as their sense of style and of course how much money they cost to buy.
Not everyone can or should buy the same stuff though, so look through this list to find what’s just right for you. If there’s one thing that’s certain it’s that there’s something for everybody, and everyone can find their perfect fitness tracker to suit whichever lifestyle they choose to live. Let’s begin.
FITBIT CHARGE 2 REVIEW
We have to say that the overall best gadget to buy is the Fitbit Charge 2. You probably know someone that owns this as they probably won’t shut up about how active they’re being or how they made 12 000 steps today or whatever. But that’s not just talk – there is actually a fair amount of truth and logic in it!
This version is much better and sleeker than the old Fitbit, and it looks better too. Concerning functionality, it has a lot of features and it doesn’t leave much to be desired, but it comes at a very reasonable price! It has, of course, amazing step counting capability and that’s just the beginning of the long list of its many perks.
First of all, it looks really good. Its aesthetics were clearly developed by professionals and it has a sleek and powerful OLED display, as well as a steel case and bands that you can change according to your will. It has a tap-sensitive display which is light years better than the older Fitbit Charge HR model. Speaking of which, the old model had a really nice feature that allowed you to measure your heart rate throughout the day. This feature carries on to the new model with some improvements.
First, it gives you a 24/7 outlook on how your heart works, including daily measurements which can really help you get to know your body if you analyze them. Also, it has the option of keeping “Cardio Fitness” score which will set your goals for the next period. You can calculate your BMI (Body Mass Index) and put it in, as well as your average resting heart rate. After that, all of your activities will be measured and transformed into a score that your Fitbit Charge 2 will give you to let you know how effective your activities are.
This, of course, relates to your age as well as your gender so not everyone gets the same results like in all of those cheap gadgets out there – it works just for you in a specific way. If you are really ambitious, the scores this gadget gives you can really put you down at first, but sometimes it may even motivate you to work harder and better.
The Fitbit app is also amazing. For a huge number of people out there it’s the best thing about the Fitbit altogether, and that’s a reputation that Fitbit has for a reason. It’s really easy to use and it tracks everything that you do. It counts your steps, tells you how many stair you’ve climbed, how you eat and how good your nutrition is, how much water you’re drinking and even how much time you’ve spent standing up.
It even goes to lengths such as these – if you stand in one place for too long, the gadget will give you a small poke to let you know that you need to move. The Fitbit app is really the one huge advantage of the Fitbit Charge 2 over its competition, and people are buying it every single second.
If you want to cool down, Fitbit has a mode for that as well – it has a feature named “Relax” which will help you recover and catch your breath. It’s a no fuss, no nonsense feature that will time your breathing and let you get back on your feet after a really hard exercise.
However, the Fitbit Charge has some drawbacks as well – nobody and nothing is perfect and that is the case with this gadget too. Even though it’s the best possible fitness tracker money can buy right now, there are still issues that the company has to address before their next upgrade.
The first and most obvious of these flaws is that the Fitbit Charge 2 is not waterproof. You can sweat all you want, and it will even take a light drizzle or rain, but if you go swimming with this gadget or if you forget to take it off when you want to take a bath, you are going to destroy it.
Another drawback, albeit much less noticeable and less important is the fact that it does not have its own GPS. When you want to have a map of your runs for whatever reason, you have to put your phone or tablet in your pocket. Most people have these with them at all times, but it might be a deal-breaker for a fair amount of the most hardcore fitness people.
The third and final drawback is its modest battery life. It lasts for a maximum of 5 days, which is not terrible per se, but it can be a lot better. The heart rate monitor gets glitchy when your heart rate is through the roof but that is really common when it comes to monitors you wear on your wrist.
However, aside from the two “big” issues, these are fairly unimportant and won’t have a huge effect on your results or your training. Most fitness trackers will have these flaws anyway, so that still makes the Fitbit Charge 2 the best one out there.
So, the verdict is as follows – it has an awesome mobile app, it’s practical and functional, it has a heart rate monitor, it’s sleek and stylish as well as adaptable to your lifestyle, comes in a huge number of colors and its battery isn’t terrible. All this for a cost of 148bucks? Count me in! It’s the most popular and the best tracker that money can buy, for now.
Learn more about this gadget here: Fitbit Charge 2 Heart Rate + Fitness Wristband, Black, Large
GARMIN VIVOACTIVE HR REVIEW
The second tracker that we’re going to look at Is the Garmin Vivoactive HR. This is the best tracker if you’re a fitness buff that will completely keep up with your rough exercise schedule.
First, this tracker was created for the fitness community, with the most hardcore people in mind. It’s a real mechanical beast as it has a lot of things that it will track as precisely as possible. It has 15 activity modes, going from golfing to skiing and everything in between, so you can choose exactly what your exercising is. If your routine is not included, you can just create it, add it to your list and select it as your primary!
The Garmin Vivoactive HR also has an optical heart rate sensor that takes its measurements on your wrist. It will keep a record of your heart rate throughout the day and it will give you charts of your daily cardio activity so that you can know how healthy your heart is.
Of course, it isn’t perfect, it still has the flaw that the Fitbit Charge 2 has – it gets glitch when your heart rate is through the roof, but there is a solution for this as well. If it bothers you that much, you can add a Garmin chest strap to this gadget and your heart rate charts will be as accurate as possible, even with elevated pulse.
However, the Garmin Vivoactive HR has one major advantage over the Fitbit Charge 2 – it is fully waterproof! Feel free to go swimming or even diving up to 50 meters in depth! However, when you do take it in water, the optical heart rate monitor turns off automatically, which means you may lose some data as to your activity and your cardiac readings, but don’t despair – this is common with all heart rate monitors out there. If you have swimming as one of your major exercises of the day, it may well be worth putting up more cash and getting the Garmin Vivoactive HR.
This tracker also adds another thing that the Fitbit Charge 2 didn’t have – it has its own built-in GPS. Of course as I said earlier this isn’t a deal breaker for most people like the waterproofing is, but a lot of people still want their device to log their runs and they choose the Garmin Vivoactive HR instead of the Fitbit Charge 2. The third advantage over the Fitbit gadget is that this one has a much stronger battery life – if you don’t use the GPS, you can squeeze a solid 8 days out of it before it goes dark – this is one of the best batteries in the business!
If it has all of these things that the Fitbit Charge doesn’t have, you’re probably wondering why this isn’t at the top of the list. Well, it has a significant number of drawbacks and like any gadget out there, it’s not without its flaws.
First of all, if you’re looking for style, look for it elsewhere. It might be a shallow complaint, but the Garmin Vivoactive HR looks like a wrist calculator! It’s not sleek at all, it’s not stylish, it’s way oversized, it looks clumsy and it really isn’t what the fashion people would describe as attractive.
However, since attractiveness isn’t the major criteria by which these are judged, let’s look at the other features. The software, for example, is atrocious when compared to the highly intuitive and stylish design of the Fitbit application. It pulls the Garmin Vivoactive HR back and it provides no motivation for anyone to buy it. One look and one comparison between the Fitbit and the Garmin and any buyer will choose the Fitbit without second thought. The design is well-built on the outside, but inside there are a ton of syncing flaws which can really throw you off and make you look for something else. People want an app that is well designed, sleek and fluid and they prefer this to well-build hardware that can measure who-knows-how many things.
So, to summarize, the Garmin Vivoactive HR is waterproof up to 50 meters, it has its own GPS and heart rate monitor, it has a better battery life for up to 8 days and it has a lot of activity modes. It has a lot of software and app issues, but these positive sides make it important to consider when you’re a really fitness-dedicated person.
Check Vivoactive on Amazon : Garmin vívoactive HR GPS Smart Watch, Regular fit – Black
GARMIN VIVOMOVE PREMIUM REVIEW
The next tracker we’re going to look at is also produced by Garmin, but this one is the Garmin Vivomove Premium. Unlike its predecessor on this list, it was created for one thing and one thing only – looking great and being stylish.
It’s a watch, it’s the Rolls Royce of trackers and it can fit in with any formal situation. Now, I don’t know why anyone would want to count their steps on the wedding dance floor, but for that group of people, there is this tracker. It’s a classic looking gadget and it looks amazing, but it also has some solid features, albeit really basic. It will measure your steps, your sleep and distance covered, as well as your calories.
When you think of a watch, you probably don’t expect it to be waterproof, but just like the Vivoactive HR, this one is fully so up to 50 meters in depth. However, it has a really huge advantage in battery life, as the battery will last you a whole year without recharging. Compared to the five to eight days in the previous gadgets, that’s leaps and bounds ahead.
However, it also has the same drawbacks as the previous one on this list – its software has really big issues concerning connectivity and its app is far from intuitive and easy to use. Also, it lacks the classic heart rate monitor and even the basic phone notifications. All in all, it’s a watch with some basic fitness tracking features.
To summarize, it looks luxurious, it’s in touch with fashion, has amazing yearly battery life and will withstand water up to 50 meters, which is really all you need unless you’re a deep-sea diver. It will also measure your steps, calories, sleep time and distance covered, and it has a lot of style options to choose from. It isn’t very practical, but if you want to look good and still have some fitness tracking features, check it out here: Garmin vívomove Premium – Gold-Tone Steel with Leather Band
XIAOMI MI BAND 3 REVIEW
If you’re low on money but still want to buy a fitness tracker, look to the Xiaomi Mi Band 3. Let’s get one thing straight right from the start – this is a $19 tracker and it’s not going to be as good as the rest. However, it still delivers plenty of value for money as it can still count your steps well, it monitors your sleep and it has a decent heart rate monitor that will help you check and track your pulse when it goes off the rails. Also, it has a decent enough display which will tell you everything you need to know, with an integrated touch-sensitive button.
However, you probably realized by now that this tracker is not exactly the best thing out there. It won’t track any of your exercises, which is a huge minus in comparison to all the others, and the “Mi Fit” application can be a burden instead of a help with all the confusion in the software. If you’re looking for a cheap alternative, this fitness tracker still delivers quite the punch but if you want more features or literally anything that isn’t basic, check out the ones higher up on the list.
To summarize, it’s really cheap and affordable, it counts your steps and measures your sleep, has a relatively okay app, an averagely-good design and a good display for the price. It’s noteworthy to say that it has a very good step counting ability as well as a good sleep tracking software, but not much else of note. It doesn’t beat around the bush and it’s really cheap – if you’re looking for these two features in a tracker, check it out here: [2016 Newly LED Display Mi Band],Xiaomi Mi Band 3 With LED Display Touchpad Smart Heart Rate Monitor Fitness Tracker Pedometer Waterproof Wireless Bluetooth 4.0 Wristband
