Fitness tracking is a major feature that comes with almost every smartwatch on the market. So, there’re a lot of options to choose from. However, there are brands who are masters of their crafts in the fitness tracking technology. I sight brand here simply because the quality lies mostly with the manufacturer.
By this, I mean fitness smartwatches that are well adept for fitness tracking in both designs, fitness tracking features and accuracy and long battery life.
The crux of the matter here is that the modern day smartwatch has improved a lot in terms of technology advancement and is a lot smarter. A fitness smartwatch can actually help you stay fit having features that can actually motivate you to stay fit and live a healthier life.
Going forward, this is a roundup list of the best fitness smartwatch on the market; the best fitness smartwatch for running, cycling, swimming, hiking, and more.
The good news is that a lot have changed over the years – The modern day smartwatch is smarter, more accurate plus the addition of newer technologies like the ECG feature. The bad news is price, some smartwatches on this list are quite expensive, but sighting great quality, we couldn’t help but include them in the list.
How We Came About This List
This list was compiled based on our best of knowledge after some research. We did take into consideration; the design quality, features, the accuracy of tracked activities and battery life.
So, here we go, at a glance – The best fitness smartwatches to buy in 2019
10 Best Fitness smartwatches
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10 Best Fitness Smartwatches – Further Details
1. Apple Watch Series 4 (44MM) – Best Fitness Smartwatch for iPhone Users
Although only compatible with iPhones devices and a bit pricey, the Apple watch series 4 released over a year ago remains the best choice for fitness tracking. No hyping, but this watch is the most comprehensive and advance fitness smartwatch on the market and the truth is you will never know the wonders of the Apple watch series 4 unless you’ve actually used one.
From the design to the features, the Series 4 is a great choice for fitness tracking. Series 4 has one of the most fascinating designs that match our description of what a fitness smartwatch should look like. It’s not bulky, it’s very light and the best part of it is the gorgeously rich and wide display that lets you see more at a glance while not forgetting the durable body materials it’s made off.
There’re many good reasons the Series 4 is undoubtedly the most outstanding fitness smartwatch. It’s capable of tracking quite a lot of activities which is made possible by the huge list of sensors onboard which also includes the innovational ECG feature that lets you take electrocardiogram test right from your wrist, helping your heartbeat and rhythm using the electrical heart sensor which then checks the recordings for atrial fibrillation (AFib), a form of abnormal heart reading.
With Apple watch series 4 you can track calories, complete sleep cycle, distance, and more. It sums fitness tracking into three categories; the move, exercise, and stand – these three forms the activity rings that tracks your activity all day long. It then shows you your progress for the day via the Health app that’s already described as one of the best companion apps.
Another outstanding feature is the heart rate sensor that tracks your heart helping you see your pace in real-time while also being able to detect unusual low and high heart rates. It goes further with the presence of fall detection and emergency SOS features.
While the fall detection feature detects when you fall and is able to initiate a call after 60 seconds of unresponsiveness to an already assigned number, the emergency SOS allows you to seek help right from your wrist. In addition, various workout modes can also be tracked by the Series 4.
The Series 4 comes in two versions, 40mm and 44mm. The 40mm is a better fit for women, while the 44mm is a great fit for men. There’s also the GPS only and GPS plus cellular versions. Understandably the GPS plus cellular version is a standalone smartwatch and is more expensive, but gives the best value for money.
Although not with the most outstanding battery life, the Apple Watch Series 4 will see you through the day on regular usage. You will need to charge it at least once every day.
Pros
- The most fascinating design.
- Straps can be changed and the watch face can customized to your choice.
- There is an ECG feature that lets you take electrocardiogram test right from your wrist..
- A comprehensive fitness tracker.
- Voice calls are now clearer with the new design.
- The new infograph watch face lets you see more at a glance.
- A standalone smartwatch.
Cons
- It is not compatible with android smartphones.
- Its quite expensive.
Recommendation – For anyone that owns an iPhone, the Apple watch series 4 is the best fitness smartwatch in terms of comprehensiveness and accuracy that can help you track a whole lot of activities while also motivating you to achieve more fitness goals.
2. Samsung Galaxy Watch Active – Best Fitness Smartwatch for Women.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active is the latest addition to the quite long list of Samsung smartwatches. It succeeds the outstanding Galaxy watch which both share a lot of features in common, however differs in the appearance.
The Galaxy watch Active is a decent looking smartwatch, it has just the perfect design that makes it a great choice for fitness tracking.
For a whole lot of reasons, the Galaxy watch active is a comprehensive choice for fitness tracking.
It comes with all the essentials sensors onboard while being able to track quite a lot of activities. There’re 39 preloaded sport modes of which the Galaxy watch active can automatically detect and track a good number of those.
From the basics, it can track your steps, calories, complete sleep cycle to the more advanced continuous heart rate monitoring that’s able to detect abnormal heart rates and will alert you, while also being able to detect your stress levels and lets you take breath sessions that helps bring you back to balance.
And if you are the adventuring type who likes to explore, there’s support for GPS/GLONASS that makes the Galaxy Watch Active a great choice for outdoor activity tracking. You can navigate your way through, track your distance, and routes.
Also available is its robust swim tracking feature that tracks calories, lap count and duration you spent while swimming which makes it a great choice for tracking your swimming activities.
All tracked events can be monitored via the innovative Samsung Health app which is probably one of the most outstanding companion apps with a design that let you see all stats at a glance as well as other interesting features that help you manage your fitness goals better.
To cap things up, the Galaxy Watch Active also has an impressive battery life that will see you through the day. You get two days or more of battery life more which I personally think is quite impressive. The Galaxy watch active is available in green, black and gold. So, the choice is yours, the gold color seems to be the best fit for women.
Pros
- Stylish, slim and elegant design.
- Built to last with durable and light materials.
- Enormous fitness tracking features.
- It is swim-proof.
- NFC is available.
- Loudspeaker and microphone available.
- A low budget fitness smartwatch, but great quality.
Cons
- Lacks the rotating bezel on its predecessor.
Recommendation – The design and features of the Galaxy watch active suggests a smartwatch that’s great for both indoors and outdoors activity tracking. I recommend this watch for every fitness enthusiasts who need s smartwatch that’s comprehensive in fitness tracking while having enormous features that complements your lifestyle.
3. Samsung Galaxy Watch – Best Fitness Smartwatch for Android Users
The Samsung Galaxy watch is one smartwatch on this list just like the Apple Watch Series 4 that has lots of features and at the same time is a comprehensive fitness tracker that’s a perfect choice for tracking both indoor and outdoor activities. There’s the standalone and GPS only version.
The standalone version is more expensive but gives a great value for money.
Just like the Galaxy watch active, the Galaxy Watch is a comprehensive fitness tracker. It’s one of Samsung best selling smartwatch to date and for a whole lot of good reasons, this is one smartwatch that can actually help stay fit and will motivate you to achieve more fitness goals.
39 sport modes are preloaded, so you can be sure the Galaxy watch can track your favorite activities like hiking, cycling, swimming, and other activities, the galaxy watch makes a perfect smartwatch for either scenario; indoors or outdoors.
There’s the HRM sensor that takes care of tracking your heart rate while being able to detect abnormal heart rate and will alert you. It can also detect stress and allows you to take breathe sessions to help bring you back to balance.
It tracks the complete sleep cycle as well as calories during activities. These are just a few of the activities the Galaxy Watch can track, so there’s no doubt that it’s a great choice for fitness tracking.
While the Galaxy Watch is a comprehensive fitness tracker, it also has one of the most outstanding designs. A classic smartwatch with rich display while not forgetting the very interesting and helpful rotating bezel that makes navigating the 1.3 inch interface very easy. It comes in two versions, a smaller 42mm and bigger 46mm and is available in silver and rose-gold colors.
The battery life is also great, you will get through the day with the Galaxy watch, about 2-4 days on regular usage which is actually very impressive.
Pros
- Premium design; classy and stylish.
- The battery life is impressive.
- The watch faces can be customized.
- A great choice for fitness enthusiasts.
- It’s a standalone smartwatch
- Accessibility is easier with the rotating bezel
Cons
- At 63 grams without straps, it’s quite heavy.
Recommendation – The Samsung Galaxy watch is one of the best smartwatch on this list with enormous fitness tracking capabilities. Its fitness focused and is a great choice for tracking both indoor and outdoor activities.
4. Garmin Fenix 5X Plus – Best GPS Smartwatch for Outdoor Activity Tracking
For anyone that’s into outdoor activities a lot, you need a device that you worry less about it damaging while you focus more on what you need to achieve for the day. That’s where the Garmin Fenix 5x Plus comes in.
Its Garmin’s most advance GPS smartwatch that’s built to last with the most durable materials while featuring GPS and other fitness tracking features that’s makes it the best choice in this list for your next adventure.
Although quite expensive, the Garmin Fenix 5X Plus is more than an average fitness smartwatch and that’s due to the features packed into one device. It’s a comprehensive fitness tracker that’s a great choice for tracking your indoor activities and even more adept for outdoor activities.
Starting from the basics, the Fenix 5X Plus can track calories burned in different activities, floors climbed, all day stress tracking, steps and then to the more advanced where it can track your activities in different sport modes that includes, swimming, hiking, skiing, cycling, golfing are just a few of sport modes the Fenix 5X Plus can track.
The Fenix 5X Plus also features the iconic full-color TOPO MAP with Trendline popularity routing, which uses billions of miles of Garmin Connect™ data to help you find and follow the best trails and routes. Especially helpful when you’re away from your home. This feature lets you quickly see the most-used, locally validated pathways.
The Garmin Connect IQ store is a particularly very helpful tool in managing your fitness goals, allowing access to some of your favorite apps like Strava.
Beyond the enormous fitness tracking features, the Fenix 5X Plus is built with stainless steel case while also is available in titanium DLC bezel that’s more durable, but a bit more expensive.
The Battery life is also awesome, you get about 15 -20 days on smartwatch mode while with GPS active, you get about 32 hours of battery life which is very impressive and one of the longest on this list.
Pros
- Sophisticated and outstanding design.
- Full color TOPO map feature.
- Multi satellite systems for navigating even the most difficult terrains.
- It is swim-proof.
- Built with the most durable materials.
- A great choice for comprehensive activity tracking. (Also includes a pulse oximeter)
- Huge list of native and third-party GPS tracking apps with lot of features making it a great companion for adventurous activities.
- There’s NFC chip onboard.
- Impressive battery life.
- Massive 16GB ROM onboard.
Cons
- Its quite thick.
- A bit expensive.
Recommendation – The Garmin Fenix 5X Plus is a comprehensive fitness smartwatch that’s a perfect choice for the great outdoors. So if you are after a watch that’s durable, a great choice for outdoor activities tracking and has a long battery life, then the Fenix 5X Plus is the best choice for you.
However for women who might not really like the Fenix 5X Plus due to its size can check out the Garmin Vivoactive 3 music which has quite enormous features similar to the Fenix 5X Plus and is cheaper, but lacks the pulse oximeter and has a shorter battery life.
5. Fitbit Versa – A Nice Fitness Smartwatch (Men/Women)
Fitbit Versa was Fitbit’s second attempt at a smartwatch and I must say it was a pretty nice job which fits our definition of what a fitness smartwatch should be.
It has just the right size, stylish lightweight design and a great display that’s sunlight visible. For the records, Fitbit is one of the leading brands in the fitness tracking business. All Fitbit smartwatches are fitness-focused and the Versa is no exception.
The Versa is one of the best selling fitness smartwatches on the market and rightly true for a lot of good reasons for which fitness tracking is one of those reasons. Although lacks inbuilt GPS, but works well with connected GPS. The Versa is a perfect fit for indoor activity tracking, it’s probably the best for tracking indoor sports activities.
As fitness focused smartwatch, the Versa can track quite a lot of activities which includes, heart rate, distance, calories burned, floors climbed, active minutes, hourly activity and sedentary reminder. 15 sport modes are preinstalled which allows you to record some of your favorite workout modes. There’s also the SmartTrack which when activated automatically records your activities.
There’s the female health feature that allows you to log your period via the Fitbit app which logs and compares your period with previous ones while being able to detect changes. There’s also an on-screen workout coach that guides you through while working out.
With heart rate sensor onboard, the Versa is able to better track calories you burn during exercise, and as well show heart rate trends while helping you discover your overall cardiovascular fitness level.
The Versa rated 5ATM is also a great choice for tracking your swims, it’s able to track laps, calories as well duration while swimming.
The Versa tracks your complete sleep cycle, it tracks sleep stages as well as time spent in each.
Another very nice feature is the about 4 days of battery life on regular usage. It’s one of the longest battery life on the list. With the Versa, you can go for days on a single charge which makes it a great choice especially for people that engage in ultra sports activities.
The Versa is available in different colors, gray, aluminum, rose-gold and all black. The Versa is available in three versions, the Versa mention here, the Versa lite and the Versa special edition. You can check out all the difference here.
Pros
- Slim, stylish and flexible design.
- The battery life is impressive.
- The watch faces can be customized.
- A great choice for indoors fitness tracking.
- Pay with Fitbit Pay.
Cons
- It doesn’t have a loudspeaker nor microphone.
- Lacks inbuilt GPS.
Recommendation – The Fitbit Versa is a great choice if you want a fitness smartwatch that adapts well for indoor activity tracking. It has a flexible lightweight design that makes it comfortable to wear all day long as well featuring an impressive battery life that’s lets you go long on a single charge.
6. Fitbit Ionic – The Best Fitbit Fitness Smartwatch
While the Fitbit Versa is a better fit for women, the Ionic is a better fit for men. It’s the first smartwatch from Fitbit which just like other Fitbit Wearables is fitness focused while also having a stylish and lightweight design that’s a perfect fit for the gym and otherwise – A really nice smartwatch I must say.
Fitbit Ionic just like the Versa mentioned above is a great choice for tracking your daily activities. It tracks your complete sleep cycle in four stages while being able to measure the time spent in each stage.
There’s also the heart rate sensor that tracks your heart rate, measures calories burned while working out and follows your heart rate trend allowing you see overall cardiovascular fitness level overtime.
It can detect stress levels as well, and like the Versa, it also features the breathe session that helps bring you back to balance.
The Ionic is the only Fitbit smartwatch with inbuilt GPS which makes it a great choice for tracking outdoor activities. Avid swimmers will also find the Ionic very useful with its swim-tracking features that includes lap counts, duration and calories burned while swimming.
The female health tracking feature is also available on the Ionic which allows you log periods through the Fitbit app. It’s important to note that the Fitbit app is a very interesting app in terms of intuitive features that helps you manage your fitness goals in very effortless way.
No doubt, the Ionic is a really outstanding smartwatch for fitness tracking. Apart fitness tracking, the battery life is also impressive. You should easily get over a day of battery life on regular usage.
Pros
- Great display that’s highly visible outdoors.
- Its swim-proof.
- A comprehensive choice for fitness tracking.
- Sleek and elegant design.
- Customizable straps and watch face.
- There’s NFC onboard.
- Impressive battery life.
Cons
- It doesn’t have a loudspeaker neither a microphone.
Recommendation – No doubt, Fitbit Ionic is great choice for tracking your activities. It has a great design and lots of fitness tracking features that makes it one of the best fitness smartwatches out there that can motivate you to achieve more fitness goals and as well help you stay fit.
7. Fossil Gen 4 Sport – A Nice Wear OS Fitness Smartwatch (Men/Women)
The Fossil Gen 4 Sport smartwatch is Fossil’s best fitness smartwatch, its actually built as a fitness focused smartwatch.
Although not the most elegant looking smartwatch in this list, it has a very stylish design, yet simple, having just the perfect design that makes it a perfect fit for fitness tracking.
However, the main reason it’s on this list is the Snapdragon 3100 advantage. The Snapdragon 3100 chip will power the next generation of Wear OS smartwatches and is expected to better user experience on these watches.
Although not with the most robust fitness tracking features and lags behind a bit when compared to some other smartwatches on this list, it’s still a great choice for tracking your indoor and outdoor activities.
With a heart rate sensor onboard, it automatically tracks your heart rate during a workout, and as well as tracks calories burned, and steps. It also has GPS inbuilt which makes it a nice choice for outdoor activities such as tracking distances, navigating your way through, and finding routes you’d take.
While not having the longest battery life on this list, the Snapdragon 3100 chip seems to extend the Gen 4 sport battery life with the battery management feature that will see you get through the day on a single charge. Not so impressive, but charging it once daily would keep it on most of the time.
Pros
- Elegant and stylish design.
- The Straps and watch faces are customizable.
- A great choice for fitness tracking.
- Amongst the very few smartwatches powered by Snapdragon 3100.
- It is swim-proof.
- There’s microphone.
- Google pay is available.
Cons
- Battery life isn’t so impressive.
Recommendation – The Fossil Gen 4 Sport is a decent looking smartwatch, although not with the most outstanding design, it has nice features to complement things while also being a great choice for tracking your daily activities.
It’s available in two versions, the smaller 41mm which is a nicer fit for women and the 43mm version that looks nice on men.
8. Huawei Watch GT – Another Comprehensive Fitness Tracker
Although has a classic design just like the Samsung Galaxy watch, the Huawei Watch GT is a fitness focused smartwatch which is a perfect choice for indoor and outdoor activity tracking.
The Huawei Watch GT has fitness tracking features that fitness enthusiasts will find very interesting and helpful.
Although it lacks some of the essentials you will find in most smartwatches on this list like onboard storage, NFC and loudspeaker, but beyond that, the Watch GT is able to track quite a number of activities that undoubtedly makes it a great choice for keeping a tab on your daily activities.
It can track calories burned, as well steps and monitors your heart rate via the Huawei TruSeen which uses a self-learning algorithm to provide real-time measurements of your heart rate while also features three satellite systems in addition to the barometric sensor that makes it a great choice for tracking your outdoor activities.
Avid swimmers will also find the Watch GT very helpful as its rated 5ATM and can track laps count and duration you spend while swimming.
There’s also the Huawei TruSleep developed in conjunction with Harvard Medical School CDB Centre which monitors every cycle of your sleep and is able to identify common sleep-related issues and provides more than 200 potential suggestions to help you sleep better.
A good fitness smartwatch will let you go long on a single charge and the Huawei Watch GT is no exception.
It has a highly impressive battery life that sees you go for 5 to 10 days on regular usage. This makes it a great choice for triathlon athletes and individuals that engage in extreme workout sessions.
Pros
- A fitness smartwatch with classic and stylish lightweight design.
- Comes with preinstalled fitness coaching courses.
- The Straps and watch faces are customizable.
- A great choice for indoor and outdoor activity tracking.
- It is swim-proof.
Cons
- There is no NFC, Wi-Fi, nor loudspeaker.
- Very little onboard memory space.
Recommendation – Like earlier mentioned, the Huawei Watch GT lacks some essentials, but beyond that you have a fitness smartwatch that’s a perfect fit for tracking both indoor and outdoor activities while not forgetting the lightweight design and impressive long battery life.
9. Suunto 9 Baro – Another Outstanding GPS Fitness Smartwatch for Men
Suunto 9 Baro is another great alternative to the Garmin Fenix 5X Plus, it’s a durable GPS smartwatch with an outstanding aesthetics and a comprehensive fitness tracker for indoor sports and even more adept for the great outdoors.
The 9 Baro is an advanced GPS smartwatch with quite a lot of features mostly geared towards fitness tracking. It comes with all the basic sensors like HRM, accelerometer, compass, and barometer which combines GPS data with barometric altitude information (FusedAlti™). Based on data from the barometer, it also provides outdoor information like sea level air pressure and has a storm alarm.
The Suunto 9 Baro can track your step, calories and heart rate while working out, sleep and as well can track activities of about 80 preloaded sport modes making it a comprehensive fitness tracker.
It also features a multi-satellite navigation system that sees it track outdoor activities and navigates even the most difficult terrains.
Sport modes the Suunto 9 Baro can track include; hiking, climbing, cycling, swimming and a lot more.
As per swimming, the Suunto 9 Baro is rated 100ATM which makes it swim-proof and coupled with the huge swim-tracking features present which include; records heart rate while swimming, swimming duration, SWOLF efficiency plus other interesting features that makes it a great choice for tracking your swims.
One other outstanding feature, is the long battery life of the Suunto 9 Baro. It features an advance battery life management system that’s sees it last up to 100 hours with continuous GPS activity tracking. This allows you to focus more on what is needed to be achieved which off course makes it a great choice for triathlon athletes and fitness enthusiasts alike who engage in ultra sport activities.
Activities tracked can be monitored via the Suunto app which has really improved overtime and offers a great interface and interesting features that improve user’s experience to a great extent.
Going by the size, the Suunto 9 Baro is a perfect fit for men. It comes in various colors, black, titanium, copper, white, and gold.
The titanium version is more durable and a little more expensive that the other versions.
Pros
- Outstanding design, a perfect fit for any occasion.
- Long battery life.
- Multi satellite systems for navigating even the most difficult terrains.
- It is swim-proof.
- Built with the most durable materials.
- A great choice for comprehensive activity tracking.
- Easily readable display outdoors.
Cons
- Its quiet thick.
- Lacks NFC, Wi-Fi and onboard music storage.
Recommendation – Although lacks Wi-Fi, NFC, onboard storage, Suunto 9 Baro is a nice looking GPS fitness smartwatch that’s a great choice for tracking your outdoor activities. It shines in having lots of fitness tracking features and one on the longest battery life in this list. It’s a great choice if you want something that can go the long run and survives tougher terrains.
10. Ticwatch E2 – A Low-budget Wear OS Fitness Smartwatch
Mobvoi’s Ticwatch E2 is a decent low-budget smartwatch. It’s actually the cheapest on this list, but great quality. It’s one of the two versions released in January, 2019 alongside the
Ticwatch S2.
The E2 is fitness focused and going by the design, it’s a perfect fit for the gym and will also look great for other casual events.
The Ticwatch E2 features Mobvoi TicMotion AI algorithms which automatically monitors your daily activities 24 hours a day while being able to track your sleep, steps and as well calculate calories while you’re working out.
Rated 5ATM, the E2 is swim-proof and in addition is an intelligent machine learning algorithm which can count laps, stroke and lap time duration.
Running on Wear OS, you get access to some of your favorite fitness apps such as Strava. Talking about the Wear OS, it has improved over the last one year following series of updates. Google Fit is a lot more helpful and easier to access.
Ticwear app is the E2 companion app that’s let you see and manage your fitness goals effortlessly.
Beyond the fitness tracking features, the E2 also has a remarkable battery life which should see you through the day on regular usage.
Pros
- Stylish and elegant design.
- A great choice for fitness tracking.
- Its swim-proof.
- Support multi navigational system.
- It has inbuilt microphone.
Cons
- There is no NFC.
- Lacks ambient light sensor.
- Runs on Snapdragon 2100 which is outdated.
Recommendation – The Ticwatch E2 might not have a mobile payment system onabord nor a premium design, but it sure is a decent smartwatch that’s low priced, yet great quality. A great choice for fitness tracking plus a long battery life that lets you go over day on a single charge.
Conclusion
In summary, the modern day smartwatch can go a long way in helping you stay fit and live a healthier life. The ones mentioned in this list are the best you can get in terms of design, fitness tracking features and long battery life while still keeping you connected to all that matters to you.
Other Highly Recommended Fitness Smartwatches
- Ticwatch S2
- Amazfit Bip
- Garmin Forerunner 935
- Amazfit Verge
- Casio Pro Trek WSD-F30
Other Resourceful Lists
Just in case you didn’t find a fitness smartwatch on this list that you like, below are other highly resourceful lists to check;
2 Comments
Veru informative blog, best of luck kindly post more blogs.
Thank you for your kind words. Will definitely make more informative blog posts.