In 2022 you will find a Fitbit for almost every budget and health goal. While Fitbits aren’t intended for the most hardcore of athletes, they are excellent devices for tracking overall activity and monitoring certain health and wellness metrics like EKGs and blood oxygen levels.
You may be wondering if Fitbit is still relevant after more than a decade in the game. But while there are more smartwatches and fitness trackers out there than ever, Fitbit remains one of the most recognizable names in the industry. And Fitbit trackers are relatively affordable, especially since they often go on sale. The Fitbit community is huge, with 31 million active users, making it a beginner-friendly platform. All devices come with a free trial Fitbit Premiumthe company’s subscription service that adds guided workouts, meditations, and access to more in-depth stats.
This wide range of products can be a bit challenging to navigate. Is it still worth buying a Versa 3 in 2022? What is the difference between the Inspire 3 and the Luxe? Does the Pixel Watch change things?
Do not worry. We’ve tested every Fitbit tracker and smartwatch around. Whether you’re just starting your fitness journey or you’re a veteran trying to upgrade, here’s what to buy.
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The best Fitbit smartwatch
The $349.99 Pixel Watch has thrown a wrench into Fitbit’s smartwatch range. Technically it’s a Google product, but Google owns Fitbit, so they are all Google products now. Fitbit supports all health and fitness features of the Pixel Watch. But really, this is the smartwatch Fitbit could never build on its own.
For starters, it has a beautiful design with a round domed screen that looks much more elegant than the square Versa or Sense smartwatches ever did. On your wrist it looks like a watch, no tracker dressed up as a tracker.
The Pixel Watch is also a lot smarter than the versa 4 or Sense 2, in part because Fitbit has made its watches less smart. You get Google Assistant – which was removed from the aforementioned Fitbits – and the whole range of Google services such as Maps, Home, YouTube Music and Wallet. The Google Play Store has a ton of third-party apps and the number keeps growing. Fitbit’s native app store is bare bones, and the Versa 4 and Sense 2 don’t support third-party apps anyway, though their predecessors did. The Pixel Watch also has an LTE version for $50 more, and in 2023 Google will add SOS emergency calling. Any way you look at it, the Pixel Watch is a better smartwatch than the Versa 4 and Sense 2.
Google’s first in-house smartwatch has a beautiful curved display and built-in Fitbit integration for health tracking. It comes with six months of Fitbit Premium and three months of YouTube Music.
For health and fitness tracking, the Pixel Watch is essentially a Fitbit. Fitbit integration is built right into the watch and you can view your data in the Fitbit app. However, there are some shortcomings. While the watch has ECG capabilities, it does not provide alerts for abnormally high/low heart rates or irregular heart rhythms. The auto-tracking version is less useful than a real Fitbit’s, and it doesn’t offer swimmer stroke tracking or nightly SpO2 percentages. However, this may change as Google and Fitbit recently reversed course and added the Sleep Profile feature to the Pixel Watch.
If all you want is a fitness tracker looks like like a smartwatch, you can consider the Versa 4 or Sense 2. They get the job done. The $229 versa 4 is the more budget-friendly option, and I only recommend the $299.95 Sentence 2 if you are interested in ECG readings and more robust stress tracking.
The best fitness band
The best budget Fitbit
The Inspire line hasn’t always felt, well, inspired. But the $99.95 Inspire 3 is different. With an OLED color screen, it is reminiscent of the Fitbit luxury (previously $149.95, now often around $99.99), only with a matte black plastic case instead of a metal one. It’s a great throwback to classic Fitbits for people who just want the basics.
The Inspire 3 doesn’t over complicate things. It’s a fitness band. You don’t get built-in GPS, contactless payments, or digital assistants. But what it lacks in smarts it makes up for in Fitbit’s advanced sleep tracking, stress management features, and irregular heart rate notifications. The OLED screen is also a step up from the monochrome screen of the Inspire 2 and you still get 10 days of battery life. (Although it’s more like two to three if you enable the always-on display.)
The Fitbit Inspire 3 is an excellent basic fitness band that delivers notifications and tracks your activity on a bright OLED screen. It has a battery life of 10 days and can also be worn in a clip.
The Inspire 3 has a variety of accessories, including a clamp attachment if you want to discreetly follow steps. There’s even one gold or silver mesh band if you want to dress it up a bit.
To be fair, the Inspire 3 and Luxe are quite similar, and they’re often around the same price. It comes down to whether you think the Luxe’s nicer body is worth trading in for half the battery life – the Luxe gets an estimated 5 days instead of 10.
The Fitbit with the best value for money
The Charge series has always been popular and the $149.95 Charge 5 is no exception. It’s Fitbit’s more expensive fitness band, but easily competes with the more expensive ones versa 4 on properties. There’s now an OLED color screen plus an ECG and EDA sensor. You also get built-in GPS, NFC payments and SpO2 sensors – the only thing you’re really missing is a digital assistant.
The only issue we have with the Charge 5 is the always-on display. While it’s beautiful, it’s a major battery drain. The Charge 5 has an estimated battery life of seven days, but that drops to about two if you have the always-on display on. It’s a shame, because the OLED is a lot easier on the eyes than the monochrome LED screen on the Charge 4.
All in all you get a lot for the price. It’s the only FDA-approved ECG wearable you can find for less than $200, and the only other Fitbits that can take ECG and EDA readings are the Sense and Sense 2. The better deal overall.
If you’re trying to decide between the Charge 5 and Versa 4, we recommend the Charge 5 in most cases. Both give you similar health tracking experiences, although the Charge 5 packs a little extra thanks to its EKG and EDA sensors. (But as I mentioned earlier, most people probably won’t use these sensors all that much.) The Versa 4 is getting Google Maps and Wallet in the near future, but it’s nerfed when it comes to third-party apps. All things considered, the Charge 5 is the better value.
The Fitbit Charge 5 does all the usual heart rate and activity tracking and also offers access to new tools like an EDA Scan app to manage stress, as well as a six-month membership to Fitbit Premium.
The best Fitbit for kids
That pretty much covers the current Fitbit lineup. The only one we haven’t touched so far — and the only one I haven’t tested myself — is the $79.95 Ace 3. That’s the Fitbit tracker for kids – and it’s the only Fitbit available for minors. It’s a simple tracker with a robust bumper and comes with parental controls. It has better battery life than its predecessor, but it doesn’t come with GPS. While it does have heart rate sensors, it’s not an actively tracked metric for kids. Instead, it is used to determine how many ‘active minutes’ they get. Overall, it’s a good choice for parents whose main priority is making sure their kids get enough daily exercise. If you want location tracking, though, you’ll need to look for something other than a Fitbit.
Fitbit’s fitness tracker for kids sticks to the basics, comes with parental controls and has eight days of battery life.
Janice has been with businesskinda for 5 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider businesskinda team, Janice seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.