Best designed tracker: Jawbone UP4. The latest tracker in the UP portfolio, it makes up for the lack of a display over the Charge HR by packaging itself in a very attractive design and featuring double the battery life. The Jawbone wristbands have also been known for their superior sleep tracking and better-designed smartphone apps. However, it shoots itself in the foot due to an annoying clasp that frequently gets lose and a big price tag to boot.
Best full-option tracker: Garmin Vivoactive. This device is about 50 per cent more expensive than a Fitbit Charge HR, but makes up for the extra cost by featuring built-in sports apps, movement alerts, call-, text-, email- and calendar notifications, an excellent touchscreen and in-built GPS. Garmin claims that the battery can last up to three weeks in tracking mode, or ten hours in GPS mode. It also has a rating of 5 ATM waterproofing, which means you can swim, sweat and shower with this tracker on your wrist.
Best stealth tracker: Withings Active Pop. Some people would do anything to make themselves not seem like a geek. This device is cleverly disguised as an analogue watch (with no backlight though), but comes with activity tracking, decent sleep monitoring and a whopping eight months of battery life. On the flip side, its step counter does not work properly if you don’t move your arm while walking. And if you were to activate its silent alarm mode, the battery life drops to more than a third of what you were promised. Pop!
There are so many options in the market that you might be able to find something that suits you much better than our top picks. So stop procrastinating and get yourself a suitable tracker to begin your new tech-enabled fitness regime, if you have been dreaming about it.
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Dilin Anand is a senior assistant editor at EFY. He is B.Tech from University of Calicut, currently pursuing MBA from Christ University, Bengaluru
