Whether you are an avid exerciser, a competitive goal setter, or just a healthy individual, the best smartwatch for activity tracking is a good investment. Smartwatch can provide an interesting way to set goals and measure your progress towards goals. They can also help you keep track of all activities inside and outside the gym. Are you walking around the block during your lunch break? Even if you don’t do this in the exercise, this counts as your goal.
The best smartwatch for activity tracking is a great tool to make you healthier, more active, and even sleepier. It can help you motivate yourself, track your progress, and guide how hard you should be.
As a sports wearable device, an activity tracker can measure your heart rate, read blood oxygen levels, accompany you to swim and tell you if you are well rested. When you are not exercising, some can use it to pay for groceries, play music, etc.
With so many devices, choosing the best smartwatch for activity tracking for your needs can be tricky. We ran dozens of tests; spent hours on the treadmill, running, biking, and swimming-even sleeping-to see which ones are great and which ones can’t exceed the starting point.
There has never been a better choice of the best fitness tracker watch than before. But as the choices arise, confusion can arise. Which tracker has features that are suitable for you and the activities you are engaged in? Below are some tips and suggestions for choosing the best fitness smart watch 2021 for your needs.
What to look for in the best smart watch for activity tracking?
- Water Resistance
- Battery Life
- Built-in GPS
- Smartphone Compatibility
- Heart Rate Tracking
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How to Choose the Best Smartwatch for Activity Tracking?
When buying a smart watch activity tracker, you should first evaluate your needs. What do you want to track? If you only use it in the gym to calculate your steps and heart rate, then a simpler and cheaper fitness tracker will be perfect for you.
However, if you plan to do more outdoor activities, such as running or cycling, you may need an activity tracker with a built-in GPS so you can see where you are going and where you have been more accurate. Dedicated runners and athletes will also want to check out our best GPS watch page.
If you plan to use a fitness tracker for swimming, you need to make sure it is not only waterproof but can also track the number of laps in the pool.
Many of the best smart watches also have fitness tracking features and other features, such as responding to text messages and paying for purchases. But there are trade-offs. However, compared to dedicated activity trackers, smart watches are generally more expensive and have shorter battery life.
How we Test the Best Fitness Trackers?
For each new activity tracker, we evaluate its hardware design and comfort; you need to wear the device all day long, and we found that some larger trackers are not suitable for smaller wrists. If the device has a touch screen, we hope to see its readability, especially in bright sunlight. We will also study how easy it is to navigate the fitness tracker menu. If you are not participating in a run, you don’t need to tap multiple screens to change the music.
We also evaluate features such as step count and sleep monitoring, distance calculation, and GPS and heart rate accuracy (if applicable). Moreover, we can see how well the manufacturer’s battery life claims have been maintained in actual tests.
Finally, we test the effect of pairing the device with the companion app and evaluate the experience of combining the two. We will also look at which features the device’s app supports, such as coaching and diet tracking, and whether it can synchronize data with third-party apps (such as Garmin smart watch).
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