Fitness Tracking wearables are being released with more features and capabilities with each edition, they’re also growing in popularity. With more and more devices becoming available it’s getting harder to separate the best from the rest, so we compiled the list 10 Best Fitness Trackers With Smart Notifications 2015 so you can weigh up your options from one place.
The majority of devices featured in this guide are not the most die-hard fitness trackers, but instead bring a tidy mix of fitness and smartwatch like features.
Sony SmartBand Talk SWR30
The Sony Smartband Talk SWR30 has a built-in mic and speaker, it supports voice commands, and when it’s synced to your smartphone you can take and make calls from your wrist hands free, hence the name SmartBand Talk. It responds to gestures so you can control music on your smartphone with a tap of the wrist or click of the fingers, it has a vibration feature to alert you of all your incoming notifications, and has a watch mode.
The SWR30 is rich in features, but it’s only semi geared towards fitness tracking. In terms of functionality it’s actually a bit of a hybrid between an activity tracker and a smartwatch, although its design looks like an all out tracker.
If you are a hardcore training fanatic then the Smartband Talk is probably not your best option, but if you’d like reasonable fitness tracking capability mixed in with a few smartwatch type features then you won’t be disappointed.
The Smartband Talk is extremely comfortable and lightweight at just 24 grams. It has a 1.4 inch 320 x 320 pixel E-ink curved display that responds to taps, so it’s kind of a touchscreen, but it has no backlight so it’s not so useful in the dark.
• Tracking: Steps, distance, calories, automatic sleep monitor, time and date
• Built-in Heart Rate Monitor: No
• GPS: SmartBand Talk doesn’t have a built-in GPS
• Water-Resistant: IP68 up to 1.5m, only good for showering and not recommended for swimming
• Battery Life: Around 3 days
• Mobile App: Compatible with Android
• Notifications: Emails, calls, text, social, calendar alerts
Sony SmartBand Talk SWR30
Garmin Vivosmart
The Garmin Vivosmart has the functions of the Vivofit fitness tracker combined with some tidy smartwatch type features. Pretty much any notification that reaches the screen on your smartphone will be sent to the Vivosmart, though to interact with the notification you’ll have to use your smartphone.
It has a 128×16 touchscreen curved OLED, monochrome display to show your fitness data and notifications, the display is not the most responsive out there, but it has clarity and reads quite well in sunlight.
See also | Garmin Vivosmart HR
The Vivosmart is extremely comfortable and it looks the part with a smooth finish on the band, it also comes in a range of colours. It has a VIRB remote, music player controls, Find My Phone feature, vibration motor and watch mode.
It’s not the most hardcore fitness tracker in the world, but it doesn’t lack in capability either! Vivosmart is a tidy mix between smart and fitness.
• Tracking: Steps, distance, calories, sleep monitor (enters manually), watch
• Built-in Heart Rate Monitor: No, but compatible with other HRMs
• GPS: Garmin Vivosmart doesn’t have a built-in GPS
• Water-Resistant: Up to 50 meters, can be used for swimming
• Battery Life: Around 7 days
• Mobile App: Compatible with Android, iOS and Windows
• Notifications: Emails, calls, text, social, calendar alerts
Garmin Vivosmart
Samsung Gear Fit
The Samsung Gear Fit is a decent looking fitness tracker/smartwatch hybrid with a 1.84-inch Super AMOLED 432×128 px curved touchscreen display. The Gear Fit will deliver smart notifications, such as email, sms, social and incoming calls to your wrist along with all the fitness stats you would expect from a high-end tracker.
It has a ‘Find My Device’ feature, offers you variety of clock designs, background colors and wallpapers. It allows you to view the screen horizontally or vertically as it rotates to adjust to your viewing position.
The same as most of the devices on the list, the Gear Fit is not the best option for full-on fitness tracking, but it’s a very cool little gadget with decent user feedback!
• Tracking: Steps, distance, calories, automatic sleep monitor, watch
• Built-in Heart Rate Monitor: Yes
• GPS: Samsung Gear Fit doesn’t have a built-in GPS
• Water-Resistant: IP6 water-resistant up to 1 meter, but not recommended for swimming
• Battery Life: Around 3 days
• Mobile App: Compatible with Android
• Notifications: Emails, calls, text, social, calendar alerts
Samsung Gear Fit
Microsoft Band
The first wearable powered by Microsoft Health, the Microsoft Band tracks your daily activities and enables you to view your stats with a glance at the band’s bright 1.3 x 0.43-inch, 320 x 106-pixel TFT LCD touchscreen display.
See also | Microsoft Band 2
Microsoft Band learns about its user over time. It suppors Microsoft’s digital voice assistant Cortana (Windows Phone only) so you can ask it pretty much anything. The MS Band is packed full of features and its companion app, Microsoft Health was recently updated, bringing several new features including Microsoft HealthVault integration, and a virtual keyboard.
In a few words the Microsoft Band is a “well smart activity tracker!”
• Tracking: Steps, distance, calories, speed, automatic sleep monitor, UV, skin temperature, watch
• Built-in Heart Rate Monitor: Yes
• GPS: Microsoft Band features a built-in GPS
• Water-Resistant: Microsoft Band is not waterproof , although Microsoft say it should be okay in light rain
• Battery Life: 1-3 days depending on usage (i.e GPS, Vibrate etc)
• Mobile App: Compatible with Windows Phone, Android and iOS
• Notifications: Emails, calls, text, social, calendar alerts
Microsoft Band
Fitbit Charge HR
The Fitbit Charge HR is different to the others on this list in the sense that is a full-on fitness tracker with limited notification capability. The Charge HR is rammed full of activity tracking sensors and features automatic sleep mode. It’s extremely comfortable like its predecessor the Fitbit Flex, and it will display incoming caller ID on its OLED display, it also has a vibration feature and watch mode.
The Fitbit Charge HR isn’t packed with too many notification features, which was a deliberate. Fitbit deliberately didn’t pack too many smart notification features into the Charge HR, and instead focused more on accurate fitness tracking. It’s well suited for training enthusiasts, and is the most popular fitness tracker available at the moment.
• Tracking: Heart rate, distance, calories burned, floors climbed, active minutes & steps, automatic sleep monitor, watch
• Built-in Heart Rate Monitor: Yes
• GPS: Fitbit Charge HR doesn’t feature a built-in GPS
• Water-Resistant: 1 ATM, up to 10 meters but not recommended for swimming
• Battery Life: 5-6 days
• Mobile App: Compatible with Android, iOS and Windows Phone
• Notifications: Incoming calls
Fitbit Charge HR
HTC Grip
A preview version of the HTC Grip was on display at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona a few weeks ago, it’s expected to be released this Spring. It’s a fitness orientated wristband with a curved P-OLED touchscreen display. HTC Grip brings music control and smart notifications to your wrist along with plenty of fitness tracking capability plus sleep monitoring.
HTC have teamed up with Under Armour and utilised their highly popular Record app for iOS and Android. When it becomes available the Grip is expected to retail at around $199 USD.
• Tracking: Steps, distance, speed, calories, sleep monitor, watch
• Built-in Heart Rate Monitor: No
• GPS: HTC Grip features a built-in GPS
• Water-Resistant: Up to 1 meter of water for 30 minutes (we haven’t tested it out for swimming yet)
• Battery Life: 2-3 days without the GPS enabled, and around 5 hours with GPS enabled
• Mobile App: Compatible with Android and iOS
• Notifications: Emails, calls, text, social, calendar alerts
Basis Peak
The Basis Peak fitness tracking watch pops up in quite a few lists, that’s because it does nearly everything!
The Basis Peak was acquired by Intel and comes with the slogan ‘The Ultimate Fitness and Sleep Tracker.’ The goal of Basis and Intel was to create the most advanced fitness tracker on the market, I’m not convinced about that, but it does offer some features that most other trackers don’t.
I recently tried out the Basis Peak, and was impressed by it. It offers more in-depth sleep tracking than most, it’s very comfortable, and looks good (the white version). One thing that it does lack is the ability to tell you your distance traveled.
It brings automatic exercise and sleep tracking along with smart notifications to your wrist, such as text, emails and incoming calls. It features skin temperature and galvanic skin response sensors, optical Heart rate monitoring, gesture control, advanced sleep tracking, magnetic charging and a high contrast LCD touchscreen display made with Gorilla Glass 3.
The Basis Peak is one of the more accurate heart rate monitoring fitness trackers, but it needs to be worn pretty tight on the wrist.
• Tracking: Calories burned, steps, skin temperature, perspiration, automatic sleep monitor, watch
• Built-in Heart Rate Monitor: Yes
• GPS: Basis Peak doesn’t feature a built-in GPS
• Water-Resistant: 5 ATM, up to 50 meters, can be used for swimming
• Battery Life: Up to 4 days
• Mobile App: Compatible with Android and iOS
• Notifications: Emails, calls, text, calendar alerts
Basis Peak
Razer Nabu
The Razer Nabu remains one of the most anticipated wearable devices. Such a lot of hype was created about the Razer Nabu that the company couldn’t produce enough to reach the wrists of everybody who wanted one, so the release was limited to the US. At the moment the Nabu is not available to buy, and the next batch will be shipping to Razer Insiders, but it’s coming soon according to Razer.
The Nabu has a 128×32 pixel screen to display your stats and notifications, it’s controlled with a single button or gestures like shaking. Along with social capability the Nabu has plenty of fitness tracking features, vibration alerts, and a decent battery life.
• Tracking: Distance, calories burned, steps, floors climbed, automatic sleep monitor, watch
• Built-in Heart Rate Monitor: No
• GPS: Razer Nabu doesn’t feature a built-in GPS
• Water-Resistant: IP54, splash proof only, not for swimming
• Battery Life: Up to 7 days
• Mobile App: Compatible with Android and iOS
• Notifications: Emails, calls, text, social, calendar alerts
Razer Nabu
Fitbit Surge
The last two entries on this list are a step up from the others, but of course come at a higher price! The Fitbit Surge is an advanced fitness tracking watch, and Fitbit’s new flagship device. Set new goals and raise your fitness bar with this high-end device. The Fitbit has virtually every feature you would expect from a top fitness tracker in 2015, including heart rate monitoring and GPS, multi-sport modes, digital compass, music control and notifications.
Although it’s somewhat larger than the Flex, it maintains the high comfort level that Fitbit are known for. Also, Fitbit have recently announced that a dedicated cycling support feature will very soon be released for the Surge.
• Tracking: Distance, calories burned, steps, average speed, floors climbed, automatic sleep monitor, active minutes, watch
• Built-in Heart Rate Monitor: Yes
• GPS: Fitbit Surge features a built-in GPS
• Water-Resistant: 5 ATM, up to 50 Meters. Although it has a 5 ATM rating, it’s not recommended for swimming.
• Battery Life: Up to 5 days (without GPS), Up to 5 hours (with GPS)
• Mobile App: Compatible with Android, iOS and Windows Phone
• Notifications: Calls, text
Fitbit Surge
Garmin Vivoactive
Like the Fitbit Surge and Basis Peak, the Garmin Vivoactive looks more like a watch than the other fitness bands, and although it brings smartwatch type features, its main focus is fitness, hence the name “Vivoactive”.
If you are really serious about training, or a pro athlete, but you’re not to bothered about smart notifications, then there are plenty of dedicated Garmin wearables that will suit you better than anything on this list, such as the Garmin Forerunner 920XT, Garmin Fenix 3 or the Garmin Epix. But, if you want a stylish wearable that can offer you the hybrid experience then look no further than the Vivoactive! The only drawback is that the Vivoactive has no built-in heart rate monitor, but it pairs up with Garmin HRM products to give you high accuracy.
The Vivoactive has multi-sport modes dedicated to cycling, running and swimming with metrics such as cadence, pace, lengths and stroke count. It also has a dedicated feature for golf which maps data for 38,000 golf courses, calculates your exact shot distance, and yardage from the front, middle or back of the green.
Vivoactive has a feature called Auto Goal which automatically learns about its users activity levels and sets appropriate goals. It also includes extra features such as VIRB Remote, Music Player Controls, Phone Finder, vibration alerts, , oh yeh,, and it tells the time.
• Tracking: Distance, calories burned, steps, speed, elevation, (now features) automatic sleep monitor, active minutes, watch
• Built-in Heart Rate Monitor: No (pairs with Garmin HRMs)
• GPS: Garmin Vivoactive features a built-in GPS
• Water-Resistant: 5ATM, up to 50m and can be used for swimming.
• Battery Life: Up to 3 weeks in Activity Mode, 10 hours in GPS mode
• Mobile App: Compatible with Android, iOS and Windows.
• Notifications: Emails, calls, text, social, calendar alerts
Garmin Vivoactive
You need to taken the Microsoft band off this as the band 2 has a fault with the strap in that it keeps splitting. After my 3rd replacement Microsoft have refused to replace it and have actually stopped making it.