Fitness trackers vary significantly in their design and functionality, so choosing the right fitness tracker for you is now mostly dependent on how you expect to you use it. For example, if your primary form of exercise is swimming or cycling, you’ll need a fitness tracker that can effectively monitor those activities. If you want to track steps, heart-rate, and sleeping patterns you can find a fitness tracker that accurately monitors those activities at either a lower price point or with higher aesthetic appeal. Here are the key factors to consider:
Aesthetic Design
The style of fitness trackers can be divided into three categories: sport, smartwatch, and analog. In general, the sportier trackers are less expensive and more durable with longer battery life at the cost of convenient on-screen features and lack of aesthetic appeal.
Level of Water Resistance and Swim Tracking
If you are serious about swimming, you’ll want a tracker that is not only waterproof but can distinguish between stroke type and can monitor stoke rate to calculate your swimming efficiency.
Heart Rate Tracking
There are many options of fitness trackers to monitor heart rate accurately. Factors to consider in this regard are the frequency of readings, whether the tracker provides VO2-Max testing, and how accurate the readings are while the device is in motion.
Sleep Tracking
This function also various widely among fitness trackers. The best models can distinguish between deep, light, and REM sleep. If you’ll be wearing your fitness tracker at night, comfort is also a key consideration.
GPS
Fitness trackers that include GPS are significantly more accurate when it comes to the distance covered.
NFC for Payments
Some trackers have NFC integration, making it possible to do instant payments without even taking your phone out of your pocket.
The App
All major fitness tracker brands integrate with a native app. Before purchasing the tracker, review the app to see if it’s buggy and whether you like the interface. It’s likely that you’ll want access to your data even if you lose your device, so make sure the app stores your data in the cloud and lets you access it for life.