The best Fitbit for your all your health needs
Fitbit has been a leading giant in the fitness wearable industry for a long time, offering some of the best fitness trackers on the market. Whether you need a smartwatch or an activity tracker, Fitbit offers various products to monitor every part of your day. However, not every Fitbit is built the same. Fitbit Sense is our pick for best Fitbit. It’s a wellness-savvy smartwatch loaded with the latest, most advanced features Fitbit has to offer.
Best overall: Fitbit Sense
Fitbit Sense is by far Fitbit’s most advanced and feature-packed wearable. It’s outfitted with everything you need for daily activity, sleep tracking, media, and smart pay. Plus, it hosts some newer, more advanced features like EDA, ECG, and Sp02 monitoring.
The EDA scan app detects electrodermal activity, which indicates your body’s response to stress. You’ll receive a daily stress management score to better understand how your body is handling stress. The on-wrist skin temperature sensor tracks your skin temperature each night to show how it varies from your personal baseline, so you can keep tabs on trends over time. You can apply these readings in daily life to optimize fitness, sleep, and overall wellbeing.
The ECG app assesses your heart for any rhythm irregularities. If it picks up anything unusual, you’ll be notified immediately so you can share results with your doctor. Active Zone Minutes are a heart-based training tool. They’ll give your wrist a buzz when you reach target, personalized heart rate zones. Then, view how your heart rate changed along your routes in your workout intensity map in the Fitbit app.
The Sense tracks SpO2, the level of oxygen in your blood. This is important because low Sp02 numbers could indicate COVID-19, or other illnesses and health concerns that you’ll want to be aware of. See your SpO2 nightly average and range (only with a SpO2 clock face), and view trends over time with Fitbit Premium.
This smartwatch offers up to six days of battery life, depending on how you use it. Note that the battery life significantly diminishes while you’re using GPS. You can also access a voice assistant so you can check the news or set alarms, media play, stream, and storage, and customizable apps.
When you purchase this product it comes with a free six-month trial of Fitbit Premium for new Premium users only. After six months, or if you’re already a Premium user, a monthly membership is required to access all of the features the Fitbit Sense has to offer. This smartwatch is pricey, but it is jam-packed with the best features Fitbit has to offer.
Pros:
EDA + ECG
Active Zone Minutes
Six-day battery life
Built-in GPS
Music + customizable apps
Cons:
Monthly membership required
Pricey
Blood oxygen only available with Sp02 clock face
Best overall
Fitbit Sense – Advanced Smartwatch
Feature-heavy
The Fitbit Sense offers various premium features to help with stress management, heart health, and fitness tracking.
Best value: Fitbit Inspire 2
If you’re looking to save some money and don’t mind sacrificing a few features, Fitbit Inspire 2 might be the option for you. Inspire 2 has a sleek, lightweight design for those that like wearing something more low-profile. It’s got everything you need for all day activity tracking, sleep monitoring, and workouts.
Like all Fitbit smartwatches and trackers, it’s swim-proof up to 50 meters. It offers 24/7 heart rate monitoring to help maximize exercise sessions, see heart rate zones, track sleep stages, and effectively track calorie burn. It has killer battery life and can operate for up to 10 days on a full charge.
On the downside, sleep tracking is hit or miss. It tracks based on movement, so it might assume you’re asleep if you don’t move. That being said, if you’re a super active sleeper, it might not be able to track your sleep at all because it thinks you’re awake. Also, note that this is a tracker, not a smartwatch, so it only covers the basics. There’s no media play, stream, and storage, nor built-in GPS.
Pros:
Sleek, lightweight design
Active Zone Minutes
All-day activity + sleep tracking
24/7 heart rate
10-day battery life
Cons:
Sleep tracking hit or miss
No media
No built-in GPS
Best value
Fitbit Inspire 2 – Health & Fitness Tracker
Gets the job done
Inspire 2 features a low-profile design, Active Zone Minutes, all-day activity and sleep tracking, and 24/7 heart rate.
Best smartwatch: Fitbit Versa 3
Fitbit Versa 3 is a motivational health and fitness smartwatch with new features (for the Versa family) like built-in GPS, workout intensity maps, Active Zone Minutes, and Sp02 monitoring.
Active Zone Minutes focus on heart-based training and let you know when you reach target heart rate zones. The built-in GPS tracks your distance, pace, and workout intensity within the Fitbit app. When you check your workout intensity map in the app after you exercise, it will display your heart rate zones throughout your route so you can see where you put in the most effort.
The Versa 3 offers oxygen saturation (Sp02) monitoring that measures the level of oxygen in your blood. You can see your Sp02 nightly average and range right on your wrist with one of the Sp02 clock faces and view trends over time. It has a battery life of up to six days, depending on usage, and offers advanced sleep tracking, including nightly sleep scores and smart wake.
On the downside, there is no personal music storage on the Versa 3. You can store music for offline use via Pandora or Deezer Premium (sold separately), but you won’t be able to upload your own tunes on this watch. You can stream playlists from Spotify, Pandora, and Deezer, but you must be connected to your phone via Bluetooth. You also won’t get EDA scans or ECG monitoring like you do with Fitbit Sense.
Pros:
Active Zone Minutes
Built-in GPS
Sp02 monitoring
Sleep score + smart wake
Six-day battery life
Cons:
No personal music storage
No EDA
No ECG
Best smartwatch
Fitbit Versa 3 – Health & Fitness Smartwatch
$215 from Amazon
$230 from Fitbit
Built-in GPS
The Fitbit Versa 3 smartwatch features built-in GPS, Active Zone Minutes, Sp02, sleep tracking, and is lightweight and swim-proof.
Best tracker: Fitbit Charge 5
Fitbit Charge 5 is by far Fitbit’s most advanced tracker to date. On top of what we loved about Fitbit Charge 4, Charge 5 hosts new EDA and ECG scans, as well as a Daily Readiness Score to help make the most of your day.
Stay on top of your heart health with ECG monitoring. The Fitbit ECG app checks your heart for atrial fibrillation — a heart rhythm irregularity so you can share the results with your doctor. EDA scans detect tiny changes in your skin’s stress level, which indicates your body’s response to stress.
Use your Stress Management Score to see how daily routines, including exercise, mindfulness, and sleep, help manage stress levels. Active Zone Minutes is your heart-based training tool that give your wrist a buzz when you reach personalized heart rate zones. You can see how your heart rate changed along your workout routes with workout intensity maps.
Daily Readiness Scores help optimize energy. This score indicates if you’re ready for an intense workout, should take it easy, or must prioritize recovery. It’s based on your sleep, exercise, and heart rate variability. This feature is only accessible through Fitbit Premium.
Charge 5 has you covered when it comes to all-day activity and sleep tracking. You can even make contactless purchases with Fitbit Pay, and you’ll get up to seven days of battery life depending on your usage. Make Charge 5 your own with a customizable watch face and interchangeable bands. This feature-heavy tracker is a great value.
Pros:
EDA + ECG
Daily Readiness Score
AZM + workout intensity maps
Built-in GPS
Seven-day battery life
Cons:
No music or customizable apps
No smart assistant
Bands not interchangeable with older generations
Best tracker
Fitbit Charge 5 -Advanced Fitness & Health Tracker
$150 from Amazon
$150 from Fitbit
Charge your day
Fitbit Charge 5 is an advanced activity tracker that features EDA, ECG, and Daily Readiness Scores, on top of all-day tracking.
Best fashion forward: Fitbit Luxe
Fitbit Luxe was designed with the fashionista in mind. This fitness tracker has serious style. It features a bracelet-like band with a polished stainless steel casing, making it an elegant piece that works with any outfit or occasion. When it comes to features, it’s got plenty.
Fitbit Luxe offers AZM, 24/7 heart rate, Sp02 monitoring (with Sp02 watch face), all-day activity, sleep tracking, stress management tools, and guided breathing sessions. It’s outfitted with SmartTrack, which automatically recognizes and records your workouts. It offers 20 pre-loaded exercise modes, so you’ll get real-time stats while you sweat.
It only has a five-day battery life, which is a lot less than some of Fitbit’s other trackers like Fitbit Inspire 2. It also does not have built-in GPS, though you can connect to your phone for connected GPS tracking.
Pros:
Fashion-forward
Active Zone Minutes
All-day activity and sleep tracking
Sp02 monitoring
Stress management tools
Cons:
No built-in GPS
Five-day battery life
Best fashion forward
Fitbit Luxe – Special Edition Fitness and Wellness Tracker
$200 from Amazon
$130 from Fitbit
Stylish
A gorgeous fit band that features a bracelet-like aesthetic, all-day activity, and sleep tracking, plus more!
Best kids: Fitbit Ace 3
Fitbit Ace 3 is Fitbit’s latest kid-friendly tracker. Animated clock faces grow and develop as your kids move throughout the day. This nifty wearable features all-day activity tracking to show your kids healthy habits that lead to healthier lifestyles. It offers sleep tracking so you can set bedtime reminders and alarms.
The Ace 3 is waterproof up to 50 meters, so your kids can rock it in the bath, lake, or pool. They can also challenge their families to step competitions and send approved friends messages or cheers in the Fitbit app. Kids earn virtual badges and get to have fun on-screen celebrations when they reach their goals.
On the downside, you can’t download apps on this tracker, and it’s not well suited for older kids as the features are limited.
Pros:
Easy to use
Cool colors
On-screen animations
Great battery life
Cons:
Can’t download apps
Not suited for older kids
Limited features
Best kids
Fitbit Ace 3 – Activity Tracker for Kids
$74 from Amazon
$80 from Fitbit
Kid-friendly
A fitness tracker made for kids! It’s easy to use and features all-day activity, sleep tracking, and on-screen animations.
Bottom line
Fitbit’s offerings are extensive. We understand why it may be tough to figure out which Fitbit is best for you. We feel Fitbit Sense earns the title of best Fitbit because it’s loaded with everything Fitbit has to offer. If you want all the bells and whistles, Fitbit Sense is the way to go. This advanced smartwatch gives you a huge bang for your buck and pulls out all the stops when it comes to features, versatility, and style.
If you’re just looking for the basics, Fitbit has you covered there too. Fitbit offers everything from top-of-the-line smartwatches to kid-friendly trackers, so take a look to find your best Fitbit.
Credits — The team that worked on this guide
Daniel Bader is the Managing Editor of Android Central and an editor at iMore. He owns all the Fitbits — even the bad ones. He drinks way too much coffee and sleeps too little. He wonders if there’s a correlation.
When Joe Maring isn’t acting as the News Editor for Android Central, he can be found sharing his opinion about Fitbit with iMore’s friendly readers. He was last spotted at Starbucks surrounded by peppermint mochas. Have a tip? Send an email to joe.maring@mobilenations.com!
Lory Gil is the former Managing Editor of iMore and has tested smart wearables since they first hit the scene. If it can be worn and it’s got smarts, she’s interested.
Nicolette Roux is a freelance writer for iMore and enjoys researching and reporting on all things health and fitness. A master fitness instructor and wearable enthusiast, Nicolette is a big fan of Fitbit.
