What are the best fitness trackers with heart rate monitoring?

Waterproofing:Water-resistant

GPS:Uses smartphone GPS

Throughout the day (and night), the Charge HR fitness tracker continuously measures your heart rate. On the app, graphs show your heart rate throughout the day, providing stats such as time spent in the different zones (peak, cardio, and fat burn) as well as your average resting heart rate for that day. See More

score 9 · Answer 2

Fitbit Charge HR

Top Pro

Continuously measures your heart rate and intensity level to give you 24 hour stats

Top Con

May break after only a few months of use due to durability issues

People have reported the band separating from the module and the clasp snapping off. There have also been issues with bubbles forming in the band, even when kept completely dry. The charging port commonly breaks as well. Though the company is usually good about sending a replacement, it can be a hassle. See More

Top Pro

The app and web platform do an excellent job of keeping you motivated

The Fitbit app lets you set goals and milestones which reward you with badges and trophies when reached. You can also challenge friends and family, see their activity feed, and compete against them for top spot on the leader board. See More

Top Con

Won't turn on if you completely let the battery run out

If you do not keep up with charging your device, and you let the battery life completely drain to where it will no longer turn on, a hard reset of the device is needed in order to get it to turn back on again. The trouble being, that one, you will lose your data from before the hard reset, two you will need to plug it in and hold down the button for an extended period of time until the bottom lights flash numerous times. This can take well past 20 seconds, and repeat tries. See More

Top Pro

Battery lasts a week or more on a single charge

The battery is rated for 7 days, and has been tested up to 9 days by reviewers. See More

Top Con

Known to cause rashes

The charge has been known to cause red itchy rashes, and occasionally burns. See More

Top Pro

Multifunction display

In addition to fitness metrics, a Fitbit Charge synced with a phone will display time and caller ID. See More

Top Pro

Excellent customer support

Will often replace Fitbits for nearly any reason within 1 year. See More

Specs

Waterproofing:Splash-resistant

Clock:Yes

Apps like Cardiogram are available to monitor and track your heart rate to detect arrhythmias. See More

score 3 · Answer 3

Apple Watch

Top Pro

Apps for monitoring heart rate outside of fitness

Top Con

Works only with iPhones

You need to have an iPhone (5 or later) to pair this smartwatch. It will not work with any other device, and has limited capabilities on its own (and still require the iPhone for the initial setup). See More

Top Pro

Can be connected to a cellphone for being able to be contactable without a phone

Top Con

Expensive for fitness tracking

Top Pro

Heart rate monitoring

Top Pro

Provides GPS data for GPS-enabled workout/fitness apps

Top Pro

Can stream audio to bluetooth headphones for activity without a phone

Top Pro

Works well with iPhone

Health apps downloaded on iPhone can be integrated with Apple Watch See More

Top Pro

Sensitive touch

Allows for taps and presses to be registered as two different types of input. See More

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. However, it does require bluetooth headphones. See More

score 4 · Answer 4

Samsung Gear Fit2

Top Pro

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

Top Con

Auto tracking can be inaccurate

Auto tracking will begin recording if it thinks you have begun an exercise. It has been known to randomly start tracking an exercise (like cycling) even when almost stationary, resulting in a very inaccurate exercise summary. There is no way to turn this feature off. See More

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. See More

Top Con

Easy to lose the tracker because of a weak clasp

The band is not secure, and has been known to come undone frequently with movement. See More

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. See More

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. See More

Top Pro

Onboard GPS

The tracker includes a built in GPS, allowing you to track/map your cardio. See More

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. See More

Specs

Waterproof:Water-resistant

GPS:Yes

While it varies somewhat, many people have been reporting that the fitness tracker usually lasts 5 full days on a single charge. In general, the more features a tracker has, the faster it will drain the battery. 4 or 5 days is an impressive charge compared to other trackers with similar features (continuous heart rate tracking for example). See More

score 3 · Answer 5

Fitbit Blaze

Top Pro

Long battery life for being so feature-rich

Top Con

Inconvenient to charge

To charge the Blaze fitness tracker, you need to remove the main module and lock it into its charger. See More

Top Pro

Tracks your activity in a large variety of ways

The Fitbit Blaze fitness tracker is feature-rich and tracks steps, calories burned, distance traveled, active minutes, floors climbed, heart-rate, and sleep time. See More

Top Con

Poor use of the large display

The fitness tracker's screen takes up a small amount of the front face. The glass bezels and casing take up most of the front. See More

Top Pro

Wide range of wrist straps available for a more personalized look

If you don't like the basic rubber wrist strap the comes with the tracker, you can change out the strap for more premium options. There are many different styles available including leather, silicone, or stainless steel in a variety of colors. See More

Top Pro

Very easy to read, even in bright sunlight

The Fitbit Blaze is a great option for outdoor use thanks to how easy it is to see the display even in bright sunlight. The clear and bright display uses plenty of color for better clarity. See More

Top Pro

Media control

Top Pro

Interesting design

The Blaze has a techie look to it that some may find a nice change from the usual sporty-appearance of trackers. It is fairly lightweight and the design isn't offensive, it's something you can wear every day. See More

Specs

GPS:Uses smartphone GPS

Waterproof:No

UP4 uses Bioimpedance sensors that track respiration, perspiration, hydration, skin temperature, heat flux, BMI, and can even sense which activity is being done. For instance, UP4 can identify sports like tennis and log the information automatically. See More

score 4 · Answer 6

Jawbone UP4

Top Pro

Advanced metrics tracking system

Top Con

No display

Instead, UP4 has LED indicators. See More

Top Pro

Integrates with an impressive list of third-party apps

Jawbone app allows data from third-party apps to be imported as well as Jawbone's data to be used to supplement other apps. When activity is logged in a third-party app it will show up in Jawbone app's feed to give a complete overview of fitness and health situation. Some of the integrations include Runtastic, MapMyFitness, Strava, Nest, Kiqplan, Wello, and others. See More

Top Con

Can't track elevation

There is no elevation sensor in the device, so there will be no way to know the height walked or ran when wearing it. See More

Top Pro

Allows setting goals, alerts and reminders in order to motivate

There are multiple ways the app tries to motivate. First it asks to set goals and if you are struggling in achieving them, you can set the tracker to remind or alert you via notifications of your connected device or vibrating the wristband itself. See More

Top Con

Typically, it doesn't last more than 1 year

Top Pro

Has a social component

You can add friends or just random people and see their activity in your app's activity feed. You can also cheer them on and comment on progress. See More

Top Pro

Integrates with Jawbone's free app for logging food & drink

Foods eaten can be added manually from a comprehensive list and detailed statistics about them can be seen. Foods can also be added by pointing smartphone's camera to a bar-code. See More

Top Pro

Can be used to log workout

To automatically track a timed activity, you can set the wristband in Stopwatch mode by pressing + long-pressing the button. You can also enter the activity manually from the app by supplying information on the activity type, effort level, start time and duration. See More

Top Pro

Accurate step counter

UP3 has a very low margin of error when counting steps. For example, it won't count arm movements towards total step count as many other fitness trackers tend to do. As such it will be able to provide more accurate data on calories burned, time active and distance traveled. See More

Top Pro

7-day battery life

Running 24 hours a day, UP3 will last a week off of one charge. See More

Top Pro

Offers personalized goals

A feature called "Today I Will" suggests personalized goals throughout the day. See More

Top Pro

Has OLED indicators for notifications & status

Blue light indicates sleep mode, the orange light indicates activity, and white indicates that there is a notification. See More

Top Pro

Integrates with IFTTT

IFTTT (IF This Then That) is an automation app. By integrating it with UP3 you can get functionality like turning lights on in your room when you wake up, creating a chart of all your data and uploading to Google Drive, log a meal when you check in at a restaurant on Foursquare, etc. You can see a list of over a 1000 public recipes here. See More

Top Pro

One size fits all

UP4 comes with an adjustable strap so everyone can wear the same bracelet. See More

Top Pro

Power nap mode

2 presses + long-press on the wristband will enter power nap mode. Power nap setting, such as how long should you be asleep and your maximum time spent sleeping and awake, can be adjusted from within the application. See More

Top Pro

Real-time Bluetooth 4.0 syncing

Bluetooth syncing removes the hassle of having to take the device off of the wrist and putting it back on again multiple times throughout the day. It also allows the device to send notifications to the phone. Bluetooth 4.0 is a great benefit to UP4 users because it doesn't use as much energy as previous versions, which will boost battery life. See More

Top Pro

Can be set up to e-mail a weekly summary

Jawbone allows for users to set up a weekly email that will send a summary of their activities making fro an easy way to see what one has done in the last week. See More

Top Pro

Can be used for reminders

Reminders can be set up in the up app that will make the wristband vibrate at a set point in time and a notification pop up on your smartphone. See More

Top Pro

Advanced sleep tracking

UP4 is capable of detecting light, deep & REM sleep. Correlation between activity and sleep are also recorded so Smart Coach can make personalized sleep recommendations in the future. UP4 can automatically detect when you go to sleep based on lowered heart rate and lack of movement or sleep mode can be set up manually. While the automatic sleep tracking is in most cases sufficiently accurate and will get more accurate over time, start and end of sleep can be also adjusted after the fact if the tracker doesn't get it right. See More

Top Pro

American Express NFC payment integration

Users can make payments with a connected American Express cards easily through using their UP4. This works at certain retailers, but not all. See More

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. See More

score 1 · Answer 7

Garmin Forerunner 235

Top Pro

Ideal tracker for runners

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 More

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. See More

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. See More

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. See More

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. See More

Specs

Waterproof:Waterproof (50m)

GPS:Yes

Sleep tracking:Yes

UP3 uses micro-currents to sense the user's heart rate with extreme accuracy. Currently, heart-rate is only tracked twice a day, but it will be tracked continuously after UP3 has a firmware update. See More

score 3 · Answer 8

Jawbone UP3

Top Pro

Heart-rate monitor is accurate

Top Con

Poorly made and known to malfunction after a short period of use

Along with the major clasp issue, the UP3 has an all-around durability issue. The band has been known to break, the clasp fall off, and the tracker to stop transmitting data. See More

Top Pro

Can be set up to e-mail a weekly summary

Jawbone allows for users to set up a weekly email that will send a summary of their activities making fro an easy way to see what one has done in the last week. See More

Top Con

Very limited heart rate utility - Can't take HR during exercise

The UP3 fitness tracker can only measure heart-rate when at rest (including while sleeping). This is because it uses a different technology than other smart bands - so unfortunately active heart rate can't be added in future software updates. See More

Top Pro

Power nap mode

2 presses + long-press on the wristband will enter power nap mode. Power nap setting, such as how long should you be asleep and your maximum time spent sleeping and awake, can be adjusted from within the application. See More

Top Con

The watch can easily get lost because of the weak clasp

The clasp is extremely unreliable and frequently pops open, especially during exercise. See More

Top Pro

Integrates with IFTTT

IFTTT (IF This Then That) is an automation app. By integrating it with UP3 you can get functionality like turning lights on in your room when you wake up, creating a chart of all your data and uploading to Google Drive, log a meal when you check in at a restaurant on Foursquare, etc. You can see a list of over a 1000 public recipes here. See More

Top Con

There is no customer-service to help you if the UP3 has problems

The Jawbone UP3 fitness tracker frequently has quality issues and with Jawbone not having customer service, your only option is to return it to the place your purchased it from. In September 2016, Jawbone was forced to end their deal with the customer-service agency due to non-payment. You can read more here. See More

Top Pro

Real-time Bluetooth 4.0 syncing

Bluetooth syncing removes the hassle of having to take the device off of the wrist and putting it back on again multiple times throughout the day. It also allows the device to send notifications to the phone. Bluetooth 4.0 is a great benefit to UP3 users because it doesn't use as much energy as previous versions, which will boost battery life. See More

Top Con

No display

Instead, UP3 has LED indicators that will relay info to the user, but no display, so detailed info will have to be synced with ones app in order to see it. See More

Top Pro

Alarm can be set to wake you up during light sleep cycle

The UP3 tracks sleep cycles, and its alarm can be configured to take this into account, attempting to select an optimal wake time. See More

Top Pro

One year warranty

Jawbone will replace any broken device for up to one year. See More

Top Pro

Logs workout

To automatically track a timed activity, you can set the wristband in Stopwatch mode by pressing + long-pressing the button. You can also enter the activity manually from the app by supplying information on the activity type, effort level, start time and duration. See More

Top Pro

7-day battery life

Running 24 hours a day, UP3 will last a week off of one charge. See More

Top Pro

Has OLED indicators for notifications & status

Blue light indicates sleep mode, the orange light indicates activity, and white indicates that there is a notification. See More

Top Pro

One size fits all

UP3 comes with an adjustable strap so everyone can wear the same bracelet. See More

Top Pro

Integrates with Jawbone's free tracking app

The app is beautiful and intuitive. It allows accessing personal profile, goals, lifeline, trends, team members, app support, inbox and settings. Additionally, using the app, status of Sleep Mode can be changed, stopwatch can be started/stopped and a power nap, alarms and alerts can be set up. See More

Top Pro

Accurate step counter

UP3 has a very low margin of error when counting steps. For example, it won't count arm movements towards total step count as many other fitness trackers tend to do. As such it will be able to provide more accurate data on calories burned, time active and distance traveled. See More

Top Pro

Share with and keep track of friends

You can add friends or just random people and see their activity in your app's activity feed. You can also cheer them on and comment on progress. See More

Top Pro

Advanced metrics tracking system

UP3 uses Bioimpedance sensors that track respiration, perspiration, hydration, skin temperature, heat flux, BMI, and can even sense which activity is being done. For instance, UP3 can identify sports like tennis and log the information automatically. See More

Top Pro

Integrates with Jawbone's free app for logging food & drink

Foods eaten can be added manually from a comprehensive list and detailed statistics about them can be seen. Foods can also be added by pointing smartphone's camera to a bar-code. See More

Top Pro

Offers recommendations

A feature called "Today I Will" suggests personalized goals throughout the day. See More

Top Pro

Integrates with an impressive list of apps

Jawbone app allows data from third-party apps to be imported as well as Jawbone's data to be used to supplement other apps. When activity is logged in a third-party app it will show up in Jawbone app's feed to give a complete overview of fitness and health situation. See More

Top Pro

Allows setting goals, alerts and reminders in order to motivate

There are multiple ways the app tries to motivate. First it asks to set goals and if you are struggling in achieving them, you can set the tracker to remind or alert you via notifications of your connected device or vibrating the wristband itself. See More

Top Pro

Advanced sleep tracking

UP3 is capable of detecting light, deep & REM sleep. Correlation between activity and sleep are also recorded so Smart Coach can make personalized sleep recommendations in the future. See More

Top Pro

Promises to be able to monitor stress and fatigue in the future

Jawbone has set out to allow for biometrics to be used in order to monitor stress and fatigue, while the options is not available yet, it should be coming in the future. See More

Specs

Waterproofing:Splash-resistant

Altimeter:No

GPS:No

There is a built in heart rate monitor that is always monitoring and for the most part it is consistent in its tracking. This way people can get a full view of what their daily heart rate is at any given time. See More

score 3 · Answer 9

Microsoft Band

Top Pro

Always-on heart-rate monitor

Top Con

Slightly too big and heavy to be unnoticeable

Like many smart watches, the Microsoft band is big and heavy (due to their screens) and will be hard to forget one is wearing it due to the weight, size, and shape. See More

Top Pro

Allows downloading workouts

Users can download workouts to their devices from companies that have partnered with Microsft such as Gold's Gym or Men's Fitness. This allows for one to find workouts that fit their needs that are created by people familiar with what should work the best. See More

Top Pro

Shows email, sms and call notifications

No matter the device being used, Android, iOS or Windows Phone, the Microsoft Band is able to show ones connected device emails, SMS and call notifications. This makes it easy to see what ones alerts are without having to pull the phone out of their pocket. See More

Specs

Waterproofing:Splash resistant

Altimeter:No

Finding the correct placement for the heart rate pad to record correct reading can be difficult to do, which may be time consuming and a PITA. See More

score 1 · Answer 10

Suunto M5

Top Con

Setting up the heart-rate monitor can be a chore

Top Pro

Adapts to ones workouts

The watch can adapt to the routine one is using for their workouts in order to suggest other workouts the user may be able to handle. This basically works as a simple personal trainer, which can be encouraging to the user. See More

Top Con

Movestick can't be run on OSX

Software for the device is not OSX compatible, though users could emulate a Windows environment and use the software that way. See More

Top Pro

Heart rate monitor is not necessary for every workout

Luckily the extra monitor is not necessary for every workout, which is nice as it can be a pain to hook up correctly and is a bit of a chore being an extra piece to worry about. See More

Top Con

Heart rate monitoring can be hit or miss

There may be times where the monitor fluctuates out of the norm, which leads to incorrect readings. Normally this is understood when using something like a smartwatch, but to see it happening with a device that has a separate band to record heart monitoring it is a shame to see. See More