Fitness tracker – which one is best for me?

In the meantime, every self-respecting smartphone manufacturer can buy a suitable fitness tracker with a wide variety of functions. In addition, a lot of fit trackers from manufacturers who specialize in it. So making a decision is not easy. Since I’ll get one myself soon, I’ve scoured the internet for the best fitness tracker and prepared the results of my research for you in this article.

Basically, before you decide on a fitness tracker, you should clarify whether it is compatible with your other systems (mostly the smartphone). There will be little point in getting an Apple Watch if you have a Windows Phone or an Android phone. You would waste a lot of the potential of your new gadget. This narrowed the choice a bit for my search – I am a “Samsung younger” and currently have the Samsung Galaxy S4 (after I was already quite satisfied with the S2 and S3). The Google search for fitness trackers provides a major test by Chip and an extensive report by the German Shape, which give the first clues as to where the journey to the best fitness tracker is going.

The best fitness tracker? Make a decision!

Before I started looking for the best fitness tracker for me, I had a clear idea of ​​what I actually want to do with it and which functions are important to me. For example, it was important to me that the wearable I ultimately choose has a long battery life and can record a relatively large amount of data. It was also important to me that it was comfortable to wear and the shape or appearance of the tracker. Smartwatch functions were not important to me, although I would like a normal watch function a lot. For you this means: Make a decision between a real fitness tracker or a smartwatch with Fit Tracker functions. At first I was of the opinion that I would like a pure fitness tracker that can last a few months without having to change or recharge the batteries. You will find out how I made up my mind if you stay tuned and read on.

The results

I was shortlisted for three devices. I would like to briefly introduce these to you here.

Garmin Vivosmart

The Garmin Vivosmart has already finished the test at Chip in 2nd place and has a solid 3.5 stars on Amazon. The battery life is a week, which is quite comfortable. It is waterproof, records sleep rhythm, exercise, calorie consumption, etc. and can notify you via a vibrating alarm when you receive a notification on your smartphone. The shape is very nice and the band should also be comfortable to wear. There are also a few different designs to choose from. The fitness tracker also functions as a backlit clock. According to the chip test, the app should be quite extensive, but unfortunately there is no heart rate monitor or only an additional chest strap. The Garmin Vivosmart is priced at around € 150. Go to the Garmin Vivosmart website.

Jawbone Up3

Brand new on the market is the Jawbone Up3 (the successor to the Jawbone Up24). On the manufacturer’s homepage, the wearable is referred to as “the most advanced tracker in the world”. However, due to its novelty, the device is currently not represented in the chip test or on Amazon, and you cannot order it yet (it will probably be ready in January 2015), it should be priced at around € 180. The battery life should be one week. As with Garmin, there are different bracelets, but as far as I have seen no display and of course no clock function. But that’s the only thing the Jawbone Up3 doesn’t have. With bioimpedance analysis the pulse, sweat production and much more is measured. Of course, the calorie consumption, the steps, the activity, etc. are also involved. What excites me the most is that the Jawbone Up3 can automatically recognize the activities (e.g. whether it is a run, a training session in the gym, etc.). It is waterproof, transmits via Bluetooth to the smartphone, vibrates to remind you to get up (smart alarm clock) or that you have been inactive for a long time and also has target functions and an app with “Smart Coach”. All in all, a really comprehensive fitness tracker package. To the Jawbone Up3 website.

Misfit Shine

Before I dealt with fitness trackers, I noticed the Misfit Shine as a tracker that sits nicely on the wrist and has an outstanding battery life of about half a year. Due to the long battery life, the equipment suffers a bit. The Shine can record steps, calories and distances and has automatic sleep logging. However, there is no vibration alarm. The tracker is waterproof, has a clock function and also shows you how close you are to your goal during the day. The app for this is also fine. The price and the rating on Amazon are also good: the Shine is available for just under € 100 with 4 stars. It is noticeable that the Misfit Shine only differentiates between light and fast movement at rest and that the distance covered should be relatively imprecise. To the Misfit Shine website.

My conclusion

Finding the best fitness tracker for me turned out to be not that easy.

After I got an overview, there were three potential candidates in the race, the Garmin Vivosmart, the Jawbone Up3 and the Misfit Shine, between which I found it very difficult to decide .

In the end I rejected the Misfit Shine relatively quickly because the activity recording was too imprecise and the range of functions was too small. You will find out whether I have decided on the Garmin Vivosmart or the Jawbone Up3 in one of my next blog posts with an extensive practical report on my new fitness tracker.

Keep moving until then!

Incidentally, the pictures come from the manufacturer’s websites, the contribution picture as well (Garmin website).