Fitness trackers have gained immense popularity today; thanks to the advancements of wearable technologies, they can now lead us to a fitter and healthier life.
Designed to track your movements, motions easily, and fitness level, small hi-tech gadgets are evolving with exciting features and capabilities, with the help of integrated sensors. They collect data and convert it into intuitive metrics, such as general activity, steps count, calories burned, sleep quality, etc.
According to new research published in the American Journal of Medicine, consistently using a fitness tracker help boost people’s motivation to work out, which in turn can make them healthier.
Some of the significant advantages of the fitness trackers are as follows:
- They set your own fitness goals and improve people’s accountability
- Remind you to do your workout every day, if you get busy or forget.
- Provide much-needed daily motivation while you accomplish the goals.
- Encourage you to start eating healthy and adjust your sleep patterns.
- Measure a bunch of internal and physical parameters that are hard to track, such as heart rate, pulse, sleeping, and intensity of your workout.
- Make you stay connected with your incoming calls, text messages, or emails without you having to look at your smartphone.
In today’s post, we present the five best fitness trackers in 2021.
1. Xiaomi Mi Band 4
Xiaomi Mi Band 4 is the best budget fitness tracker available at around $35. This run-of-the-mill fitness tracker, suited for fitness buffs with a tight budget, has a slim design, a small color screen, and a selection of up to 6 workout modes – running, treadmill running, cycling, walking, pool swimming, and a general exercise workout mode. Compared to its predecessors, the tracker has an extended 20-day battery life, improved tracking and a color LED display with significantly improved outdoor viewability and a higher resolution, that are hard to find at this price tag.
The swim tracking can recognize several swim styles, such as freestyle, butterfly, and backstroke. It also records other datasets like swimming pace and stroke count along with sleep tracking and all-day heart rate monitoring. Plus, Xiaomi Mi Band 4 is Android and iOS compatible. A con is that there’s no built-in GPS. However, you can still connect the GPS on your phone to the fitness tracker. Anyways, it’s not a SmartWatch, and at this price, it’s difficult to complain.
2. Fitbit Inspire HR
Fitbit Inspire HR is another affordable fitness tracker, priced at around $80. This easy-to-use tracker comes with all the necessary features you need to monitor your health and activities. It does a lot, considering its price, and will give you access to all of Fitbit top-end services and a variety of tracking capabilities. It can track heart rate, step count, distance, and primary sleep metrics, providing in-depth insight into your fitness level. In addition to continuous heart rate monitoring, it tracks sleep stages such as REM, deep and light sleep, measures your cardio fitness levels, and includes 15-plus exercise modes.
It also provides accurate fitness tracking, smartphone notifications, and up to five days of battery life in a stylish swim-proof design. The tracker features a slimmer and more comfortable design than a lot of other trackers you can buy. It is also so compact and lightweight that you’re likely to forget you’re wearing it. The band is comfortable to switch when you feel like changing it up as well as it’s very simple to use. You swipe up to see additional stats, use the single button to return to the home screen and swipe down when you’re ready to start exercising. Some of the pros for this product include accurate fitness tracking, stylish, lightweight design, lots of functionality, and an excellent mobile app.
3. Samsung Galaxy Fit
Samsung Galaxy Fit is another cheap fitness tracker available at around $80. An outstanding choice for casual athletes looking for a reliable tracker, it is a sleek, accurate fitness tracker with a lovely display, simple interface, and long battery life at a surprisingly affordable price. The first thing you notice is the vivid and colorful .95 inch LED display, compact screen, and the use of colors in the Gorilla Glass, making it easy to see the metrics while you’re exercising in and out of the gym. It has a touchscreen interface that is responsive and easy to navigate. In addition to being water-resistant for 250 meters, it complies with military-level durability standards.
Built for endless activity tracking, it has the convenience of automatic activity tracking for six workouts such as walking, running, cycling, elliptical training, rowing, and dynamic workouts. It allows you to start exercising without having to fuss with the watch. It shows your data like distance, pace, and elapsed time. You can also use the Samsung health mobile app to manually select from over 90 workouts, ten of which can be customized and set as preferred activities. It will monitor your heart rate, sleep patterns, stress levels, etc. Its inactivity reminders remind you to get out of your chair and spend some time moving. The pros for this product include reasonable price, sleek design, and intuitive interface. The con is its lack of GPS.
4. Apple Watch Series 5
Apple Watch Series 5 is our pick for iPhone owners. The Apple Watch is truly a product of iteration, and every year, it gets better just enough to stay ahead of the competition. Priced at around $400, this full-featured fitness tracker comes with an always-on display, a new processor, compass app, an international emergency calling feature, new lifecycle tracking for women, and a noise app that measures sound exposure. The rest of the experience remains the same, but these changes are enough to keep Apple ahead of the market.
Its other fitness-oriented features include GPS tracking, an altimeter that records changes in altitude, and onboard heart rate monitoring. It is also waterproof down to 50 meters, offering support for a vast number of workout types and even reminds you to stand after periods of inactivity.
With Bluetooth connectivity, wireless headphones, and significantly improved Siri support, you will have a SmartWatch that is mostly above just about anything else on the market. Some of the pros include always-on display, smooth performance, and accurate heart rate monitor. A con for this product is the high price. However, this is the best combination of a SmartWatch and a fitness tracker you’d expect from Apple. The Apple Watch Series 5 is perfect for those who already live in Apple’s ecosystem.
5. Fitbit Charge 3
Fitbit Charge 3 is our pick for the best overall fitness tracker, available at around $140. More refined than the Fitbit Charge 2, Charge 3 is one of the company’s most accomplished devices. It isn’t a drastic change over its predecessor but has enough small tweaks to make it one of the best everyday fitness trackers that you can buy. Thanks to a sharper screen, longer battery life, new sensors, a safe swim build, and more informative phone notifications, the Charge 3 features just enough changes to remain the best everyday fitness tracker for casual users.
It has a more lightweight design than the last generation and looks better on your wrist. You can track GPS by pairing your phone with the tracker. In terms of fitness tracking capabilities, it tracks deep and light sleep, steps, distance, calories burnt and heart rate, quickly and accurately. It can auto-detect various common types of exercises, such as running and cycling.
The watch can give you an overall fitness score, and all these metrics can be viewed in the Fitbit app. Some of the pros for this product include a sharp, responsive screen, lightweight design, accurate fitness tracking, and excellent app. A con is that the screen is black and white. Yet, it offers a crisp display to view the time and metrics. It has a very responsive touchscreen, offering a lot of insight into your overall health and activity at a reasonable price.
