Best Fitness Trackers in 2023

Take the first step or beat your personal best with these fitness trackers

Smart watches and fitness trackers have become so much a part of the health and fitness scene that they are almost as necessary as a pair of running shoes. From triathlons to trail running, boardroom to the beach, or walking to weightlifting, we’ve curated a list of some of the best fitness trackers – so there’s bound to be one that suits you.

Fitbit Versa 3

Are you looking for a value-for-money smartwatch that combines both fitness tracking and smart features? Then the Fitbit Versa 3 is an excellent choice. It’s a great fitness tracker with a range of sensors that track steps, heart rate, sleep, and more. It also has built-in GPS, so you can track your outdoor activities without needing to bring your phone. You can also optimise your workout routine with a personalised Daily Readiness Score that uses insights from your body to gauge if you’re up for a challenging workout or need to focus on recovery instead. With a focus on heart health, the Fitbit Versa 3 comes with a range of health monitoring features, including a heart rate monitor and SpO2 sensor, which allows you to track your oxygen levels. Plus, it will notify you of any irregular heart rhythm, for example if you show potential signs of atrial fibrillation while you’re still or sleeping. It also has a Relax mode, which provides guided breathing exercises to help you manage stress. The 1.58-inch AMOLED display is bright and easy to read, and the smartwatch is also water-resistant up to 50 metres. And naturally it has a sleek, stylish design and is available in multiple colours.

Fitbit Charge 5

The latest version of the popular Fitbit Charge series, the Charge 5, comes with some really smart features. Fitbit are calling it their most advanced fitness and health tracker ever and it includes tracking steps, calories burned, distance covered, and active minutes. It even comes with pre-installed workouts for activities such as running, cycling, and swimming. In fact, its Active Zone Minutes feature guides you to your target heart rate zone and helps you keep up the intensity. Again with a focus on heart health, the heart rate monitor tracks your heart rate throughout the day and during workouts, alerting you if your heart rate is above or below your threshold – it even includes an electrocardiogram (ECG) app for your heart and an electrodermal activity (EDA) sensor for your stress. Helping you to redefine your routine, the Daily Readiness Score pulls data from your exercise, sleep and heart rate viability and lets you know if you’re ready for a workout or need to prioritise recovery. It also comes with built-in GPS, a vibrant always-on display and a long battery life of up to seven days on a single charge, meaning you don't have to worry about charging it every day.

Fitbit Sense 2

Learn to manage stress and sleep more soundly with Fitbit’s most advanced health and fitness watch, the Fitbit Sense 2. A word we would use to describe this smartwatch is holistic – with incredible stress management, sleep, health and fitness metrics, it really gives you a solid overview of what’s going on with your body. Fitness first – the Sense 2 comes with the Daily Readiness Score and Active Zone Minutes, plus it tracks a massive 40 exercise modes and uses built-in GPS for a real-time pace and distance, even in up to 50 metres of water. The Sense 2 wants you to understand your stress and then minimise its effects for overall better sleep, improved mood and most importantly, more energy. It identifies patterns of stress with all-day body response tracking and encourages you to try guided breathing, exercise, meditations and more. The Sleep Profile feature breaks down your sleep data each month and pinpoints how you can improve based on ten key sleep metrics – learn about the quality of your previous night’s sleep and get a breakdown of light, deep and REM sleep. You can also check your Health Metrics dashboard to see heart rate variability, skin temperature variation, SpO2 and more.

Fitbit Luxe

Shine a light on your mind, body and health with a wellness tracker that doubles as jewellery – introducing the Fitbit Luxe. With a slim design and polished stainless steel casing, Luxe is the timeless piece that complements every outfit in your wardrobe. A quick browse uncovers strap options that include ultra-soft leather alternatives with gold hardware, sophisticated and modern metallic bracelets, sporty mesh options for an on-trend athleisure look and even a chic premium leather double wrap. The Fitbit Luxe is not here to simply look good, it will also level up your workouts with 24/7 heart rate tracking, so you’ll know how hard your heart is working at any time. It also provides a daily Stress Management Score to understand how your body handles stress – then helps you to find balance with on-wrist guided breathing sessions. You can even track your Mindful Minutes in the Fitbit app. We all know that restful nights make for productive days, check your Sleep Score and sleep stages each morning to understand your sleep quality and get tips on how to improve your rest. And you’ll see your daily stats shine on a vibrant, easy-to-ready display that automatically adjusts its brightness to your environment.

Garmin Venu® Sq

Are you looking for a GPS smartwatch with all-day health monitoring? Then look no further than the Garmin Venu® Sq. Thorough health and wellness metrics includes Body Battery Energy Monitoring to see your body’s energy levels throughout the day, Stress Tracking to find out if you’re having a calm, balanced or stressful day, and Relax Reminders that prompt you to do a short breathing activity when you’re feeling stressed. You can even log your daily fluid intake as a reminder to stay hydrated. The Venu Sq also comes with more than 20 preloaded sports apps, including cardio, strength, yoga or pilates, plus you can download more free workouts with the Garmin Connect app. There’s even the option to get a personal running coach on your wrist, to help you train for your next 5k, 10k or half marathon. Enjoy Garmin Pay contactless payments and receive emails, texts and alerts right on your watch when paired with your compatible smartphone. You can even respond to texts if you have an Android phone. What about the aesthetics? With a sleek design that’s suited for every outfit and every part of your day, this watch features a bright colour display and optional always-on mode, so you can see everything with a quick glance.

Garmin Vivosmart 5 Smart Fitness Tracker

If you’re new to fitness and health tracking or you want a simple (and dependable) device, then Garmin’s Vivosmart 5 is for you. This comfortable and easy-to-use fitness tracker is with you every step of the way, so you can monitor your health and stay active from sunup to sundown. The Vivosmart 5 tracks steps, intensity minutes, calories burned and so much more, with all the stats you need available on your wrist. It constantly monitors your heart rate and helps gauge your work rate during exercise, and monitors your energy levels so you can find the best times for activity and rest. Work up a sweat in the way that works for you with preloaded sports profiles for walking, running, yoga, pilates, cardio, mindful breathing, strength training and more. And of course, it connects with your smartphone’s GPS so you can receive accurate tracking during outdoor walks, rides and runs. It even has a feature that provides a sleep score and advanced sleep monitoring – track sleep quality, the different sleep stages as well as heart rate, stress, pulse Ox3 and respiration. Then head to the Garmin Connect app for insights on how you can improve. The Vivosmart 5 is perfect for your unique style with interchangeable bands in loads of different designs, making band replacements easy and convenient.

Garmin Fēnix 7 Solar

The Garmin Fēnix 7 Solar is an ultra-tough, solar-charged multisport GPS watch that features advanced training features, sports apps, health and wellness monitoring sensors and more. It’s here to track all your stats… and we mean all. It uses preloaded activity profiles for your usual trail running, swimming, running, biking and hiking, and then levels it up with the ability to track rowing, skiing, golfing, surfing, indoor climbing and more. One of the truly cool things about the Fēnix 7 Solar is the first-of-its-kind PacePro feature, which offers dynamic, grade-adjusted pace guidance throughout your activity, based on elevation and your personal pacing preferences. This helps you plan the ideal pacing strategy for your activity — and maximise your performance. This smartwatch allows you to do more and charge less. Get up to 18 days of battery life in smartwatch mode with an additional four days when solar charging, and up to 57 hours in GPS mode with an additional 16 hours when solar charging. Plus, its athletic design features a large 1.3″ display and 47 mm case, which is tested to U.S. military standards for thermal, shock and water resistance. And just because it’s tough doesn’t mean you can’t keep your favourite tunes coming straight from your wrist — download songs and playlists from your Spotify, Deezer or Amazon Music accounts and use wireless headphones for phone-free listening.

Garmin Fēnix 7X Sapphire Solar

We know you’ll meet any athletic or outdoor challenge with the rugged Fēnix 7X Sapphire Solar multisport GPS watch. But the real question is – what sets it apart from the Garmin Fēnix 7 Solar? The Fēnix 7X Sapphire Solar editions have a larger and more durable display and add more features, such as preloaded TopoActive mapping, extended battery life, and a built-in flashlight. Let’s start with size, this updated design features a 1.4″ display and 51 mm case, which makes the responsive new touchscreen even easier to use. The scratch-resistant Power Sapphire™ solar charging lens can convert sunlight into battery power and is also incredibly durable, the lens is much harder to scratch than glass. Preloaded TopoActive Maps from around the world keep your explorations on track. It includes routable street and off-road networks, international boundaries, waterways, natural features, land use areas, historical sites, airport structures, buildings and more. Plus, you can use built-in WiFi® connectivity to easily load and update maps and software without using a computer. The Fēnix 7X Sapphire Solar has a longer operating time with up to 37 days of battery life (compared with 22 days) in smartwatch mode, and up to 89 hours in GPS mode (compared with 57 hours). Plus, to help guide your way in low-light conditions, there’s even a built-in multi-LED flashlight to provide quick access to a bright, steady beam of illumination.

Garmin Forerunner 955

Train your best, perform to the max, and put yourself in the running at your next race with a Forerunner 955, the next step up in Garmin’s suite of running watches. Know when you’re primed for a productive session with training readiness – every morning you’ll receive a readiness score based on your sleep quality, recovery, training load and more. Plan your strategy with daily suggested workouts, which adapt after every run to match your performance and recovery. And know if you're undertraining or overdoing it, with an improved training status feature that taps into your recent exercise history and performance. Confidently run any route using full-colour, built-in maps and multi-band GPS. The Forerunner 955 features SatIQ technology to ensure the best positioning accuracy in any environment, full-colour mapping to keep you on track and turn-by-turn navigation that lets you know ahead of time when the next turn is coming. Plus, you can click or swipe through maps and stats with traditional button controls or a new, responsive touchscreen. You’ll also get a whopping 15 days of battery life in smartwatch mode, up to 42 hours in GPS mode and up to 80 hours when you engage UltraTrac mode.

Garmin Forerunner 255

Are you ready to take your running to the next level? With the Garmin Forerunner® 255, you’ll get the training and recovery insights you'll need to notch your best time yet. There’s loads of features to explore, so let’s get this show on the road. Wake up to a morning report, where you’ll receive an overview of your sleep, heart rate variability status and daily workout plans. This will help you to gain a deeper understanding of your overall health, recovery and training performance while you sleep, based on technology developed by Garmin’s Firstbeat Analytics™ team. Utilise a full suite of advanced metrics and training tools to reach your goals. With built-in sports apps, you can tap into over 30 activities, including triathlon and open-water swimming profiles. For races and back to back workouts, transition to the next activity with a single button press – and then pay for your post-workout coffee with Garmin Pay contactless payments. But what about design? Weighing in at a tiny 49 grams, you'll almost forget you're wearing the Forerunner® 255, even when you're asleep. And with easy-to-use buttons and a silicone band, this watch is ready to wear (and tear) with durable Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3.