Best Fitness Tracker Device With Heart Rate
Update – 12 April 2016
If you fall into a group of people who are looking to get healthier, stay in shape, lose weight or increase your daily physical activity, then only the best fitness tracker device will do the trick.
We have researched and found five fitness tracker devices with heart rate monitor (both waterproof fitness trackers and non water resistant ones – the Fitbits) that we highly recommend ::
Best Fitness Tracker Device – The Top 5
Fitbit Charge 2
Fitbit is a household name, and the Fitbit Charge 2 is another quality fitness band that is slim and light to wear. The Charge 2 is a step up from the Charge HR, and the new features include VO2 Max, a Guided Breathing assistance and slimmer design. Other features of the tracker are continuous heart rate monitoring, sleep patterns, step counting, floors climbed, distance covered, hourly activities and plus it can automatically detect the kind of exercise you are participating from running, cycling, elliptical and more.
Plus it has a stop watch timer on the side of the device which allows you to customize a workout session which can help you to improve your performance and get the best out of your workout. But it is not built for swimming or high intensity training. As well, the Fitbit Charge 2 doubles as a watch that comes with alarm vibration and incoming caller id notification.
Hence every bit of data about your daily activities are on the fitness band and on the Fitbit App – which is the best fitness app to use. This is truly one of the best general fitness tracker device. For the health conscious, this will be the right fit for you.
Fitbit Blaze
The Fitbit Blaze is a more styled up fashionable fitness tracker that has smartphone capabilities like incoming calls and text messages.
In terms of performance features, it does what the Charge HR offers. The device tracks steps, calories burned, stairs climbed, active time, resting heart rate, quality of sleep and it has many exercise modes, which will automatically track particular exercises using the built-in heart rate monitor, and it can act as a running watch, but you must run along with your smartphone to use its GPS. Plus if you need a quick workout guide, the Blaze offers a nice 7 minute workout guide.
And the Fitbit App is a great and simple tool that offers simplicity and easy access to data on one single page.
The 2017 update comes with VO2 Max to help improve your cardio fitness, relax breathing sessions, sleep pattern (REM stage, light stage, Deep Sleep), and smart alerts now includes 3rd party notifications.
Although the Fitbit Blaze is not waterproof, it is still a quality wearable fitness tracker with interchangeable bands to suit both workout occasions and a dinner date. Whilst the heart rate monitoring is great for walking and jogging, the monitoring for high interval training can be suspect.
Garmin Vivoactive HR
Another quality Garmin product that is built for swimming and other sports. It acts as a smartwatch and fitness tracker which has a 5 ATM waterproof rating. Also the new generation from the Vivoactive now has an in built heart rate sensor. And if you want pinpoint heart rate accuracy for your workout then the Garmin Vivoactive HR offers a ANT+ chest strap heart rate monitoring option.
What’s more, it has an in built GPS tracker which keep tabs of running, biking, golfing, rowing and swimming. Plus it does the other normal stuff like tracking you daily steps, nightly sleep, and alerts you to move about if you have been still for a period of time. In regards to the functions and capability, this is an ‘all rounder’ of a fitness watch that will suit most activities.
The other aspect is the smartwatch capability – it can deliver a host of notifications to the wrist from texts, calls, WhatsApp, tweets, and Uber alerts.
The Garmin Vivoactive HR is really a sports lover’s smartwatch that features a variety of sports tracking functions. A mid range priced fitness watch designed for the sports mad fan.
Garmin Vivosmart HR+
If you are looking for a fitness watch that will trump Fitbit Charge HR, then the Vivosmart HR+ is the equivalent plus more. This is it. It is a step up on the Vivosmart, but the big difference here is the in-built GPS capability which is perfect for runners. Folks, that means you will not have to carry your smartphone around to enable GPS tracking! Plus it is waterproof.
Other differences includes the inclusion of MOVE IQ for sports recognition, a dedicated mode for running, virtual pacer, and walking. Other than that, it is 1 gram heavier, the design is more appealing and the 160 x 68 pixel screen is touch enabled.
Like the Vivomsart, it does the normal run of the mill tracking from counting of steps, flight of stairs, distance done, calories burnt, heart rate and sleep, and in addition it has push smartphone notifications. Nice!
For sure, if you are a runner, this is the best fitness tracker for you and it is waterproof for swimming!
Fitbit Alta HR
The latest Fitbit Alta HR not only offers activity tracking like steps walked, distance walked, flight of stairs taken, calories burnt and smart alert, it can now record your heart rate. Another enhancement is the sleep recording where it takes into account the heart rate and forms part of the equation for your sleep patterns such as deep sleep, REM, light and wake.
As well, the Alta HR provides fitness alert where it will notify you to move more if you have not met the 250 steps per hour. On another note, the smart alerts have improved which now includes social media alerts.
However, the Fitbit Alta HR does not have GPS connect nor is it waterproof for swimming. But like the Fitbit Alta, this is a nicely designed slim fitness tracker with inter-changeable bands, and it will suit individuals who have general health and well-being in mind, and simply wants a tracker to simply record activities and exercise more to shape up. The Alta HR has around 6 days worth of battery juice.
