8 Best Fitness Trackers for 2022

Fitness trackers can be a helpful tool for monitoring your health and fine-tuning your fitness routine.

In fact, many of them are designed for specific sports and offer a variety of features, including sleep tracking, integrated heart rate monitors, and water resistance.

However, picking a product that’s right for you can be challenging, as so many choices are available.

Apple Watch Series 6

• Color options: space gray, blue, rose gold, silver and white, gold and navy blue, and graphite and black

Thanks to its sleek design, long battery life, and numerous fitness-related features, the Apple Watch Series 6 takes the top spot as the best fitness tracker on the market.

In addition to recording your daily activity metrics and trends using the Fitness app, the device monitors your blood oxygen levels, heart rhythm, and sleep cycles.

What’s more, the watch has a GPS that’s independent of the phone for tracking your steps, route, speed, distance, and more.

The watch is also water-resistant up to 164 feet (50 meters) and boasts a large, crisp display for easy readability.

Interested in having your texts or calendar events show up on your watch? The Apple Watch makes it easy to mirror your watch and iPhone so that you never miss a notification.

Another added benefit is that you can make calls and send texts from the Apple Watch.

Just keep in mind that you’ll need to use the Apple Watch app on your phone to make any changes to your watch display, including changing the clock face, adjusting your notification preferences, and adding apps.

The Apple Watch Series 6 offers up to 18 hours of battery life per charge, which the company claims takes into account regular use, such as checking the time, swiping through apps, and even exercising for 60 minutes while listening to music.

Cost is the most obvious downside of the Apple Watch.

However, the other main drawback of the Apple Watch is that its sleep tracking feature isn’t as detailed or robust as other trackers. Therefore, if improving sleep is at the top of your priority list, you’ll want to check out other devices, such as the Oura Ring.

Garmin Forerunner 245

• Color options: black, berry, white, aqua, and slate gray

Featuring GPS navigation, smartphone connectivity, and advanced performance analytics, the Garmin Forerunner 245 is a great choice for runners.

This top-notch fitness tracker provides feedback on your current training status and offers custom workouts and adaptive training plans to help ramp up your run.

It also uses a wrist sensor to track your heart rate, blood oxygen saturation (SpO2), and V̇O₂ max — a measure of cardiorespiratory fitness.

The device may also help you improve your form by providing detailed information on your stride length, balance, cadence, and vertical oscillation — the amount that your torso moves up and down with each step.

The watch also offers the Garmin Coach feature, which provides personalized guidance and training plans from an expert running coach.

In addition to running, the Garmin Forerunner 245 includes features that are tailored to other forms of cardio workouts, including swimming, cycling, hiking, and more.

To receive notifications, you can pair the watch with your phone using the Garmin Connect app.

Plus, if you have an Android phone, you can quickly respond to calls and texts using preconfigured responses, such as “on a run.”

The battery is said to last up to 7 days, but that’s with minimal usage. With music, GPS, and wrist monitoring running simultaneously, you can expect it to last closer to 6 hours.

You can also try dimming the backlight if you find that your watch is quickly running out of juice.