The Best Fitness Trackers of 2025 To Stay Active, Tested by Personal Trainers and Athletes

The Garmin vivoactive 6 might not be as popular as other fitness trackers, but after testing dozens of them we haven’t found a smartwatch that provides as much value. It feels comfortable even after hours of use, can track a wide range of health metrics and activities, sends alerts from your smartphone, and has an 11-day battery life. 

Earning a 4-out-of-5 rating for general wear, our product tester notes the vivoactive 6 is “casual enough to wear outside of the gym.” And although the band has an athletic aesthetic, our tester says nothing about it screams, “I’m at the gym.”

Where Garmin shines the most is activity tracking.

“You can do any kind of cardio, strength training, yoga, and more,” our tester says, rating the vivoactive 6 a perfect 5 out of 5 in this category. “They’re easily accessible from the smaller button on the top right side of the watch face.”

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Another standout feature: the battery life. Our best overall fitness tracker offers up to 11 days of battery life, which means you don’t have to worry about charging it often.

“I put it on right out of the box and six days later I still have 42% without plugging it in once!” our product tester says, giving the battery life a score of 5 out of 5.

There may be a slight learning curve at the beginning, especially if you’re not familiar with fitness trackers. However, our tester still rated the ease of use a 4.5 out of 5.

“The interface is a bit clunkier than I’m used to, but once I learned where all the programs lived it was a breeze,” she explains. “It’s intuitive, easy to read, and the multi-use buttons on the side of the watch are super helpful.”

Overall, it’s tough to find many flaws (if any) with the vivoactive 6. Garmin has a 30-day return policy and includes a one-year warranty with their products, which isn’t anything special. However, many customer reviews speak highly of Garmin’s customer service team, which should give you peace of mind in case you run into any problems.

If you’re looking for something that’s more fitness-oriented and don’t care about receiving text notifications, the Oura Ring Gen 4 is a simple yet effective fitness tracker that, you guessed it, is worn on your ring finger as opposed to your wrist. It works with traditional ring sizes and can be worn on any finger. The ring is available in sizes 4-15, which means you shouldn’t have any trouble finding the right fit, especially since Oura will send you a sizing kit, if needed.

Coop Mitchell, founder of GGR and a fitness tech aficionado, says in our Oura Ring review that he frequently forgets that it’s on. One of our product testers echoed a similar sentiment, rating the Oura Ring Gen 4 a 4 out of 5 for general wear.

“As someone who used to wear an Apple Watch, I love the ability to wear this whenever I want since it blends in pretty easily compared to a bulky tracker on your wrist,” she explains.

Wearing a ring instead of a watch has also encouraged our tester to dive deeper into her sleep habits.

“I wouldn’t never used my Apple Watch to track my sleep because it wasn’t something I was comfortable wearing all night, but the ring hasn’t given me any problems,” she says.

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She does have one design callout, however.

“During hot workouts, my fingers tend to well in the heat, and the ring can get tight and I’ll have to take it off.”

The Oura app provides you with two scores every day: A Readiness Score and an Activity Score. Your Readiness Score is how ready your body is to do physical labor, like cardio, based on your sleep, heart rate, and other metrics like body temperature and gives you a number between 1 and 100.

• 85 or higher: Go train!
• 70-84: You can hit the gym, just take it easy today.
• Under 70: You’re not ready to train. Focus on recovery.

Your Activity Score works the same way, but measures how well you’re balancing recovery and training.

• 85 or higher: Balance achieved.
• 70-84: Your balance is good, but can be better.
• Under 70: You’re off balance.

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According to Oura, the Gen 4 Ring’s battery can last up to eight days. Our product tester rated it a 5 out of 5 in this category, highlighting the battery life as one of the best features.

“It lasts about five days without charging it, which is something I was not able to get from previous trackers,” she says. “Plus, once I charge it, it charges very fast.”

In addition, the Oura Ring Gen 4 has a high water resistance rating that allows it to be submerged in up to 328 feet of water, making it one of the best waterproof fitness trackers. This makes it suitable for sauna sessions and water sports, though it’s not designed for diving.

Unfortunately, one of the downsides with a ring vs. a smartwatch is the connectivity (or lack thereof). Our product tester rated the Oura Ring Gen 4 a 2 out of 5, noting that it’s pretty limited.

“It doesn’t have any type of screen that will show you text messages or any type of notifications,” she says. “In terms of location, it does have the ability to find your ordering if you do turn that function on, but that’s about it.”

When it comes to value, we scored it 3.5 out of 5. The ring itself costs about $350, putting it on par with an Apple Watch, and it requires a $5.99 monthly subscription to access your metrics.

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The best Fitbit devices are well-known and respected within the fitness tracker industry. Longtime fitness writer Frieda Johnson, a certified nutrition coach, was impressed by the overall value, especially since it costs under $200. 

“I really like this Fitbit and I definitely plan to keep using it,” she says. One of the newest features is automatic exercise recognition, which automatically determines what type of physical activity you’re doing and starts recording your metrics that can be viewed in the FitBit app. It’s not always perfect, however, as Frieda notes. 

“It thought I was dirt biking when I was actually driving a truck down a dirt road, but I can’t really hold that against it,” she says. 

Other than that, it comes with all the capabilities that have made FitBit synonymous with fitness trackers. “I love that I can check my notifications, set a timer, and track a workout without having to pull out my phone,” she says, rating the tech capabilities a 5 out of 5. “I also love the Smart Wake option. It works better for me than any alarm I’ve ever tried.”

Although the design of this fitness tracker is sleek and minimalistic, it can be hard for some people to read alerts. Frieda scored the aesthetics a 4 out of 5. “I wish it came in more colors, but I like the coral/champagne color I got,” she says. 

The FitBit app has a dizzying amount of health and fitness stats that can be overwhelming and difficult to manage at first. Some features can only be accessed by FitBit Premium members, such as the Daily Readiness Score that lets you know if your body can withstand strenuous physical activity. 

“It takes your recent activity levels, sleep, and heart rate variability into account to give you an idea of how ready you are to perform that day,” Frieda explains. “If your score is low, then they recommend resting and limiting your activity.”

It has a seven-day battery life and is water resistant up to 50 meters, enough to earn it a 4 out of 5 on our durability scale.

As big fans of the Whoop 4.0, we were excited to test out the latest version of the athlete-focused fitness tracker. To no surprise, the fifth-generation version earned high marks in several key categories, further cementing Whoop as one of our favorite fitness trackers since it measures sleep, recovery, and overall strain. This fitness tracker is best for the serious athlete who wants a deep dive into the data that will help them train optimally.

Design-wise, the Whoop 5.0 is minimalist with just a strap, similar to the Beast Sensor. However, sometimes less is more.

“The Whoop 5.0 feels comfortable to wear 24/7,” says our product tester, rating it a 5 out of 5 for general wear. “In fact, after wearing it for a while I don’t even know it’s on—it’s like an extension of my body.”

That said, our tester recommends taking it off every so often to clean it with alcohol wipes (and to let your wrist breathe a little).

The compatible Whoop app shows a variety of data including heart rate variability, resting heart rate, and circadian rhythm. Our tester rated the activity tracking a 3 out of 5, noting a few issues and limitations.

“The Whoop does a great job at tracking your heart rate, and you can log workouts in the app after the fact,” she says. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t always do the greatest job of picking up the correct activity, and it doesn’t have GPS features, so if you log a cycling event it won’t show your route unless you had your phone with you.”

The strap has 24/7 heart rate, blood oxygen, and temperature monitoring. This can help you optimize training based on how recovered you are. For example, the app will let you know if you’re good to train or if you need to take a rest day based on the amount of strain your body is under.

Not only does the Whoop 5.0 measure your daily effort, but it also gives a monthly performance assessment, which is chock-full of useful data and insight. Although we don’t love the idea of constantly wearing a fitness tracker, it’s useful because the strap gives in-depth information about your sleep. The length, quality of sleep, and how much sleep you need to perform optimally the next day are all broken down in the app.

Another useful feature that made its debut with the Whoop 4.0 is a haptic alarm that vibrates to wake you up at the optimal time based on your individual sleep cycle.

Just how long can you expect the Whoop 5.0 to last before you have to charge it? Based on our product tester’s experience, the battery lasts about 12 days—just shy of the 14-day period marketed by Whoop.

“I usually charge it around 10 to 12 days to make sure I’m not missing any data,” says our product tester, rating the battery life a 5 out of 5. “One of my favorite parts about this tracker is that you can charge the battery while wearing it.”

Although the Whoop 5.0 technically doesn’t cost any money, you must purchase a membership to take advantage of its features. There are three plans available (WHOOP One, WHOOP Peak, and WHOOP Life) that cost between $199 to $359 per year. We like that Whoop offers a free trial option that includes a pre-owned 4.0 device, as this can give you time to test out this unique tracker.

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Let’s face it, fitness trackers can often be intimidating if you haven’t spent much time around them. For newbies, the FitBit Inspire 3 offers intuitive and easy-to-navigate controls at a price point we can’t argue with. 

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“This does a lot,” says Nicole Davis, a certified personal trainer and GGR’s head of content. “It would be great for beginners but offers data even data nerds would love.”

For under $100, you get the following tracking capabilities: Heart rate, blood oxygen, breathing rate, stress management score, sleep score, steps and exercise tracking, connected GPS, and call/text/app notifications. “Basically everything my other FitBit trackers can do in a smaller package,” Nicole says. “Also, it has more capabilities than some other FitBits, like the Inspire 2, which I like.” 

We rated the tech capabilities a 4.5 out of 5 and the overall value a 5 out of 5. One note on the connected GPS: You’ll need a smartphone app if you want to track your runs or rides.

Nicole is used to square-style watches but says she’s a fan of the Inspire 3’s slimmer design and rated the aesthetics a 4.5 out of 5. “I tried the Morning Glow/Black colorway and I think it looks sporty and more interesting than the all-black,” she says. “Another upgrade in the Inspire 3 is the color screen—the Inspire 2 only offered white text, and I like the color.”

You’ll get a 10-day battery life, notifications of any irregular heart rhythms, and movement reminders. Nicole also notes it feels more secure during strength training workouts. “I scratched the face of my Sense 2 doing kettlebell workouts and I don’t have this issue with the Inspire band,” she says. 

If you’re looking for something that will complement your wardrobe and not clash with it, the Ultrahuman Ring Air is your best choice. Seriously, these things look nice enough to be a wedding ring and come in five stylish colors: raw titanium, aster black, matte grey, bionic gold, and space silver. 

It’s on the expensive side, though Ultrahuman allows you to trade in one of their older models or an Oura ring to shave some bucks off the final price. There’s also no monthly subscription required to access your data, as you see with some other trackers. 

It has many of the same tracking capabilities as other fitness rings, recording your sleep habits (down to the number of tosses and turns you do in a single night), skin temperature, heart rate, and your total steps and caloric burn. 

“Sometimes I have trouble sleeping, and this helps me identify my problem points,” our expert product tester says in our Ultrahuman ring review. “It also guides me on when I should fall asleep and wake up. I check this religiously every morning.”

It only takes 90 minutes to fully charge, which can last for up to 6 days, and can be worn in up to 100 meters of water for up to 12 hours. 

The Withings ScanWatch Light is a hybrid smartwatch that looks like your traditional timepiece, except it comes with tech capabilities not found on any Pateks or Rolexes. Anthony O’Reilly, who frequently uses analog watches, is frankly obsessed with the all-black version he picked out. 

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“These are very stylish watches you could wear to a formal occasion while still tracking everything you want,” he says. “You can’t really tell it’s a fitness tracker unless you’re looking at it up close. Very striking colors with customizable bands available.” He wanted to give the appearance a 10, but our scoring only goes up to a 5 out of 5. 

Unlike Apple Watches or Garmins, the ScanWatch only has a small window in the center of the clockface where you can toggle between activity trackers and other features like a stopwatch, alarms, and more by using the crown. “It kind of looks like a ticker you’d see at the bottom of cable news channels,” Anthony says. “My one complaint is that at certain times the minute and hour hands have to move to a different position so you can see the ‘screen.’ This is only for the few seconds you’re setting the watch to track workouts or reading a text message.” 

Once synced with the Withings app, the watch displays your daily steps, heart rate, and other metrics. You need to upgrade to Withings+ to get certain data, like sleep score and cycle tracking, so we rated the tech capabilities a 4 out of 5. 

“Another reason I docked a point is you can’t do two functions at once,” Anthony explains in his Withings Scanwatch review. “For example, I sometimes use it as a timer during my rest periods, but I’m unable to exit that functionality and use the watch for something else.”

This will hold up fine during your next stairmaster workout, but if you’re doing CrossFit metcons or powerlifting you should know Anthony recommends keeping this in the locker room and using a different tracker. “This band isn’t really meant to withstand harder workouts,” he says.

Other than that, it scores a 5 out of 5 on durability for its 30-day battery life and use of Gorilla glass that prevents scratches or cracks on the watch face. “I still wouldn’t use this during kettlebell workouts,” Anthony says, “but after researching the materials they use, I’m confident my investment will last quite a while.”

Whether you’re training for a marathon or simply want more insight into your running workouts, you can’t beat the combination of comfort and functionality of the Coros Apex 2. A premium fitness tracker made for high performers, it didn’t take long for GGR Editor and triathlete Bojana Galic, NASM-CNC, to give it her stamp of approval.

“The watch is so comfortable and perfect for general wear that I never take it off,” she explains, rating it a 4 out of 5 for this category. “It comes with a nylon strap, but you can also buy rubber straps if that’s more your style.”

Most importantly, the Apex 2 offers excellent activity tracking capabilities, earning a perfect score of 5 out of 5. Bojana uses it to track her swimming, running, and biking workouts.

“When it comes to running, the Apex displays all the most important metrics during your activity, including pace, average pace, distance, heart rate, time, and more,” she explains. “I also love that the Coros app puts all your workout metrics into charts in the companion app.”

Runners should take note that this tracker can be a huge game changer for maximizing your training. According to Bojana, after you’ve mapped several runs, the Coros app will create an estimate for different race distances, including your anticipated 5K, half marathon, and full marathon times.

“It truly gives you every piece of information you need as a runner!” she says.

In addition to its functionality, the Coros Apex 2 stands out for its excellent battery life of about 40 hours. This wasn’t a surprise to Bojana, who previously used the Coros Pace for years and was incredibly impressed with its battery life.

“I only had to charge it less than once a week, and I’m pleased to see the the Apex battery life is equally impressive,” she says. “As a triathlete, I sometimes track three activities a day, so I do have to charge mine a little more often, but never more than once or a week.”

Even if you have a complicated training schedule like Bojana, you don’t have to stress about figuring out how to utilize the Apex 2. She rates it a near-perfect 4.5 out of 5 for ease of use.

“I have zero real challenges since the watch and app are incredibly easy to use,” she says.

Her only callout was that sometimes the lap and pause buttons switch during some activities, meaning she’ll accidentally swim a few extra laps on pause mode.

“Aside from that minor detail, I have no issues using the Apex,” Bojana says.

We’re typically suspicious of fitness technology under $60, just because you generally get what you pay for. That cliche, however, doesn’t apply to the Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 7, an affordable fitness tracker that performs as well as those four times its price. While we haven’t handled the Smart Band 7, we did test out the previous generation and were impressed with its capabilities at a low price.

We gave the Smart Band 6 a 4.5 on tech capabilities because it has everything from phone alerts to women’s health and stress monitoring. It had a 14-day battery life, was fully charged in an hour, and tracked more than 30 types of exercises; the Smart Band 7 improves on this with over 110 workout modes. 

Our only major complaint with it was with the looks and feel of the Mi Smart Band. We rated the aesthetics a 3.5 out of 5. “I don’t hate how it looks but it isn’t exactly the prettiest fitness tracker I’ve ever seen,” says former collegiate and semi-professional soccer player Caroline Lubinsky. She also said the watch caused her to feel itchy after extended use. 

“I’m not sure why it feels like that as I wear a rubber Apple Watch band all the time,” Caroline says.

Caroline gives her full thoughts on the previous generation of the budget-friendly fitness tracker in our Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6 review.

Could you imagine not needing to charge your watch for almost 2.5 weeks? With an advertised battery life of up to 16 days, the Garmin Fenix 8 – AMOLED easily takes the crown of the best fitness tracker for battery life, earning a perfect score in this critical category. Most of the fitness trackers we researched lasted about a week to 10 days, depending on usage, so this Garmin smartwatch is definitely at the top end of battery life.

Available in three case sizes (43 millimeters, 47 millimeters, and 51 millimeters) and multiple colors, the AMOLED model is a premium product that carries a hefty price tag of around $1,000. So, even though it boasts an unbeatable battery life, it’s certainly not a viable option for budget-conscious shoppers. Still, we rate the value a 3.5 out of 5 because of its brilliant AMOLED display, 24/7 health and wellness features, sport-specific workouts, and excellent tracking capabilities.

Although we haven’t tested this model yet, our team is quite familiar with the Fenix line. Nicole Davis, a certified personal trainer and GGR director of content, says her husband uses his Fenix 7 every day, and she’s surprised it’s lasted him more than three years. “He’s notoriously hard on his clothes, shoes, watches—everything really—so this is a huge testament to this watch’s durability,” she says, rating it a 5 out of 5 on durability. “The screen is indeed scratch-resistant.” 

It also received a perfect score for tech capabilities for its 24/7 health and wellness monitoring, stamina tracking, sleep tracking, GPS, and Spotify, just to name a few. “It’s pretty wild,” Nicole says. It stays wild, with replaceable bands (Nicole bought several to switch up the look) and access to Garmin Connect to participate in online fitness competitions. 

“This was 100% worth the investment,” Nicole says of a watch that carries a high price tag. “I’ll buy another one if I ever need to, but anticipate this watch lasting a long time.”

Compared to the Fenix 7, the Fenix 8 AMOLED has a slightly larger display (1.4 inches compared to 1.3 inches), the ability to make and take phone calls, phone-free voice commands, and a new metal sensor guard to protect essential sensors.

There are several versions of this watch, and as we mentioned before you can even get a solar-powered version of the Fenix 8 that helps extend the battery life. The Fenix 8 also provides 50% more solar power than its predecessor, lasting up to 30 days in smartwatch mode. One of our other product testers owns the Fenix 6 Pro Solar, and he gave the battery life a perfect score of 5 out of 5, too.

“I notice when active outdoors, the drain is a little slower,” he explains. “It’s also a motivator seeing the chart that shows solar energy from your day to know how much or little time I spent outside.”

Many versions offer a Readiness Score that lets you know how tired your body is, based on sleep and other metrics, and whether you’re OK to train or if you should take a rest day. In fact, our product tester who owns the Fenix 6 is still discovering everything his watch has to offer.

“The only challenge is that there are so many features that you may actually only be using 50% of the watch’s capabilities,” he says.

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The Samsung Galaxy Watch is essentially the Android version of the Apple Watch—a smaller smartphone that also serves as a watch and fitness tracker. In our opinion, the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 is the best bang for your buck for Android users (and yes, we’ll discuss why we like it over the Watch6 and Watch7). 

On the Watch5, you get Advanced Sleep Coaching, a curved sensor for more accurate readings of key health metrics, and Auto Workout Tracking that recognizes which sport you’re doing so it can record your metrics (time, caloric burn, etc.). 

We like it more than the Galaxy Watch6 because that version seems to be more concerned about smartphone capabilities, though the 40-hour battery life is much longer than the 24 to 48 hours you get on the Watch5. The GalaxyWatch 7 looks cool, but because it uses artificial intelligence (AI) to track many of the metrics, we’d like to test it to gauge its accuracy before giving it our full-fledged endorsement. Check out our Samsung Galaxy Ring Review to learn more about another Samsung fitness tracker as well.

The Apple Watch Series 10 is the latest version of the classic smartwatch and fitness tracker, and in our opinion it’s their best one yet. Boasting an 18-hour battery life, this uber-popular product offers a great combination of functionality, versatility, and aesthetics.

Compared to the Series 9, the Series 10 has a bigger screen, with Apple offering 42- and 46-millimeter options. This gives you up to 30% more screen area, making it a bit easier to use. Plus, the Series 10’s wide-angle OLED makes the screen about 40% brighter when viewed at an angle.

“I’ve used my Series 8 for several years, and my mom just got the Series 10 — I may have to upgrade sooner than later just from seeing the display in person,” says GGR Senior Staff Writer Stephen Sheehan. “It’s noticeably brighter, crisper, and it just pops.”

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Although our team hasn’t dived into everything the Series 10 can do quite yet, we do have vast experience with other models. GGR Staff Writer Matt Dustin gave the Series 8 a perfect score for tech capabilities, adjustability, and community engagement. “There’s no shortage of apps you can download and install on the watch,” he says. “It’s truly a small iPhone minus the camera features. You can track nearly anything.” 

“One big feature of Apple is you have countless band options to choose from, and most are adjustable,” Matt says of the band. 

It’s not the most durable watch, as anyone who’s worn it while doing kettlebell snatches will tell you. “I use a screen protector, but it seems a little fragile,” Matt says. “It has a few dings from clanging against stuff in the gym.” We scored it a 4 out of 5 on durability. 

Matt notes that, as with other fitness trackers, people with dark tattoos, like he and Stephen, might not get the most accurate readings. “I turn off wrist detection which disables Apple pay,” he says. “I can still track my steps, workouts, control music, and get notifications, all fine with me, but I do lose some features. One feature they really push is the fall/crash detection that automatically calls for help if you get hurt, but that doesn’t when wrist detection is turned off.”

For those with an older Apple Watch, the Series 10 has vastly better Siri capabilities, more memory, and a double-tap gesture that activates the control of your choice, whether that’s to use Apple Pay or hit play on your tunes. Furthermore, the Series 10 is the thinnest Apple Watch ever, measuring about 9.7 millimeters thick.

While the Series 10 offers faster charging, it has the same battery life as its predecessor — up to 18 hours with regular use, or up to 36 hours in Low Power Mode. Overall, this model looks poised to become a staple for both gym goers and everyday users, and we’re excited to learn more about its capabilities once we get the opportunity to test it.

Garmin may be the only company that comes close to challenging Apple for the smartwatch fitness tracker crown, and in our Best Garmin Fitness Tracker roundup we named the Garmin Forerunner 965 as our top pick for people looking for an Apple Watch-like experience.

You can control tons of apps, including any music streaming service like Spotify, use GarminPay (their version of ApplePay) at stores and restaurants, and can still be used to track various workout styles. The 23-day battery life is much better than the AppleWatch, which needs to be charged every night. Garmin gets perfect scores in durability, value, and tech capabilities.

Plus, it’s pretty easy to set up and use.

“It took me a day or so to figure out what all of the buttons do and how to access the screens for starting a workout or looking up my other health stats, but now that I’m used to it, it’s not difficult at all,” says certified personal trainer and GGR senior editor Amanda Dvorak in our Garmin Forerunner 965 review.

Regarding health metrics, here are some of the things you can track with your Garmin smartwatch:

• Resting heart rate
• Body battery
• Training readiness score
• Sleep insights (including a nap detector)
• Pulse ox (for measuring oxygen saturation in your blood)
• Stress levels
• Daily step count
• Daily calorie expenditure
• Vo2 max
• HRV
• Sleep tracking
• Training load

Although it has a typical analog watch design, Amanda was not too pleased with the color options. She says it looks like a “sports watch,” so it might not mesh with your date night outfit.