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What are the best fitness trackers with built-in GPS?

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5 Options Considered

5 Options ConsideredPriceWaterproofHeart rate
Polar M400
YesChest strap compatible
Garmin Forerunner 235
Waterproof (50m)Yes
Garmin Vivoactive HR
Yes–
Fitbit Surge
NoYes
Samsung Gear Fit2
Water-resistantYes
See Full List

Polar M400

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Laura Kyle
Top Pro

Gives you a lot of options for customizing different types of workouts

•••
The "Sport Profile" feature allows you to customize what stats you want to see for each type of exercise. For example, you may want the GPS on for running but not for a circuit workout. These preset profiles save you from having to set up the device each time you exercise.
Laura Kyle
Top Pro

Detailed reports

•••
The fitness tracker offers excellent reporting including distance, speed, cadence, heart rate (if paired with monitor), ascent, decent, calories, recovery status, and more.
Laura Kyle
Top Pro

Ability to add training notes

•••
The app allows you to add additional notes to your workouts for better tracking.
Laura Kyle
Top Pro

Gives you custom activity goals suitable for your level

•••
The daily activity goal is a good way to find out how active you really are in your everyday life. Here you can choose your typical activity level from three options and see how active you need to be to reach your daily activity goal. The time you need to complete your daily activity goal depends...
Laura Kyle
Top Con

Short battery life when using the GPS

•••
With the GPS turned on, battery life goes from around 24 days to 9 hours. This is likely fine for people who will always have opportunities to charge it after their run. However for anyone hoping to use the GPS for longer activities, such as hiking, that may not be long enough to be useful.
Laura Kyle
Top Con

Known to become glitchy after a short period of use

•••
The Polar M400 has some issues with reliability. After only a couple months of use, it's not uncommon for owners to report issues ranging from refusing to sync to the battery no longer charging.
Laura Kyle
Top Con

Unattractive and bulky design

•••
The tracker is quite wide and hard to miss, it's not something that can blend in with what you're wearing outside of sport/exercise type settings.
Laura Kyle
Top Con

Sleep tracking lacks detail and accuracy

•••
If you are awake for an extended period of time in the middle of the night and then fall back asleep, the fitness tracker may not see the additional hours as part of your sleep.
See 6 more Pros & ConsSee 6 more Pros & Cons

Garmin Forerunner 235

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Laura Kyle
Top Pro

Ideal tracker for runners

•••
It's quite lightweight at 1.6oz and has a large bright display for easy reading while on the move in all types of lighting conditions. It's water resistant up to 50 meters so you're safe to wear it running in all types of weather.
Laura Kyle
Top Pro

Quickly picks up a GPS signal

•••
It picks up the GPS signal much faster than most other GPS fitness trackers available, so there is little waiting around for it to connect before you start your run.
Laura Kyle
Top Pro

Extremely lightweight and comfortable

•••
Despite the amount of hardware this tracker contains and it's large size, it's very lightweight and comfortable to wear.
Laura Kyle
Top Pro

Customize the display screen to display the data most important to you

•••
The display screens are fully customizable so you can control which stats you want to see.
Laura Kyle
Top Con

Needs to be recharged often

•••
Garmin states the watch has a battery life of 11 hours training and 9 days of use as a watch, which is a fairly short charge compared to other fitness trackers. However many people have found the actual charge to be much less, often needing to be recharged every couple of days.
Laura Kyle
Top Con

Has trouble tracking heart rate during intervals

•••
During interval training when there is a frequent change of exertion, the Forerunner 235 has trouble continuously providing accurate readings. It's better suited for running with a sustained pace.
See 4 more Pros & ConsSee 4 more Pros & Cons

Garmin Vivoactive HR

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Ray
Top Pro

Step, stairs, heart monitoring

•••
Ray
Top Pro

Good display

•••
The fitness tracker has a large backlit full-color touch-display that's sunlight-readable and responsive.
Ray
Top Pro

Easy to use

•••
The fitness tracker has two buttons, a back button that also locks the device and a start button that also enters settings, and an intuitive touch interface that is controlled with swipes and taps. The learning curve is close to nonexistant.
Ray
Top Con

No sleep monitor

•••
Ray
Top Con

HR monitoring does not work during swimming

•••
The fitness tracker's heart rate monitoring gets turned off during swimming.
See 3 more Pros & ConsSee 3 more Pros & Cons

Fitbit Surge

Laura Kyle
Top Pro

Continuous heart rate tracking eliminates risk of forgetting to activate the feature

•••
The Fitbit Surge fitness tracker has automatic, continuous, wrist based heart rate tracking. Heart rate data is stored at one second intervals during exercise, and at five second intervals during non-exercise activities.
Laura Kyle
Top Pro

LCD screen that can display multiple stats without the need of using the app

•••
Similar fitness trackers depend on Bluetooth in order to relay info to a smartphone. Fitbit Surge can display information locally on the display which is far more convenient.
Laura Kyle
Top Pro

Easy to operate compared to display-less options

•••
While Surge easily syncs with iOS, Android, and Windows phones, it does not depend on them for functionality. The touch screen and physical buttons are a huge step up from display-less models.
Laura Kyle
Top Pro

Lets users log meals by voice

•••
Users can tell Surge what was eaten, and a database will be used to match the entry with nutritional information.
Laura Kyle
Top Pro

Does not need to be recharged frequently

•••
The battery lasts 5-7 days which is one of the longer lasting options for rechargeable fitness trackers.
Laura Kyle
Shuang Liu
Top Con

Battery life is short

•••
Laura Kyle
Top Con

Screen prone to inadvertent touches

•••
It's really easy to accidentally brush up against the fitness tracker's watch and end up on screens that the user wasn't intending to navigate to. This forces you to swipe back to the correct screen.
Laura Kyle
Top Con

Might cause skin irritation for some

•••
A number of people are reporting the Surge causes skin irritation. According to the company it's a very small percentage of customers.
Laura Kyle
Top Con

Fairly big investment

•••
While it's one of the most advanced trackers that Fitbit offers, it comes with a hefty price tag.
Alex
CredibleKokhKox
Top Con

Not durable

•••
The band eventually rips from the screws and eventually tears away from the tracker.
See 8 more Pros & ConsSee 8 more Pros & Cons

Samsung Gear Fit2

Laura Kyle
Top Pro

Works as a music player so it can be your sole device during exercise

•••
The Gear Fit2 is one of the few trackers that allows you to store music directly on the device, which means one less electronic you need to carry with you on your workouts. Thanks to the built in GPS and notifications, the Gear Fit2 eliminates the need to bring your smartphone with you on runs.
Laura Kyle
Top Pro

Keeps you constantly aware of your progress without needing to look at your smartphone

•••
The display isn't limited to your stats for the day as it is with many other trackers. At a glance you can check out your progress for the week, or look at the full activity history of each day individually.
Laura Kyle
Top Pro

Large, clear display that's easy to read

•••
The fitness tracker has a large display that's easy to operate while on the move, so viewing your stats won't distract from your workout. The display is curved and bright so it's easy to read both in dark and bright lighting conditions.
Laura Kyle
Top Pro

Lots of options for personalizing the appearance

•••
The Samsung Gear Fit2 gives you the ability to change the display screen color theme right on the device, so you can quickly match the clock face to the outfit you're wearing. There is also a variety of wrist bands available to better personalize your Gear Fit2.
Laura Kyle
Top Con

GPS drains the battery extremely fast

•••
Not a great option for those who want to use the tracker for long hikes. With the GPS turned on, it goes through battery extremely fast. Only lasting a few hours before needing to be put on power saving mode.
Laura Kyle
Top Con

Easy to lose the tracker because of a weak clasp

•••
The clasp is known to pop open on a regular basis, especially during exercise.
Laura Kyle
Top Con

Unreliable build quality

•••
There are many reviews on Amazon stating people had issues with the device quitting after only a few months of use.
See 5 more Pros & ConsSee 5 more Pros & Cons

19 Community Recommendations

Aubrey
Laura Kyle
Ray
Stuart Kearney
Shuang Liu
delapointe
ClassyAscalaphus
HelpfulApep
CourageousAnput
PatientNefertum
SuccinctLaverna
+3
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