As one of many greatest names in health trackers, Fitbit is a simple decide for recording your every day steps or sleep patterns. Selecting the very best Fitbit mannequin on your wants, nonetheless, isn’t fairly as easy.
Fitbit Cheat Sheet
Cut straight to the chase with our prime suggestions.
The completely different Fitbit trackers have numerous overlap in options, and so it’s not easy which one is the “best.” That’s the place we are available in. We’ve boiled down the choices into easy picks that ought to match most individuals’s exercise ranges and types.
Update 11/21/19: We’ve added a brand new class to our prime picks: Best Fitbit for worth, and we’ve granted the honour to the Fitbit Versa Lite. Read on to seek out out what makes this a very good health tracker for its worth. Scroll to the underside of this story to seek out hyperlinks to all of our Fitbit critiques.
Best Fitbit
Fitbit Charge 3The Fitbit Charge 3 does not have the entire performance of the Ionic or Versa, however it’s good sufficient to turn out to be your go-to wearable.
As a hybrid smartwatch, the Fitbit Charge 3 gives the very best options of health trackers and units just like the Apple Watch in a single, reasonably priced system.In addition to step monitoring, steady heart-rate monitoring, and sleep monitoring, the Charge 3 gives water resistance as much as 50 meters, automated train monitoring, silent alarms, and the power to show your cellphone’s notifications on its sizeable OLED display. An NFC-enabled special-edition Charge 3 helps Fitbit Pay as nicely.Michael Simon/IDGEven with these superior options, you may anticipate 7 days of battery life on common.The one caveat about this excellent Fitbit is the danger of encountering a faulty unit. We’ve had the unlucky expertise of two Charge 3 items quitting on us early on, although we imagine most customers gained’t have any issues—our third Charge 3 unit has survived for months now.
Having hassle deciding between the Fitbit Charge 3 and the Inspire HR? Read our article evaluating the 2 trackers in opposition to one another.
Best Fitbit for worth
Fitbit Versa LiteThe Fitbit Versa Lite is every thing we love in regards to the Versa with a lower cost tag that does not reduce something too essential.
When it involves worth, principally any Fitbit can match the invoice. But all issues (and MSRPs) being equal, our decide for the very best worth is the $160 Versa Lite. It’s not simply that it’s $40 lower than the Versa 2 and simply $10 greater than the monochromatic Charge 3, it additionally consists of most of the options most individuals will search for in a smartwatch: a coloration display, lengthy battery life, wonderful health and sleep monitoring, and 50M water resistance.Add to {that a} rising library of apps and clock faces, in addition to a slick trend sense, and also you’ve acquired numerous look ahead to the cash. We can debate the deserves of upgrading to the Versa 2 all day, however for straight worth, the Versa Lite takes the crown.Best Fitbit beneath $100
Fitbit Inspire HRWhat the Fitbit Inspire HR lacks in smarts, it makes up for in fashion and ease.
Most folks occupied with a health tracker simply need a system that information steps, sleep, and coronary heart charge precisely and shows the knowledge in an easy approach. The Fitbit Inspire HR gives that and extra in a slender, fashionable hybrid system.The Inspire HR is actually a streamlined model of the Charge 3. In addition to fundamental monitoring, you get automated train monitoring, silent alarms, reminders to train, water resistance as much as 50 meters, and the power to learn your cellphone’s notifications in your cellphone. Michael Simon/IDGAs a extra reasonably priced choice, battery life is smaller than Charge 3’s—simply a number of days. This system additionally lacks the power to trace stairs climbed and oxygen saturation in your blood. You can’t entry notifications after you’ve cleared them from the Inspire HR’s display, both. Unlike on the Charge 3, they’re gone for good.But these trade-offs in trade for $50 in financial savings are honest. The Inspire HR provides the fitness-minded the necessities wanted in a hybrid tracker with worthwhile extras thrown in too.Best Fitbit for those who put on a watch
Fitbit Flex 2Fitbit upgraded its fundamental Flex band with water resistance for swim-tracking, however its step counts require handbook tweaking to attain correct automated exercise-tracking.
If you’ve already invested in a watch, changing it with a health tracker isn’t an choice. The Fitbit Flex 2 is sufficiently small that it may be worn unobtrusively subsequent to a watch or on the alternative arm, as a pendant or a bracelet, or clipped to clothes for those who purchase a third-party case.Its characteristic set covers the fundamentals: step monitoring, name and textual content notifications, automated train monitoring, sleep evaluation, and reminders to train. And whereas it lacks the extra informative show of its Charge 3 and Alta HR siblings, the Flex 2 is water-proof and gives swim monitoring. Caitlin McGarry / IDGIf you’re searching for a full-featured watch alternative, the Fitbit Ionic will probably be a greater answer. (Keep scrolling for more information on the Ionic.) For these searching for an unobtrusive and cheaper entry into the Fitbit world, the Flex 2 is it.Best Fitbit with each characteristic attainable
Fitbit IonicFitbit’s new Ionic smartwatch is a great health tracker however lacks intelligence as a smartwatch.
The Fitbit Ionic is the health tracker for many who need all of it. As you’d anticipate, the Ionic gives step, sleep, heart-rate, swim, and automated train monitoring; reminders to train; and notifications for calls, texts, and calendar alerts.But this health tracker additionally has options you’d anticipate from a smartwatch: an enormous coloration show, the power to retailer and play 300+ songs on the system, Pandora assist, contactless funds, real-time stats for a handful of actions, and push notifications from apps. It even gives private teaching for exercises straight on the watch. Doug Duvall/IDGAll of that performance comes at a value—the Ionic has a price ticket that places it in the identical vary because the Apple Watch and Android Wear watches. However, this health tracker has a bonus over smartwatches: its battery life. The Ionic will hold chugging alongside for as much as 4 days, whereas most smartwatches final a median of a day.To sum up, in case your focus is extra on having the very best health tracker that may additionally assist a handful of smartwatch-like capabilities, then the Ionic is the system for you.Best Fitbit for smartwatch followers
Versa 2With an OLED show, on-board Alexa, and wonderful battery life, the Fitbit Versa 2 is able to tackle all comers—together with the Apple Watch.
The $200 Fitbit Versa 2 could lack the Fitbit Ionic’s giant show and GPS assist, however it’s the higher Fitbit for those who search a health tracker and smartwatch in a single system.Like the Ionic, the Fitbit Versa 2 tracks most every thing: steps, sleep, heart-rate; flooring climbed; and particular workouts like operating and swimming. It can map runs, too, although not by itself—you’ll must hold your cellphone with you, for the reason that Versa lacks built-in GPS. All the knowledge within the Fitbit cellular and desktop apps lives proper in your wrist. Michael Simon/IDGIt additionally has comparable smartwatch-like options. In addition to notifications for calls, texts, and calendar alerts in your cellphone, the Versa 2 packs in a vivid OLED coloration show, the power to retailer and play 300+ songs from the system, Spotify and Pandora assist, and entry to a full app retailer. If you purchase the special-edition mannequin for a further $30, you additionally get assist for contactless funds through Fitbit Pay.What makes the Versa 2 a stronger choice over the Ionic is its dimension and worth. It’s smaller, weighs much less, and prices 100 {dollars} lower than its sibling, and it nonetheless gives 4 days of battery life. You can save much more money for those who go along with the Versa Lite model that drops a couple of of the options geared toward hardcore athletes. Overall, in case your smartwatch wants are pretty mild, this tracker is a strong, reasonably priced various to a dearer Apple Watch or Android Wear system.All our Fitbit critiquesIn case none of those Fitbit choices resonate with you, we’ve linked to all of our Fitbit critiques beneath. We’ll hold the checklist and this text up to date as Fitbit releases new health trackers.
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