Feb 19, 2025 8:30 AM

The Best Fitness Trackers and Watches for Everyone

Whether you’re skiing in the backcountry or trampolining in the backyard, we have an activity tracker for you.

Three wristwatches from Garmin Casio and Fitbit on tealtinted brushed copper background

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Featured in this article

Front view of Amazfit Active 2 smartwatch showing the large display screen both outdoors and indoors

The Oura Ring 4 a silver smart ring being pinched between fingers to show the sensors on the inner band beside an image...

Dexcom Stelo a small grey ovalshape device with small ring of adhesive around the edge

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Like every piece of gear you wear on your body day in and day out, fitness trackers are incredibly personal. The best fitness tracker should be comfortable, attractive, and fit your lifestyle, including when and how you like to work out. Do you bike, row, or do strength training? Do you run on trails for hours at a time, or do you just want a reminder to stand up every hour? Do you want to wear it on your wrist or your finger or tuck it into your bra?

No matter what your needs are, there’s never been a better time to find a powerful, sophisticated tool that can help you optimize your workouts or jump-start your routine. We test dozens of fitness trackers every year while running, climbing, hiking, or just doing workout videos on our iPads at night, to bring you these picks.

Updated February 2025: We've added information on PFAS in smartwatch bands and new information for the ScanWatch 2 and the Evie Movano. We've also added the Amazfit Active 2, Garmin Instinct 3, Dexcom Stelo, and OnePlus Watch 3.

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Fitness Trackers vs. Smartwatches

The categories can overlap significantly, but fitness trackers as we consider them here are, well, focused on health. I'm less concerned with whether a fitness tracker can replicate every feature on your smartphone than if the suite of health features is robust and accurate; if it can track multiple activities; and if it stays on and is secure while doing multiple fitness activities. We also include fitness trackers that aren't wrist wearables, which includes the Whoop, smart rings, heart rate monitors, and blood sugar monitors.

Some wrist-based fitness trackers will feature the ability to read emails and control music, but the screens are often smaller and less bright. However, the battery life is often much better, which makes a difference, especially if you're tracking your sleep over time. If, however, you're more interested in the option to access apps without having to pull out your phone, you might want to think about getting a smartwatch. (If you want no notifications at all, get a smart ring instead.) Don't see anything that's exactly your style here? Check out our Best Smartwatches guide.

Troubleshoot Your Fitness Tracker

Are you having trouble with this brand-new fitness device you just bought? Here are just a few ways you can easily cure what ails you (or your device):

Make sure it fits. Optical sensors won't work if your device is slipping loosely around your wrist. You can customize most devices with new straps. Make sure it sits securely an inch above your wrist.

Wash it! I'm horrified by how many people tell me their fitness trackers are giving them a wrist rash. Wipe it down with a little dish soap and water after a sweaty session.

Get out from under tree cover. Does your device utilize multiple satellite positioning systems to track your location when you're starting an outdoor workout? This is a lot harder for it to do if you're under power lines, trees, or even (gulp) inside.

Set a routine. There's nothing quite as frustrating as opening your tracker's app and finding out that it ran out of battery before you went to bed last night. Keep your app updated regularly. Check if your tracker is connected to your phone, and keep chargers everywhere.

Does Your Strap Have PFAS?

A study published in December 2024 found that many smartwatch wrist bands contain high levels of PFHxA, which is a “forever chemical” that can affect your immune, thyroid, kidney, and reproductive systems. How do you know if your band has PFHxA?

Check if the band is labeled as being made of “fluoroelastomer.” Fluorinated synthetic rubber is the material that has the highest levels of PFHxA.
Check if the company has tested its products. For example, Garmin's watches do not have PFAS.
If you're not certain, most trackers let you swap out your bands for those made from silicone, metal, leather, or other materials. Companies often have their own proprietary accessories; if you need some ideas on what to look for, check out our Best Apple Watch Accessories guide.

Next Up

Polar recently released an update to its midrange sports watch—the Polar Vantage M3. I am currently testing it and will report back soon.

Photograph: Fitbit
Best Overall
Fitbit Charge 6
Even as Fitbit has faced stiff competition from other manufacturers—most notably, the Apple Watch—its trackers have always won me over. They hit a very specific sweet spot between attractiveness, affordability, accessibility, and ease of use. They're perfect for everyone who isn't an ultra-marathoner or a semipro powerlifter trying to hit a PR.
The Charge 6 (7/10, WIRED Recommends) now has many integrations from Google, Fitbit's parent company. The redesigned app looks much more modern and is much better organized. You can now get directions from Google Maps, pay with Google Wallet, and control your music with a YouTube Music Premium subscription. You can also check your skin temperature and your 24/7 heart rate readings, take ECGs, and track your activities and sleep schedule in the newly Google-fied app. The battery charge lasted well over a week, and the physical button is back, baby! Finally, this all comes in a package that costs $160 (though it's often on sale).
In July 2024, Fitbit also unrolled several updates. Improvements to the algorithm now mean that the heart rate tracking is more accurate; it can also auto-detect more sports, like the elliptical and spinning, and the GPS accuracy has improved. Many of its best features are still locked behind its $10/month Fitbit Premium subscription. But if all you want is a basic fitness tracker that won't break the bank, the Charge only costs $160! Check out our Best Fitbits guide for more options.
~~$160~~ $120 at Amazon
~~$160~~ $125 at Walmart
$160 at Google Store
$160 at Target
Photograph: Adrienne So
Best Cheap Tracker
Amazfit Active 2
The Amazfit Active 2 packs a ton of functionality in a tracker that is only $100. $100! It has the usual bevy of sensors (photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, barometric altimeter, ambient light, and temperature sensors) that do all the usual things, like track your sleep, heart rate, and blood oxygen saturation. It also has up to 164 workout modes and long battery life, all in an attractive, stainless steel case that is rated for water resistance at 5 ATM. I jumped into pools and hot tubs wearing it without any damage.
It also has other features that are startling at this price, like mapping on the large, bright AMOLED touchscreen. You can download maps—even ski resort maps—to get directions. Amazfit has partnerships with trendy fitness and wellness companies like Hyrox, the current CrossFit competitor, and Wild.AI, which lets women optimize their workouts according to their menstrual cycles. OK, not all of these features work exactly as promised. The watch did not auto-recognize my strength training exercises, the sleep tracking was not nearly as sensitive as my Oura ring, and the map put a river next to my house where there is a street. Still, these don't seem like problems that will be that difficult to iron out. This watch made me rethink the value proposition of fitness trackers entirely. Did I mention it costs $100?
$100 at Amazon
$100 at Amazfit

Photograph: Simon Hill
Best Smart Ring
Oura Ring 4
Last year, Oura introduced a ton of updates to the Oura Ring 4 (9/10, WIRED Recommends)that make it more appealing to the women who now make up the majority of its customers. In addition to new colors and a wider range of sizes, the sensors are now recessed inside the body of the ring to make it thinner and lighter. The sensors are now also placed asymmetrically and, combined with a new Smart Sensing algorithm, they continuously adapt to taking the best measurement at any given time, no matter what's going on with your hands. (No, don't tell me.)
While the Garmin Fenix 8 is one of the best fitness trackers on the market, the Oura Ring caught a night of insomnia and several more hikes per day. The battery life is also better over the last Oura Ring, and the app is easier to navigate, with new features like Timeline, which let you add tags throughout your day. The experimental Oura Labs feature lets the company continuously test new features, like Meals, which lets you update pictures of your meals for AI analysis, and Symptom Radar, which tracks metrics like resting heart rate and temperature trends, to let you know if you've started exhibiting cold- or flu-like symptoms. The best features are still paywalled behind the $6/month Oura membership. Non-paying members are stuck with the three simple Sleep, Readiness, and Activity scores, as well as the Explore content, which includes meditation videos and advice clips that I have mostly found useless.
$399 at Amazon
$349 at Oura
Photograph: Stelo
Best Continuous Glucose Monitor
Dexcom Stelo
No tracker I've tested has generated as much interest as a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). It's a small, Bluetooth-enabled sensor with a tiny needle that slides under your skin. When you click it onto your arm with the included dispenser, it feels like getting flicked with a finger. It doesn't hurt while you're wearing it, but it does fall off and needs to be replaced every two weeks. These were originally approved for use by diabetics, but are now approved to be sold commercially.
I tested the Abbott Lingo, but I like the Dexcom Stelo better. The dispenser is easier to use, the application process is friendlier and more secure, and the app is simpler—no proprietary metrics to confuse you. Dexcom also has partnerships with both Oura and Apple, so your glucose data can seamlessly integrate with your other trackers. The app sends you a glucose spike alert every time you've stressed your body out by eating too much sugar or carbs instead of protein and fiber. A 2018 Stanford study also showed that many people have prolonged blood sugar spikes and don't know it, which can lead to cardiovascular disease and other bad outcomes down the road. I find it a little difficult, mentally and emotionally, to monitor my food intake this closely. If you're prediabetic, or a pro athlete who wants to optimize their fueling, you've probably been waiting for a good commercially available CGM for some time. Now it's here!
$99 at Stelo

Photograph: Adrienne So
My Favorite Tracker
Garmin Instinct 3
Garmin's Instinct line is one of its most popular. It has all the backcountry functionality of its more expensive Fenix and Epix lines (more on this below) but in a much cheaper design with a chunky retro ’80s aesthetic, in a bunch of unexpected colors. It's been several years since it was updated, and I was very excited to see the Instinct 3 debut at CES 2025. I tested the 45-mm AMOLED version. (There's also a cheaper version with the old memory-in-pixel (MIP) display.) This year's updates include a feature borrowed from the Epix line, a built-in flashlight I find weirdly helpful, and a metal-reinforced bezel with a scratch-resistant display and built to the durable MIL-STD 810 standard, meaning that’s undergone heavy thermal and shock resistance tests.
With that said, the Instinct line is starting to feel a little dated. It's a lot cheaper than a Fenix, but $450 is still a lot, especially when you are starting to see trackers with advanced functionality for much cheaper (see: above). Still, I took the Instinct 3 weightlifting, snowboarding, biking, and rock climbing, where I made certain to bang it repeatedly into a rock wall (along with my head, and my glasses), and it can record all of these activities and come through without a scratch. (I even managed to scratch the Epix's titanium bezel, so that says a lot.) Even though it doesn’t augment its battery life with solar power, it still lasted 20 days without recharging. Garmin Connect is free, so you don't have to pay for a subscription to check all of Garmin's amazing proprietary algorithms, like Body Battery and your Morning Report, and the company is perpetually adding new suggested workouts.
Garmin also recently partnered with Therabody, a maker of high-end massage guns. If you sign into your Garmin account in the Therabody app, Coach by Therabody suggests recovery routines with whichever Theragun you own depending on which workout you tracked with Garmin Connect. I have been trying this with the Theragun Pro Plus, and while I find the routines to be a little overkill, I'm feeling better with reminders to massage, stretch, and drink water (I added the last part). If you, too, like a lot of sports and banging yourself up on them, the Instinct 3 is a no-brainer.
$490 at Amazon
$450 at REI (Solar)
$450 at Garmin
Photograph: REI
Best Running Watch
Garmin Forerunner 165
The best running watch will probably always be a Garmin Forerunner. The line is one of Garmin's oldest and goes all the way from the bare-bones Forerunner 55 ($200) to the spendy Forerunner 965 ($600). They all have different graduated specs and features; for example, the less expensive ones have cheaper displays and no blood oxygen sensors. However, all have access to multiple satellite systems for accurate positioning as well as Garmin's proprietary training algorithms. Garmin's suggested workouts are flexible.
The Forerunners also age pretty well, which means you're getting a bargain if you can find the previous year's watch on sale (see the Forerunner 255). However, I think the Forerunner 165 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is a good compromise for most people. It's on the more affordable end of the spectrum, but it has everything you need, including a bright AMOLED display, an altimeter for more accurate mileage, and a blood oxygen sensor. I found the sleep and workout tracking to be pretty accurate, the battery life is decent, and I really like Garmin's Morning Report, which wakes you up with a summary of last night's stats—how well you slept, the weather, and how ready you are to take on the day. The Music version costs an extra $50 and may be more trouble than it's worth, but other than that it's a pretty solid option for even more advanced runners.
★ Alternative: If only Garmin's Forerunner line weren't so good! Otherwise, the Coros Pace 3 ($229) would be a shoo-in for this spot. Since Coros uses a less-battery-intensive screen, the Pace watches are incredibly light, durable, and comfortable, with very long battery life; I wore it for two weeks last fall without having to charge it once. It has dual-frequency GPS that tracks my interval runs seamlessly. (I was trying to see how long I could maintain Eliud Kipchoge's pace since he's one of Coros' partners—the answer is “not very long.”) It does everything much more expensive trackers do, like breadcrumb navigation. However, its 1980s looks and dimmer screen may be off-putting to some.
~~$250~~ $226 at Amazon
$250 at REI
$250 at Garmin
$300 at Garmin (Music)

Photograph: Adrienne So
The Best Outdoors Watch
Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED
Garmin has combined features from its previous Epix and Fenix lines back into the Fenix 8 AMOLED. You get the updated, hugely bright AMOLED screen of the Epix with the much longer battery life of the Fenix (longer than two weeks for the 47-mm model, in my testing). It also comes in the Fenix E version ($800), which is cheaper and has a less-bright MIP display. Now there's also dynamic routing, which lets you enter how far you want to go into the watch and then it will route you home on time. This is why you buy a Garmin outdoors watch—so you can figure out where you are and find your way home.
This is the best outdoor sports watch money can buy. It's compatible with both Android phones and iPhones, and the screen is ridiculously bright—not that it gets super sunny in Oregon in the winter, but it's noticeably brighter outdoors than other Garmin displays. You get everything you need for almost every sport, most notably Garmin's proprietary off-grid maps, which includes SkiView for ski resort maps, and golf course maps. There are leakproof buttons for scuba and a microphone and speaker for voice commands when you're off-grid. There's a built-in flashlight! No more relying on a phone flashlight with a 17 percent battery when you're out hiking later than you expected.
Garmin Connect is included with the purchase of the watch, which means that you won't have to pay a subscription fee to use its best features, which now include suggested strength-training workouts if you've also become recently obsessed with weight lifting to prevent you from disintegrating into a bag of dust. The one thing I found in my testing is that it's less sensitive in sleep tracking and incidental activity tracking than my Oura ring. This is less useful if you want just an everyday fitness tracker. But if you love outdoor sports, there's none better.
$996 at Amazon
$1,100 at REI
$1,000 at Garmin
Photograph: Apple
Best If You Have an iPhone
Apple Watch Series 10
People tend to hold on to their Apple Watch for years, and rightfully so—it is far and away the best fitness tracker if you have an iPhone. For its 10th anniversary, Apple launched last year's Apple Watch Series 10 (8/10, WIRED Recommends). It still doesn't have blood oxygen sensing due to a patent dispute with Masimo Corp, but in almost every other way, this is still a significant upgrade. The standout feature is sleep apnea notifications. The watch uses an accelerometer and machine learning to check if you have breathing disturbances at night, convenient considering that the current way to test for sleep apnea is to go to a hospital for a sleep study.
There are a bunch of subtle hardware updates too—it's thinner, lighter, easier to wear, and charges faster. It has a new water-temperature sensor, which is vital if you live in an area where people tend to conk out in too-cold water, and a bunch of new health-related software upgrades in WatchOS 11, like Training Load, to check how your workouts impact your performance and a new easy-to-reference Vitals app. You can also find most of WatchOS 11's updates on the second-gen Watch SE, but you won't get the more advanced health sensors like wrist-based body temperature sensing. Even with that pretty significant ding of no blood oxygen sensing, this is still the best fitness tracker if you have an iPhone.
~~$399~~ $299 at Amazon
~~$399~~ $329 at Walmart
$399 at Apple

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Best If You Have an Android Phone
Google Pixel Watch 3
The Google Pixel Watch 3 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is the best Wear OS watch for folks with an Android phone and the best-looking smartwatch, period. It comes in two sizes, and WIRED reviewer Julian Chokkattu and I both strongly recommend that you stick with the larger 45-mm model for better battery life. The focus of the latest edition of the Pixel Watch was running, with AI-generated running plans and a new feature called Cardio Load that can track if you’re over- or under-training. As a longtime runner, my experience was mixed, but Julian liked Fitbit’s basic, low-intensity plans (Google owns Fitbit). The other latest health feature, Loss of Pulse Detection, isn’t yet available in the US.
With that said, the Fitbit integration is perfect. The heart rate monitor and other health capabilities are accurate, and it has electrocardiogram readings, sleep tracking, heart rate readings, blood-oxygen measurements, and stress measurements. After several years and a shaky start, the Pixel Watch 3 is finally becoming the Apple Watch of the Android universe.
~~$400~~ $340 at Amazon
$350 at Google Store
~~$350~~ $302 at Best Buy
Photograph: Adrienne So
Best for Kids
Fitbit Ace LTE
The Fitbit Ace LTE (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is the first fitness tracker I've gotten my kids to wear consistently. (They used to wear Apple Watches, but found it difficult to keep them charged.) The Ace is a combination fitness tracker, gaming device, and location tracker that has been incredibly useful and fun for both me and my children as they've moved from camp to lesson to pool to neighbor's house this summer.
It has the full suite of Fitbit's health sensors, so it can track my kids' step count and make sure they're not spending too much time in front of the TV. The $10/monthly subscription pays for both LTE connectivity—so you don't have to add a line to your cell phone plan—as well as Fitbit Arcade, which has a plethora of fun, time-limited, movement-based games that incentivize my children to keep their watches on. They can call and text me (sometimes too often) and other approved contacts through the Fitbit Ace app, and I can also see their location via Google Find My to make sure they made it back home from a field trip. This has made our summer so much easier. Its childlike aesthetic is probably not going to appeal to kids older than 11, though.
~~$214~~ $180 at Amazon
~~$230~~ $200 at Best Buy

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Best for Samsung Phones
Samsung Galaxy Watch7
The Galaxy Watch7 is the latest iteration in Samsung's smartwatch lineup. It infuses some artificial intelligence algorithms to improve your health tracking data, like the Energy Score and updated sleep tracking capabilities. The sleep tracking offers a lot of information, but WIRED reviewer Julian Chokkattu did notice a few times that it had stopped tracking mid-sleep. You also get FDA-cleared sleep apnea detection, though this isn't a feature you'll turn on all the time—it takes two nights to track and afterward, you'll get a note saying whether or not you show symptoms. Some features, like sleep apnea, the electrocardiogram, and irregular heart rhythm notifications, are only available when paired with a Samsung phone, although otherwise, it works well with any Android phone.
Julian found the battery life frustrating compared to older models. With the always-on display, he struggled to hit a full 24 hours with two tracked activities and sleep tracking overnight. If you can keep a charger handy, the Watch7 is a solid update to the Galaxy Watch lineup. If you really cannot get enough of Samsung's health tracking, you should also pick up a Galaxy Ring (7/10, WIRED Review), which works seamlessly with the watch and the Samsung Galaxy phones to save battery life by switching tasks and counting steps when one or the other is charging.
~~$300~~ $229 at Amazon
$300 at Samsung
Photograph: Adrienne So
A Smaller Fitness Tracker
Garmin Lily 2 Active
I have nothing against huge, chunky sports watches—the bigger the better, I always say. However, if you have a tiny wrist, I suggest the Lily 2 Active. It packs a remarkable number of sensors into a watch that is smaller than my children’s smartwatches—the case is 38 mm, compared to the Fitbit Ace's 41 mm.
Despite its unobtrusive looks, it's still a fully functional fitness tracker. You can operate the watch either through two buttons on the side or the unobtrusive LCD touchscreen display, which I found to be responsive to my touch. It has built-in GPS that tracks my runs accurately and all the Garmin bells and whistles, including Garmin's proprietary Body Battery energy monitoring measurement and the Morning Report, which hits you with all your stats when you wake up in the morning. There's also the standard sleep tracking, blood oxygen tracking, and incident tracking if you get hurt while you're outside. There are fewer activity profiles, but it still hits the major ones—running, skiing, pickleball—if not surfing or climbing. Like the Fenix 8, it is slightly less sensitive than the Oura Ring when it comes to tracking sleep (that's why the Oura Ring is our Best Sleep Tracker, after all), but this is a good option if you're tired of pulling your blazer sleeves over your giant sports watch.
~~$250~~ $229 at Amazon
$300 at Target
$300 at Best Buy

Photograph: Withings
Best Analog
Withings ScanWatch 2
Do you want a tracker that doesn’t look like a tracker at all? Then you want the Withings ScanWatch 2 (7/10, WIRED Recommends). We loved the original ScanWatch (and the Withings Steel before that). This version includes everything we love, including comfort, good looks, long battery life, and a comprehensive suite of health features. It also includes temperature tracking, a new charger, and an unfortunate and unpalatable price hike.
My colleague Simon Hill found the health features to be comprehensive and generally accurate, including the new temperature tracker. (I tested it as well and found that it wasn't quite sensitive enough to predict my menstrual cycle with the accuracy of the Oura Ring.) One of the most touted new features is Withings' new Cardio Check-Up. Withings' board of certified cardiologists will review data from your watch and send you a medical review of your cardiac health directly through the app. Like many of Withings' best features, Cardio Check-Up is locked behind a $10/month subscription.
If this all sounds a bit too pricey for you, you may want to consider the ScanWatch Light ($250), which doesn't have the ECG, irregular heart rate warnings, blood oxygen, or temperature tracking but costs $100 less.
$350 at Amazon
$350 at Best Buy
$350 at Withings
Photograph: Polar Electro
Best Heart Rate Monitor
Polar H10
Most fitness trackers have a built-in heart rate monitor, but if you're engaging in long sessions of intense aerobic activity, you'll get greater accuracy if you use a separate strap on your bicep or around your chest. Of the heart rate monitors that we tested, my colleague Michael Sawh likes Polar's the best. Polar replaced the typical loop-and-hook connector with a much more comfortable buckle connector, along with small silicone dots to make sure the monitor stays in place.
Comfort and security mean that the readings are much more accurate; Sawh saw (hah!) no drop-outs or underreporting or overreporting of data. It also has built-in memory and ANT+ connectivity, so you can connect to other equipment like bike trainers. You also don't have to replace the battery for up to a year.
~~$105~~ $85 at Amazon
$100 at Polar

Photograph: Simon Hill
Best Smart Ring Without a Subscription
Ultrahuman Ring Air
Smart rings have grown enormously in popularity since the Oura debuted in 2015. If you want a simple, understated smart ring and don't want to get another subscription charge per month, the Ultrahuman Ring Air (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is a great place to start. This lightweight, unobtrusive ring has an infrared photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor, a noncontact medical-grade skin temperature sensor, a six-axis motion sensor, and colored LEDs for heart rate monitoring and blood oxygen saturation. It also has IPX8 water resistance, so it's fine to wear in the shower or pool, and the battery life lasts for about four days. My colleague Simon Hill notes that the sleep tracking is excellent, but the workout tracking leaves something to be desired.
$349 at Amazon
$349 at Ultrahuman
Photograph: Michael Sawh
The Most Wearable Wearable
Whoop 4.0 (Membership)
The biggest problem with any fitness wearable of any kind is how often they get in the way of … working on your fitness. You can't wear the Oura ring while rock climbing, for example. That's why the cult fitness tracker company Whoop introduced a line of smart clothes. With a Whoop in your bra, you can track runs with your Garmin!
Whoop is best suited for athletes who can independently interpret its somewhat arcane metrics. Daily Strain measures only cardiovascular load, so a day where I walked 3 miles to and fro is supposedly a harder day than when I lifted weights for an hour. The Whoop 4.0 is also smaller than previous models, with a new battery, but I did experience charging issues with the new version. You have to keep the app running at all times lest it constantly warn you that it can't update right this second. The company recently debuted an AI coach I found considerably less than helpful—I know why I'm not getting enough sleep, but my work and kids aren't going away anytime soon. Finally, at $30, the monthly subscription is the most expensive one here, the line of proprietary clothing does not have extended sizing, and there hasn't been a significant overhaul of either the hardware or software in quite some time.
$239 at Amazon (Annual)
$239 at Best Buy (Annual)
$239 at Whoop (Annual)

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Best for Weekend Warriors
Apple Watch Ultra 2
Apple did not significantly upgrade its rugged outdoor watch (8/10, WIRED Recommends) in the second version. The most significant news was that it came in a very attractive jet-black finish, which goes very well with the titanium Milanese band made specifically for the Ultra 2 and scuba diving. It does, however, still have everything that made it a great watch for people who like to go out on the weekends, including a faster chipset, second-gen ultra-wideband chip, and compatibility with WatchOS 11, which has a ton of new health algorithms including Training Load and the new Vitals app. Like the Series 10, it can also check your breathing disturbances at night to see if you have sleep apnea. Hardware-wise, it has a shockingly bright 3,000-nit screen that is theoretically useful for looking at your watch amid the bright, snow-reflective glare. I didn't notice a difference on a sunny day at the river between the 3,000 nits of my watch and the 2,000 nits of the iPhone 15, but maybe you will!
Apple has mostly given up on the idea that you will never be without your phone, and many of the Watch Ultra 2's most useful features are seen only in conjunction with your iPhone. For example, you can look at offline maps only when you are within Bluetooth range of your iPhone and have downloaded them beforehand. In WatchOS 10, starting a cycling activity on your watch turns your phone into a de facto bike computer. A Watch Ultra 2 and iPhone combination doesn't work quite as well as a dedicated sports watch, but it works well enough, especially if you also want the full smartwatch functionality that an Apple Watch provides. It's also worth noting here that it now too does not have a blood oxygen sensor, like the Series 9 or Series 10 above.
$769 at Amazon
$799 at Best Buy
$799 at Apple
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Best for Weekend Warriors on Android
OnePlus Watch 3
Got an Android phone but want a fully featured Wear OS smartwatch that also can last a weekend? Well, OnePlus will do you one better. The new OnePlus Watch 3 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) can cruise through five days on a single charge. That's almost unheard of for smartwatches powered by heavier operating systems like watchOS and Wear OS. That means you can respond to Slack messages all throughout Friday, then head out of town for the weekend and continue viewing notifications from your outdoor security camera—and you still won't have to charge the dang thing by Monday.
OnePlus has improved its health and fitness features on its smartwatch, with better heart rate and sleep tracking accuracy. It also now includes many features we've come to expect on a smartwatch, like fall detection, a skin temperature sensor, irregular heart rate notifications, and an electrocardiogram. Unfortunately, the US FDA did not approve the ECG, so that function isn't available in models sold in the US and Canada. Still, if you want a smartwatch that can replicate many of your phone's functions, but want the battery life of a fitness tracker, this is one of the best options right now. (It only works with Android phones.) —Julian Chokkattu
$330 at OnePlus

Other Fitness Trackers to Consider

Garmin Venu 3

Photograph: Garmin

Garmin Venu 3 for $400: There's nothing wrong with Garmin's pricier premium hybrid fitness tracker-sports watch. However, its standout feature is that you can take calls from your wrist, and when I tried it with my spouse, he said it sounded like I was calling from the bottom of a barrel. There are other Garmins with similar functionality that are better-priced.

Xiaomi Smart Band 9 for $49: I was shocked by how much I liked this affordable little fitness band. The 1,200-nit display is clear and bright and the touchscreen is responsive. The aluminum case feels sturdy and it tracks your steps and heart rate with reasonable accuracy. However, there's just no comparing the user experience of the Mi Fitness app versus Fitbit's, especially at this price. (Yet.)

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra for $650: Your eyes have not deceived you. Samsung has made a Galaxy Watch Ultra (7/10, WIRED Review) that is a direct rip-off of the Apple Watch Ultra, but for Samsung phone owners. It even has the same safety orange band, the Quick button (which Apple calls an Action button), and the Double Pinch feature (which Apple calls Double Tap). Apple's watch is better, with more sports, better interface, and better comprehensive algorithms like Training Load and Vitals. However, what the Galaxy Watch Ultra does, it does well and Samsung has the resources to catch up quickly. It has a sapphire glass face that's rated to 10 ATM, an IP68 rating, and the ability to withstand elevations as high as 9,000 meters and temperatures as high as 130 degrees. It also has backcountry navigation features, dual-band GPS, a compass, and breadcrumb navigation, which Samsung calls Track Back and which Apple calls Backtrack (this is getting silly). The battery life is still just an adequate two days and change though.

Buyer Beware

Photograph: Amazon

Evie Movano Ring for $269: Evie recently announced an upgraded version of the Movano, with a medical-journal-trained AI chatbot and improved sleep and heart rate tracking. I tested it and unfortunately did not find enough on offer to rescind my previous opinion (4/10, WIRED Review). The smart ring market has exploded since then, and many new rings have explicitly women-centered features. It simply doesn't offer enough features to be an attractive product right now.

Amazfit T-Rex 3 for $280, Amazfit Active for $85, Amazfit Helio for $200 and Amazfit Balance for $150: I have tried all the watches across Amazfit's lineup and my colleague Simon Hill has tried the company's smart ring. While I have nothing to complain about regarding the build quality—the Active is a convincing dupe for a black Apple Watch and the Balance a dupe for the Samsung Galaxy Watch if you don't look too hard—both Hill and I found functionality to be somewhat limited and were exasperated at the subscription upselling. The Active 2 is the only Amazfit watch I like right now.

Adrienne So is a senior commerce editor for WIRED, where she reviews health and fitness gear. She graduated from the University of Virginia with bachelor’s degrees in English and Spanish and runs, rock climbs, and sings karaoke in her free time. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband, two ... Read more

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