Even as smartwatches have come in to supposedly supplant fitness trackers, they remain the most popular wearables on the market.
Trackers range from small clip-on devices to bands that look and act a lot like a full on smartwatch—with pretty much everything in between. So whether you’re looking for a serious companion for your workouts or a beautiful watch that just happens to track your steps, you’ll find something in this ranking.
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10. Jawbone UP3 ($129): Despite the fact that there is now a UP4, it really is not worth the extra $20, unless of course you really need that "tap to pay with American Express" feature. The UP3 is exactly like the UP2, except that it has a heart rate monitor included. It's a bit expensive for a tracker without a display, but overall it's still an excellent activity tracker.
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9. Fitbit Charge HR ($149): With the very cool Nike FuelBand discontinued, the Fitbit Charge took the space in the market as an affordable fitness band with just enough of a display to keep track of light notifications and activity tracking. The Fitbit Alta took the place of the Charge, but for those in need of a heart rate monitor, you'll want to go for the Charge HR, which is still an excellent fitness tracker.
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10. Moov Now ($59): This fitness tracker is the cheapest on the list and it also has the most unique look. The new tracker from Moov is significantly smaller than the previous iteration, as well as fairly attractive on the wrist. It's great for all kinds of sports, as it has a lot of built-in coaching and training features.
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7. Jawbone UP2 ($99): Although the UP2 is the older model, it's still a perfectly good fitness tracker. It's a beautiful device—and despite not having any kind of display, it's a very accurate and full-featured fitness band. Outside of having a heart rate sensor, the UP2 is still a very capable tracker, as long as you're okay not having any kind of display.
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6. Samsung Gear Fit 2 ($179): Samsung has tried every possible form factor and device to put on your wrist in the past five years or so. The first Gear Fit was an interesting experiment—an exercise band that had a full color display on it. The Gear Fit 2 took that basic idea and completely redesigned the software to make it much easier to use. The big feature here is the beautiful display—the best you'll find on a fitness band. It's still a bit chunky, but it has GPS built in, meaning you can take this thing on your run without your phone.
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5. Withings Activite Steel ($349): We've always liked the Withings Activite Pop that came out last year, but it's hard to deny the Steel version, which is the definitive activity tracker for the professional. If you want to track your daily activity (and sleep!) goals in a way that won't clash with your suit, the Activite Steel is your best option.
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4. Fitbit Alta ($129): The Fitbit Alta gets the award for the most beautiful fitness band. It's incredibly thin and comes in a bunch of different colors. Outside of missing a heart rate monitor, the Alta pretty much covers all the features you'd expect from a modern day fitness tracker: step-counting, sleep tracking, and picking up some notifications from your phone.
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3. Garmin Vivosmart HR+ ($219): For the most comprehensive fitness tracker that for those who don't want to run with a phone, the Garmin Vivosmart HR+ is your best bet. It's more expensive and a bit chunkier around the wrist, but for many, this is going to be the go-to for the more serious runners and fitness lovers.
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2. Misfit Shine 2 ($99): For the simplest and most elegant choice, the Misfit Shine 2 gets the highest recommendations. It hasn't been without its issues (in particular, with keeping the tracker for falling out), but with its latest release, the Shine 2 has mostly fixed that problem. Most importantly, it offers extremely accurate tracking that can rival any GPS running watch. What's more, the Shine 2 has a really unique look and even some smart notification features.
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1. Fitbit Blaze ($229): Fitbit has been in the activity tracker game from the very beginning and has always been at the top. The Fitbit Blaze is an example of the fitness tracker plus model—a device that has a lot of the functionality of a smartwatch, except with an added emphasis on fitness.
The Blaze is the best of the bunch with its color display and easy-to-use software. The heart rate monitor might not quite be up to snuff for fitness buffs, but for beginners, the Fitbit Blaze is a really solid, balanced activity tracker with just enough smartwatch features to make it feel worth the money.