The best fitness trackers and smart watches of 2023, including Apple Watch, Fitbit and Garmin

From fitness trackers that monitor your sleep to smartwatches specifically geared toward runners or cyclists, the best fitness trackers and smart watches go way beyond simply telling the time. Some measure your blood oxygen levels, prescribe recovery time and create training plans as well as helping you track activity and lose weight. Some, like the Apple Watch, Samsung Galaxy and Garmin Fenix, can even detect if you’ve taken a fall and automatically notify your emergency contacts. 

According to research from Deloitte's Digital Consumer Trends Report, a record 19.2m health tracking devices were bought by UK consumers in the year to July 2021, which is more than double the number the previous year. Apple is one of the leading brands, accounting for 47% of smartwatch owners. Around two thirds of UK adults who intend on buying a smartwatch say they want it to track their physical health. 

So what are the best fitness trackers and smartwatches for tracking health and monitoring calories burnt, sleep, exercises, and step count? I've reviewed dozens in recent years. You can read my full reviews of this year's crop further down along with a brief guide to how they work. If you're in a hurry, here's a quick look at my top five:

The best fitness trackers in 2023, at a glance

• Best overall – Garmin Venu 2 Plus
• Best smartwatch for iPhone users – Apple Watch Series 8
• Best fitness tracker – Fitbit Versa 4
• Best fitness tracker for runners – Coros Pace 2
• Best smartwatch for Android users – Samsung Galaxy Watch4

Which fitness tracker is best for me?

Ask yourself: Do you want something with GPS to track running and cycling? Do you really need all the features in the top-of-the-line model? 

“A device with GPS will be more costly, due to the technology required to provide accurate information," says Nick Anderson of coaching experts Running with Us. "They offer far more data and valuable metrics. It’s worth the spend if you are serious about your results and improvement."

Some trackers will also measure your sleep (both the quality and quantity), stress levels, heart rhythm irregularity, blood oxygen levels and even your menstrual health, but it’s important to remember that these only act as a guide. 

“It’s the trends that become useful,” Anderson says. “Without full ECG you won’t get 100 per cent accuracy in this area, but the trends can be useful when looking for marginal gains and improvements in your performance.”

Other features to look out for? “Some fitness trackers come with notifications for your phone apps and can control the music on your headphones,” Anderson says. Top of the range watches nearly all include tap payments, Bluetooth microphones to take calls, water resistance to 50m and extended battery life.

How I tested the best fitness trackers

Over recent years I’ve put dozens of GPS running watches, fitness trackers and smartwatches through their paces, day and night. Last year alone I logged nearly 300 hours of exercise in my running shoes and on my bike, covering roughly 4,000km, to assess their accuracy, usability, and comfort. I also compared their battery life, looked at how easy they were to set up and to access the data through my phone and sought independent opinions from athletes and coaches.

By the way, if you're looking for more ways to reach your fitness goals this year, you may also like our new guides to the best walking boots, exercise bikes, running shoes, massage guns, head torches and yoga mats.

Best fitness trackers and smartwatches

1. Garmin Venu 2 Plus

£329.99, John Lewis

Best overall 

We liked: all the advanced health monitoring and fitness tracking features you’d expect from a Garmin, but the sleek look and feel of an Apple Watch

• Battery life:  up to 9 days in smartwatch mode, up to 24 hours in GPS mode and up to 8 hours in GPS mode with music 
• Charge time: from 0-100% takes roughly 1.5hrs
• Water resistant up to 50 metres
• Weight: 51 g
• GPS: yes
• Touchscreen: yes
• Tracks: sleep, steps, calories, activity distance, pace and elevation, water intake, heart rate, abnormal heart rate alerts, respiratory rate, blood oxygen, stress, menstrual cycle.
• Compatible with iOS and Android

One of my favourite wearables to come out in the past couple of years was Garmin’s Venu 2 – it’s the watch I trained for and ran the London marathon with. So you’ll perhaps be unsurprised to learn that I liked Garmin’s new Venu 2 Plus just as much, if not more.  

With a full AMOLED touchscreen display it’s a beautiful smartwatch with impressive sports tracking, stress tracking, sleep monitoring and battery life. At 43mm, it’s ever-so-slightly larger than the Venu 2 but the general design is the same – and the screen is clear and easy to read.

But it's important to note that ‘Plus’ doesn't mean “plus size” – instead it refers to additional functionality and features. The main one you should care about? Voice support. There’s a speaker and microphone on the watch, meaning you can take calls, dictate messages, use voice control for music and trigger other tasks via voice assistants, such as Siri or Google Assistant.

Like the Venu 2S, there are more than 25 preloaded sports you can track, including running (on a treadmill or outdoors), cycling, swimming, golf, yoga, Pilates and paddleboarding. There are also animated cardio, strength, yoga and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts preloaded – which is essentially like having a personal trainer on your wrist.

Even cheap fitness trackers have step counting, calorie burn estimates and reminders to get up and move, so it’s the more advanced features like stress tracking, menstrual cycle and pregnancy tracking and Garmin’s Body Battery energy monitoring that make the Venu 2 Plus stand out. Each morning, the sleep monitoring feature tells you how long you spent in each sleep phase, such as REM, and gives you a score for your sleep quality.

As a runner, I loved how quick it was to find a GPS signal and how accurate it was. Accurate GPS is important for runners as you don’t want to be logging unnecessary miles, or, worse, running short. It can automatically upload the data to third-party apps like Strava and TrainingPeaks (which I live on) which is useful if you want to share your training with a coach.

That said, if you’re specifically looking for a running tracker, then I’d actually recommend something like the Garmin Fenix 7 (£529) or the much cheaper Garmin Forerunner 245 (£249.99). If, however, you’re after something that offers extensive health and wellbeing features, as well as exercise tracking, choose the Venu 2 Plus.

2. Apple Watch Series 8

£419, Apple

Best smartwatch for iPhone users 

We liked: the innovative new sensor that tracks your temperature while you sleep

• Battery life: up to 18 hours
• Charge time: about 2.5 hours
• Water resistant up to 50 metres
• Weight: 31.9g
• GPS: yes
• Touchscreen: yes
• Tracks: sleep, steps, calories, activity distance, pace and elevation, heart rate, temperature, high and low heart rate notifications, blood oxygen, menstrual cycle, crash detection
• Compatible with iOS 

Apple’s latest watch is very similar to the previous one, so if you already own a Series 7, it’s perhaps not worth the upgrade. But if you’re new to Apple watches then you’re in for a real treat, especially if you’re a longtime iPhone user.

Looks-wise, there’s not much difference between the Series 7 and Series 8 – both sport the same signature square Apple Watch design, dimensions and weight and are available in the same 41mm and 45mm case sizes. The Apple Watch Series 8 comes in aluminium and stainless steel coloured in gold, silver, starlight and midnight and there are a whole host of different straps, from stretchable silicone to nylon weave .

Featuring an always-on screen, so you don’t have to flick your wrist or double-tap the screen every time you want to use it, it’s one of the brightest and clearest displays on the market. I particularly love the full keyboard, which allows you to reply to emails and texts on the go.

Apple announced two new temperature sensors for the Apple Watch 8. The first detects a 0.1-degree Celsius temperature change in your body and the second measures temperature fluctuations during sleep. The aim is to help you to recognise illnesses early and assist with ovulation tracking. Like the Series 7, there’s also an optical pulse tracker, a blood oxygen (SpO2) sensor and an electric heart (ECG) sensor.

The Series 8 can also detect if you take a sudden fall and, cleverly, can detect when you are in a vehicle crash, automatically calling emergency services for help, providing your exact location and your designated emergency contacts if you don’t respond to an on-screen notification within 10 seconds. It’s really rather impressive.

One of the biggest complaints about Apple Watches has been their battery life. ​​The Series 7 was considerably faster charging than previous models but in my opinion, the Series 8 still falls short. I really don’t want to have to charge my watch every single day.

If you’re an avid runner or cyclist, there are better smartwatches on the market. But if you’re a diehard iPhone user and not too bothered about the daily charging, having everything seamlessly link up is an undoubted bonus. Otherwise, do check out the brand new, rugged Apple Watch Ultra – specifically designed for the ‘adventurous crowd’ and extreme sports fanatics. 

3. Fitbit Versa 4

£169.99, John Lewis

Best fitness tracker 

We liked: it's a very decent sports tracker that’s easy to get to grips with

• Battery life: up to 6 days.
• Charge time: about 1-2 hours
• Water resistant up to 50 metres
• Weight: 38g
• GPS: yes
• Touchscreen: yes
• Tracks: daily readiness score, steps, sleep, heart rate, 40+ workout modes, irregular heart rate notifications, blood oxygen, skin temperature changes, blood glucose tracking, menstrual cycle
• Compatible with iOS and Android

Fitbit was the brand that made fitness trackers cool and the Versa 4 is one of their newest smartwatches, offering over 40 exercise modes, real-time stats, and built-in GPS. Available in four different colours – black, blue, pink and ‘beet’ – I liked how the smooth strap tucks into itself so there’s no flapping. The AMOLED display looks clear and bright, although I did find the touchscreen sometimes a little slow to react.

It took me over half an hour to download the Fitbit app, charge up the watch and connect to my phone but once I was all set up, I realised why Fitbit is so often lauded. The app is by far the easiest to navigate and one of the most useful, offering guided breathing exercises, women's health features, daily stress management score and blood oxygen monitoring.

The Versa 4 isn’t hugely different to the preceding Versa 3. Both offer heart rate and blood oxygen monitoring, as well as the usual step-tracking and calories burned. The main reason to opt for the 4 over the 3 is the large array of workout options: 40 versus 20 exercise modes. Battery life is pretty similar and very impressive when compared to an Apple Watch.

Accuracy wise, it came up a little short compared to a Garmin running watch and unfortunately it proved too easy to accidentally delete tracked activities. It will only sync to third-party exercise apps that use GPS. So if you like to record your yoga classes, for example, don’t expect those to show up on TrainingPeaks.

Overall, while it’s great for keeping tabs on fitness and providing you with useful insights, the Versa 4 isn't the one I’d recommend for marathon runners or triathletes. And if you want the very best health and wellness features Fitbit has to offer, you need to go for the Fitbit Sense 2.

4. Wahoo Elemnt Rival Multisport GPS Watch

£299.99, Wiggle

Best fitness tracker for triathletes 

We liked: the touchless transition feature, which no other tracker has

• Battery life: 14 days in watch mode and 24 hours in GPS mode. 
• Charge time: around 1.5hrs
• Water resistant up to 50 metres
• Weight: 53g
• GPS: yes
• Touchscreen: no
• Tracks: sleep, heart rate, calories, metrics for running, cycling and swimming
• Compatible with both iOS and Android

If you’ve signed up for a triathlon this year and you’re looking for a watch to capture all your training, Wahoo’s first entry into the multisport category is the watch you need. Size-wise, it’s similar to both Garmin Fēnix and Polar X tested here, but noticeably lighter. The screen isn’t as bright as some, and not the most intuitive to navigate, but you get the hang of it pretty quickly.

Like the other watches, you need to download the corresponding app and wait until the watch is fully charged in order to pair it up. Then scan the QR code on the watch screen, fill in some personal data and you're up and running.

It comes preloaded with programmes for race running, track running, treadmill, pool swimming, open water swimming, cycling, kickr, strength and yoga but for triathletes the killer app is its ‘​​Touchless Transition’ feature which can tell when you stop swimming and get out of the water, and will start timing your first transition. It then works out when you get on the bike, so it gives your T1 time and starts timing the bike leg.

In comparison to the Apple Watch or Fitbit Versa 3 it’s quite basic — it can’t measure blood-oxygen levels, for example — but its simplicity, clear display and neat triathlon-specific features make it definitely worth considering if you race triathlon.

5. Coros Pace 2

£179.99, Wiggle

Best smartwatch for runners 

We liked: lightweight and low price, offering everything most runners will want in a GPS watch

• Battery life: 20 days with regular use, 30 hours in GPS mode
• Charge time: around 1.5hrs
• Water resistant up to 50 metres
• Weight: 29g
• GPS: yes
• Touchscreen: no
• Tracks: wide range of activities (including running, cycling and swimming), heart rate, sleep, steps
• Compatible with both IOS and Andoid

The lightest GPS watch in the world, weighing just 29g, the Coros Pace 2 includes lots of features you’d expect in a high-end running watch at a more reasonable price. I found it super easy to set up: when paired with an iPhone, the Coros offers text, call and social media notifications.

Like the Wahoo, the Coros Pace 2 doesn’t include any fancy smartwatch features like being able to play music or display the weather. There are only two buttons on the right side – one being a dial to scroll through the home screens and workout menu. A little fiddly, but I soon got used to it.

With accurate GPS and 16 built-in modes including indoor run, track run, strength, walk, swim and bike, what impresses most its battery life: 20 days in standby mode and 30 hours in GPS mode. In comparison to similar-priced Garmin and Polar watches, the Coros Pace 2 is miles ahead and excellent value for money.

If you already own a Coros Pace 2 – and you like it, but you’re after an upgrade – I recommend checking out the Coros Apex 2 (£419) and Apex 2 Pro (£499) which launched at the end of last year. They come with a much heftier price point as they’re designed for more extreme conditions and rugged terrain, so they’re perhaps not suitable for the average park runner. 

6. Polar X Grit Pro

£429, Polar

Best GPS smartwatch

We liked: the turn-by-turn navigation and trackback features make this watch ideal for adventuring

• Battery life: 7 days with regular use, 40 hours in GPS mode
• Charge time: around 1.5 - 2hrs
• Water resistant up to 100 metres
• Weight: 79g
• GPS: yes
• Touchscreen: yes
• Tracks: heart rate, training load, steps, fuel, sleep, speed, power, recovery, over 130 sports
• Compatible with both IOS and Android

I think it’s fair to say that Polar’s X Grit Pro is more watch than most runners want or need. Tested against military standards, it’s designed for heavy-duty use and built to handle temperatures from -20°C to +50°C. But if you’ve progressed into running ultra-marathons then £429 buys you a lot of very impressive features.

The Polar Grit X Pro has a huge focus on endurance and recovery, with features like FuelWise, which offers reminders on when to fuel, and Load Pro, which tells you​​ if you’re training too much or too little. It also tracks the amount and quality of your sleep. I liked that it rates your overnight recovery in one simple score, but annoyingly it’s rather large to wear in bed.

The navigation is nifty, offering turn-by-turn guidance as you walk, cycle or run. You can plan and map routes on partner site komoot.com and sync them to your watch. There’s a clever feature called ‘Track Back’ to navigate you back to your starting point if you get lost. (Extreme hikers, by the way, should check out our guide to the best waterproof jackets, some of which are almost as high-tech.)

Outdoors watches need good battery life, and the Polar provides 40 hours of full GPS tracking that can be extended to 100 hours using power saving. I can’t deny it’s a very nice watch, but for me it’s a bit overkill.

7. Garmin Fēnix 7S

£529.99, John Lewis

Best smartwatch for training

We liked: features that help you see the long-term benefits of the work you're putting in

• Battery life: 11 days with regular use, 37 hours in GPS mode
• Charge time: around 2.5hrs
• Water resistant up to 100 metres
• Weight: 63g
• GPS: yes
• Touchscreen: yes
• Tracks: sleep, steps, heart rate, abnormal heart rate, menstrual cycle, workouts and activities, stress, hydration.
• Compatible with both iOS and Android

If you’ve had your heart set on a Garmin watch for a while, and you really want the very best, top-of-the-line, all-singing adventure watch, then it has to be the Fēnix 7 – Garmin's most advanced multi-sports watch, aimed at those tackling cycling sportives, marathons, Ironman, CrossFit competitions, and even ultras. 

The Fēnix 7 comes in a range of different sizes. I tested the 7S standard edition (not the next-level solar one), which sits at 42mm (rather than a slightly bulker 47mm) as it’s designed for smaller-sized wrists.

It packs the same advanced workout tracking and training tools as the Garmin Fēnix 6 but the crucial difference is the touchscreen. There are still five physical buttons around the case, but  having a touchscreen is helpful for panning across maps, for example. 

Better still, the touchscreen is locked by default during workouts (something I wish they'd implement on the Venu, above), which prevents accidental button presses and hitting ‘discard’ halfway through a swim session. And if you’re not a fan of touchscreen, you can even opt to deactivate it completely.

The display isn’t as crystal clear as the Venu (it’s not AMOLED), but perhaps that’s why the battery lasts so much longer. I was very impressed that I didn’t have to charge it every other night when testing.

Of course, the Garmin Fēnix  7 also features all the smartwatch sensors you’d expect from something this expensive – including a heart rate monitor, altimeter, compass, blood oxygen sensor and temperature sensor. And, there’s storage for music, too.

One of my favourite things about this watch is the race predictor tool which predicts your 5k, 10k, half marathon and marathon time, based on the training you’ve been doing and your current fitness levels. Yes, it’s only an estimate, but I found it incredibly motivating when my 10k race predictor time was faster than my actual PB, since it means the current training I'm doing must be working and helps me to keep pushing on. 

8. WHOOP 4.0

From £18 per month, WHOOP

Best fitness tracker for training  

We liked: this display-less, performance-focused tracker makes a good companion to a GPS running watch

• Battery life: 4-5 days
• Charge time: 2-2.5 hours
• Water resistant up to 100 metres
• Weight: 2.8g
• GPS: no
• Touchscreen: no
• Tracks: sleep, steps, heart rate, blood oxygen levels, pulse oximetry, skin temperature, respiratory rate
• Compatible with both iOS and Android

Looking more like a bracelet than a watch, this fitness tracker stands out from the rest as it doesn’t actually have a screen. In fact, it doesn’t even have GPS. But that shouldn’t put you off. It monitors recovery, “strain” (elevated heart rate), and sleep, so it’s perfect for athletes looking to fully understand how well-recovered and rested they are.

Launched in 2021, the Whoop comes free with a subscription to the Whoop fitness app. £18 a month still feels quite expensive to me for what’s essentially an athletic-looking fabric strap and a heart rate monitor. It’s also one of the most fiddly fitness trackers to put on: I broke two nails trying to undo the buckle. Once it’s on, though, it fits like a dream thanks to the flat, flush-to-the-wrist positioning.

Since I’m currently in training I’m pretty sold on Whoop’s deep-dive approach. It presents data about your sleep, recovery levels and how much strain your body is primed for each day. But its lack of a screen, minimal design and basics such as step count will probably be dealbreakers for most people. 

If, however, you’re super interested in your sleep data and how you can prevent injury, it’s one of the best wearables around. I can see why it's so popular.

9. Fitbit Sense 2

£179.99, Boots

Best light fitness tracker 

We liked: it’s a good-looking, casual fitness watch, specialising in sleep and stress 

• Battery life: up to 6 days with regular use, 12 hours with GPS
• Charge time: about 1-2 hours
• Water resistant up to 50 metres
• Weight: 40g
• GPS: yes
• Touchscreen: yes
• Tracks: sleep, stress, blood oxygen levels, skin temperature, heart rate variability, daily readiness score, 40+ exercise modes
• Compatible with both iOS and Android

If you like the look of Fitbit’s Versa 4 above but you’re after a smartwatch with a couple more features, then the other Fitbit launch worth looking at is the Sense 2. Stuffed with exercise features, it's a tad more expensive than the Versa 4 but still a lot cheaper (and more casual) than Garmin’s fitness watches.

With a familiar Fitbit ‘squircle’ shape, the standout features here include EDA (electrodermal activity) stress tracking and ECG heart rate readings. The aim? To sense any abnormal heart patterns. But stress and heart health sensors aside, the Sense 2 is otherwise pretty fairly matched by the Fitbit Versa 4.  

Please do also bear in mind that Fitbit is now owned by Google. This means that the Sense 2 lacks any third-party apps (not even Spotify!) So while it has smartwatch features, it doesn’t feel as much like a smartwatch as an Apple Watch. If however, you’re after a basic health and well-being watch – that specialises in sleep and stress – and you want a watch with a fairly decent battery life, this could be what you’re looking for.

10. Samsung Galaxy Watch4

£199, John Lewis

Best smartwatch for android users

We liked: its good looks and premium features

• Battery life: up to 40 hours
• Charge time: about 2.5 hours
• Water resistant up to 50 metres
• Weight: 25.9g
• GPS: yes
• Touchscreen: yes
• Tracks: sleep, heart rate, steps, calories, blood oxygen, blood pressure, body composition, exercise tracking
• Compatible with Android

It’s important to note that the incredibly stylish Samsung Galaxy Watch4 does not work with iPhones. For Android users, however, this is the best smartwatch currently on the market. It’s also the first to use Samsung’s Wear OS which allows you to access all your favourite apps (for example, Spotify) on your wrist.

I tested the 40mm version, which comes in black, pink gold and silver aluminium cases. The screen offers a bright, sharp display, the case is rounded and the buttons sit almost flush with the surface, yet are still easy to press. It’s up there with the best-looking smartwatches.

Similar to previous Galaxy watches there’s 24/7 fitness tracking, automatic sleep monitoring, continuous heart rate, stress and blood oxygen monitoring and built-in GPS to track outdoor activities. I was impressed with the body composition feature – which is new for Samsung. You place your ring and middle finger on the two buttons to receive data on body fat, skeletal muscle, fat mass, body fat, BMI, body water, and BMR.

11. Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6 

£39.99, Mi

Best budget fitness tracker

We liked: the high-resolution display is impressive for the price

• Battery life: up to 14 days
• Charge time: around 1-1.5hrs
• Water resistant up to 50 metres
• Weight: 12.8g
• GPS: no
• Touchscreen: yes
• Tracks: steps, calories, heart rate, sleep, 30 fitness modes, blood oxygen
• Compatible with both iOS and Android

With a 1.56-inch AMOLED display, this budget fitness tracker has a large screen for such a small band and boasts 30 types of workouts. There's also a SpO2 sensor for tracking blood oxygen, but it lacks GPS and doesn’t sync to third-party apps — so it’s not helpful if you’re preparing for a marathon with TrainingPeaks, for example. Though there is connected GPS if you don't mind bringing your phone with you while you're out exercising.

Easy to sleep in and offers lots of data around sleep quality although, in comparison to some of the other trackers I’ve tested, the scores here did seem a tad on the generous side.  

I found the clasp a little fiddly and the cheap strap makes it hard to get a snug fit, while the Mi app is nowhere near as comprehensive as Fitbit, Garmin or Polar’s. What it does offer, however, is a great entry-level watch for someone who’s new to wearable tech.

FAQ

What is a fitness tracker?

Fitness trackers are meant to be worn all day, every day, and designed to track everything from walking up the stairs or working out at home to running a multi-stage ultra-marathon. Some also allow you to view and respond to emails, texts and social posts. Some track your sleep – including how long you spend in light, deep and REM sleep.

“There are many options on the market right now at a variety of price points,” says Nick Anderson of coaching experts Running with Us. “Many are now tailored towards different forms of exercise. There is something to suit everyone.”

How do fitness trackers work? 

Most measure motion through three-axis accelerometer sensors – measuring the acceleration, frequency, duration, intensity and patterns of your movement. Other wearables use an optical heart rate monitor: tiny LEDs illuminate your capillaries and the changing light refraction can be used to calculate your pulse. 

“Fitness trackers can also measure the distance you run or cycle via GPS, which is built into the watch,” adds Anderson. “The system works by measuring the time it takes for signals to be received from satellites. It frequently pings your location, then measures the distance between each ping.” Trackers with GPS can also be used for navigation, and even work in the sea. “If a fitness watch offers the option of outdoor swimming, the GPS signal is likely to be boosted to enable the device to track accurately.”