Things to consider
Smart watches and fitness trackers come in all shapes and sizes, some are bright and colourful while others look more like a traditional wrist watch. Fitness bands are usually slim, discreet and made to be worn all day - even when you’re asleep. They’ll track your daily fitness such as steps taken, calories burned, and even the amount of sleep you got.
Smartwatches often give you the health tracking of a fitness band as well as smart functions like instant notifications from your smartphone and contactless payments. Some look like a classic watch face while others have a more modern, tech-y design. They’ll often have full colours screens too.
Picking a smart watch or fitness tracker will come down to what you want from your wearable smart tech. A heart rate (HR) monitor is a great way of getting an indication of your overall fitness, so you can set new goals and make sure you stay your healthiest.
A good night’s sleep can have just as much impact on your health as a day’s activity – maybe even more. With a smart watch or fitness tracker that has sleep tracking, you can get daily reports on how much sleep you got at night, the quality of your sleep, how much time was spent in deep sleep, and more. It’s a great way of improving your sleeping habits, and ultimately getting more rest.
If you love to swim or just want to be able to shower with your fitness tracker on, you’ll definitely want to go for a waterproof model. The best thing to look for is its IPX rating, this will show you if it’s built to be submerged in water, or it’s just splash proof.
Battery life is important when choosing a fitness tracker or smart watch. Some use a long-lasting watch battery that can easily be replaced but most use rechargeable batteries. These last around about a week but you may also find that some need more regular charging, especially if you use GPS features a lot. All come with a charging dock or cable to make charging easy.
