The 9 Best Fitness Trackers To Bring More Intention To Your Workouts

Whoop is a great pick for any fitness level—and your wearing options aren’t limited to your wrist thanks to theWhoop Body accessories. The faceless band is comfortable and breathable, almost enough that you’ll forget you’re wearing it (well, until someone compliments the sleek design). Sensors in the band track data 24/7, sending it to a smart phone compatible app that breaks down the information into helpful insights.

Along with general overviews on your workouts, sleep, and recovery, the app gives dives into exact metrics, like skin temperature, blood oxygen levels, resting heart rate, and heart rate variability. This data can then be combined with an in-app journal to better understand the link between your body and more than 100 daily habits—such as caffeine intake, stress levels, and CBD usage.

Whoop's other unique feature is its subscription model. Instead of purchasing the device, you pay $30 each month to access the app—which could be a plus or minus depending on how long you plan to use the Whoop.

One complaint from testers (aside from the high monthly cost) is that the app can be a bit slow to refresh data. Another thing to keep in mind is that this fitness tracker does *not* track your steps. Instead, it tracks the total strain your body takes on throughout the day and provides a score based on this info. The brand’s reasoning is that not all activity is created equal, similar to Hare's earlier explanation.

What our testers say:

"I wore the WHOOP 3.0 for about a year. I loved the intuitive platform and how much data there was to peruse every day. It also just looks cool and is really comfortable to wear. One thing that got in my way, though, was the psychological factor of the Strain and Recovery scores. I didn't love the few days that my mental state (I'm ready to work out!) didn't match what the app was telling me (you actually need to recover). I also don't love sleeping in wearable devices, which is key for getting the most accurate, robust data about your recovery. That being said, I love that the 4.0 is 33% smaller than the last model I wore—which was already pretty sleek!" — Jamey Powell, contributing writer

A sleep tracker that stands out among the rest, the Oura ring packs a huge punch for a small device. While it doesn't excel at tracking physical activity like some of the other options on our list, it provides some of the best insights into your recovery, which is an equally vital part of your fitness routine.

Oura's sleep score measures your total sleep, time in bed, sleep efficiency, resting heart rate, and restfulness. It also outlines the amount of deep sleep, light sleep, and REM sleep you get each night, along with how long it took you to fall asleep. The data is all sent to a smart phone compatible app, which provides detailed information on each of these measurements, along with tips on how to improve your scores.

As if that's not impressive enough, the Oura ring showed accuracy levels of up to 92.6% when compared to a polysomnography (PSG) test, a comprehensive medical test used to diagnose sleep disorders. It's also trusted by one of our experts; Athans loves this option and the stellar sleep algorithm. "Its 'readiness' score (aggregated data) really helps make sense of a night's sleep and enables the wearer to make informed training decisions," he says.

The Oura ring also tracks your body temperature, with some standout features in regard to menstrual cycle monitoring. Plus, it will alert you if your data indicates that you might be getting sick—in which case, you might consider a rest day to keep your body healthy.

What our testers say:

"Having recently gotten one myself after researching it for years (I told you, I take this seriously), I can speak to the functionality firsthand. Not to mention, I’ve started getting lots of compliments on the shiny gold ring I’m wearing night and day. I haven’t been too wowed by the ring’s fitness tracking per se, but the sleep metrics have changed the way I plan my workouts and my rest days—and the daily sleep, recovery, and readiness scores prove the impact. Through the paid app, you can learn a lot about how your body is functioning and how it’s recovering." — Carleigh Ferrante, commerce editor.

Polar just gave its top-tier fitness tracker another upgrade—and the latest version of the GPS-enabled watch is worth the investment. The most noteworthy advancement compared to the brand’s previous devices is the increased attention to sleep tracking. Your morning report will predict how your energy levels will be that day, with more detail surrounding your sleep quality from the night before, along with a clear indication of whether you should take a rest day or not.

The AMOLED touchscreen is high quality and easy to use, displaying traditional metrics, as well as notifications for text messages, calendar reminders, and so on. You can view more detailed information on all your data in the Polar app, which is fairly intuitive.

What really sets Polar apart as a brand, is its heart rate sensor chest strap, which Athans calls "tried and true" and says is "the most reliable way to track heart rate," as opposed to a ring or a watch. It's also one of our favorite HRV monitors. The Polar Ignite watch is compatible with the strap, so you can even use the two together to gain more insight into your overall health and well-being. One common complaint is that the watch's display does lag a bit when updating metrics or serving notifications.

Let’s just call this the gold standard of running watches. The Forerunner 255 is an incredible option for advanced runners, while the Forerunner 45 is great for those who run more casually. Both devices are GPS-enabled—just keep in mind, battery life will reduce significantly if you are using this feature.

Now, let’s get to the good stuff. First of all, this watch comes in a number of colorways and two sizes (41mm- and 46mm-wide), making it easy to find something you’ll want to wear daily. The wristband is pretty lightweight and comfortable, but not so much that you’d necessarily want to sleep in it. Tracking goes far beyond a daily step count. The 255 will actually sense when you’ve started an activity—detecting exercises like running, swimming, biking, walking, and elliptical training—and kickstart tracking to ensure you get a full picture of your workout.

Both designs are water and sweat-resistant with easy-to-read display screens (not touchscreens, unfortunately). The 255 has shatter-resistant glass and an always-on screen, plus it measures barometric air pressure to predict weather changes, and monitors your body temperature as well. For runners who do a lot of outdoor training, the 255 can save your route to a map, so you can easily repeat workouts.

Basic features of both: daily activity reports, pace, distance, calories burned, sleep tracking and analysis (quality and length), elevation tracking, steps taken, exercise tagging, and more. If you’re training for a race, you’ll love that the watch suggests workouts for you based on your goals, recovery status, and the activities you’ve logged that week.

What our testers say:

“This watch is a top-notch fitness tool (and a sleep tracker, too!). It monitors your stress, heart rate, heart rate variability, sleep and activity levels, and more, providing scores on how you can improve these metrics and optimize your health. As an athlete, I appreciate the built-in sports apps with 30+ activities, the 12-day battery life, and the ability to house all my stats and progress in one place through the Garmin app. There’s even coaching plans for various running distances and suggested daily workouts to help you reach your goals. I'm as much a recovery lover as I am a fitness enthusiast, so I love that the watch gives me an estimated recovery time between workouts. Oh, and if you need help on the hydration front, it tracks your water intake for you as well. I find new features daily, and would recommend this watch to any runner who wants to take better control of their health and training.” — Carleigh Ferrante, commerce editor

Activity is vital for kids, too! If you've struggled to get your kids on their feet, the Garmin Vivofit Jr can help. It takes the tracking features adults love—step count, daily activity minutes, and sleep—and turns them into a fun device for ages 4 to 7 years old. Similar to the adult design, it connects with a smartphone app to give a full rundown of metrics. However, that's where the options start to differ.

The junior version transforms activity into interactive games with optional rewards that add a playfulness to daily exercise. What's more you can use the app to manage your child’s chores and give rewards once they’re completed.

The watch exterior itself is also made child-friendly with a waterproof construction available in fun colorways, including Marvel and Disney designs. It also doesn't require regular chargings; instead the replaceable battery last up to one year.

The brand also takes safety into consideration, providing a place to input emergency contact info. With the app’s “kid mode,” you can monitor what activities and capabilities your child has access to, versus the features you’ll be able to view.

Fitbit has been making fitness trackers for over 10 years and has an impressive app to show for it. While most of the devices we chose do have great app capabilities, Fitbit’s stands out among the rest. The brand's subscription membership, Fitbit Premium ($10 per month), helps encourage that level of consistency that’s necessary to get the most out of your fitness tracker. Although the app is compatible with all Fitbit devices, we recommend its most advanced model, the Charge 5.

The GPS-enabled device houses a ton of useful data, including steps, distance, current and resting heart rate, oxygen saturation level, breathing rate, body temperature, active minutes, calories burned, menstrual cycle tracking, and exercise progress. With a Fitbit Premium membership, you’ll be given a ton of useful insights on what all of these metrics actually mean, plus how to use them to improve your overall health and well-being.

The Premium membership also provides sleep tracking data, with a daily sleep score to see how well your body is recovering. Plus, a daily stress score provides better information on your mental health. With the membership, each of these scores and metrics will be taken into account to provide a daily readiness score, coming in handy when you’re not sure how hard you want to go in your workout that day.

While the accuracy isn’t quite on par with more advanced (and more expensive) devices, the Halo View is a solid option for beginners, people who are looking to spend less, or anyone who doesn't care for (or need) fancy features. It has an exceptionally long battery life, even compared with expensive models, lasting up to six days on one charge. The lightweight strap also has a pretty similar look and feel to the Apple Watch or other similar devices, with multiple colors and designs to choose from.

The face is a digital watch screen, with a corresponding app, which is needed to view additional metrics. You’ll get a free one year app membership with your purchase, but after that, you’ll be paying $4 per month if you want to view your data.

For a budget pick, we’re pretty impressed with the features this watch offers with the membership. It’s not only one of our favorite sleep trackers, but the wearable device also monitors your steps, heart rate, calories burned, workout activity, and even blood oxygen levels. The app houses different workouts and a deeper dive into your metrics and activity. It also does a pretty standout job at measuring things like posture, stability, and mobility, through a series of prompted movements and exercises you can perform regularly to measure progress. That said, a few reviewers do complain that the app isn’t very intuitive to use.

While the device is great for beginners, if you want something with more advanced tracking capabilities, don’t want to pay for a monthly membership, or perform a lot of your activities outside and are looking for GPS capabilities, this watch isn’t for you.

Although the Apple Watch initially launched as a smart watch for helping user stay connected, Apple has continued to improve its health and fitness insights to ensure this watch also excels in helping with your overall well-being. The latest model packs the basics, including standard activity and step tracking, GPS, HRV monitoring, and optional cellular service. However it also boasts a better batter life and a few new added features, like car crash detection.

Our favorite is the sleep time body temperature; updated dual sensors track your body temperature while you sleep, which can be used for a number of things, including ovulation tracking and menstrual cycle predictions. This level of data is also extremely beneficial in building out your exercise routine, as each stage of your cycle brings different levels of energy.

Since temperature sensing is a newer feature of the Apple Watch, you don’t get a ton of useful health data from it (other than the ovulation predictions), but we only expect these capabilities to improve in future models. The other downside is that a few of the metrics (such as HRV), can only be viewed in the health app on your phone, rather than on the tracker’s screen directly.

What our editors say:

"I use my Apple Watch Series 8 to encourage movement and track my exercise. The watch makes it super easy to go on runs without my phone, and I enjoy getting little pings on busy workdays reminding me to stand up and walk around." — Emma Loewe, senior sustainability editor.

Swimmers have a few different factors to consider than someone who’s tracking activities on land. Of course, you’ll need something that withstands the water. Most of the devices on our list are waterproof (to varying degrees), but the Finis Smart Goggles are designed specifically for swimming, with capabilities a wristwatch or ring just won’t have.

The goggles are made with dual, adjustable, durable silicone straps, with different sized nose bridges, to help them fit comfortably on your face. What really makes a goggle different from another wearable, though? The ability to see your metrics right on the screen in front of you. Most users say this isn’t distracting with these goggles, because the display is to the side, rather than directly in your view.

Tracking basic data such as splits and time elapsed, these goggles are a great tool in any swimmer’s repertoire. You’ll find additional data within the corresponding app, including the detected stroke (which reviewers say is accurate, but can be modified if not), calories burned, sets, stroke counts, active time, rest time, and more.