Best Fitness Tracker 2024: Fitbits, Hybrids & Wearables

If you want a fitness tracker that’s cheap but doesn’t look or feel cheap, has a great screen and has software that largely runs very slick, then the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 is worth picking up.

If you own a Smart Band 8, then it’s the battery gains and the boost in screen brightness that feels like the big wins here and less so the promised heart rate improvements.

I think if you want better, more reliable day-to-day heart rate tracking, you’re going to have to pay more for something like the Fitbit Inspire 3 to get it. If you can live with a tracker that does those basics well outside of that and offers a really likeable design, then this is the best.

The Charge 6 takes what made the Charge 5 so good and makes it even better.

Fitbit’s main addition this time around is access to Google Maps, Google Pay and YouTube Music (no other music streaming services available), making it closer to a smartwatch than ever before.

But its primary focus remains fitness, with support for more than 40 workouts (some automatically) and your sleep. Data collected is extensive too, with the likes of steps, distance, calories burned, hourly activity and heart rate all monitored.

The colour display is very impressive, and the device is easy to navigate using a combination or touch and the new side button. It’s also great to see built-in GPS, though it is unreliable at times.

There’s still no altimeter, so you can’t measure floors climbed, while many advanced features are reserved for Fitbit Premium subscribers. However, even if you don’t pay, the Charge 6 still delivers a very good all-round fitness tracking experience.

Withings’ ScanWatch 2 (featured below) might be the most complete hybrid watch you can buy, but the Light offers everything most people are looking for at a more affordable price.

That includes a gorgeous premium design, which is relatively lightweight but still impressively durable. Within it you’ll find a tiny 0.63-inch monochrome display, which is easy to control using the rotating physical crown.

There’s enough room to display all key information except phone notifications, which often get annoyingly cut off. The ScanWatch Light can track over 40 workouts (some automatically) with though data is generally limited to heart rate (including zones), steps, distance and pace.

But sleep tracking is good, and battery life is truly excellent. You’ll struggle to get the 30 days Withings claims, but around 1-2 weeks is well within reach.

If you can live without 24/7 temperature tracking, ECGs, irregular heart rhythm notifications and blood oxygen monitoring, the ScanWatch Light is the Withings watch to get.

If you’re making your first steps into the world of fitness trackers (and have an Android device), the Smart Band 8 is the device to go for. It packs an incredible amount of features into a device costing just £39.99/€49.99.

There’s support for over 150 different fitness modes, plus built-in sensors to track heart rate, blood oxygen and steps. You can also use the Band 8 to measure stress or see how well you’ve slept, with an incredible battery that lasts around two weeks on a single charge.

While the data isn’t always totally accurate, it’s certainly not lacking in the Mi Fitness companion app. And the 1.62-inch AMOLED touchscreen you use to interact with the device looks great.

You don’t have to wear it on your wrist, either. A wide range of bands allow you to use it as a necklace or even attached to your shoe if you’d prefer.

There are no premium features such as NFC and GPS, though you do get 5ATM water resistance. And considering how affordable the Band 8 is, it’s a very good all-rounder.

The Inspire 3 is the cheapest model in the current Fitbit line-up, making it an excellent entry point to tracking.

It’s still more expensive than rivals like the Xiaomi Mi Band 7, but Fitbit’s software experience and ecosystem are both excellent, so for some it may be worth paying a little extra – though paying more for a smaller display does sting a little.

It helps that you get up to 10 days of battery life (though a little less if you use the new always-on display feature), 24/7 heart rate monitoring now bolstered by SpO2 data, and sleep tracking. Just bear in mind that there’s no built-in GPS support, and that, as with all Fitbits, you’ll need to subscribe to the paid Fitbit Premium plan to get every bit of data out of it.

With good looks, sturdy construction, a big display, lengthy battery life, and solid exercise tracking, the Amazfit Band 7 makes a great first impression.

The software could do with some polish and some kind of home button would make life easier, but for the price it is more than good enough.

If you are looking for a good value smart band today, the Amazfit Band 7 should be near the top of your list.

Picking up an affordable fitness tracker these days can be complicated, as there are so many decent options available.

The main selling point for the Smart Band 9 Pro is the large screen, which is a lovely panel that’s easy to read. Fitness trackers don’t have to have those tall thin screens.

Tracking is solid, but not as accurate as you’d find on more expensive models.

If you’re happy with general guidance rather than precise readings, then this will easily be enough for people that just want an easy way to monitor their health, control their media and read messages without needing to pull out their phone, all for a cost that won’t break the bank.

The Lily 2 is one of the most stylish fitness trackers – especially if you want to wear one with smarter clothing.

Activity tracking is accurate and the Body Battery and stress tracking features are a delight to use, giving a good insight into overall wellness.

Sleep tracking could be better, as could women’s health tracking, and it doesn’t cater to hardcore athletes with a lack of built-in GPS and some other features like recovery time, both of which are offered by the similar-priced Vivoactive range. 

The Garmin Lily 2 excels for casual exercisers seeking a discreet and comfortable companion for their everyday wellness journey, however.

For those with larger wrists or a strong focus on training metrics, the Vivoactive will be a better fit, but if you prioritise comfort, style, and reliable fitness tracking in a compact package, the Garmin Lily 2 is a great option to consider.

The Honor Band 9 essentially takes the Band 7 and puts a bigger screen on it making it the main reason to buy it over other fitness trackers.

There don’t seem to be any real discernible differences in terms of what you’re getting on the software front and as a result, the performance feels nearly identical.

Having that bigger display does make some features, particularly on the smartwatch front, feel nicer to use than previously. As far as pushing things forward in terms of what a budget fitness tracker can deliver, that’s simply not the case here.

It’s not groundbreaking but a solid choice if you want a cheap fitness tracker with a big screen.

The Fitbit Ace 3 is built to suit childrens’ rough-and-tumble lifestyle, providing both kids and parents with simple but insightful activity and sleep tracking data.

The Ace 3 serves as a way to motivate kids to get more active, but in a roundabout way, could also incentivise the whole family to get fitter together (provided everyone involved has a Fitbit of their own to wear).

Older kids might want to look for a tracker with a little more oomph, however, as the Ace 3 offers a cut-down range of fitness and notification features compared to Fitbit’s ‘adult’ trackers. It counts steps, logs Active Minutes, and monitors basic sleep patterns, but lacks heart-rate tracking.