The best Fitbit

If you're in the market for the best Fitbit for any budget or purpose, you're in the right place.

And opting for a Fitbit tracker at all is a good choice, as the company has been around for many years and in that time it has released numerous high quality trackers at a range of prices, from basic step trackers to full smartwatches.

While Fitbit now faces stiff competition from the likes of the Apple Watch, it’s still going strong, and its future looks bright having now been bought by Google’s parent company Alphabet. Although it’s uncertain exactly what this will mean for Fitbit going forward, having the might of Google behind it is likely to be a good thing.

Recent models include the Fitbit Versa 2 smartwatch along with the Fitbit Inspire and Fitbit Inspire HR trackers. But there are all sorts of other models available too either direct from Fitbit or from third-party retailers, such as the Fitbit Charge 3, Fitbit Ionic, Fitbit Versa Lite, and the much older Fitbit Flex 2.

To help you pick through them and choose the right model for you, we’ve curated this list. It highlights the very best Fitbit wearables at all price points, showing you their specs, key features and main good and bad points at a glance. You shouldn’t go wrong with any of these, though note that they are ordered from best to worst.

There are two things to bear in mind before buying any of these though. The first is that new models could appear at any time. While we’re not expecting any new Fitbits imminently, the likes of the Fitbit Ionic 2 and Fitbit Charge 4 are likely to launch sooner or later.

Best Fitbit

Below you'll find our full ranking of the best Fitbit activity trackers that you can buy right now. We've taken design, features, fitness prowess, price and many other elements into account when making this list.

The best Fitbit for fitness tracking is the Charge 3, which has a much larger screen compared to the last few versions of the Charge series.

It's one of the best fitness trackers you can use right now and comes with fitness features such as a heart rate tracker, guided breathing, swim tracking and improved notifications.

If you opt for the Fitbit Charge 3 Special Edition, you'll get Fitbit Pay compatibility as well. It connects with the GPS on your phone to keep track of your runs as well, but unfortunately can't keep tabs on your location without your phone. With that in mind, it might not be the best option for serious runners.  

Everything is just a bit better on the Charge 3, and considering it's the same price at launch as the Charge 2 it'll likely be a suitable tracker for anyone looking for a Fitbit.

Image Credit: Fitbit

The Fitbit Inspire HR is one of the latest Fitbits and it’s a superior alternative to the company’s other basic trackers.

It’s reasonably affordable yet comes with a lot of features including – obviously – heart rate tracking, as well as activity tracking, sleep monitoring, and guided breathing exercises. There’s also connected GPS, but no onboard GPS.

Other highlights of the Fitbit Inspire HR include great battery life of around five days in our tests, and a sleek, surprisingly premium design, making this one of the best-looking Fitbits you can buy. It’s also waterproof, though doesn’t come with any real swim-tracking skills.

Basically, if you don’t need to track your activity in the pool, don’t mind taking your phone with you on runs and don’t need something that’s more of a smartwatch, this is the best Fitbit option – and if you do need those other features you’ll have to pay more.

Image Credit: Fitbit

The Fitbit Versa 2 is the first smartwatch you've come across in this ranking of the best Fitbit devices, and it's arguably one of the most versatile devices that the company offers.

You can get notifications through to your wrist, use Amazon Alexa functionality and access a variety of third-party apps on your wrist through the Fitbit Versa 2.

That's all on top of the top fitness features like a heart rate tracker and exercise monitoring you'll get from a Fitbit product. There's no built-in GPS here though, so you'll have to take your phone on any runs you go on if you're after a device to track your location.

Image Credit: Fitbit

Do you want a fitness tracker that is easy to use and uncomplicated? The Fitbit Flex 2 may be the best device for you.

You'll be able to use this while swimming as it's waterproof and it'll also keep an eye on how well your dips in the pool are going. On top of that it comes with all the other basic tracking features you'd expect plus a slim and light design too.

It's a touch cheaper than the Fitbit Charge 2 as well, so it may be the perfect Fitbit tracker for you.

If you're considering buying a Flex 2 for yourself, it has great fitness tracking on board and a super subtle design that's bound to appeal to almost everyone. The only thing it's seriously lacking is a screen, so for an upgrade consider a Versa instead. 

This is a remarkably similar product to the original Fitbit Versa below, but it has dropped a couple of features so the company can sell it for a lower price. That price isn't always that much cheaper, so we'd recommend checking deals on the original Fitbit Versa (and now the Fitbit Versa 2) before opting for the Fitbit Versa Lite.

You'll get connected GPS, a solid heart rate tracker and a variety of smartwatch features with the Fitbit Versa Lite. You need to know it won't be able to track swims, doesn't have storage for music and there's also no Fitbit Pay.

All of that said, this can be far cheaper than the company's other smartwatches so you may find that a good trade off when looking to buy a new Fitbit.

If you're after a smartwatch from Fitbit, there's also this. The Fitbit Ionic isn't the fantastic smartwatch some hoped it would be but it succeeds if you're looking for a fitness-focused device that can tackle running, weight lifting, swimming and much, much more.

Dedicated workout programs and Fitbit Pay are among the other highlights of the Ionic, but it doesn't perform as well as say the Apple Watch 4 or Samsung Galaxy Watch if you're looking for a full blown smartwatch experience. 

It's not cheap either and the Fitbit Ionic is also low in our list of the best Fitbit products because it's just very expensive for what it can offer you. However, if you're an outdoor runner the Ionic is your best bet. Not only is it durable, but it has built-in GPS, meaning you can leave your phone at home.

Fitbit Inspire

Image Credit: Fitbit

The Fitbit Inspire is basically a cheaper alternative to the Fitbit Inspire HR for anyone who doesn’t need a heart rate monitor.

That somewhat limits its skills, but there’s still a lot to like here, including an attractive, petite design, activity tracking, sleep tracking and up to five days of life.

Sadly there’s no GPS here – not even the connected kind – so this is more for people who want a very basic activity tracker than a real workout companion, but it’s priced accordingly and what it does it does well.

Image Credit: Fitbit

Packing a lot of the features we saw debut on the Ionic, the Fitbit Versa condensed them down to a smaller package with a lower price tag and if you want a slimmer watch on your wrist this may be better for you than the company's first watch.

The price is already lower thanks to the introduction of the Fitbit Versa 2, and while it doesn't feel as premium we enjoy the smaller design that sits closely to your wrist. It comes with Fitbit Pay, all of the apps on the Ionic, storage for music and much more.

If you're looking to use it for running the Versa is sorely missing GPS features so you'll have to take your phone with you to track where you're jogging, but it's still a great smartwatch from Fitbit.

Image Credit: Fitbit

The Fitbit Alta HR takes the slim, stylish Fitbit Alta and jams a heart rate monitor into its slender frame, without bulking it up.

Where the original Fitbit Alta feels a bit light on features, and puts form over function, the Alta HR is an admirable tracker which goes beyond basic step tracking, but still looks good.

It's still not the most feature-packed - there's no GPS for a start - but it strikes a good balance and is the sort of thing you'll be happy to wear 24/7 (other than when swimming - this isn't waterproof), which is handy, because it can also track your sleep, and the heart rate monitor helps there too.

With basic message / notification alerts pulled from your smartphone and an almost week long battery life too, it's well worth considering if you don't need the features - or don't want the bulk - of something like the Fitbit Ionic.

Until the launch of the Charge 3, the Charge 2 was our favorite Fitbit. It has a much larger screen compared to the original Fitbit Charge and the Charge HR, and it's packed with extra fitness features.

There's Multi-Sport tracking that allows you to keep a track of outdoor runs, walking, weight training and many more exercises.

It also connects with the GPS on your phone to keep track of your runs as well. You won't be able to use this in a pool though, if you want to go swimming with your tracker we'd recommend looking at the Fitbit Flex 2 above or the Fitbit Charge 3.



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