The Best Fitness Tracker of 2023
By Linus Tan
Published Feb 2023
Fitness trackers are not just for athletes, runners, or gym-goers. They can be great tools to help you form better habits, like getting more sleep, standing up every hour, and getting a better understanding of your overall health. Even when you're not exercising, fitness trackers can make contactless payments, receive smartphone notifications, and more.
With so many fitness trackers on the market, it can be hard to choose the right one. To help you out, we've put together a list of our top recommendations.
Best Overall: Fitbit Charge 5
✓ Sleep & stress monitoring
✓ Built-in GPS tracking
✓ Full-colour AMOLED display
✓ Up to 6 days of battery life
Best Alternative: Oura Ring (Generation 3)
✓ Unobtrusive ring wearable
✓ Powerful sleep tracking
✓ Wellness alerts & triggers
✓ Up to 7 days of battery life
Best for Budget: Fitbit Inspire 3
✓ Blood oxygen monitoring
✓ Full-colour AMOLED display
✓ Up to 10 days of battery life
✓ Budget-friendly
Best for Apple Users: Apple Watch SE
✓ Health & wellness tracking
✓ Take calls from your watch
✓ Sleek & stylish
✓ Waterproof design
Best for Style: Fitbit Luxe
✓ Health & wellness tracking
✓ Bright AMOLED display
✓ Stylish and modern
✓ Up to 5 days of battery life
#1 Best Overall: Fitbit Charge 5
Fitbit Charge 5
The Fitbit Charge 5 is an excellent fitness tracker, boasting advanced features such as electrodermal activity (EDA) and electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor, as well as a bright, always-on display. It is sure to meet all your fitness tracking needs.
One of the most noticeable upgrades is its screen. Compared to the Fitbit Charge 4 which has a monochrome display, the Charge 5 has a full-colour AMOLED display. Not only are images crisp and bright so it's easy to see under bright sunlight, but animations are also smooth. Fit-wise, the Fitbit Charge 5 is lighter since it's 10% thinner than the Charge 4.
On the fitness tracking side, the Fitbit Charge 5 has an in-built GPS and tracks an impressive range of workouts. To give a complete picture of your health, the Charge 5 has SpO2 sensors which track sleep and activity patterns, an EDA sensor for measuring your body's response to stress via the sweat glands on your skin and an ECG sensor to assist you in creating better plans for the day.
Fitbit Charge 5
The Fitbit Charge 5 supports smartphone notifications and contactless payments through Fitbit Pay for everyday performance. Unfortunately, the Charge 5 can't motivate you with music as it has no Spotify compatibility. Fitbit estimates the Fitbit Charge 5 to last around six days between charges.
Overall, the Fitbit Charge 5 is an all-rounded fitness tracker with a bright display and brilliant features for almost anyone. If you like to read more, we also compared the Fitbit Charge 5 vs Fitbit Charge 4.
Fitbit Charge 5
Best Overall
✓ Sleep & stress monitoring
✓ Built-in GPS tracking
✓ Full-colour AMOLED display
✓ Up to 6 days of battery life
#2 Best Alternative: Oura Ring (Generation 3)
Oura Ring (Generation 3)
If you're not into the traditional wrist wearable, the Oura Ring (Generation 3) is a great alternative.
Appearance-wise, the Oura Ring (Generation 3) looks like a basic metal band. On the inside, however, you'll find sensors that sit against your skin. The ring comes complete in plain colours except for the part that's placed on top of your finger. This provides extra storage for internal components. Plus, it's waterproof and safe from sweat or water-based elements.
The Oura Ring (Generation 3) connects with its companion app available on iOS and Android. Other than tracking steps, calorie burn, and hourly movement, the ring can gauge the intensity of your workout based on imported workout data or the heart rate and the duration of elevated activity.
The Oura Ring (Generation 3) helps to visualise rest. In addition to a sleep score, it breaks down your hours of REM and deep sleep, sleep timing and how long it takes you to fall asleep. The ring also encourages you to get a little more sleep. You'll receive alerts when you are winding down for bed.
Oura Ring (Generation 3)
The combination of activity and sleep metrics provides a readiness score to assist you in determining whether your body is ready for a workout or you'll be recovering for the day. Moreover, there's automatic workout detection and a feature that tracks your heart rate as you're working out. When you subscribe to their monthly membership, you'll even gain access to a library of breathing and meditation aid. Oura estimates the ring to last for about four to seven days.
Overall, the Oura Ring (Generation 3) prioritises rest and recovery while also including features giving a bigger picture of your well-being.
Oura Ring (Generation 3)
Best Alternative
✓ Unobtrusive ring wearable
✓ Powerful sleep tracking
✓ Wellness alerts & triggers
✓ Up to 7 days of battery life
#3 Best for Budget: Fitbit Inspire 3
Fitbit Inspire 3
Need motivating nudges to keep you active? The Fitbit Inspire 3 is the one to go if you want something simple to use but also still packed with essential features.
With curved edges and slimmed-down depth, the Fitbit Inspire 3 sits flush against your wrist. Instead of physical buttons, Fitbit has adopted dual haptic side buttons on the Inspire 3, contributing to its lightweight feel.
The Fitbit Inspire 3 offers a more vibrant experience with its full-colour AMOLED display and higher resolution, making it easier to read. Additionally, it features an always-on display, meaning you can quickly access it while resting or exercising. While it's bright and crisp, the tiny watch face means the Inspire 3 is unable to display large information at once. As a result, you'll have to swipe through to access each data field. The Fitbit Inspire 3 allows for personalising your display style. Simply go into the app to choose from stats to retro-inspired designs.
Fitbit Inspire 3
In terms of the fitness tracking front, the Fitbit Inspire 3 automatically tracks workouts for selected exercises and provides data from heart rate and calories burned to the time elapsed and Active Zone minutes earned through the exercise app. If you need exercise motivation, the Inspire 3 has encouraging activity reminders on top of inviting your Fitbit contacts to participate in challenges.
Other health features include sleep tracking which tells you how well you've slept, your menstrual cycle, changes in your weight and logging your water intake. You can also set mindfulness goals depending on the frequency of meditation or breathing sessions you want per week. The Fitbit Inspire 3 has also been enhanced with the inclusion of a red and infrared sensor system that enables SpO2 monitoring. By tracking the distribution of oxygen in the blood, users can gain a more comprehensive understanding of their overall health.
The Fitbit Inspire 3 does a good job of showing you smartphone notifications. Yet, the lack of built-in GPS may be a dealbreaker for those who engage in outdoor pursuits. It has up to 10 days of battery life - the longest we've ever seen of any Fitbit device.
Whether you're using it as a multi-sport tracker or as a means to gently nudge you towards a more active lifestyle, the Fitbit Inspire 3 is capable of logging your exercise and giving great insight into your well-being.
If you like to read more, we also compared the Fitbit Inspire 3 vs Fitbit Inspire 2.
Fitbit Inspire 3
Best for Budget
✓ Blood oxygen monitoring
✓ Full-colour AMOLED display
✓ Up to 10 days of battery life
✓ Budget-friendly
#4 Best for Apple Users: Apple Watch SE
Apple Watch SE
The Apple Watch SE is best for iPhone owners. It's the little things such as the automatic hand wash timer and reminders to take breaks that make the Watch SE a great companion.
In terms of design, it's as familiar as you can get with a rounded aluminium chassis and curved edges. Sleek and stylish, the Watch SE is also waterproof. It also comes in 40mm and 44mm sizes to help you get the right size for your wrist.
This watch sports the same OLED display technology as older versions stretching back to the first model. The outdoor brightness also works comparably well hence seeing the time in strong sunlight won't be an issue. It also doesn't glow like a beacon at night when you're in dimmer spaces.
Apple Watch SE
The Apple Watch SE has plenty of features to boast about. Firstly, there's GPS and more accurate calorie burn data. Next, the Watch SE gives suggestions on what you can do to hit your movement goals based on your general movement patterns. In addition to heart health notifications and fall detection, the Watch SE even keeps track of noise levels and alerts you when levels could be harmful to your hearing.
The Watch SE tracks over 40 different exercises and has an always-on altimeter which tracks real-time elevation. Other than being able to track sleep on the Watch SE, it also registers hand washing, ensuring you're washing for the appropriate length of time and using the right amount of effort.
The Apple Watch SE offers a range of smart features, such as the ability to take calls and make contactless payments, making it an ideal choice for those who want to stay connected. It's a real shame, however, that its battery life is relatively short; it only lasts for an average of one and a half days. Furthermore, this means that users will likely have to recharge the device every night or risk running out of power during the day.
Overall, the Apple Watch SE is a great choice for those who want all the health and smart features of the Apple Watch, but don't want to pay the premium for the higher-end models. It has a range of features that make it an attractive option, such as a larger display, faster processor, and GPS tracking, as well as health and fitness tracking capabilities.
Apple Watch SE
Best for Apple Users
✓ Health & wellness tracking
✓ Take calls from your watch
✓ Sleek & stylish
✓ Waterproof design
#5 Best for Style: Fitbit Luxe
Fitbit Luxe
The Fitbit Luxe hits the spot on so many fronts - it's a beautifully designed wearable that also doubles up as a fitness tracker.
Resembling jewellery, the Luxe is tiny and slim and comes in distinctly feminine colours (Lunar White, Black and Orchid with Soft Gold, Graphite and Platinum stainless steel case respectively. Many have praised the Luxe's small stainless buckle and tang for not getting in the way during workouts. The most impressive thing about the Fitbit Luxe is the screen which is not only a full-colour AMOLED but also very responsive. Though the small screen size limits the data you can look at at a glance, the smooth scrolling and animations make up for it.
Besides the screen, the Fitbit Luxe has the same great fitness tracking as the other Fitbit on this list. Features such as logging in more than 20 workout types and Active Zone Minutes are something you're familiar with. There won't be an issue if you're taking the Fitbit Luxe along when you swim since it's water-resistant up to 50m.
Fitbit Luxe
Because of the Luxe's small size, the watch lacks a built-in GPS and relies on the connected GPS on your phone. But, locking on the GPS to your phone is seamless. Wellness tracking is what the Fitbit Luxe excels at. Apart from sleep, SpO2 and stress tracking, the Luxe manages your stress by providing a score of your readiness for the day ahead.
Like any other tech device, the Fitbit Luxe isn't perfect especially when it comes to smart features. Though you're getting the basics of alerts to incoming calls and texts, timers and alarms, the Luxe doesn't support mobile payments or music control. Nevertheless, the Fitbit Luxe has a good battery life which runs up to five days.
Overall, the Fitbit Luxe is an impressive fitness tracker that has been designed with a fashionable, jewellery-like aesthetic. Boasting a range of useful features, this device enables you to track your activity and health with precision, giving you the power to monitor your progress and make the most out of your fitness journey.
Fitbit Luxe
Best for Style
✓ Health & wellness tracking
✓ Bright AMOLED display
✓ Stylish and modern
✓ Up to 5 days of battery life
Compare Fitness Tracker
Final Thoughts
Fitness trackers are ideal everyday wearables that not only motivate you to enhance your health but also display notifications and enable contactless payments. With a vast selection of features and designs, you're sure to find the perfect one for you!
Need more advanced features? Check out our best smartwatch guide.
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