For many tech and fitness lovers, Fitbit is the first brand that comes to mind when you say fitness tracker. It had, in some circles, briefly achieved that level of cultural ubiquity where people referred to all fitness trackers as Fitbits. Today, were just talking about actual devices made by Fitbit, though. The best Fitbit fitness trackers and watches deliver outstanding levels of functionality, but each one has its own particular benefits. With six different modelsnot to mention multiple generations of each versionit might not be readily apparent which one makes the most sense for you.

To that end, were looking at a handful of the top options for a range of intentions. Each one has been carefully tested to verify that they are every bit as functional as they claim to be, so you can work out (or swim, or even sleep) with confidence knowing that these are truly the best Fitbits.

I selected the Fitbits through a mix of first-hand testing and reviews from real buyers. I tested these alongside fitness trackers, both from Fitbit and other leading brands, such as the Polar Ignite 2 Plus and the Garmin Venu 2 Plus. I specifically tested to determine core functionality like tracker accuracy and battery, as well as the relative ease of use.

The Fitbits that didnt make the cut were not always significantly different from those included above, but our picks usually stood out for a reason. You can choose yours knowing that these truly are the best options available right now.

Each Fitbit variety offers its own unique features and benefits, so its important to keep a few things in mind when choosing which is the best one for you. These are, for the most part, the same considerations to keep in mind when picking any fitness tracker or fitness watch.

To judge any fitness tracker, you need to know how you plan to use it. Are you looking to track your high-impact workouts or simply make sure you get your steps in? Monitor heart health or blood oxygen levels? Or maybe sleep tracking and monitoring mindfulness? Different Fitbits come with varying feature sets that will accommodate different goals. Often, more complex trackers will be larger, more complicated, and more expensive. Finding the right balance among those three factors will set you up to use your Fitbit to the fullest.

Fitbits come in many shapes and sizes, which means that some are more expensive than others. Some models cost as little as $50. Others get as high as $300. Again, you want to find a balance between feature-set and price that works for you, but its also generally important to keep your budget in mind as you shop.

While some Fitbits act as fairly basic fitness trackers, others are much more elaborate smartwatches. Which is right for you depends on whether or not you need all those smarts.

While the features offered by the various models tend to overlapmost build up from a base of 20 health and fitness metricseach individual package tailors itself to a specific set of needs or parameters. To that end, here are the best Fitbits for most people.

Why it made the cut: With its broad range of fitness tracking capabilities, smartwatch functions, and lower price, the Versa 3 is a balanced fitness watch that plays to Fitbits strengths.

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For all practical purposes, the Fitbit Versa 3 can do everything that most users want from their fitness tracker. It provides info about steps, heart rate, blood oxygen levels, calories burned, and sleep tracking. Its also water-resistant down to 50 meters, in case youre a swimmer. It even buzzes to let you know when youve entered your personalized target heart rate for exercise, which it refers to as your active zone.

At the same time, the Versa 3 includes plenty of smart functions. You can use it to take calls and receive notifications from your phone. Fitbit also features its own app ecosystem thats smaller than iOS or Android, but features apps for music, payments, and more. Both the Versa 3 and more powerful Sense watch bring a lot of value to the table, but the Versa does so at a lower price, making it a slightly more accessible pick.

Why it made the cut: With its expansive suite of fitness trackers and detailed workout insights, the Charge 5 is a gym rats best friend.

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If youre looking for the utmost in fitness-tracking power, the Fitbit Charge 5 delivers. With a full range of fitness and health trackers, it records all the stats you need. What really makes it stand out, however, is its workout intensity map, which leverages GPS and various physical data points to highlight when youre getting the most and least out of your workout. Between workouts, it sends guidance to maintain mindfulness and workout optimization.

Though its primarily fitness-focused, it also features a smattering of basic smart functions that allow you to manage payments, and receive calls, texts, and calendar notifications. Some of these functions only work with Android phones, however.

The one drawback to the Charge 5 is its reliance on a subscription. Like the Whoop 4.0 and other recent high-end fitness trackers, Fitbit gates off many of its most detailed workout insights unless you pay for its Premium membership. You get six months of free access to see if its worth the $9.99 a month, but you should probably decide whether or not youre even open to such an arrangement in the first place.

Why it made the cut: The Sense is a sleek, powerful smartwatch with advanced fitness tracking capabilities.

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If you want a fitness tracker that really leans into smart features, the sleek Fitbit Sense delivers. With the largest suite of smart apps on any Fitbit device, as well as most of the key fitness and health tracking functions, it is the most powerful Fitbit we recommend. Most notably, the Sense includes an ECG for detecting heart health, as well as an EDA Scan app that monitors electrodermal activity and then provides a graph of how your body responds to stress. It is also the only Fitbit to come with a 6-month free trial of the guided meditation app Calm, to further support any stress management goals you might have.

Given all that, its worth noting that the Sense is the most expensive device you can get from Fitbit right now. If you want all the features, the Sense may be the best choice, but it is bigger and more expensive than the rest of the pack.

Why it made the cut: With all the essential fitness tracking capabilities, the Inspire 2 gives you the features you need at a more affordable price.

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If you just need a basic fitness tracker, we think you should try the Fitbit Inspire 2. It tracks all the basicssteps, calories, heart rate, and so on. It also has some of the more advanced features from other trackers, including active zone alert, cardio fitness scores, and a daily readiness score to make sure you let your body recover between workouts.

That said, it is very much an essentialist fitness tracker. It has some smartwatch functionality, including notifications for calls, text, and social media. It also offers stress management features and menstrual health tracking. All of these features require looking at the Inspire 2s tiny screen, which isnt ideal for anything beyond the quickest of glances. This is definitely a tracker for people who actively want to avoid the smart features and stay focused on working out.

Why it made the cut: Arguably the most feature-rich fitness tracker designed specifically for kids, the Ace 3 helps keep your little one moving.

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There arent too many quality fitness trackers out there designed specifically for kids, so the Fitbit Ace 3 stands out as an incredibly useful tracker. It primarily tracks steps and sleep, but can also set challenges to keep kids motivated and active. You can also set reminders to prompt children to get up, move, and stretch, or go to sleep at specific times. Its features are comparatively very limited beyond the basics, but it is water-resistant for up to 50 meters, so it is durable and can stay on in the pool.

The Ace 3 supports the Fitbit app, which features separate viewing modes for parents and kids when you activate the Family Account mode. In Parent View mode, parents can monitor their kids activity, and approve any connections in the Fitbit social community. Meanwhile, Kid View presents a child-friendly version of the fitness tracker experience, with access to stats, badges, personalized avatars, and challenges.

Prices range from $50 for the Ace 3 to as much as $300 for the Sense, depending on the most current sale prices. Weve included the current prices for each device with the recommendations above.

All of the latest generation Fitbit models boast strong water resistance in up to 50 meters of water. Theyre all great for swimming laps or playing in a pool. If youre diving, you may want to consider something a bit more durable.

Once you pair your Fitbit with your phone, it will sync periodically when the Fitbit smartphone app is open. You can manually sync in the app homepage by swiping down.

No fitness tracker is 100% accurate. They approximate your activity by sensing movement, heart rate, and other factors. You can improve your trackers accuracy by feeding it more data. Enabling GPS and entering accurate height, weight, and stride length in the app settings will lead to better results.

That said, Fitbit trackers do fare comparatively well in general testing. A 2017 study found that Fitbits tend to have a 27% median error when it comes to tracking calories burned. While that might seem like a lot, they actually outperformed almost all major competitors. There hasnt been much hard research done since then on the accuracy of Fitbits latest releases, but having compared them against other trackers that are well-regarded for their accuracyas well as good old-fashioned paper-and-pencil calorie trackingI can say that they seem to perform well.

The best Fitbit for you comes down to one of two factors: whether you want a smartwatch or a fitness tracker and your budget. The core fitness tracking features are largely consistent among most models, so you really need to think about whether you care about smartphone-related lifestyle features and the advanced fitness analytics that come with Fitbits premium subscription. Ultimately, most Fitbits are great so long as their features and your expectations are in sync.

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Best Fitbits of 2022 - Popular Science