WE KNOW it's not easy to track all today's modern health metrics. From your resting heart rate to heart rate variability to the amount of steps you take in any given day, there are a host of stats to track—and it's easy to lose track. But there's a solution all that chaos, too, and it's the modern fitness .
Not sure what fitness watch is truly right for you? We can help. The writers and editors of have been wearing and documenting fitness watches as far back as 2015, when reviewed the very . We started comparing fitness trackers and fitness watches as early as . We regularly keep up with the space, too, monitoring the best devices from Apple, Google, Garmin, and a growing collection of upstarts and newcomers.
has tested well over 40 of the latest and greatest fitness watch releases over the past eight years, covering products from brands like , , , and more. We've seen all top-selling smartwatch models grow through each generation, which gives us an encyclopedia of knowledge in being able to cross-compare older watch models to their new versions to see if an upgrade is worth an upgrade. Right now in 2023, we currently list seven fitness watches that are worth your hard-earned cash, but if you want to know our number one pick before we start, that would be the . It's a watch that promises versatility in training, durability in design, and an easy-to-use interface—all at a respectable mid-level price point.
On the most basic level, the best fitness watches can offer GPS connectivity to help you stay on your training course and offer pinpointed location data and basic activity tracking. Depending on what your fitness goals are (like or cutting time off your mile PR), the addition of a fitness watch can help you identify where your training is lacking, helping you optimize your runs, your recovery time, and your training workload on any given day.
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But which watch is best for your particular goals and lifestyle? Start by studying this list, which we update constantly. There's something for everyone here, whether you want a full-blown smart device or just a fitness-oriented timepiece to record your laps and splits.
Best Overall Fitness Watch: Garmin Forerunner 255
Best Fitness Watch Overall
Best Fitness Watch Overall
Now 13% Off
Accuracy8.0 out of 10Battery Life8.0 out of 10Features8.0 out of 10Design8.0 out of 10
You won't find a better nexus if feature set and pricing than the Garmin Forerunner 255. You can use it no matter what kind of smartphone you have, and you can use it for fitness and for everyday wear—the Forerunner 255 has a rugged build, but it's slim and stylish enough to wear with casual outfits.
We loved using our Forerunner for running, cycling, kayaking, and hiking. It delivers serious battery life (up to 30 hours in GPS mode) and 50-meter water resistance make it ideal for triathlon training and marathon training. It's a huge upgrade over the last-gen Forerunner, delivering two weeks of battery life in non-GPS mode (the Forerunner 245 could last seven days). The Forerunner 255 also delivers solidly accurate metrics for heart rate and heart rate variability.
The durability of the Forerunner 255, and of the Forerunner series in general, is another reason we love it. You can get away with using this watch for at least a few years, which in turn factors out an even lower cost-per-wear to share with it's medium-range price point.
If you pick up the Forerunner 255, opt for the Music Edition. This allows you to upload over 500 songs for offline usage, no phone required. No more having to run with your phone in your hand.
Sizes: 41mm, 46mm| Battery life: Up to 30 hours in GPS mode, 14 days in smartwatch mode| Water resistance: 50 meters | GPS: Yes Sleep tracking: Yes| Music storage: 4 GB | Warranty: 1-year
Most Accurate
Most Accurate
Accuracy9.0 out of 10Battery Life7.0 out of 10Features7.5 out of 10Design7.5 out of 10
The Masimo W1 is a favorite of MH fitness director , and it's increasingly brought up in our office conversations. Why? Because point blank, this is the most accurate tracker on the market. During testing, Samuel wore both the W1 and a pulse oximeter similar to those used to track your heart rate in hospitals. The W1 was within two beats per minute of the pulse oximeter at all times.
The W1's ultimate calling card, though, is its tremendous accuracy. Typically, if you want the most accurate heart rate readings during a run or training, you'd want to don a wearable heart rate strap around your torso.
Unfortunately, the W1 doesn't do much else: it has zero ability to download or listen to music and doesn't send phone notifications. It's also $500, which is a steep price for a fitness watch. Thus the ultimate decision on the W1 comes down to how serious you are about tracking your fitness, and how you care about special features or sleek and sexy watch design.
Sizes: 40mm | Battery life: Up to 24 hours | Water resistance: 50 meters | GPS: No Sleep tracking: Yes | Warranty: 3-year
Best for Recovery Tracking
Best for Recovery Tracking
Accuracy8.0 out of 10Battery Life7.0 out of 10Features8.0 out of 10Design7.0 out of 10
Running Google's Wear OS and connected to Fitbit activity tracking, the Google Pixel Watch is an excellent fitness watch for tracking recovery. Thanks to high-performance sensors, you get spot-on readings for all the standard metrics, like heart rate, HRV, and breathing.
Most Google Pixel Watch users have strong opinions on how they view the smartwatch. Common qualms include a need for better battery life (Google promises up to 24 hours), and there are annoying quirks, too, like the way you have to activate bedtime mode manually before going to sleep. But the Pixel Watch still delivers solid health and sleep metrics, and it does so on a vibrant display. The watch design is also blissfully simple, and doesn't look or feel too bulky or heavy on the wrist (if anything, the Pixel Watch could probably have a few larger watch sizes to offer). All-in-all the Pixel Watch is the best all-around Android watch option.
Sizes: 41mm | Battery life: Up to 24 hours in GPS mode | Water resistance: 50 meters | GPS: Yes Sleep tracking: Yes | Warranty: 1-year
Best Deal
Best Deal
Accuracy7.0 out of 10Battery Life7.5 out of 10Features7.0 out of 10Design7.5 out of 10
The latest version of this affordable GPS watch is ultralight thanks to a 50-percent weight reduction in a new nylon band. This watch also definitely tries to make an impression as a fitness-focused device.
The Pace 2 may not succeed with hits muscle heat map feature, but it does stand out in other areas, namely durability and battery life. With GPS on, the Pace 2 can go up to 30 hours, and with GPS off it can go up to . The downside of all that endurance is a lack of UI fluidity. But for this price ($200), you just may be willing to look past that.
Sizes: 42mm | Battery life: Up to 30 hours in GPS mode, 20 days in smartwatch mode | Water resistance: 50 meters | GPS: Yes Sleep tracking: Yes | Music storage: N/A | Warranty: 2-year
Best for iPhone Users
Best for iPhone Users
Accuracy8.0 out of 10Battery Life8.0 out of 10Features9 out of 10Design8.5 out of 10
With a starting price of $799, the Apple Watch Ultra may seem pricey, but it's not really outlandish compared to other devices in the same tier.
The Ultra's durability is especially impressive. After wearing the Ultra for over six months, we've noticed it reacts quite well to nasty falls and dings.
The Ultra also delivers a bigger screen than a Series 8, and a unique Wayfinder face with a live compass, a siren for turning on in emergencies, a water temperature sensor, a depth gauge, and an upgraded speaker and microphone setup. The Watch Ultra's biggest win, though, is (you guessed it!) its ultra-seamless link to iPhones. Nothing beats the ultra-easy pairing (and later, data sharing) that can take place between any Apple Watch and an iPhone.
Sizes: 49mm | Battery life: Up to 36 hours | Water resistance: 100 meters | GPS: Yes Sleep tracking: Yes | Storage: 32GB | Warranty: 1-year
Best for Android Users: Samsung Galaxy Watch 5
Best for Android Users
Best for Android Users
Now 32% Off
Accuracy7.5 out of 10Battery Life6.5 out of 10Features7.5 out of 10Design
No iPhone? No problem. The Galaxy Watch 5 can go anywhere thanks to a large scratch-resistant screen and a strong titanium case. Our favorite features include advanced sleep coaching that analyzes your sleep habits and suggests what you can do to improve, as well as a body composition reader. In just a few seconds, the Galaxy Watch 5 works to tell you your body fat and several other vitals. These stats are prone to inaccuracy (few home devices can accurately track body fat), but give props for Samsung for trying to push metrics to another level.
The Galaxy Watch 5 also delivers the features you've come to expect in high-end smartwatches. That means accurate GPS specs and voice navigation. Nailing these features (as Samsung does) is extra-critical in 2023, in part because the Galaxy Watch 5 actually has competition this year (from Google's Pixel Watch). But the Galaxy Watch gets the edge, thanks to several generations of trial and error. The array of features available and the materials used to craft the watch have been optimized a few times over, thus producing a seriously strong, long-lasting fitness smartwatch most users will be happy adding to their training arsenal.
Sizes: 40mm, 44mm, 45mm | Battery life: Up to 20 hours in GPS mode | Water resistance: 50 meters | GPS: Yes Sleep tracking: Yes | Music storage: 16 GB | Warranty: 1-year
Best Outdoor Fitness Watch
Best Outdoor Fitness Watch
Now 17% Off
Accuracy7.5 out of 10Battery Life9 out of 10Features7.0 out of 10Design7.5 out of 10
The 9 Baro is a top adventure watch for hiking, trail running, and other outdoor activities due to its ability to combine body metrics with a GPS and barometer.
In terms of fitness tracking, the 9 Baro is right on par with many of the other watches. The heart rate monitor of this watch is good, not great. However, the 9 Baro ultimately does two things exceptionally well: the first is it's tough as nails (stainless steel case, waterproof up to 100 meters), and the second is it's built to go the distance (battery life exceeds 20 hours in GPS mode). You can find other outdoor watches with much more features and shiny displays, but when you consider the price point of the 9 Baro to the reliable performance, it's a solid watch for any and all types of outdoor activity.
Sizes: 50mm | Battery life: Up to 25 hours in GPS mode, 7 days in watch mode | Water resistance: 100 meters | GPS: Yes Sleep tracking: Yes | Music storage: N/A | Warranty: 5-year
For the past eight years, we consulted with 's fitness and gear editors on the top fitness watches for men. Experts, including our fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, C.
One More Note on Selection: In the final analysis, picking the right smartwatch comes down to getting the features you need at the right price, so yes, we took price into consideration, too. You're always deciding between price and features when you deal with tech, though.
An easy way to decide if you should get a fitness watch or not is by identifying a few key metrics you'd like to track. In a , we spoke with Michael J. Joyner, M.D., a human-physiology researcher at the Mayo Clinic, to get his opinion on fitness trackers.
Before purchasing, take a second to write down your specific needs for a fitness watch and then list some metrics you'd like to measure. Whether you're looking for a watch that will help you train for a marathon, or looking for a watch that's going to help you hiking, you can find a fitness watch out there tailored to what you want.
As mentioned above, you're going to want to list down what you think you might want in a fitness watch. The main key feature we strongly recommend paying close attention to is music storage and playback, as this will allow you to listen to your music without having to carry your phone in your hand or strap it to your arm.
Every fitness watch should have basic features like step counters and heart rate monitors. A quality fitness watch should also carry basic water resistance (especially when against sweat) and durable construction (scratch-resistant screens and strong case materials).
The more bells and whistles you attach, the higher in price your watch can climb. The sky is the limit in what you can pay—there are watches out there over $800—but sometimes those prices are worth the investment. This is especially true when looking at adventure watches that are outfitted with state-of-the-art GPS systems and barometers that track storms and weather patterns—a powerful set of features that ultimately helps keep you safe. Whatever you settle on, make sure you're choosing a fitness watch that covers the bases. Then, you can go up in price from there and get a better-customized device with each upgrade.
