Electrify Your Exercise | Try These Top Fitness Wearables

Image from Fitbit

The Best Fitness Wearables for a Smarter Workout

Professional athletes have monitored their performance for decades, thanks to advanced fitness tracking. And now, this technology is more accessible than ever for everyday exercisers, weekend warriors, and marathon mainstays. Fitness technology makes exercise exciting—and *anything* that makes working out more enjoyable is a win in our book.

Beyond fitness, many wearables include plenty of other useful features like sleep tracking, timers, voice assistance, media controls, big touch screens, and—if you can believe it—the ability to tell the time.

In no particular order, here are our favorite fitness wearables.

Top Fitness Wearables

Fitbit Versa 2

for a well-rounded activity tracker

Fitbit was one of the first companies to produce a fitness wearable, and their longstanding success shows with the Fitbit Versa 2. It offers some of the best fitness tracking features, social integration, in-depth sleep metrics, a bright display for outdoor use, and Spotify downloads to take your music everywhere you exercise. And, you can customize the workout screen to show the metrics you care about most.

There’s also an integrated coach app to display workouts on your wrist—neat.

Apple Watch + PowerBeats Pro

for an integrated ecosystem

Apple’s ubiquitous wearable, the Apple Watch, keeps activity tracking at the forefront while bringing arguably the best smartwatch experience to the consumer market. You can purchase a Series 3 at a discounted rate, which includes all the core fitness components. Or spring for a Series 5, which offers additional features like a built-in compass, fall detection, and heart rhythm screening. And, of course, you can fit your new smartwatch with a sporty band.

PowerBeats Pro beat out AirPods for fitness with sweat and water resistance, secure earhooks, and music tuned to get the very best out of each BPM. Either way, both offer Siri’s hands-free voice assistance, which can be especially useful when you’re busy lifting, pushing, pulling, or sprinting.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active2 + Galaxy Buds+

for the Androids among us

The Galaxy Watch Active2 is a fit-focused smartwatch with a heart rate monitor, GPS, sleep tracking, and a robust fitness tracker all wrapped up in a lightweight aluminum or stainless steel. There’s also an Under Armour edition featuring MapMyRun fitness and form coaching to take workouts to the next level.

Samsung smart devices work well with any smartphone, but they shine when paired with other Samsung hardware. The Galaxy Buds+ wireless earbuds can connect to your Galaxy Watch for phone-free music. And they’ll really jam your favorite workout tunes, too, with ambient noise cancelling and dynamic range.

FORM Swim Goggles + The Garmin Swim 2

for a swimmer’s one-two combo

That’s right—smart goggles. We’ve hit peak wearable. FORM swim goggles offer a smart display for metrics, like split times and distance, and a mounted clip for heart rate tracking. Pop on one of seven included nose bridges for the perfect fit, and download the FORM Swim app to tackle your next triathlon.

The Garmin Swim 2 is another smartwatch-plus-fitness wearable. With a special focus on waterproofing and water-based workout tracking, it also includes GPS for an open-water swim mode. Great for outdoor running, too, it adds a special reflective display for sunlight. Bonus—the whitestone silicone band is equal parts performance and chic.

Huawei Watch GT 2

for two weeks of battery life

The Huawei Watch GT 2 smartwatch offers a heart rate monitor, 85 workout modes (including a swimming mode), and up to an incredible two weeks of battery life. For reference, most fitness tracking smartwatches in this category offer only a day or two of active use before needing a charge.

Beyond battery life, the GT 2 would be right at home on any secret agent’s wrist. It flaunts a timelessly classic aesthetic with analog watch faces to match. Whether you’re running laps or shaking up a vesper martini, this could be the fitness wearable for you.

Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro

for a seriously svelte fit

There are smartwatches with fitness tracking, and then there are fitness trackers that can tell time. The Gear Fit2 Pro is fit-first, offering built-in Wi-Fi, GPS, music storage, waterproofing, and fitness app support—in a casing about as thin as a wristband. It isn’t the fanciest-looking gadget around, but that means no large watch crown to get in the way of push-ups or yoga poses.

lululemon Fast and Free Running Belt

for hip, carefree storage

Not an actual electronic device, but the Fast and Free running belt by lululemon offers lightweight storage for your essentials, plus a reflective strip for running outdoors. And, unlike a fanny pack, this thing looks good.

Over-Board Pro-Sports Waterproof Belt Pack

for the endurance race champ

Alright, one more analog accessory—it’s technically a wearable you use for fitness, so we’re counting it. Over-Board’s Pro-Sports waterproof belt pack has an “IP68” water and dirt resistance rating, meaning it’s guaranteed to be waterproof up to six meters. It also floats, in case your water workout goes overboard.

Equip yourself with one of these waterproof packs before your next Spartan race to help handle whatever the obstacle course throws at you.

Elevate Your Exercise ????

A ton of fitness wearables are out there. It’s just a matter of finding the right one with the features you want and a look to match your style. And to test out your new activity tracker like, right now, try one of these online fitness streams from companies like Peloton and Daily Burn.

Let us know in the comments—do you use any smart wearables for exercise or sleep tracking? And how have they shaped your routines?