Wearable fitness trackers allow you to do things like monitor your heart rate or the number of steps you take while you perform exercises like running, swimming, and cycling. The right tracker can give you an accurate and comprehensive view of your health. It can help you move more, sleep better, and improve other areas of your health.

Choosing the right tracker can be challenging, though. There are many different ones on the market, and each has its own features. Read on to find out how to choose the right fitness tracker for you.

Choosing a Fitness Tracker at the Right Price

Fitness trackers are available at a broad range of price points. You can pick up a tracker for as little as $20 or get a top-of-the-range one for around $250. As you would expect, ones that cost less have fewer features, so you’ll need to determine what elements you want your tracker to include before deciding how much to spend on one. Less expensive trackers typically don’t have displays, which means you will have to look at your smartphone to discover things like how many steps you’ve taken. More expensive trackers usually have built-in GPS and optical heart rate monitors. So, if you only want a fitness tracker to measure your steps, it’s pointless paying out for a more expensive one that contains a heart rate monitor.

Choosing the Right Style for You

Fitness trackers typically come in the form of clip-ons, watches, and bracelets. The latter two are difficult to lose because they are securely fastened, but clip-ons could fall off or get lost when you do the laundry or use devices to play games at an online casino like Casumo. However, watches and bracelets can sometimes get in the way when you’re doing things like washing the dishes. Clip-ons are usually smaller and more discreet, but they don’t often have displays. Another option is a fitness tracking ring that you wear on your finger.

Choosing the Right Features

Fitness trackers can track numerous things. Besides step-counts and heart rate monitoring, fitness trackers come with features like:

·   Sleep Tracking. This feature uses a motion sensor to measure your REM and see whether your sleep is disturbed. Sleep-tracking features can also include a smart alarm that chooses the optimal time in your sleep cycle to wake you in the morning, close to your chosen time.

·   Third-party Apps. If you already use an app on your smartphone for fitness tracking when doing things like running or cycling, you can buy fitness trackers that pair with those apps so that you won’t lose access to any data.

·   Built-in GPS. When fitness trackers have built-in GPS, they are able to track your distance more accurately. You can also buy trackers that sync with your smartphone to use your phone’ GPS.

·   Water Resistance. Different trackers have different levels of water resistance. If you are planning on regularly wearing your tracker when swimming, you will want a fully water-resistant one.

·   Music. If you enjoy listening to music while running or walking, you will not have to take multiple devices out with you if you choose a fitness tracker that allows you to listen to music with a Bluetooth headset.

How important is fitness tracking accuracy to you?

Fitness trackers differ in how accurate they are. As a general rule of thumb, the more expensive a tracker is, the more accurate it will be. If you are taking your workout routine very seriously, you are sure to want a highly accurate fitness tracker. But if you exercise more casually, you can choose another option. Even low-cost fitness trackers are pretty accurate. They’re just not as precise as others.

Battery Duration

Different fitness trackers work for different lengths of time, depending on how long the batteries last. If you need to change the battery pretty frequently, it could soon become annoying. You’ll also have the additional expense of having to purchase batteries more often. Therefore, it can often be investing in a fitness tracker that offers long battery life. Most fitness trackers’ batteries last from between a couple of days and a couple of weeks of constant use. But some trackers use coin-cell batteries, which last for several months.

 

 

At the launch event of 18.8 Vodka and Gin at Stackt Market
At the launch of the Swarovski Crystal Studio

Joel Levy