Things to consider when Buying a Fitness Tracker

​​​To successfully help you reach your health and fitness goals, a Fitness Tracker must easily integrate into your lifestyle so that you continue to use it.  It should not be such a frustrating experience that you give up on it.

The type of tracker you buy should reflect what you want to achieve and for many people be affordable.  Whilst it’s always nice to chase the latest model or go for the top of the range, that’s a personal choice not a pragmatic purchase.

Users often start out buying one device and then changing a few times until they find the feature set, style and functionality that works best for them.  Obviously this is not a cheap exercise and other Users simply give up.

Basic Differences
Fitness Trackers seem to have divided themselves into three main groups.  Those that are wrist worn, those that clip on to you somewhere and those that can be wrist worn or clipped on.  It may seem that the clip on type are a bit basic but that’s not always the case.  There are of course Pro’s and Con’s with each one, and I’ve tried to summarise some of the main things to consider.

Clip on only devices
Pro’s
Often more affordable.
Often have long battery life.
Discrete, for example works for people who are not allowed to wear anything below the elbow as part of their job.
 
Con’s
Limited in the data they can gather.  No Heart Rate for example.
No direct readout of data (you may need to synch to your phone to see how many Steps you have taken).
Can accidentally be left off as its not fixed to you.
Unlikely to feel vibration alerts.

Best for?
Great for people looking to get a look into the world of Fitness Trackers. 
Great for many people starting out on the fitness trail, it will likely do all of what they initially need to get off the couch and get moving.

Wrist Worn Devices
Pro’s
It is attached to “you” more of the time so less likely to be accidentally left off.
Can do Heart Rate.
Can show you live data (no need for Smartphone)
Can double up as a watch.
You can feel vibration alerts.

Con’s
Generally poorer battery life (not always the case).
May need to still wear a watch to tell the time.
May not have the functionality you want.
May not be to your taste in style.

Best for?
People that want to get a more detailed picture of their data will welcome the extra possibilities like Heart Rate monitoring.
People that like to wear a watch (not everyone does).

Hybrid Devices
Pro’s
Can be moved around from wrist to ankle or clipped to clothes whenever you need to.
 
Con’s
Allows better integration with your lifestyle.
Might be easier to leave it off accidentally than a pure wrist based tracker.
Reduced data, no Heart Rate for example.

Best for?
People who can’t or don’t want wear a watch all the time and can live without Heart Rate tracking for example.

Moov Now, Hybrid Tracker for Wrist , Ankle or Clip On. Does NOT count steps though. (c) InStash

Some devices are instantly recognisable as Fitness Trackers, but not everyone wants it to be known they are using one and would prefer something more discrete. ​

Of course the above is generalised and there will always be devices that don’t fit well within each category.  My point is though, it’s not just about features, it’s how well you can integrate the device into your lifestyle.  Often this aspect is overlooked when trying to decide which device to use.

So for example do consider the size of the device, some can be really big on small wrists. 

Some devices are instantly recognisable as Fitness Trackers, but not everyone wants it to be known they are using one and would prefer something more discrete. 

LCD displays tend to be easier to read in bright sunshine than OLED screens, conversely OLEDs are easier to see in poor light! 

​Does the tracker you are looking at show your data on the device itself or do you need to synch to your phone before you know how many steps you have taken so far today?  If you love immediacy, you won’t want to have to synch to see your data, if you’re not bothered then you have more choice of devices.

So beyond the basic Fitness Tracking feature sets there’s a whole lot more to consider before making your purchase.  That’s before we get into the “bonus features” that are starting to get packed into Trackers, like call alerts, music controls etc.

If you are in the market for a Fitness Tracker and want some advice, I’d drop by a few Facebook Groups for different Devices and ask a few users what they like or dislike, this may help you get it right first time.