If you’re looking to track your fitness levels and take better care of your overall health, a fitness tracker is a great place to start.
Tracking your fitness has come a long way since the early days of pedometers. These days fitness trackers come with a wide-range of functions, from GPS and heart rate monitoring, to counting your swim strokes.
It’s one thing to start doing exercise, but it’s another to know how much you’re really doing and if it’s having a measurable impact on your ability and heath and to really understand what types of exercise give the right results.
Luckily most modern trackers also pair with your smartphone via an app, making it easy to keep track of your progress.
We’ve taken a look at the best fitness trackers currently on the market and rounded up 10 of the best you can buy in 2020.
Depending on your budget, lifestyle, and what metrics you want to track, there’s something for you in this list.
Best fitness trackers of 2020
1. Fitbit Charge 3
The Fitbit Charge 3 is hailed as one of the best fitness trackers you can buy and it’s packed with features that will have you adding it to your basket in no time.
This iteration of this advanced Fitbit is compatible with most sports and it recognises most sports as you do them, so no need to adjust it depending on what you’re doing, and you’ll likely get more accurate results.
Built from a waterproof body the device is swim-proof, has a Bluetooth 4.0 radio receiver, and a battery life of up to 7 days. The built in heart rate monitor means you’ll be able to see fluctuations in your resting and active heart rate at all times of the day, so you can better optimise your workouts.
In addition to being a fitness tracker, you can track you deep and light sleep with this tracking device, to ensure you’re getting enough of the right kind of sleep.
Price: £89.99 | Buy now at Amazon
2. Garmin Vivosmart 4
This fitness tracker might be super slim and fashionable in design, but it still manages to pack in a sharp screen to show all of your metrics and is safe for the pool and shower.
Aside from the standard metrics is can measure, the Vivosmart 4 has an all-day stress tracking tool, a relaxation breathing timer – great for those of you looking to find stress points and up your mindfulness.
An innovative feature we can find on this fitness device is its ‘Body Battery’. This tells you how much energy you have (or are lacking) and helps you decide when the best time to exercise is depending on your energy levels.
Price: £76 | Buy now on Amazon
3. Huawei Band 3 Pro
The Huawei Band 3 Pro might be slightly lower in price, but that doesn’t make it lower on features.
With up to 12 days usage, this fitness tracker goes the distance. Crafted from a waterproof exterior, the band shows a 0.95″ AMOLED colour touchscreen (great for use in the sunlight), and a precision heart monitoring system to keep track of your body fluctuations during both indoor and outdoor activities.
The Band 3 Pro has GPS built in as well as a scientific sleep monitor to track your resting activity levels and try one of the 200 solutions to better your sleep.
Price: £39.99 | Buy now on Amazon
4. Xiaomi Mi Band 4
For a more budget fitness tracker, this gadget from Xiaomi packs a lot for its punch in terms of features.
It’s 0.95″ high-res OLED display boasts great functionality in bright sunlight, while it can last a whopping 20 days on one charge.
The design is water resistant up to 50 metres, making it perfect for swimming, while its 24/7 heart rate monitoring system lets you see your heart activity around the clock.
A neat feature of this device is its ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode so you can really zone out of distraction and concentrate on what you’re doing.
Price: £16 | Buy now at Amazon
5. Huawei Honor Band 4
Another fitness tracking device on the more affordable end of the scale – this is great if you’re just making your first steps into exercise and tracking improvement.
Its thin, light design makes it perfect for everyday wear – there are no sticky-out parts – with the band around the same size as the Fitbit Charge 3.
Featuring an bright OLED touch screen, you can swipe away for navigation. It’s also waterproof up to 2M and boasts broad compatibility with Android and iOS systems.
Price: £32.50 | Buy now at Amazon
6. Moov Now
While this fitness tracker’s lack of screen might look a bit odd amongst the rest of the super futuristic models in this list, it’s still worthy of a mention.
Complete with a whopping six month battery life and rugged design that won’t crack like the glass screens of the trackers above, it’s one for a someone who’s really into their training regime.
Another feature of this slightly unusual tracker is the real time audio coach built into the device. So in addition to monitoring your physical activity, it can keep you motivated to do that last mile. Push that last press up, and swim that extra stroke.
Price: £46.19 | Buy now at Amazon
7. Fitbit Versa Lite
Looking like more of a traditional smartwatch, the Fitbit Versa Lite takes a sleek form with some modern features.
Praised for its comfortability – especially on smaller wrists, this is an aesthetically pleasing piece.
Other design features include being water resistant up to 50M and 300x 300 resolution full colour touchscreen display (the same as its mode advanced sister product, the Fitbit Versa)
Keep track of your light, deep, and REM sleep patterns, keep note of your calories burn with the 24/7 heart monitor and reach your activity goals by tracking steps, distance, and active minutes.
The Fitbit Versa Lite connects to GPS vis your phone and its also compatible with other smart experiences Strava, Uber and even guided breathing.
Price: £99.99 | Buy now at Amazon
8. Garmin Vivosport
The second fitness tracker from Garmin on the list, this is a slightly more advanced version for people much more into their sports. Sporting an always-on colour Chroma display, it’s small enough to wear everyday without interfering with your style or activities.
Complete with built in GPS, the tracker also features a heart rate monitor and a smart activity tracker that can log floors climbed, calories burned, intensity minutes and sleep patterns.
GPS-enabled activities include strength training, walking, biking and running, while you can keep on top of your mental state with the all day stress tracking feature and relaxation-based breathing timer.
Price: £92 | Buy now at Amazon
9. Fitbit Ionic
Another Fitbit for the list, this health tracker takes queues from the design of a smart watch and has been highlighted as a great option for runners and cyclists.
The main feature this waterproof tracker-watch hybrid compared to the others on this list is that it has is the Fitbit Pay feature. This makes it a serious rival of other more expensive smartwatches on the market that don’t have this functionality.
Constructed from aluminium, it is lighter and more comfy than many other designs, and there are a selection of plastic and leather wrist straps that can easily be swapped out and matched to your personal style.
This tracker watch has a superbly bright LCD screen for easy viewing in the sunlight, an interactive touch screen to swipe through apps easily, while the three hardware buttons on the side of the face make for easy navigation when you’re in the throws of exercise.
Price: £213.99 | Buy now at Amazon
10. Garmin Forerunner 30 GPS Running Watch
If you want a stylish smartwatch, but need full functionality at an affordable price tag, this fitness tracker from Garmin is a great option and comes in different colour styles to suit your preferences.
Featuring a more pared back black and white screen, this device has a built-in GPS, accurate heart rate tracker, sleep tracker and VO2 Max tracking capabilities which measures oxygen uptake as well as multi-sport tracking.
It’s complete with Move IQ automatic activity detection, allowing it to recognise the activity you’re doing without having to programme.
Price: £84.99 | Buy now at Argos
Whether you’re a serious gadget-mad techy looking for something with the maximum functionality, a fitness fanatic or an exercise amateur, there’s a fitness tracker for all needs, budget and experience.
Once you’ve found the perfect tracker device, why not check out our rundown of the best fitness apps to help you achieve your goals.