FWIW I recently did an analysis on reddit data on fitness trackers in the past year. Basically ranked them by aggregated sentiment. Maybe you'll find the results helpful? https://redditrecs.com/fitness-tracker/ You can get a breakdown of what ppl have said about the most often recommended ones

I like the WeWard app. Works with phone and has gaming features to help motivate you to get in more steps. https://wewardapp.go.link/16vgU?label=MatureShrimp7794

A mirror

I've had a bunch of watches/trackers in the past. Now I got the Amazfit Helio strap, it's like a cheap version of the Whoop, no screen and no "smart" nonsense, just health/sports data, pretty happy with it so far.

Hello, im thinking of getting the vivoactive5 too. Please let us know how it is if you have bought it. Thanks

I've just upgraded from a Fitbit Inspire 3 to a Garmin Forerunner 255. The Fitbit was great and does all the things you say you want including sleep tracking, automatic workout tracking etc.

I used it for about 18 months and only upgraded as I wanted GPS for accurate distance measurement as I'm upping my workout routine.

The Garmin is a bit harder to use but I haven't had it long and I'm sure I'll get used to it. All the health tracking seems similar between the two.

Haven’t compared to others but dan state garmin has

• accuracy steps and good motivator to complete daily w badges and daily counters
• good interface and app
• it is pricey
• battery life a big plus. My forerunner goes for about 3 weeks on one charge incline always on when running

Update: I've pulled the trigger and bought the vivoactive 5! Thanks to those that replied, I will give an update on this post to how I'm getting on with it incase it helps people in the same position! :)

I have the vivoactive 5!! And it’s the best for ALL workouts. I just got it last month and so far the gps tracking for my runs and bike rides is so spot on. It’s tracks stress levels and sleep and even women’s health. When used at the gym it tracks reps/ sets and adds rest time! It is a smart watch on top of everything. Left my Apple Watch for it. And also water proof for swimming. It’s alittle pricey but I ALREADY got my moneys worth with this. Also my battery life lists a week uncharged with all day use.

Foreruner 255

I’ve been loving the oura ring - I’ve used it for 4 years- the fitness tracking isn’t as robust as others but it’s just a ring (no watch tan lines  :))) and honestly not too blocky either. The sleep tracking is very very good as well

Has anyone used those screenless trackers? Thinking of getting one of the amazfit bands.

garmin venu series looks pretty normal and has great battery life

sell your apple watch and buy a garmin

I have a couple of analog watches if I’m that pressed about the watch fitting with my fit in social situations but I work remote so my fitbit is usually fine most days. I would go with garmin or withings if I were to buy a more versatile fitness tracker. Maybe an oura ring if you don’t like the look of the fitness watches?

My wife and I tried fitbit and they lasted us about a year. Now we have the garmin vivoactive 4 and 4s respectively, and they've been solid for, idk exactly, several years. They aren't as "smart watch" as an apple or samsung, but more than capable for most smart watch needs and the battery life is great, 4-5 days on a charge.

Nothing with a non-replaceable battery will be truely bifl, but garmin holds up better than most.

Hi there, did you find a replacement for Fitbit? I am also a long time fitbit user looking for something better. I've gotten very lucky so far and while it's been more like 7 years for me, I'm still on watch #2. Not only that, but i scored several free ones for my husband and kids in the local buy nothing group from people who upgraded and had their old ones lying around. However I am extremely annoyed at how they have taken away functionality that i paid for, and it is totally ridiculous that it can't work properly on a purely offline basis. I really used that heart rate tracker that was better before, as well as the sleep stages thing. I got bad and stopped using it like a year ago but busted it back out because i need it to help me lose weight. But i would love to replace it with something better. Its the most frustrating thing to me that we created all this wonderful technology and have allowed companies to sell it to us ... Without actually selling it to us. Such a rip off.

I’ve looked for a thread o. This, can’t find it. If you could point me there, I’d be eternally grateful. My best friend’s Fitbit died (#4)—he loves it, but he wants one that doesn’t share info w/anyone. I don’t blame him with the coming political chaos. He’s a developer for an insurance company, and says he knows things….anyway , Is there a fitness tracker that doesn’t share or is able to stabs Aline

My samsung galaxy watch from 2019 is still going on strong! Only thing I've replaced are the bands because I like the stainless steel ones better so it looks like an actual watch. I am by no means gentle with it and have definitely slammed it against stuff and swam with it and it still works! Wish I could say the same thing about their phones but I stopped buying their garbage ass phones after they got rid of the active line

YMMV, but my Withings Scanwatch has taken a hell of a beating from me (work in a warehouse so think scraping on pallets, crushing under boxes I carry, hitting on steel racks, etc) since I got it in January, and it still works great. I love the look, gets a lot of compliments.

Garmin vivostyle! I own the Apple Watch now since it controls my cochlear implants but that was the watch I used just prior for a number of years. It has an analog watch face and doesn’t look like a tracker at all.

I like my Fitbit for two main reasons--it's small and simple, and the battery (actually) lasts a week. I don't need more things to charge daily.

I've had both the Inspire and the Charge over the years. Both have GPS while connected to your phone; only the Charge has built-in GPS.

Mi band series is one of the most simple and durable for its price. It counts steps, distances, sleep, heartrate, and has some alarm functions, but no GPS unless you have your phone with you. I was using it from 2012-2022 from its first generation to fifth one, and then changed to apple watch in the end. (My reason for changing was because I wanted to get rid of my phone)

Coros pace 2.

Is there a simple devise that uses ring to track activity. My son is special needs and doesn’t get numbers and letters. He would understand the rings. He does not need a phone. This could really motivate him. Thanks for any help

I always take my garmin watch off and just let the hr strap do its thing. but i will say the garmin has taken and absolute beating and just keeps on goin.

Any tracker that connects to a chest strap HR will do the trick. When your hands are flexed your HR readings will be very inaccurate (I learned this the hard way with rowing on an erg).

Garmin instinct will probably outlive you. Caveat is I absolutely hate their power cord port.

I just spin my Apple Watch around so it’s on the inside of my wrist. No screen damage.

I wear a Garmin Fenix 8 watch, though I always wear a chest HR monitor during exercise, which is connected by BT to my watch. When doing KB cleans or snatches, I remove the watch and place it nearby.

I’ve got the Forerunner 245, which I love, but I think it’s been retired and replaced by the 255.

Do you not care about higher end features? Look at Venu 3. Probably the best for a casual user on iOS.

FR165?

Great! Thanks

All the current models include HRV status; all gains include stress (24/7 HRV as a percentage), abnormal HR alerts, the ability to see HR zones while tracking activity and most include the ability to set HR zone alerts during activity.

This would suggest looking at vivoactive 5, forerunner 165/255/265, Venu 3, instinct 2.

I follow a great youtube channel, "The Quantified Scientist" he tests and reports on smart sensor devices. It showed me that my best value would be the Apple Watch 10 cellular 46mm. I got a refurbished model from a seller on amazon for $350 and have no regrets. I wear it at night for sleep tracking, during the day for steps/activity tracking, then when I get home I put it on a charger and go shower. I am looking at chargers I can use in the car because it is a long commute, so I could charge it during the commute then wear it again when I park at home to continue all of the tracking. I love this thing, and I got rose gold with a faux leather classic men's band that fits quite well. I signed up for Fitness + but cancelled it before the free trial ended.

This has been the best health investment I've ever made.

My Mother hates iPhone so I got her the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra cellular (latest version), she likes it very much and we configured it for fall detection, so I like it. Also worth the money ($450), but it also requires a daily charge.

My wife still wears her Apple Watch 5 but the battery dies by dinnertime and she doesn't charge it in the day. It sits on a bedside charger all night, so the battery life is very short.

The Apple Watch Ultra was my first choice, but the price is too high for my budget.

Hi. I come here with just a quick, ‘PLEASE tread into data monitoring carefully’ and a story that I hope will maybe help some people. I started tracking my health and sleep with a Fitbit. I made sure I moved when it said move. I got my zone minutes and steps. I got my sleep score up. I used the estimated calorie expenditure to plan healthy, balanced meals. My doctor actually high-fived me for body fat percentage and heart rate being “like an Olympic athlete.” I LOOKED like a healthy person, but my body was not healthy. 

Turns out my fancy little watch made my body think I was in a state of famine. I stopped menstruating. I became anemic (making my A1c look high) and developed high triglycerides in response to low-grade starvation. My cortisol is super high. My liver enzymes are elevated and total protein is low. My circulation is always bad and my body is always cold. I have fainted multiple times and get dizzy when I stand.  I have been like this for 5+ years and every doctor is just like, no biggie. I mean I started developing osteoporosis, but again, no help. 

Finally, this summer, I found a doctor that told me my watch gave my hypothalamic amenorrhea. My new prescription: to sit on my butt and eat like 3,000 calories a day over the course of 6 small meals. All of my reflexive symptoms, including my period were corrected within a couple of months of starting this treatment. I have to go with it for a little while longer (turns out women shouldn’t have 16% body fat). I have had to gain all the weight back. I have had to realize I spent years of my life in fight or flight trying to micromanage every aspect of my body instead of actually learning how to check in with my body and ask it, “how did that feel?”

Now, I also know I am not everyone. Smart watches have been very helpful for people in my life, and I don’t want to discourage their use. We just always only get one narrative, and I wanted to chime in with the other. I do recommend people work with a doctor to nutritionalist to calibrate goals to their individual needs.

I hope I'm telling you what you already know, but these are consumer wearables not medical devices. 

Garmin is excellent for tracking exercise, but having a running watch doesn't make people fit.  If you're going to exercise though it's probably got the best tracking. 

Garmin sleep tracking is bad, no smart watch can do sleep stages because those are brain activity a watch can't measure.  AI literally guesses my sleep stages with better accuracy. 

Budget?

I would say go garmin - and would suggest looking at the vivoactive 6 or the forerunner 165.

Ultra - yes you can maybe get away with a charge once every 2 days at best, but on days you go hiking if doing a 7 hr hike maybe not. Also health and fitness you can match what garmin offers by using 3rd party apps - but means no integrated holistic system (where health & fitness features interact with each other and influence training featurews) - and again costing a lot more.

Garmin - covers all you want. can't log food with watch - but can link the MyFitnessPal phone app to garmin acocunt and then will pull in the calories you consumed to garmin app/web - so can see how much you have saved compared to calories burned. Also quite like how the MFP app quickly easily logs food and the level of detail breakdown you can get on what you have consumed (this requires premium but not too expensive). Garmin especially good at highlighting how changes in lifestyle/habits/illness/injury impact your health metrics - this can help you drive better habits/lifestyle and give early warning on illness/injury allowing you to pull back to try and reduce impact of these. Note most garmins offer +10 to +16 days battery life so with activity tracking a weekly charge is generally all that is required (its the Fenix (and its variants like the Epix) or the instinct series are the only ones that offer that type of battery life and genearlly only in the x variant (i.e. 50-51mm case size model)). Added advantage is all the built in training with garmin coach, daily suggested workouts on models liek the Forerunner and fenix series and the built in badge and challenges that can help maintain motivation. And their body battery is best in the business. For sleep tracking the main focus is recovery which plays right into what you are looking for.

Amazfit - needs to be a current model - bip 6, active 2 (preferably the premium version) or the balance. Always just found their health metrics to be slightly more hit and miss than garmin, and their training metrics and definitely miss. Feel their sleep tracking is very weak especially compared to garmin and most others.

Note - sleep stage tracking is going to be hit and miss - especially in regards to splitting rem and light sleep - even sleep clinics struggle with this and if you put 3 sleep technitions to confirm split you are likely to get 3 answers --- so would ignore this and focus more on how sleep benefits your recovery and this is where garmin has everyone beat (including fitbit but they do get close as long as you are prepared to fork out for premium sub) - this will also tie heavily into how you feel and what shows up on your body battery metric. The sleep breakdown and allowing you to see detail on stress during sleep factors in heavily into how you can improve your sleep, and then being able to overlay hrv baselin across you sleep and see a 4w baseline can make a massive difference. When you see how certain habits/lifestyles impact your sleep and your recovery it can be a massive motivator to change those habits/lifestyle.