You don’t need a four-figure Swiss movement to know what time it is—or look good doing it. One of the most wonderful things about “budget” watches today (although it’s kinder, or more appropriate, to say “affordable”) is that brands have learned to take design cues from luxury timepieces while quietly getting very good at the fundamentals: reliable movements, thoughtful materials, and proportions that don’t scream “cheap.” Take a look at the Orient in WIRED’s selection below as a prime example.
It could easily be argued that we’re in a golden age of affordable horology (see our full guide here for definitive proof), where, if you choose wisely, $350 or less can buy everything from a desirable dress watch, or a high-end collaboration, and even a supremely capable and classically chic diver. Pieces that will see you right from sunken wreck to boardroom table. And let’s not forget the retro allure of digital watches right now, either, with the Shark Classic not only being one of our favorites here, but at $70, it’s also the most affordable.
Moreover, should you decide to bag more than a few (and who could blame you at these prices?), we’ve even got the perfect carry case picked out: Nanuk’s IP67 waterproof and dustproof NK-7 resin $175 910 Watch Case (pictured above) with patented PowerClaw latching system—ideal for securing any timepiece collection, be it bargain or big budget.
If you’ve received a brand-new fitness tracker for Christmas, or have given yourself the admirable New Year’s resolution of getting fitter, then you’ll want to know how to use tech to achieve this goal. I’ve been using and reporting on the gadgets for many years, and have amassed some useful advice to keep in mind.
A fitness tracker is a smaller and more affordable version of a smartwatch, which is designed for elegance and ease of use while still keeping its finger on the literal and metaphorical pulse of your body. They’re great as gifts, or as commitments to yourself that you’re going to get fitter than ever, letting you mind your body without buying something top-end like the Apple Watch Ultra 3.
So if your goal for 2026 is to get fitter than ever, whether it’s because you’ve got a big goal you want to achieve, or because you want to get more in tune with your body, here are five pieces of advice that’ll help you stay healthy and informed.
Wear it for life, not just for exercising
Tom Bedford / Digital Trends
A simple mistake many people make with fitness trackers, is that they only put it on when they want to track fitness. They’ll wear it for a run or when going on a long walk, but then remove it when they’re finished.
In fact, your fitness tracker can track a lot more, and you should keep it attached to your wrist for as much of your day as possible. Most will track sleep if you wear them at night, heart rate at points during the day and the calories you burn from minor tasks that you’d never consider to be exercise.
Of course to do these, the fitness tracker needs to be on your wrist all of the time (except when charging, of course). So try to keep it worn all the time, and you’ll be surprised by just how much your new wearable can monitor.
Make sure you explore all of its features
Joe Maring / Digital Trends
If you want to let your fitness wearable inspire your fitness, just browse its menus to see what kinds of activities it can track. You may have only bought it for counting your steps or tracking your sleep, but most models on the market can do a lot, lot more than that.
Most modern fitness trackers can collect information on well over 100 different kinds of activity, and some have unique other modes like workout training, run guidance or HIIT. These might inspire you to pick up an exercise or activity you hadn’t considered, or train more seriously something you already do.
Use your data instead of just collecting it
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
Through using your sleep tracker, you can collect a huge amount of information: run times, sleep schedule, heart rate over time and so on. But all this data is meaningless if you don’t actually use it.
Remember to use your fitness tracker’s phone app, as it’ll collate information on every metric it studies. Most will give you breakdowns on individual workouts or sleep sessions, like route and pace for a run or REM stages when napping, and these can be useful in helping you understand what factors to change or how to exercise differently in order to improve your fitness.
In addition, most fitness trackers will show you the data in graphs over time, either for individual activities or for some kind of virtual fitness currency. This can be really helpful for seeing overall fitness trends: are you getting fitter or plateauing? And when you’ve used the fitness tracker long enough, you can see other trends emerge: maybe you sleep worse in warmer weather, or run slower during the winter. With this information, you can better understand your body.
Don’t be afraid of accessories
Tom Bedford / Digital Trends
Like any kind of gadget, a fitness tracker can benefit from a little extra money spent on accessories. You can buy these from the company itself, or from a third-party accessory maker.
The most common purchase many make is on a new band. The in-box ones are often fit for purpose, but rather basic. Thankfully most brands sell alternatives using a range of designs, materials and colors, so you can pick a build which works with your body as well as your outfit. Perfect for fashionistas who need a specific color, those with sensitive skin who need a certain material, or wearers who find that the default strap doesn’t work well on their wrist.
There are a few other things to buy which could help. Some fitness trackers offer cases to keep the body protected from hard knocks if you do endurance sports, and a charging stand can make powering up the tracker quick and easy. If you have one that can store music on it, wireless workout headphones will also help you appreciate this feature.
Don’t sweat it too much
Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends
The most important thing to remember when trying to be fit, is that you always need to listen to your body, not just a fitness tracker (even though that might have useful insight that you don’t gain from your body).
If your tracker is telling you it’s time for a run, or that you need to push yourself with a workout, or that you got enough sleep, that’s all useful to hear. But tech isn’t all-knowing and your body can report on its status: just see how you feel.
Plenty of people rely too heavily on fitness trackers and forget to check in with themselves from time to time, but the healthiest people know to maintain a… well, a healthy relationship with their tech.
Smart rings are small, discreet, and stay out of the way while logging heart rate, sleep patterns, and more. But when something goes wrong, that convenience can quickly turn into a liability. A Galaxy Ring user recently reported that his ring’s battery swelled while on his finger, making removal impossible without hospital intervention. More than just nightmare fuel, the incident highlights a design flaw across the entire industry. Smart rings, for all their promise, lack an emergency exit.
Trapped by my own tech
Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
Unlike watches or bands, rings don’t unbuckle (or un-Velcro) for easy removal. They only come off the way they go on: sliding past knuckles. If a finger swells, whether from heat, hydration, or a malfunctioning battery, the device can quickly become a vise. In the case of one unlucky Galaxy Ring user, battery swelling turned a well-fitting device into a finger trap, grounding his flight plans and sending him to the ER.
The fear of having a ring of any kind stuck on my finger is very real.
That’s exactly what happened to tech creator Daniel (@ZONEofTECH). According to Daniel, after his Galaxy Ring’s battery failed, soap and hand cream only made things worse. Airport staff denied him boarding, and he ended up in a hospital, where doctors used ice and medical lubricant to slide the ring free.
While battery failure is rare, stuck rings are not. I experienced this myself while pregnant. None of my smart rings required cutting tools, but they did get painfully tight, and I resorted to cold water and old-fashioned dish soap just to slip them off. The panic of feeling trapped by your own tech is real, even without a swollen lithium-ion cell pressing against your skin. Call it finger-based claustrophobia. Add in everyday scenarios like swelling during workouts, and the situation is more common than users may realize.
Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
As of now, smart rings offer no emergency removal features. There are no hinges, breakaway clasps, or expandable seams. The industry’s main safeguard is sizing kits, which aim to help buyers pick their perfect fit before purchase. That’s great for day one comfort, but less helpful when fingers inevitably fluctuate.
As of now, smart rings don’t have any way to manage finger swelling or size fluctuation.
Materials don’t help either. Most rings rely on rigid metals, ceramics, or composites designed for durability and style. Once on, they’re meant to stay on, which is logical until the ring won’t come off.
Is safety an afterthought?
Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
Wearable makers have poured resources into cramming sensors, batteries, and Bluetooth antennas into the tiniest of packages. They’ve focused on aesthetics, miniaturization, and week-long battery life. What they haven’t done is account for worst-case scenarios.
If a smart ring gets stuck, the at-home playbook consists of cooling down your hand, elevating it, and trying lubricants like soap or oil. Failing that, a jeweler or ER can cut it off, though cutting through electronics and batteries is less than ideal and, understandably, destructive to the device itself.
If at-home solutions don’t work, you could end up at the hospital to have your ring medically removed.
Stuck rings are only one part of the safety story. Their tight fit and rigid build can also trap moisture against the skin, leading to irritation or even mild infections. I’ve personally had to give my fingers breaks while reviewing some devices, swapping fingers to let my skin air out. The rings can also pinch or rub uncomfortably during workouts, especially with repetitive gripping motions like weightlifting or rowing. And yes, I live in quiet fear of a Jimmy Fallon–style ring avulsion. None of these are extremely common, and most aren’t catastrophic, but together they highlight a broader problem: a wearable meant to disappear into daily life can sometimes create more discomfort than convenience.
Fixing the finger trap
Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
The Galaxy Ring swelling may be rare, but it should serve as a wake-up call. I hope smart ring makers take safety seriously, starting with battery diagnostics. If a swollen battery is even a remote possibility, there should be a way to alert users before failure. Daniel noticed his Galaxy Ring behaving oddly in the days prior to his incident, with battery life suddenly dropping to just 1.5 days. At the moment of swelling, the battery was fully drained. He speculated that a mix of Hawaii heat, salt water, and multiple flights might have accelerated the ring’s failure, but all of these contributors are real-world, plausible stressors.
Smart rings are among the most seamless wearable experiences. But when a ring won’t come off, seamless becomes suffocating. I’ve felt that creeping panic firsthand, and I didn’t even have a swollen battery to contend with. At the very least, I hope the recent Galaxy Ring incident leads to new industry standards for emergency removal. Until then, my smart rings might be tracking stress as well as causing it.
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We have tested several other entrants to this nascent category, some good, some bad, and some in between. Here is the lowdown on some of your smart ring alternatives.
Photograph: Adrienne So; Getty Images
Movano Evie Ring for $269: When it first came out, the Movano Evie Ring (4/10, WIRED Review) was touted as the world’s first fitness tracker designed specifically for women. I was very excited! It was recently updated to integrate with Apple Health (in the iOS version of the app) and you can now see your cycle day on your home page, manually log your basal body temperature, and manually add workouts. However, these new features are pretty underbaked compared to those offered by its competitors. Now that Oura and the Galaxy Ring can track periods so accurately, its time may have passed. But it’s relatively affordable, has no subscription fee, and has a blood oxygen sensor, so that’s kind of nice. —Adrienne So
RingConn Gen 2 for $359: Despite a price increase over Gen 1 below, this is still a relatively affordable, subscription-free smart ring. RingConn retained the distinctive squared-off design, but this second-generation ring brought major improvements to sleep tracking (including sleep apnea detection), better battery life, and is very slightly slimmer and lighter. I found basic sleep and health monitoring solid (sleep is much more accurate than the first generation), but workout tracking is still a major weakness. Despite more available exercise types, you must manually trigger workout tracking, and it struggles with accuracy at higher heart rates.
RingConn Smart Ring for $179: Now heavily discounted, the original Ringconn (6/10, WIRED Review) is worth considering. A slightly squared-off design with beveled edges gives it a unique look, the health and sleep tracking work well, and it lasts four or five days between charges. It also comes with a handy battery case (enough for several charges on the go). However, I had trouble with data syncing, the app lacked proper workout tracking, and the data was sometimes inaccurate, though the app seems to be steadily improving through updates.
Luna Smart Ring for $300: The Luna smart ring is a new titanium smart ring with five days of battery life that purports to offer many new AI features, like menstrual health coaching and nutrition advice, in addition to by-now-standard blood oxygen and skin temperature measurements for cycle tracking. However, it would not stay connected to the app and—I’m sorry for how dumb this sounds—it doesn’t sit on the charger well, so I constantly kept finding it uncharged, which was extremely irritating. —Adrienne So
Amazfit Helio Ring for $200: Purveyor of affordable fitness trackers like the Amazfit Active 2, I expected a competitive smart ring from Amazfit, but the Helio (4/10, WIRED Review) is badly out of shape. I like the subtly textured bronze finish, but it is the only color you get. Sizes are also limited to 8, 10, or 12 for now (sizes 7 to 13 are coming). While it has similar capabilities to the smart rings above, the Helio was sometimes hopelessly inaccurate, with heart rate measurements wildly out of step with other trackers. It lacks automatic workout-tracking, battery life averaged three days for me, and the Helio frequently disconnected from the busy and confusing Zepp app. You don’t need a subscription, but there is Aura AI ($70/year) for sleep insights and content or Fitness ($30/year), which includes an AI coach. They are expensive and confusing. (Why have two separate subscriptions?) The Helio works much better in conjunction with a smartwatch (I tried it with the Amazfit Cheetah Pro), as it can merge the data, but as a stand-alone device, it is impossible to recommend.
How Do I Choose the Right Smart Ring Size?
Some smart rings come in standard sizes, but there is variation, and half sizes are rare, so it’s worth taking some time to ensure you get the correct ring size. Most manufacturers will send you a free sizing kit, enabling you to wear a dummy ring for 24 hours. (You may have to buy the ring directly from the manufacturer to get this kit for free.) You should absolutely do this. Bear in mind that your fingers swell and shrink throughout the day. Your smart ring should be snug to enable the sensors to measure accurately, but you will have to remove it regularly to charge, so you don’t want too tight a fit.
Which Finger Should I Wear My Smart Ring On?
You can wear your smart ring on any finger, but most manufacturers recommend wearing it on your index finger, though the middle or ring finger can also work. These three fingers all have large blood vessels for more accurate pulse monitoring. What’s really important is that the ring fits tightly and securely around the base of your chosen finger, so if you have a big knuckle and a narrower finger base (more common with the middle or ring finger), this can be tricky. I recommend wearing it on the index finger of your less dominant hand because I found wearing it on my right index finger, as a right-handed person, led to more damage on the ring and scrapes on some things I touched.
Which Smart Ring Finish or Color Is Best?
All the smart rings we tested combined tough titanium with a sensor array on the inside, but the coatings and colors vary. If you are hard on rings, a silver or gold finish will likely suit you best, as there is less risk of damage. My Oura and Ultrahuman rings with black finishes have visible scratches and chips after a few months. The Oura and Amazfit rings have tiny dimples to help you align the sensors. While I prefer the smooth finish of the Ultrahuman, I suspect correct placement aids accuracy enormously.
How Do I Care for My Smart Ring?
Most smart rings are durable, but if you want to avoid damage, you should remove your ring when working with tools, weight lifting, washing pots and pans, or even cleaning the sink. If your ring is likely to rub against a surface, take it off. I found this was a bigger problem wearing a ring on my index finger than with the middle or ring finger. I scratched the Oura and Ultrahuman rings when gardening, moving boxes, and using a dumbbell. Titanium is also tough enough to damage surfaces in your home. I gouged the porcelain of my sink and marked the inside of a mug with the angular Ringconn. All the smart rings we tested are water resistant, so you can swim or shower without taking them off.
How Often Do I Need to Charge My Smart Ring?
Photograph: Simon Hill
Smart rings come with a charger and cable, but you will generally have to provide your own wall adapter. From dead, they take anywhere from an hour and a half to three hours to fully charge, but you should avoid letting the battery run down completely, or you run the risk of losing health data. We tested the smart rings above with all the bells and whistles turned on, so our battery life estimates are lower than the manufacturer’s claims.
What Smart Ring Features Should I Look For?
Most smart rings will track your sleep, heart rate, and temperature. If you want to keep an eye on your sleep and get health insights unobtrusively and comfortably, smart rings are ideal. Fitness tracking varies, with most smart rings offering basic step counts and movement, some offering manual workout tracking, and others offering automatic workout recognition. But you can expect more depth and accuracy from a traditional fitness tracker or smartwatch. Combining a smart ring with an Apple Watch or Fitbit makes for a seamless experience, allowing you to take off the watch and let it charge at night without gaps in your tracking.
Smart Rings or Smart Watches?
In the past few years, we’ve fielded many questions about why someone would get a smart ring instead of, or in addition to, a regular fitness tracker. Here are a few reasons why you might consider it:
Better battery life. A smart ring is smaller and usually (if not always) has better battery life. It’s a helpful addition to your repertoire if you hate missing a couple hundred, or a thousand, steps while you’re charging your smartwatch every day.
Sleep tracking. It’s no coincidence that our favorite sleep tracker is a small, unobtrusive ring. Maybe you’re tired of having your enormous Apple Watch Ultra smack you in the face every time you turn over. (Or maybe you’re charging it instead!)
Cycle tracking. Many watches and fitness trackers now feature a skin temperature sensor that’s sensitive enough to detect when you’re sick or drinking alcohol. However, in Adrienne’s testing so far, only the Samsung Galaxy Ring and the Oura have been accurate enough to track her menstrual cycle.
Finally, fashion. Watches are a statement and a status symbol; a smartwatch often says nothing more about your preferences and choices besides “I don’t like missing meetings.” Almost everyone we know who has bought a smart ring has done so because they have a hand-me-down Cartier Tank, or a fun Casio or Swatch, that they don’t want to give up. If this is you, good for you! And get a ring!
We have been wearing smart rings continuously for several years (sometimes two or three at a time), so we have a good handle on what makes a smart ring worth buying. Every smart ring we test has been worn for at least a month, usually longer, and we always compare its tracking data against our top pick (Oura) and with other smartwatches and fitness trackers (Apple Watch).
When you buy your Apple Watch, you get to choose which band you get. Skip the rubber bands, which are made from fluoroelastomer. While the company committed to removing PFAS from its products in 2022, we have not gotten confirmation that Apple’s products are PFAS-free.
I find the textile and metal bands to be much more attractive and comfortable than fluoroelastomer bands, which tend to trap sweat and irritate my skin. My favorite of the Apple bands you can choose at checkout this year is the Nike nylon woven Sport Loop. It’s soft, breathable, soaks up sweat, and is infinitely adjustable if your wrists swell when you run. It’s made from recycled polyester, spandex, and nylon, and the yarn is reflective if you’re running at night. It comes in five colors and three sizes, so it’s compatible with the 40-, 44-, and 46-mm watch sizes.
Fitness trackers are a solid option if you really want to hone in on tracking, well, your fitness. Some of the best fitness trackers also include additional sensors to track things like stress, sleep and other advanced health metrics. Sure, you could opt for the best smartwatch, but if you’re not interested in all of the extra features they offer, a fitness tracker might be a better (and more affordable) option.
Accurate workout and activity tracking is what fitness trackers do best; most include a pedometer to track your steps throughout the day. They might not look as glamorous as an Apple Watch, but they do a particular job well. We’ve researched and tested a good selection of the most popular fitness trackers out there to help make your decision a little easier.
Table of contents
Best fitness trackers and watches for 2025
Fitbit
Tracker: Fitness, heart rate, ECG, SpO2, skin temperature, stress, sleep | Supported OS: Android, iOS | Max battery life: 7 days | Size: Small, large | Water resistant: Yes
While we haven’t given the Fitbit Charge 6 the full review treatment yet, we feel confident recommending it as the successor to our previous top pick, the Charge 5. The company added a few new features to the mix here, namely a more accurate heart rate monitor, the ability to pair with exercise machines via Bluetooth and a physical side button that can be used in tandem with the touchscreen to navigate the device’s interface. The Charge 6 has 20 exercise modes for tracking, and thanks to Fitbit’s parent company Google, you can skip through and control YouTube Music playback, provided you have a YouTube Music Premium subscription.
Otherwise, the Fitbit Charge 6 is very similar to the Charge 5 that came before it. Key to its appeal is that it’s decidedly not a smartwatch. That means it has a slightly lower profile on the wrist and lasts days on a single charge while tracking activity and monitoring your heart rate, step count and sleep. It also has a full-color AMOLED display and a relatively thin design, which makes it feel fairly premium when compared to other fitness trackers.
Other perks include contactless payments with Fitbit Pay and Google Wallet, plus a handy integration with Google Maps that lets you see turn-by-turn directions on your wrist. But make no mistake — built-in GPS remains the star of the show here. If you’re looking for a wearable that can accurately map out runs and bike rides while also keeping track of your heart rate and other stats during each workout, the Charge 6 is a great option for anyone looking for durability and function in a health tracker.
Tracker: Fitness, heart rate, SpO2, stress, sleep | Supported OS: Android, iOS | Max battery life: 7 days | Size: 122-188 mm (small/medium), 148-228 mm (large) | Water resistant: Yes
A more subtle-looking fitness band alternative is the $150 Garmin Vivosmart 5. It’s thinner than the Fitbit Charge 6 and fits in a bit better with bracelets and other jewelry you might wear regularly. But its attractive design is only part of its appeal — Garmin knows how to track fitness, and the Vivosmart 5 is proof that you don’t need to drop hundreds on one of the company’s in-depth fitness watches to get a capable device.
It has a lot of the same features as the Charge 6, except for a built-in GPS. It does support connected GPS, though, so you can map outdoor runs and bike rides as long as you bring your phone with you. The Vivosmart 5 tracks all-day heart rhythm thanks to its heart rate sensor, plus sleep data and workouts, and we’ve always appreciated how many workout profiles Garmin has to choose from, including exercises like strength training. The pedometer function tracks your steps throughout the day, ensuring that even light activities contribute to your fitness goals.
You can customize which show up on your device and change them whenever you want. You’ll also get additional health and wellness information like Garmin’s Body Battery score, which tells you how long after a hard workout you’ll need to wait until you can train at peak performance again, blood oxygen levels, sleep stage data, women’s menstrual cycle monitoring and more. If you’re looking for a well-rounded activity tracker, the Garmin vívosmart 5 has it all.
The biggest disadvantages to fitness tracking with the Vivosmart 5 are the aforementioned lack of built-in GPS, plus its slightly harder to use mobile app. But on the flip side, Garmin devices can sync with Apple Health, whereas Fitbit devices still don’t have that feature.
Tracker: Fitness, heart rate | Supported OS: Android, iOS | Max battery life: 16 days | Size: 135mm–210mm | Water resistant: Yes
Engadget tested some of the cheapest fitness trackers you can buy, all coming in at under $100. At the top of the list is the Xiaomi Band 8, which beat the Fitbit Inspire 3 and the Amazfit Band 7, namely due to its many sport tracking modes, unique “pebble” running mode and free and accurate sleep monitoring features. It’s also quite comfortable and fairly stylish with its sleek and nimble design. It also has a quick-charge feature that makes it easy to wear for 10 to 14 days (depending on usage) before it runs out of juice. Importantly, the watch made it really easy to track niche exercises straight on the watch face without being too distracting during workouts. And like the other fitness trackers on this list, it works with both Android and iPhone too.
Pebble mode is a standout feature as it lets you attach the tracker to your shoe using the included running clip accessory, and it did a good job of reporting information about your pace and cadence directly on the display upon completing a run. More detailed insights are also viewable on your smartphone through the Mi companion app. When the Band 8 is on your wrist, it makes it easy to set up workout goals related to time, distance or calories burned per session for activities like deadlifting or skateboarding.
While the Amazfit Band 7 was only beaten by a hair in terms of its exercise tracking capabilities, the Xiaomi Band 8 had a real edge when compared to the Fitbit Inspire 3. Whereas Fitbit’s device was limited to only six pre-loaded exercise shortcuts, the Xiaomi Band 8 had more than 150 exercises you could track directly on the wearable straight out of the box. The Inspire 3 also blocked me from getting more detailed insights about my sleep and recovery because that information lives behind the Fitbit Premium paywall. Xiaomi’s devices, on the other hand, provided in-depth sleep reports with curated advice on how to improve your resting hours free of charge. — Malak Saleh, reporter
All of the previously mentioned fitness trackers are attractive in their own way (bonus points to those that have interchangeable bands), but they share a similar look. There aren’t many alternative designs for these devices anymore. The $70 Withings Move watch is an exception, and one of the most traditionally fashionable fitness trackers you can get. It’s an analog watch face with a couple of health monitoring features including step, calorie, distance and sleep tracking, connected GPS, auto-recognition for more than 30 workouts and a water-resistant design. But we really love it for its long battery life: it’ll last up to 18 months before the coin cell needs a replacement. Although this means there’s no charger to juice the battery back up, you can pick up a replacement coin cell relatively cheaply.
The answer seems simple: Fitness trackers are best at monitoring exercise, be it a 10-minute walk around the block or that half marathon you’ve been diligently training for. Obviously, smartwatches can help you reach your fitness goals too, but there are some areas where fitness bands have proven to be the best buy: focus, design, better battery life, durability and price.
When I say “focus,” I’m alluding to the fact that fitness trackers are made to track activity well; anything else is extra. They often don’t have the bells and whistles that smartwatches do, which could distract from their advanced health tracking abilities. They also tend to have fewer sensors and internal components, which keeps them smaller and lighter. Fitness trackers are also a better option for those who just want a less conspicuous gadget on their wrists all day.
Battery life tends to be better on fitness trackers, too. While most smartwatches last one to two days on a single charge, fitness bands offer between five and seven days of battery life — and that’s with all-day and all-night use even with sleep tracking features enabled. Many fitness trackers also slot nicely into your existing ecosystem, syncing seamlessly with your smartphone, other fitness apps and cloud storage to keep all your data in one place.
When it comes to price point, there’s no competition. Most worthwhile smartwatches start at $175 to $200, but you can get a solid smart band starting at $70. Yes, more expensive bands exist (and we recommend a few here), but you’ll find more options under $150 in the fitness tracker space than in the smartwatch space.
When to get a smartwatch instead
If you need a bit more from your wearable and don’t want to be limited to a fitness or activity tracker, a smartwatch may be the best buy for you. There are things like on-watch apps, alerts and even more robust fitness features that smartwatches have and the best fitness trackers don’t. You can use one to control smart home appliances, set timers and reminders, check weather reports and more. Some smartwatches let you choose which apps you want to receive alerts from, and the options go beyond just call and text notifications. Just make sure your smartwatch is compatible with your Android or iPhone, however, before purchasing, as not all of them work with both operating systems.
But the extra fitness features are arguably the most important thing to think about when deciding between a fitness tracker and a smartwatch. The latter devices tend to be larger, giving them more space for things like GPS, barometers, onboard music storage and more. While you can find built-in GPS on select fitness trackers, it’s not common.
If you’re someone who’s seriously training — say for a race or an endurance challenge — a dedicated running watch may be worth considering. These often provide more in-depth cardio analytics, recovery insights, and real-time pace data that go beyond what standard trackers can deliver.
Other fitness trackers we’ve tested
Fitbit Inspire 3
The Fitbit Inspire 3 strips out all the luxury features from the Charge 6 and keeps only the essential tracking features. You won’t get built-in GPS tracking or Fitbit Pay or Spotify control but you do get solid activity tracking, automatic workout detection, smartphone alerts and plenty more. The updated version has a sleeker design and includes a color touch display and connected GPS, the latter of which lets you track pace and distance while you run or bike outside while you have your phone with you. When compared to the Charge 6, the Inspire 3 is more fashionable, too. Its interchangeable bands let you switch up the look and feel of your tracker whenever you want, and it’s slim enough to blend in with other jewelry you might be wearing. We were also impressed by its multi-day battery life: Fitbit promises up to 10 days on a single charge, and that checked out for us. After four days of round-the-clock use, the Inspire 3 still had 66 percent battery left to go.
Fitness tracker FAQs
How long do fitness tracker batteries last?
The battery life of fitness trackers can vary depending on the model and its features. On average, most fitness trackers last between five to seven days on a single charge. Basic models with limited features could stretch up to 10 days or more. However, more advanced trackers with features like continuous heart rate monitoring, GPS, or always-on displays may need recharging after one to three days. If you’re using GPS or streaming music through your fitness tracker, you’ll find that this drains the battery faster. By using these features less, or turning them off, you’ll extend battery life.
For one reason (coffee) or another (a small child), I constantly find myself with full hands. Simultaneously, the organization of the day relies heavily on a carefully curated alarm schedule. As a result, I am often left desperately trying to dismiss my buzzing smartwatch with just one hand. While I’m well aware of gesture controls, a deviant part of my brain insists on making do with another appendage instead: my nose.
Do you use your nose to navigate your wearable?
134 votes
Blame it on being a millennial, but I struggle with the principle of delayed gratification when it comes to tech. My adrenaline spikes at the sight of an alert, the feel of a vibration, or the sound of a ping. I need the dopamine hit that comes from seeing what’s happening on my device. You should see me when I can’t figure out which of the 15 fitness trackers on my desk is vibrating. Needless to say, if the device on my wrist wants to show me something, I need to see it, even if it means abandoning my dignity. Rather than waiting until my fingers are free, I am that person in the cereal aisle, nosing her smartwatch.
Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
I know that gesture controls aren’t exactly new. These “hand-free” options aim to make tech more accessible and convenient, and for the most part, I applaud the effort. But the truth is, they rarely live up to expectations. For example, I was very excited to test Apple’s Double Tap when it launched, but a generation later, it still doesn’t offer the functionality I actually want. Most of the time, I end up looking like I’m trying to make a tiny alligator hand puppet chomp air. My nose, on the other hand, offers more tangible interactions — even if I look equally ridiculous doing it.
Unlike gesture controls, my nose offers more tangible interactions.
When an alarm sounds, I take my watch to the face and hit snooze. When my family chat blows up, I nod up and down to see which sibling is cracking a joke. When the notifications I keep forgetting to disable pop up excessively, I Pinocchio them right back into the ether.
Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
Ironically, my nose faces similar issues as my fingers. (Yes, I’ve done this enough times that I’ve even identified problem areas). First, like any fair-skinned freckle face, I was taught to fear the wrath of the sun at an early age and apply SPF accordingly. A greasy nose doesn’t play great with touchscreens, and the resulting smudges are gross enough to make me question my life choices. Likewise, if my watch is wet, my nose’s tippy taps are even less effective.
Cold and flu season isn’t great for this method, either. Nasal runoff (aka boogers) can mess with the screen’s responsiveness. Considering winter gloves are one of the biggest hindrances to touchscreen use, it’s unfortunate that cold weather and stuffy noses often go hand in hand. Notably, your chin will work, but it’s a bit of a blunt instrument. With my nose, I can still see the screen as I scroll down a text thread or tap into a notification. It’s not the most refined behavior, but I make it as respectable as I can. Using my chin? Well, it’s more of a pecking-chicken motion.
SPF sunscreen still poses an issue, and so does a wet touchscreen.
The more I digress, the more I realize this is not my finest act as a wearables reviewer, but hey, I know I am not alone. At least one other Android Authority editor, who will remain nameless, signed off on this assignment in light of their own experience with nose-based interactions. I also found some Reddit threads of people celebrating the innovative use of their snouts. I can confirm that the elbows and toes will also work, as will presumably most body parts. If you find yourself holding a baby when a text comes in, their little feet also do the trick. I’d assume their adorable noses would also work, but I can’t, in good conscience, condone that.
The latest form factor to crash the wearables party is the finger-based smart ring. Smaller than Cracker Jack prizes and predominantly led by the Oura Ring 3, a small army of smart rings has hit shelves (and hands), offering users an alternative way to quietly track their stats. These rings share a variety of core features and, frankly, very similar designs, but a few brands have chosen one significant way to help their mini fitness trackers stand out, and that is smarter charging.
The Samsung Galaxy Ring has it right; Oura has it wrong. Here’s why.
What type of smart ring charger do you prefer?
3 votes
Samsung charges onto the scene
Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
The highly-anticipated Samsung Galaxy Ring made its way to market in July, finally giving Oura a worthy competitor. A fan of the Galaxy Watch series, I was excited to test Samsung’s new addition and see how the product of a wearables powerhouse compared to that of a single-minded smart ring company. After a couple of weeks with both devices literally on hand, my biggest takeaway comparing the Oura vs Samsung Galaxy Ring is that Samsung’s portable charging case is a godsend. All smart ring brands should universally adopt this mechanism.
To be fair, I first encountered a clamshell-style charging case when testing the RingConn smart ring. That ring shipped with a hockey puck-shaped portable case housing a 500mAh battery, which, according to the company, could charge the ring roughly 18 times before needing to recharge itself. The functionality is very similar to true wireless earbuds, like Apple’s AirPods and Google’s Pixel Buds, with their rechargeable charging cases. This concept applied to a smart ring immediately won me over, as I’m constantly impressed by anything that streamlines packing and travel.
Unlike pucks, charging cases pack a built-in battery to power up your smart ring on the go.
When early image leaks of the Samsung Galaxy Ring showed a similar charging case design, I was thrilled. And when I got my hands on the company’s translucent ring box of a charger, it was like Samsung was asking for my hand in marriage. Considering I’m pretty sure my partner simply fished out a precariously pocketed, unboxed ring before proposing, I never realized how much packaging could win me over. Samsung’s ghostly design with its built-in battery is attractive, portable, and highly convenient. Comparatively, puck or cradle-style chargers are flawed and limited.
Rocking the Oura cradle
Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
The “traditional” charger design for a smart ring has always been a puck. This typically includes a flat portion with an area larger than the ring itself and an elevated post for the ring to set around. Because of their sensors, smart rings typically need to be perfectly aligned on their chargers and often only fit in the proper orientation. The method works, but it’s cumbersome. If you tend to tangle your cables and the cradle doesn’t naturally lay flat, it can tip over and dislodge your ring. More than once I’ve returned to my own smart ring only to find it hadn’t been charging as I thought.
Pucks need to be plugged in and laid flat to charge as expected.
Charging cases, on the other hand, offer a tight enclosure that keeps the smart ring in place, no matter how you bump or move it. More importantly, charging cases pack built-in batteries so you can power up your ring without an outlet nearby and then recharge the case when it’s convenient. This means stowing the charger in a backpack for a long trip without worrying about cables or a power source. You could even charge your ring mid-flight, knowing you’re probably not racking up many stats immobilized by your seatbelt. When you’re not on the go, charging cases also just look neater on a desk or bedside table than a loose puck.
Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
A clutter-phobic human by nature, I love that the Galaxy Ring case looks like a curious little tchotchke on my desk. Cradle-style chargers, on the other hand, snake their way onto surfaces with unruly cables and boring aesthetics.
I fully appreciate that the smart ring market is still in a somewhat fledgling state. And, to be honest, I am excited about its future. I anticipate we will continue to see evolution and innovation that will only make this form factor more attractive going forward. For a long time, I was satisfied with Oura’s effort. Now that competition has rocked the boat, I hope Oura and other brands in the race continue to keep up.
I am excited to see innovation continue to hit the smart ring arena.
A smart ring offers several benefits over other wearables, including subtlety, simplification, comfortable sleep tracking, and distraction-free tracking. To me, though, the biggest strength of a good smart ring is its nearly week-long battery life. A charging apparatus that adds even more convenience to battery maintenance is another huge benefit to the user experience, and I hope it becomes the norm.
