The Greatest Health Watches of 2024

Health encompasses a number of actions: strolling, operating, golfing, climbing — all with totally different metrics to trace. One of the best health watch or health tracker is one which dietary supplements your exercise regime, tracks the info, and matches along with your way of life.

Our specialists have been strapping on health watches of all types for near a decade now, testing greater than 45 of the most effective health watches and pulling collectively the most effective for each scenario on this information. These watches have been examined utilizing standardized strategies for evaluating sensor accuracy, battery life, performance, sturdiness, and match.

Past that, we’ve additionally taken these watches in every single place — from the summits of volcanoes within the Pacific Northwest to the depths of the canyonlands of Utah — and pushed these units to the restrict to see what breaks.

Moreover our personal private testing, our resident health coach reached out to the shoppers he trains and different athletes for his or her insights and spent hours studying on-line evaluations. We learn spec sheets and in contrast them throughout manufacturers and fashions.

Beneath are the most effective health watches, GPS watches, and health trackers primarily based on our testing. That will help you discover the most effective health watch in your distinctive wants, we’ve included a purchaser’s information, a ceaselessly requested questions part, and a comparability chart.

Editor’s Observe: We up to date our Health Watch information on Could 24, 2024, so as to add the brand new Suunto Race — simply the most effective watch the model has ever made. A brand new AMOLED display differentiates it from the Vertical, together with a handful of different sensible updates.

The Greatest Health Watches of 2024

Health Watch Comparability Chart

How We Examined Health Watches

GearJunkie is aware of health, and our testers know their watches. The workforce consists of Cory Smith, an on-line operating coach and freelance journalist with over 25 years of operating and mountain climbing expertise. He’s an professional, from treadmills to footwear. 

Our most up-to-date health watch replace noticed contributor Ilana Newman saddled with extra watches than she has wrists to place them on, placing them via the paces in southwest Colorado whereas path operating, backcountry snowboarding, and dealing via day by day health regiments.

The San Juan mountains supplied the proper testing floor for this new era of watches, and Newman is obsessive about coaching knowledge and staying updated on the most recent out of doors gear.

Our specialists have crafted an in depth testing routine that goals to match these watches on a degree enjoying subject, and it’s not unusual to see our testers carrying three or extra watches directly with a view to give them a good shake.

We examine monitor lengths, measure coronary heart price knowledge towards devoted units, problem the satellite tv for pc reception with tough terrain, and run every of those watches utterly useless — all within the title of winnowing out the chafe and discovering the most effective health watches obtainable in the present day.

Past their private experience, GearJunkie has solicited the opinions of fellow runners, hikers, and climbers. When the mud settled and the ultimate grades got here in, the checklist above represented the most effective health watches we might drum up. However know that health tech is continually enhancing, and new functionalities are being added day by day to a few of these watches. As they enhance, so does our protection, and we’ll proceed to check them.

Purchaser’s Information: Methods to Select the Good Health Watch

The health watch market will be overwhelming. There are such a lot of choices — all of which could appear related — it may possibly really feel as if you want a school diploma to inform them aside. 

Whereas discovering the most effective health look ahead to you does require some thought and analysis, this useful how-to-choose information has all of the important info compiled so you may make the most effective resolution in your health watch wants. 

We go into every thing from GPS reception to how coaching knowledge is used to offer well being and efficiency predictions. Every model of watch makes use of barely totally different knowledge and offers totally different options, every of which is kind of essential to shoppers. We’ll spell all of it out for you so you may make an knowledgeable resolution that works in your particular health, well being, and efficiency objectives.

Smartwatches, GPS Watches, and Health Trackers

There are three very distinct classes of watches, every with strengths and weaknesses. Smartwatches are principally small smartphones in your wrist the place you possibly can add apps and take calls with out your telephone.

The most well-liked smartwatches are Apple and Samsung Galaxy watches. Functionally, they’re geared towards comfort and well being monitoring, however they have a tendency to fall quick on battery life, GPS accuracy, and exercise functionally.

GPS watches equivalent to Garmin, COROS, Suunto, and Polar are designed primarily for exercises that require GPS performance (operating, biking, climbing, swimming, and many others.). They have an inclination to have over triple the battery lifetime of smartwatches and are very sturdy with exercise options, metrics, and monitoring.

Whereas most will permit textual content and e mail messages, and lots of present storage for music or entry to streaming apps like Spotify, they’re restricted within the scope of apps you possibly can add and won’t change your smartphone.

Health trackers have the least performance and solely monitor well being and health metrics equivalent to resting and variable coronary heart price, sleep patterns, and steps. Most might want to keep related to a telephone for options like GPS monitoring.

Exercise Monitoring

At present’s health watches can monitor nearly any exercise conceivable, starting from operating to indoor mountain climbing and even browsing. We’ve discovered that watches labeled as “out of doors” or “multisport” not solely have a tendency to have the ability to monitor the extra obscure actions but additionally accomplish that with extra element and granularity. In consequence, this elevated degree of performance tends to return with the next price ticket.

Some extra entry-level watches do assist you to create new exercise profiles for sports activities that aren’t built-in, however more often than not these solely assist you to monitor the fundamentals like coronary heart price, time, and many others. 

For instance, whilst you might monitor mountain climbing with the Garmin vívoactive 5, it doesn’t have a particular profile for it, so you’d solely get fundamental knowledge logged for that exercise through the use of a distinct exercise profile equivalent to cardio. The Garmin fenix 7 Professional, nonetheless, has particular mountain climbing (indoor climbing, climbing, and bouldering) exercise profiles that assist you to monitor every route, the grade of the route, and the size of every climb. 

Backcountry snowboarding is one other particular exercise that testers discovered missing on among the lower-end watches, since a session consists of each uphill and downhill journey, logging it with out a backcountry skiing-specific exercise profile creates an inaccurate illustration. Even utilizing cross-country snowboarding instead on the Fitbit Cost 6 didn’t present the identical total image as utilizing a backcountry snowboarding profile on a watch just like the Polar Vantage V3.

Relying on the model and the exercise being tracked, it is possible for you to to see totally different knowledge each in the course of the exercise and within the exercise abstract after completion. If the watch helps navigation, and also you’re monitoring an exercise that entails transferring, one display will function a map along with your location. 

Excessive-end Garmin watches just like the fenix 7 Professional collection function over 80 exercise profiles with the power so as to add extra. The Polar Vantage V3 can maintain as much as 14 profiles on the watch and requires the Polar Circulation app to edit or add extra. COROS watches have about 30 exercise profiles, however veer extra in the direction of technical out of doors actions as an alternative of health club actions like Fitbit health trackers do. 

All of the watches we examined tracked frequent actions equivalent to strolling, operating (out of doors, path, treadmill), out of doors and indoor biking, yoga, elliptical, normal energy, and cardio periods. If there’s a less-common sport you’d like to trace, we advise having a look on the watch’s spec sheet to see if it’s coated.

Coaching and Teaching

As health watches have gotten higher at monitoring well being and health knowledge, corporations have been in a position to make use of that knowledge to present steering on coaching. As a full-time operating coach, our tester Cory Smith finds this notably attention-grabbing.

The highest purpose he sees most runners battle is as a result of they overtrain or under-rest. Garmin and Polar appear to have the most effective coaching and training insights, with COROS proper behind them.

Garmin, because the chief within the subject for coaching knowledge and even teaching via the watch interface, has a number of statistics that appear to be included throughout their latest watches, regardless of how high-end it’s. Even these baseline stats can present overview of coaching readiness and restoration. 

Restoration time, for instance, is included on each the vívoactive 5 and the fenix 7 Professional. Garmin’s restoration time makes use of knowledge out of your previous exercises, together with your current and long-term coaching load and Vo2 max. Different knowledge, like sleep and stress monitoring also can influence restoration time. One other now-standard piece of coaching knowledge for Garmin is Coronary heart Charge Variability Standing (HRV), which tracks the time in between heartbeats to find out the extent of stress your physique is at the moment underneath, as a result of coaching load, life, lack of sleep, and extra. 

Garmin additionally makes use of all the knowledge it’s continually gathering throughout all-day monitoring in addition to exercise monitoring to offer exercise solutions. Excessive-end watches, just like the fenix 7 Professional or Forerunner 745, present a particular exercise every day within the Morning Report, with particular objectives like “base constructing”, primarily based on previous actions and present coaching standing.

There’s additionally the choice to arrange Garmin Coach on any Garmin Watch, which makes use of the Garmin Join app to decide on a coaching purpose — equivalent to coaching for a half marathon — and Garmin Coach will present a coaching plan over an allotted time. 

Polar makes use of related knowledge to offer knowledge like Cardio Load Standing which seems at short-term coaching load (pressure) vs long-term coaching load (tolerance) to find out the impact of your coaching (detraining, sustaining, productive, or overreaching).

Well being Monitoring

Well being monitoring is normal throughout health watches, from essentially the most fundamental health tracker to the highest-end GPS watch.

Know-how for well being monitoring has superior quite a bit over the previous few years, and sure options that was thought-about high-end at the moment are obtainable on nearly each health watch, like SpO2 (blood oxygen saturation — measured via pink and infrared gentle), and Coronary heart Charge Variability. 

Each health watch measures coronary heart price and sleep, whereas some, like Polar watches, measure physique temperature. Extra well being knowledge equivalent to energy and hydration can be found on most watches we examined however should be tracked manually. 

The Apple Watch offers coronary heart well being alerts for low or excessive coronary heart charges and in addition permits for remedy reminders. All health watches present menstrual cycle monitoring, and lots of have built-in mindfulness into their interfaces, just like the Garmin vívoactive 5. 

Garmin watches now additionally monitor naps, together with in a single day sleep. Every model has its personal method of summarizing an evening of sleep, however most use a scale of 1-100 to price the night time of sleep whereas additionally monitoring time asleep and sleep cycles. 

For essentially the most half, well being monitoring options are additionally normal throughout manufacturers, however every model additionally has options that synthesize knowledge in distinctive methods, like Garmin’s Physique Battery and Fitbit’s Each day Readiness. 

Garmin’s Physique Battery, for instance, makes use of knowledge from sleep, stress, relaxation, and bodily exercise to offer a rating from 1-100 for bodily vitality. Your Physique Battery will probably be highest upon waking and ebbs all through the day relying on exercise and stress (measured via coronary heart price variability).

Some Garmin watches moreover present insights equivalent to “Straightforward Day: Your day has been straightforward to this point and you’ve got loads of vitality left for train or exercise”. Different manufacturers have related options with totally different interfaces.

Navigation and Mapping

If navigation and mapping are essential to you, you’ll must shell out some money. You may get some fundamental navigation options like waypoint markers and monitoring built-in into your telephone without having to go for top-of-the-line watches. However when you’re going to be utilizing your watch off grid and wish to add your personal .gpx tracks, you’ll must go for a higher-end Garmin, COROS, or Polar watch. 

Entry-level Garmin watches just like the Venu 2 and vívoactive 5 that embody GPS however lack navigation usually function a back-to-start mode that means that you can use an on-screen compass to get again to the place you began recording, with out an on-screen map. 

Watches with full GPS navigational functionality and onscreen maps, just like the fenix 7 Professional, Polar Vantage 3, or COROS Apex 2 Professional all assist you to obtain maps and .gpx tracks for navigation. All of them include fundamental maps put in, with the power so as to add maps obtainable via every model’s app or web site.

Garmin’s high-end watches just like the fenix 7 Professional have a navigational function known as ClimbPro that reveals the remaining distance for a bit of uphill journey. Garmin watches additionally embody pre-downloaded ski resort maps for 2000 ski resorts worldwide.

Garmin in addition to COROS consists of off-track alerts in addition to turn-by-turn instructions to a predetermined location.

Smartwatch Options

If you need essentially the most smartwatch options, an Apple Watch or related would be the option to go. However most health trackers and GPS watches additionally embody an assortment of smartwatch options. 

After Apple and Fitbit, Garmin has the most effective smartwatch options, with different manufacturers like Polar and COROS forgoing options like contactless cost for higher coronary heart price monitoring and outdoor-focused options. 

Just about all health watches sync along with your telephone and supply notifications for texts and different alerts — if you need. You may as well flip this off when you’re within the camp who search fewer distractions. 

Many Garmin and COROS watches additionally function offline music storage, whereas lower-end watches fit with music streaming apps like Spotify and have music controls. All Garmin watches now function Garmin Pay and have the power to obtain many third-party apps for varied extra options via the Garmin ConnectIQ retailer. Some watches, just like the vívoactive 5, even assist you to reply to Android telephone texts via the watch’s onscreen keyboard.

Accuracy and Sensors

World Navigation Satellite tv for pc Techniques

Most GPS units are correct inside 1-3%. In our testing, all GPS-focused manufacturers (Garmin, COROS, Polar, and Suunto) carried out equally in GPS connection and accuracy. Connection time assorted from 10 seconds to a few minutes, whereas distance was inside the 1-3% margin.

It’s essential to remember the fact that location has quite a bit to do with GPS connection and accuracy. Accuracy relies on a number of satellites speaking with one another freely and reporting again to the watch.

Distractions equivalent to buildings, timber, cliffs, and clouds can have an effect on the satellites’ potential to pinpoint the sensor within the watch. We propose asking fellow athletes within the space the place you’ll be figuring out to learn the way their watch GPS performs.

GPS isn’t the one sport on the town relating to satellite tv for pc navigation programs, and lots of new health watches are integrating different world programs to extend constancy of their location applied sciences.

GLONASS is a Russian satellite tv for pc navigation system that gives world positioning knowledge in the identical method that the GPS system does, and may present extra definition in excessive latitudes. Galileo is operated by the European Union and in addition affords full world protection. The BeiDou Satellite tv for pc Navigation System is operated by China and whereas initially solely offering protection to jap Asia, went world in 2020. And at last, QZSS, a Japanese system, offers protection over the Asia-Oceania areas.

As a result of totally different satellite tv for pc programs have undergone a number of generations of satellites, every operates on a distinct frequency than the final. These older satellites are nonetheless practical and supply extra knowledge that results in a a lot greater constancy sign when mixed with each other. That is multi-band GNSS (World Navigation Satellite tv for pc System) expertise, and an increasing number of health watches in the present day are incorporating it into their builds.

Barometric Altimeter and Compass

Most outdoor-focused health watches now include barometric altimeters and compasses that help their navigational capabilities. That is the place the older time period ‘ABC’ watch comes from.

Barometric altimeters measure elevation via air stress. They’ll additionally predict incoming storms and climate patterns.

Polar and Garmin each have choices to set their watches to one among three settings: Computerized, Barometer, and Altimeter. ‘Barometer’ locks the watch in a mode the place all adjustments in stress will probably be thought-about as a result of climate and adjustments in ambient stress, whereas ‘Altimeter’ considers all adjustments in stress to be as a result of elevation change. Computerized determines the most effective mode in your present exercise. 

Just about all health watches that embody GPS, even with out full navigational capabilities, embody a compass. This permits for back-to-start navigation and fundamental orientation with out service.

Coronary heart Charge Displays and Pulse Oximeters

Monitoring coronary heart price is among the most elementary options of any health watch or tracker, and pulse oximeters have develop into normal over the previous few years. These two sensors permit customers to maintain monitor of coaching pressure and total well being. 

Every model of watch makes use of a barely totally different expertise to research and interpret coronary heart price knowledge, however all of them use related methods of measuring optical coronary heart price, often known as photoplethysmography (PPG). A inexperienced gentle shines from the again of the watch, via your pores and skin, and displays off of pink blood cells in your veins, measuring blood circulate. 

Pulse oximeters measure blood oxygen content material, which is most helpful at excessive elevations to find out adjustment to altitude and efficiency potential. Health watches use pink and infrared gentle to estimate the share of oxygen in your blood. Whereas helpful particularly for altitude coaching, watch pulse oximeters usually are not as dependable as fingertip pulse oximeters.

Battery Life

That is essentially the most notable distinction between smartwatches and GPS watches. On common, smartwatches should be recharged each 24 to 48 hours, whereas GPS watches can final 5 to twenty days between costs.

These instances are ever-increasing, because of the combination of photo voltaic charging on among the extra premium fashions. Photo voltaic charging, like with the Garmin fenix 7 Professional Photo voltaic makes use of a Energy Sapphire lens to transform daylight into energy, extending the cost of your watch, relying on solar publicity.

Loads of elements affect how lengthy your watch’s battery will final, together with what you’re utilizing it for. In the event you’re utilizing GPS monitoring (and single GPS vs. multi GNSS mode issues), your battery will die quicker. Most watches promote battery life with and with out GPS. 

For instance, the COROS Apex 2 Professional advertises 75 hours in GPS mode (GPS + QZSS) and 45 hours with 5 satellite tv for pc programs (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou, QZSS), and 30 days for day by day use with out GPS monitoring. 

Charging time is comparatively fast, with most providing a full cost in round 2 hours. In the event you’re like us and hate having to continually cost yet one more machine, we suggest a GPS watch with an extended battery life.

Design

Measurement

Outside and multisport watches are sometimes bigger and heavier due to the sheer variety of options (and prolonged battery life), a lot in order that they’ll look too massive and awkward on small wrists. In the event you choose a smaller measurement, most manufacturers (together with Garmin, COROS, and Polar) supply smaller variations of flagship fashions. 

Buttons and Dials

The bodily design of watches varies throughout manufacturers, with some utilizing a 2, 4, or 5-button structure, others utilizing a dial and buttons, and others utilizing no buttons in any respect. 

Garmin tends to have 2, 4, or 5 buttons on their watches. Their lower-end watches are inclined to have fewer plastic buttons and premium watches function extra metallic buttons. Every button will be programmed as hotkeys (press and maintain) to entry varied screens equivalent to music controls, settings, timer, alarm, and extra. In our testing, we discovered that the Garmin buttons really feel intuitive, however the left-side buttons will be exhausting to succeed in. 

Polar makes use of the same structure of buttons to Garmin, however we discovered the fabric used for his or her buttons to really feel much less satisfying and dependable when in use. 

COROS and Apple use a mix of buttons and dials. The dial is helpful for trying via lists at a look, whereas buttons assist make selections and discover extra in-depth info. 

Most watches have methods to lock the button use, which will be handy if you don’t need your watch to vary screens. Fitbit nonetheless, has principally carried out away with buttons and makes use of haptic sensors on one facet of the Fitbit Cost 6. Testing discovered this to be a lot much less dependable in comparison with buttons on different watches, nevertheless it does present a easy design.

Shows and Touchscreens

Lately, most health watches function contact screens, though there are nonetheless some, just like the Garmin Forerunner 745 which might be button-only. However the kind of screens relies on the watch and the model.

There are two forms of shows discovered on health watches — AMOLED (Energetic Matrix Natural Gentle Emitting Diodes) and MIP (Reminiscence in Pixel). AMOLED shows are brighter and carry out higher in low gentle, however usually are not all the time nice underneath direct daylight. These are your smartwatch screens that look extra like a smartphone. Additionally they burn up battery shortly when all the time on, in order that they normally are ‘carry’ or ‘faucet’ to wake. 

MIP screens look duller at first look, with colours displaying up otherwise than in your telephone. They use reflective LCD expertise that relies on ambient gentle for visibility. This permits them to be all the time on and present up brighter in vivid daylight. They use much less energy than an AMOLED show. 

Outside-focused watches sometimes function a MIP display since that is the battery-friendly choice and permits for higher visibility outdoors, whereas smartwatches are inclined to have AMOLED shows. Some watches are even provided in each types (the Garmin Epix Professional is similar because the fenix Professional, simply with an AMOLED display.)

The precise materials used for a display additionally issues, particularly when you’re going to be utilizing it for high-impact actions — or simply are inclined to beat up your belongings. Sapphire glass is one materials utilized by Garmin, Apple, and different watch manufacturers that’s extremely crack and scratch-resistant. One other frequent materials for health watch screens is mineral glass, which is cheaper however scratches extra simply.

Watch Bands

Most health watches include silicone watch bands which might be straightforward to swap out. Different watch bands will be discovered via the producer, or, relying on the kind of watch, will be discovered via third-party websites. You may select between varied textiles, rubber, and even leather-based watch bands relying in your wants.

Silicone is the most effective for lively use, though some designs do should be cleaned and dried usually to keep away from the build-up of sweat and dirt. Textiles or leather-based can look nicer.

Consumer Expertise, Ecosystem, and Apps

Maybe as essential because the health watch itself is the depth and energy of its ecosystem. An ecosystem consists of the watch’s software, internet portal, and supported third-party apps equivalent to Strava and Spotify. To view your knowledge, you’ll must obtain an app in your telephone.

As Garmin is the most important health watch firm, it has the broadest and strongest sport-specific ecosystem. Garmin’s app and internet portal, known as Garmin Join, shows nearly all of the efficiency and well being metrics you want. Polar’s Circulation app and internet portal observe shut behind Garmin, with COROS and Suunto following Polar. Amazfit’s Zepp app is a little bit of an outlier, although it reveals operate and promise.

Value

Value can provide you measuring stick of the breadth of options of a watch. Entry-level health watches are inclined to deal with fundamental sports activities and monitoring and value underneath $200 retail. Each the Garmin Forerunner 55 and COROS Tempo 3 are two of our favourite entry-level watches.

Entry-level watches are good for somebody concerned about informal health. Extra critical health individuals ought to count on to spend over $200. Shifting up in value above $250 brings an enormous distinction in the feel and appear of watches. Premium health watches fall within the $300-500 value vary, with top-end watches above $500, such because the Garmin fenix 7 Professional Photo voltaic.

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