Best smartwatches for sports: Great options for tracking your fitness
If you like running long runs for cardio, a smartwatch is the best device to track your levels and monitor your progress. It is also the best tool to teach you recovery. They often notify you on command, tracking the number of steps you take, your heart rate and more. And these days, you can even take calls and messages on its platform.
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But it’s not all about the fit and the fabulous. Smartwatches are great for people of all ages, from kids to grandparents. Staying on top of your health is paramount to living a long life. So investing in a watch is a good idea, whether you lead an active lifestyle, have health issues, or want a fashionable watch with a few extra tricks.
We’ve included our top picks for different brands, budgets, and other preferences. Check out some of our top picks below.
Summary
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The best of watches
Key specs
- GPS: Yes; Integrated
- Strap Size: Large
- Case Material: Titanium
- Housing color: Black
- Heart rate monitor: Yes
- ECG: Yes
- Works with Google Assistant
- Waterproof
- Android compatibility: Android 6.0 or higher
- Display resolution: 450450
- Battery: 590mAh Li-Ion
Why buy: The Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro smartwatch tops the list as the best to buy. It has built-in GPS for long runs and great battery life of at least 24 hours to make sure you’re ready for the outdoors. Its AMOLED display is bright and crisp, and it can easily connect to your Android smartphone to give you up-to-date health stats. From heart rate to sleep tracking, you can achieve your goals a little easier with this device. You can also track body fat, skeletal muscle, body water, basal metabolic rate, ECG, and body mass index (BMI).
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Plus, it comes with over 90 different workouts. It also has an advanced sleep coaching feature to help you improve your sleep habits by connecting to the Samsung Health app.
Key specs
- GPS: Yes
- Strap Size: Large
- Diameter: 45mm
- Housing Material: Aluminum
- Case Color: Midnight
- Heart rate monitor: Yes
- ECG: Yes
- Works with Siri
- Waterproof
- Android compatibility: iPhone 8 or later
- Display technology: Retina LTPO OLED display
- Battery: lithium ion
Why buy: Packed with advanced health sensors and apps, the Apple Watch has been an industry favorite since its launch. It has features that measure ECG, heart rate, and blood oxygen, track temperature changes, and provide information on a variety of health parameters. Other features include collision detection, sleep stage tracking and advanced workout stats sent directly to your fitness app on your smartphone.
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Plus, it comes with three free months of Apple Fitness+, offering 11 different types of workouts, from HIIT to yoga, and even meditations (a subscription is required for Apple Fitness+). Users say the battery life is solid, at least two days through heavy use. Some have also reported a dislike for the band, but Apple offers a variety of band accessories that you can redeem.
Key specs
- GPS: Yes
- Strap size: small/medium
- Diameter: 40mm
- Housing Material: Aluminum
- Strap Material: Fluoroelastomer
- Case Color: Midnight
- Heart rate monitor: Yes
- ECG: No
- Works with Siri
- Display technology: Retina LTPO OLED display
- Battery: lithium ion
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Why buy: Like the previous model above, this Apple Watch also comes with fall detection, emergency SOS, and collision detection features, and it’s over $200 cheaper. It comes with an aluminum case, a sport strap and a one-meter charging cable.
Key specs
- GPS: Yes; Integrated
- Strap size: small/medium
- Diameter: 40mm
- Housing Material: Aluminum
- Strap Material: Silicone
- Case Color: Midnight
- Heart rate monitor: Yes
- Voice Assistant: Amazon Alexa
- ECG: No
- Display technology: AMOLED
- Display resolution: 336 x 336
- Battery: Lithium-ion polymer (six days)
Why buy: When it comes to smartwatches, the Fitbit Versa 3 is one of the popular choices. It has built-in GPS and SP02 to track your heart rate, calories burned, steps and sleep. For voice activation, it integrates Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, allowing you to stay connected to your phone calls, texts, emails and more. In addition, it has 20 exercise modes.
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Users say the Fitbit Versa 3 offers up to six days of battery life. And you can recharge it in just 12 minutes. For a versatile, must-have device that can integrate with multiple smartphones, the Fitbit Versa 3 is a solid choice.
Or buy: Amazon Best Buy
fine print: One year parts and labor
Key specs
- GPS: Yes; Integrated
- Strap size: small/medium
- Diameter: 40.8mm
- Housing material: Stainless steel
- Heart rate monitor: Yes
- Voice assistant: Google Assistant
- ECG: No
- Display technology: 320 dpi AMOLED display with DCI-P3 color
- Battery: lithium ion
Why buy: The Google Pixel Watch is chic and elegant. And it has over 40 exercise modes and provides real-time stats on your breathing and heart rate. Additionally, Google Pixel has access to Fitbit workouts and built-in GPS features. For active users who work on the go, the smartwatch is a great way to stay connected using Google’s platform for email, texting, paying for goods, and playing music.
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Or buy: Amazon Best Buy
fine print: One year parts and labor
Key specs
- GPS: Yes; Integrated
- Heart rate monitor: Yes
- Strap size: medium/large
- Diameter: 51mm
- Housing Material: Fiber Reinforced Polymer; Titanium back shell
- Voice assistant: Google Assistant
- Display Technology: Sunlight Visible, Transflective Memory-In-Pixel (MIP)
- Display resolution: 280280
- Battery: Internal rechargeable lithium-ion
Why buy: Ideal for fitness enthusiasts of all types, this rugged smartwatch is built for performance. It has features like performance and endurance tracking, workout suggestions, wellness sensors and sleep score data showing time spent in light, deep and REM sleep stages and other sleep-related information.
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Powered by the Garmin operating system, it is compatible with Windows 2000 and later and MAC OS X 10.5 and later. It connects with Apple iPhone 6S and later, as well as Android 2.3+. Plus, it supports up to 28 days of battery life on a single charge.
Or buy: Amazon Best Buy
fine print: One year parts and labor
Factors to Consider When Buying a Smartwatch
When looking to buy a smartwatch, there are a few things to consider. Battery life is among the most important, but there are other factors. They understand:
Compatibility: Make sure you buy a smartwatch that is compatible with your smartphone, whether it’s an Android or iOS device. Otherwise, you may miss some quality features.
Fit: Since you can’t always check the band and fit before you buy, be sure to look at the specs. Look for a smartwatch with a variety of strap and accessory options so you can customize the watch however you see fit.
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Health Tracking: Whether it’s heart rate, blood pressure or sleep tracking, knowing what you need to know about your workouts or health issues is essential when considering a purchase a connected watch.
App Pairing: With some smartwatches, you can stream TV shows to your devices. It’s a bonus if you’re at a rest stop or in transit. However, it’s not for everyone and isn’t ideal for smartwatches with poor battery life.
Price: While most range from $250 to $500, the price you’ll be most comfortable paying depends on your budget. But look for a smartwatch that has all the features you need to succeed, and then focus on battery life, because that’s probably the #1 factor.
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