Fitbits are pretty neat for a bunch of reasons; not only are they some of the best smartwatches and fitness trackers, but they're also super handy for keeping track of your health without breaking the bank.
These nifty watches help you stay on top of your fitness game by counting steps, monitoring your heart rate, and even tracking your sleep patterns. Plus, they come in all sorts of styles and sizes, so you can find one that fits your vibe. And let's not forget the battery life—these things can last for days without needing a charge, which is a big win in most people’s books. Our favorite of the lineup is the Fitbit Charge 6, but Fitbit has plenty of other great options to choose from.
TL;DR – These are the Best Fitbits:
- Fitbit Charge 6
- Fitbit Versa 4
- Fitbit Sense 2
- Fitbit Inspire 3
- Fitbit Ace 3
- Fitbit Luxe
- Apple Watch Series 9
As well as being affordable and useful, Fitbits are incredibly user-friendly too. The interface is easy to navigate, so you don't have to be a tech whiz to get the hang of it. Plus, they sync up with your phone, so you can see all your health stats right there in one place. Some even make great Apple Watch alternatives.
It’s important to note that Google owns Fitbit, and the company has been making several changes to the fitness tracker brand. To start, every Fitbit account will be required to switch to a Google account by 2025, though this will not affect your health and fitness data. They’ve also cut social features like Challenges, Adventures, and Open Group, which many Fitbit users use to get motivated. Google’s been removing the music functionality and some third-party apps from the devices, too. Most likely to push those who want smartwatch features into buying the Google Pixel Watch.
1. Fitbit Charge 6
Best Fitbit Fitness Band
The Fitbit Charge 6 is like your personal health guru strapped to your wrist! It's packed with features that make living a healthier, more connected life a breeze. This bad boy doesn't just count steps—it goes all out. With over 40 exercise modes, it's got your back whether you're hitting the gym or doing a yoga session at home. The built-in GPS means you can track your routes without lugging your phone around. Plus, it keeps tabs on your heart rate 24/7, and with the Active Zone Minutes and Cardio Fitness Level, you get a comprehensive view of your workout intensity and overall fitness.
But it's not just about exercise—it's also your health wingman. The Charge 6 boasts seriously accurate heart rate monitoring, ECG capabilities, and alerts for irregular heart rhythms. With SpO2 monitoring and notifications for high/low heart rates, it keeps a close eye on your overall heart health. And the stress management and nightly sleep scores? They're like your personal wellness coaches, helping you understand and manage your stress levels and sleep quality.
To top it off, you get a six-month Premium membership thrown in, giving you access to deeper insights, exclusive workouts, mindfulness sessions, and more. Plus, it's compatible with both iOS and Android, so it's a buddy for everyone!
2. Fitbit Versa 4
Best Fitbit Smartwatch
Rocking more smarts and a bigger AMOLED touch display than the Charge 5, the Fitbit Versa 4 is the smartwatch-meets-fitness tracker you've been looking for. Its easy-to-use interface makes finding the details of your exercises, responding to phone notifications, and more a breeze. With a battery life hovering around six days, it also outdoes many other smartwatches—we’re looking at you Apple Watch. Though, advanced tracking and the screen’s always-on mode drop that number.
The Versa 4 offers a combination of sensors, including a heart rate (which isn’t as accurate as we’d like), blood oxygen saturation, and even GPS, allowing you to track over 40 different exercises. It can even guide you through various workouts and keep tabs on your fitness goals. If you’re curious about your sleeping habits, the device’s sleep tracking is also impressive, telling you the different stages of your sleep along with providing a detailed overview every month.
3. Fitbit Sense 2
Best Health Monitoring Fitbit
If you like everything the Fitbit Versa 4 offers, the Fitbit Sense 2 takes all that and adds a dash of extra health monitoring. This smartwatch not only automatically recognizes various fitness activities, monitors your heart rate, and tracks your blood oxygen saturation levels but also accurately measures skin temperature variation and detects atrial fibrillation. There's even a GPS and altimeter built-in to keep track of distance, pace, and altitude whether you're hiking, biking, or running.
Your mental health is just as crucial as your physical well-being, so Fitbit includes a sensor to track your stress levels throughout the day using continuous electrodermal activity (cEDA) responses. It then prompts you to reflect on your feelings during those stressful times and suggests ways to decompress, ensuring you’re in better shape inside and out. Beyond health, you get a decent six-day battery life with light use and your typical smartwatch features, though there’s no music functionality or third-party app support.
4. Fitbit Inspire 3
Best Budget Band
Fitness tracking doesn’t need to be expensive, especially if you’re just looking for the basics. Look at Fitbit Inspire 3, it's the best budget fitness tracker you can buy, costing under $100, and you really aren’t missing out on too many features. You’ll enjoy scrolling through fitness data and viewing pings from your connected smartphone’s supported apps on a bright, colorful AMOLED touch display with two haptic buttons for easy navigation. Its battery life is also the best you can find on a Fitbit lasting an impressive ten days — though that’s less when taking advantage of the always-on display mode.
As for fitness, the Fitbit Inspire 3 counts your steps, measures sleep quality, and automatically detects various exercises to track and catalog them for you. There’s no GPS on this model, but the device still measures your heart rate and blood oxygen saturation. While a water-resistant design can go down to 50 meters below, so the only time you’ll ever need to take it off is to recharge.
5. Fitbit Ace 3
Best Band for Kids
Fitbits for kids? Giving your kids a fitness tracker might seem a bit extra, but you'll be surprised at how it'll challenge and excite them about getting up and moving around. For tracking, the Ace 3 includes the basics with a pedometer to keep track of steps, fitness activity monitoring, and sleep tracking. It lacks more premium features like a heart rate monitor, calories burned, and other advanced sensors to keep the price low.
The Fitbit Ace is built for kids from the ground up with colorful bands and cutesy animated clock faces like a bunny, a unicorn, and a spaceship design. Aside from being a fashion item, kids can challenge themselves by setting activity goals and receiving little digital badges for reaching them. It’s also ruggedized for school life with a swim-proof design, sturdy silicone around the screen, and a battery life that stretches eight days.
6. Fitbit Luxe
Best Stylish Fitbit
The Fitbit Luxe takes Fitbit’s tracking tech, and packs it into a classy little number that flies under the radar. The silicone band comes in several subtle colors, including orchid, black, and white, or you can go for the soft gold link band from jewelry designer Gorjana. There’s also a choice of stainless steel frames in soft gold, black, or platinum that blend smoothly with the rounded glass AMOLED display of the tracker. You can even customize your watch face using an app, making it uniquely yours.
The small footprint of the Fitbit Luxe keeps it subtle on your wrist but still delivers capable tracking that can keep up with you throughout the week, thanks to the 5-day battery life. In total, it tracks 20 different exercises, and you won’t need to take it off when you shower after with water resistance down to 50 meters. It’ll even monitor your heart rate nonstop and let you know your sleeping habits, though you don’t get GPS on this model.
7. Apple Watch Series 9
Best Fitbit Alternative
Fitbit has cornered the market on fitness trackers, but Apple runs the smartwatch game, and it continues to shine with the Apple Watch 9, the best Apple Watch model you can buy. Though the Apple Watch 9 no longer offers the blood oxygen sensor it originally came with due to legal issues, you still get a host of handy features, from extensive tracking and step counting to 24/7 heart rate monitoring and more advanced sensors like an ECG, skin temperature, crash detection, and more.
The Apple Watch Series 9 is equipped with an S9 SiP chip that processes machine learning tasks twice as fast as the Apple Watch 8, providing even more functionality for features like double-tap gestures to control the watch one-handed without touching the display, on-device Siri to process requests that don’t require info from the internet, and a brighter display. Unfortunately, this Apple Watch model still can’t compete with the multiday battery life of most Fitbits, offering just 18 hours of juice; you can squeeze out a bit more life by switching to low power mode.
Looking for discounts? Check out our guide to the best Apple Watch deals right now.
What to Look for in the Best Fitbits
Most Fitbits share the same set of core features, tracking steps, exercise, and activity level, as well as provide at least a rudimentary sort of sleep tracking—and approximate a calorie count as well. From that basic set of features, though, trackers can vary quite a bit, with simpler models clocking in under $100 and advanced smartwatch models costing $200 or more.
These days, virtually all fitness bands can conveniently detect when you’re starting common kinds of exercise, but not all trackers are equipped to measure every kind of exercise. If you’re a swimmer or want to track stairs, your options will narrow significantly. And if you want to leave your phone at home when you go for a jog, look for models with integrated GPS (and perhaps even the ability to store music).
The key takeaway is that you don’t need a tracker bristling with sensors that can do everything—it depends upon what you want to track. If you never swim, you obviously don’t need swim tracking. And if you’re mainly trying to get your 10,000 steps in and don’t do intense workouts, you probably don’t need a heart rate monitor.
Since most fitness trackers go on your wrist, some try to replicate some smartwatch functionality. Many bands can display phone call and text notifications, for example, but the best smartwatch experience comes from a fitness tracker that’s actually shaped like a watch, with a large screen, support for apps, and perhaps even the option to show on-screen workout while you exercise.
Finally, keep an eye on battery life. While most Fitbits run for at least four days on a charge, some can go iver a week. And that’s not necessarily true of non-Fitbit trackers. The Apple Watch, for example, needs to be charged daily.
While the Fitbit device itself is a big part of the equation, don't forget that Fitbit also has a large community of active users. Getting a Fitbit will let you join the community, sharing exercise tips, troubleshooting issues with devices, and plenty more. Though, as we mentioned, Google has cut some of those features. There's also Fitbit Premum, which can offer guided workouts to help you reach your fitness goals.
Fitbit FAQ
What are the disadvantages of a Fitbit?
Though Fitbits are great tools to track your fitness activity and help motivate you to reach your fitness goals, everything isn’t perfect. Its sensors and tracking aren’t always 100% accurate, so you must view the information provided with some skepticism. Also, most Fitbits cannot connect to cellular networks, so to use certain apps and features, you’ll need to be connected over WiFi or paired via Bluetooth with your smartphone. Plus, accessing some advanced health data and tracking requires a subscription, adding an additional expense to make the most of your Fitbit.
Does your Fitbit require a subscription?
Fitbits don’t require a subscription to use most features, but a Premium Membership Plan for $9.99/month unlocks more detailed health data and fitness classes. With this subscription, you’ll get a daily readiness score to know when to exercise, recipes, a sleep profile, mindfulness sessions, audio/video workouts, and more. But if you’re just looking to get all the traditional tracking and fitness basics, there’s no need for a Premium Membership.
Dave Johnson has been writing about gaming and tech since the days of the Palm Pilot. See him shout into the Twitter void @davejoh.
Danielle Abraham is a freelance writer and unpaid music historian.
