It’s a fitness tracker, but you can run some Google apps on the band itself, such as maps and messaging. It also gets about a week of battery life, so you can fall into bed without worrying about recharging it nightly. The Fitbit Charge 6 is a great overall choice that combines fitness tracker features with sleep tracking, and it even lets you use some Google apps. It’s not too costly, either, so you get plenty of value for your money.

• While you sleep, the Pixel Watch 4 tracks time spent in light, deep, and REM sleep, alongside heart rate variability, restlessness, and breathing patterns.
• (In fact, I often forgot to take it off before hopping in the shower.) Though it isn’t as inconspicuous as the Oura Ring, the Whoop strap blended in with outfits more easily than the bulkier Apple Watch Series 8.
• Hevy also worked nicely with my Apple Watch, which meant I didn’t have to hold—or keep checking—my phone the whole time.
• Plus, it needs a smartphone to sync to, but again that’s pretty standard.
• This is a ring-style tracker, though, so if you’re looking for a fitness watch style, you may want to consider the Garmin Venu 3, which offers detailed sleep data and has Sleep Coach included as standard.
• The Apple Watch Ultra features all the bells and whistles you’d want in a fitness tracker, making it worth the splurge for endurance athletes, trail running enthusiasts, and tech geeks.

Whoop 5.0

Through exposure and testing, I’ve developed a deep understanding of what makes sleep trackers both accurate and genuinely useful. I also test each product in real-world conditions, assessing comfort, sensor precision, data reliability, and how actionable the garnered insights truly are. Much of the experience hinges on the Oura app, which is easily one of the most polished in the wearables space. It avoids the data overload that plagues some platforms, favoring a more https://www.healthline.com/health/hydration-top-iphone-android-apps-drinking-water holistic, adaptive approach. Instead of nagging you with step goals or rigid activity rings, Oura offers recovery and readiness scores that actually reflect how you’re doing, not just how much you moved.

Band vs. Smart Watch vs. Jewelry

I got a little less in testing at around 25 days, but that’s still much better than the vast majority of flagship smartwatches. This also looks way more stylish than beefier multisport watches with similar battery life. Over the course of two months, we tested 18 devices during daily life, activity and sleep to determine the best fitness tracker.

My total hours spent asleep

Fitness trackers are great for measuring the basics, like the number of steps you take in a day and the amount of calories you burn. Our experts dove into the leading products on the market to give you the ups, downs and other necessary details to help you make your decision. Then, as a certified personal trainer, strength instructor and yoga teacher, I took a handful of devices to test during my daily life and weekly teaching schedule.

Best Battery Life for a Fitness Tracker

The Fitbit Charge 6 offers key upgrades to the fan-favorite Charge line. Most importantly, I have found the lightweight tracker extremely comfortable for workouts and sleep, and I love the colorful AMOLED display for reading stats. The latest model reintroduced a physical button to streamline device interaction, which makes navigation much easier during exercise and on the go. Many typical fitness smartwatches (such as Garmins) are too bulky or sensitive for high-octane cross-training workouts. For example, you might feel nervous about doing a kettlebell snatch in case the weight knocks into your wrist tracker, or your Apple Watch might incorrectly detect a crash during a set of burpees.

Studies have been conducted on other factors too, like skin tone, body hair, and tattoos might affect the accuracy of wrist-based heart-rate readings. Wrist-worn fitness trackers that can monitor your steps and heart rate were once seen as cutting-edge devices. Now these wearables are becoming more high-tech with each release, equipped with features like personalized workout programs and the advertised ability to monitor stress or sleep quality. If you’re searching for the best sleep trackers, you’re doing yourself a favor. Quality sleep is necessary for feeling like a functional human, but it seems increasingly elusive these days.

Best Budget Fitness Tracker: Xiaomi Mi Band 4

A swipe up on the home screen will give you other metrics like distance traveled that day and SpO2 (blood oxygen), while a right swipe on the home screen brings you to timers, exercise programs, and other features. As its name suggests, the Light is a pared-down version of the $369.95 ScanWatch 2. The main things you’re missing are an EKG sensor for atrial fibrillation detection, a temperature sensor, blood oxygen tracking, and an altimeter for tracking elevation. That said, if you want extras, the ScanWatch 2 also gets you a slightly more elegant look thanks to the second step-counter dial. Fitbit (owned by Google) is a great Apple Fitness alternative if you don’t have an iPhone or Apple Watch (though you can use it if you do, too).

Other products we tested

You’ve probably heard this applied to business or sports, but it’s becoming increasingly relevant to sleep thanks to emerging technology found in sleep trackers. It’s worth noting that if you have a Garmin watch, it may already include sleep tracking (though the data here will be more in depth). But if you’re looking for an accurate, dedicated sleep tracking band that you can put on before you sleep and take off when you wake up, you’ve found your match. After syncing to the app, it mapped my side and my husband’s separately for 10 minutes. That first night, the sleep pod (which uses water to control temps) cooled the bed to 2°F below my baseline at bedtime, then gradually warmed toward morning to 2°F above my baseline. The next day, I received a full sleep summary (stages, time slept, score) by text.

Battery life

We collate that data to bring the best picks in each guide together, so you won’t find anything on this list that we haven’t extensively tested and reviewed. The big losers of the study were the other two apps, SleepScore (ultrasound reflection) and Pillow (accelerometer). The Google Nest Hub 2 was unimeal reviews complaints also consistently poor, which tallies with our own testing, and the Withings Sleep Mat proved surprisingly bad at determining sleep stages but did quite well with sleep efficiency. Accessing guidance in the Whoop app is also more difficult than in the Oura app.

That includes access to Google services like YouTube Music, Google Wallet, and Google Maps. Plus, it has built-in GPS and the ability to broadcast your heart rate with some Bluetooth-compatible gym equipment. If you’ve got a Samsung Galaxy Watch, you may want to consider the $399.99 Galaxy Ring. It’s a bit more expensive than the base Oura Ring, but it doesn’t come with a subscription, and you get much better battery life when used with the Galaxy Watch. That said, this is only an option for Android users, and even then, you don’t unlock its full potential unless you’ve got other Samsung gear. I also recommend the $349 Ultrahuman Ring Air for folks who don’t like the idea of Oura’s monthly subscription.

The Vivoactive 6 additionally offers some genuinely useful smart features, including support for NFC payments, onboard storage to download music for offline listening and mirrored smartphone notifications. The Vivoactive 6 is also a supremely comfortable and lightweight smartwatch, particularly on my 6.5-inch wrist. The AMOLED screen is bright and easy to view in direct sunlight, while the user interface is responsive and relatively simple to navigate. The Amazfit Active is a slender and comfortable smartwatch with a thin metal case, onboard GPS, over 160 sports tracking profiles, nearly a week of battery and support for offline maps. It’s available in both a standard edition for $99 and a more durable premium version for $129.

This stylish ring tracker offers consistently accurate heart-rate data and easy-to-follow guidance. For most people, the Fitbit Charge 6 is a great sleep tracker and fitness tracker all in one. If you don’t want to spend a lot, then the Amazfit Band 7 can do many of the same things with a less-premium build. And if you want to go all out, there’s the Garmin Epix (2nd Gen), which tracks sleep and almost everything else, too. Better sleep and reduced stress aren’t just nice-to-haves – they’re essential for a healthier, happier life.

Best Sleep Tracking Smart Home

First, I consulted with multiple physical therapists, strength and conditioning experts, health coaches and medical professionals for their recommendations on top fitness trackers, as well as features to focus on. While it’s advertised at 24 hours, most reviewers noted that this was shortened if you are actively using any activity tracking feature. If you’re training for a 5K, a marathon or anything in between, the Coros Pace Pro is a high-tech addition that can boost any training cycle. This incredibly lightweight and durable watch not only integrates with apps like Strava and Nike Run Club, but also offers the ability to plan running routes and download them right into the watch to access offline. The watch’s bright, AMOLED display is designed to easily be seen during the sunniest of days as well as during darker morning or evening runs.

Best Fitness Tracker Sleep Tracker Combo: Garmin Venu 3

In 2018, Joanne spent eight days testing all four apps at the same time (on four separate phones), and tested some of them individually for a few days. Our tester found this monitor to be incredibly comfortable to use and wear for running and strength training workouts. Without a wristband or ring to restrict movement or pinch when grabbing dumbbells, she found herself preferring this armband to other options for strength training workouts. She also liked that she was able to sync the monitor to her treadmill to have more accurate heart rate readings during her treadmill runs.

That said, the fourth-gen ring has an expanded size range spanning from 4 to 15. If you felt your Gen 3 was a bit snug or couldn’t find a size that fit right, you may have a better option now. Garmin wearables are also known for providing extensive in-depth metrics, and the Fenix 7 Pro lineup is no exception.

Snagging the right amount of shut-eye starts with a solid bedtime routine. But what makes the difference between a blissful eight hours in the land of Nod and a night of tossing and turning? Sleep trackers can provide some insight and maybe even help you develop better sleep habits. I’ve tested and reviewed a wide range of sleep trackers for years, from wristbands and smart rings to under-mattress pads and everything in between. My experience spans dozens of devices, including the ones discussed here.