The Best Fitness Trackers As Gifts
This year has been an exciting one for smart rings and fitness trackers , with several new devices that represent significant improvements over what came before. With these new releases in mind, here are my picks for the best fitness trackers to give (or ask for) this year.
The Fitbit Air fitness tracker is the best choice for most people.
Below I’ll provide recommendations for athletes, runners, and those on a higher budget, but before we get to those, let me introduce the best fitness tracker for most people: the Fitbit Air .
Fitbit is now owned by Google, and for the past few years, the company has been making questionable choices regarding its software and largely ignoring the brand’s iconic hardware products. Then, in a surprising turn of events, Google released the smallest, lightest, and most comfortable fitness tracker I’ve ever used (not counting the rings, but we’ll get to those later).
The Fitbit Air fitness tracker tracks your steps, sleep, and workouts without requiring much attention. The battery lasts a week, the app provides all the standard information without a subscription, and the price for such a minimalist device is quite reasonable: $99.99. The only real drawback is the overly intrusive AI built into the app, which can be disabled if you find it as annoying as I do.
The Oura Ring 5 fitness tracker is a top choice worth the investment.
If you have $499 (or $399 for some colors), the best tracker is the Oura Ring 5. Smart rings have always been quite bulky, but with the fifth generation, Oura has managed to shrink the ring to a size that blends in with jewelry rings. I’ve been wearing Oura rings since the second generation, and this is the first one that you can truly forget you’re wearing.
Of course, this pleasure comes at a price: the purchase price plus a monthly subscription of $5.99. But the Oura app is one of the most user-friendly and easy-to-use of all the smart rings I’ve tried. In addition to daily sleep quality assessments, it analyzes your data to show how well you’re restoring yourself despite stress and how regularly you’re going to bed.
Smart rings aren’t ideal for detailed workout tracking (or strength training) , but they’re great for simply monitoring your exercise intake throughout the day. For those who don’t need workout tracking or who track their workouts with another device, Oura is perfect for the rest of the day.
The Whoop fitness bracelet is the best fitness tracker for athletes.
Some people may need more information than the Fitbit Air or Oura Ring can provide. If they still want to avoid constantly wearing a screen on their wrist, the Whoop 5.0 is an ideal choice, especially with the Peak subscription (the mid-tier).
To explain the pricing, you’ll pay $239 for the Whoop wristband, including a first-year subscription. After that, if you want to continue using it, you’ll need to pay another $239 (or $199 if you want to downgrade and lose some features). This makes it more expensive than my favorite, the Fitbit Air.
But for the athlete who needs detailed data, Whoop really delivers. During workouts, you can see your heart rate zones on your phone screen, something Fitbit doesn’t offer. The app can also help you create weekly plans tailored to your goals—for example, total minutes spent exercising in zones 4 and 5, while maintaining a consistent sleep schedule and avoiding screen time at night. The app does a great job of analyzing how your habits impact sleep and recovery, and it’s easy to customize to your actual goals. I find it easy to find the perfect balance to avoid information overload.
The only significant drawback is that many athletes may want a device that displays pace or heart rate on the wrist. If your recipient already has a fitness watch, they can use it for workouts and Whoop throughout the day, and Whoop will automatically receive workout data from the other device. However, if you’re looking for a true fitness watch with a display, read on.
The Coros Pace 4 is the best basic fitness watch for runners.
You probably thought I’d recommend Garmin—and I will below—but first, let me tell you why the Coros Pace 4 is a real find, my personal favorite, and the best choice for most runners.
First, the price. At $249, it’s quite cheap by running watch standards. But it exceeds expectations: dual-band GPS for accurate pace and distance tracking, a heart rate monitor that performed well in my extensive testing , and a fun and useful feature— voice recordings of workouts .
For a Garmin with all these features, especially the Forerunner 570 , you’d have to pay twice as much. Buying a good Coros (or Suunto , for that matter) makes you feel like you’re affording something.
The Garmin Forerunner 970 is the best premium fitness tracker for runners.
If you have a favorite runner in your life (and want your budget to reflect that), the Forerunner 970 is the perfect choice. Our in-house marathoner, Meredith Dietz, has prepared a detailed review that you might find interesting, but let me just say right away: she absolutely loved it.
The Forerunner 970 features every conceivable running watch. It has all the basic functions of simpler models, such as the aforementioned Coros, plus built-in maps that let you pinpoint your location with just a glance at your wrist.
The 970 also features a wealth of performance metrics and workout planning tools, as well as a feature everyone loves: an LED flashlight that can illuminate what’s in front of you without obscuring your view of the watch. If you’re looking for the best fitness watch on the market, I can’t think of anything better than the 970.