Best fitness tracker: We put six of the best to the test monitoring our workouts, sleep and hormones over several weeks

Reviewed by: Robert Folker

Unlike traditional fitness trackers, the Whoop 5.0 delivers deeper insights into how your body is performing and recovering day to day. Alongside simple metrics, it also tracks more advanced data, including heart rate variability, time spent in REM sleep, respiratory rate, and muscular load during workouts.

After wearing the tracker consistently for a few days, the home tab in the app begins generating personalised sleep, strain, and recovery scores. These scores work together to provide a clearer understanding of how well your body is coping with exercise, stress, and daily demands.

One of Whoop’s biggest strengths is the depth of analysis available within the app. Habits such as caffeine intake, alcohol consumption, hydration, and screen time can all be logged, helping you get a better understand how lifestyle choices directly affect recovery and sleep quality.

Over time, the app’s personalised recommendations become more and more useful, helping you make smarter decisions, especially around sleep routines. The amount of data provided is extremely impressive, and the app makes it easy to digest without becoming overwhelming.

The lack of a screen will divide opinion, but it can also be one of the device’s biggest advantages. Without constant notifications or distractions, it encourages you to focus less on checking your wrist and more on understanding long-term health trends. However, if you are used to smartwatches like the Apple Watch or Garmin may initially miss having features such as notifications and time display on your wrist.

To be able to use a Whoop 5.0 you must have a subscription, which is split into three tiers.

The subscription cost will undoubtedly put some people off, but if you are serious about improving your health and recovery, the investment could just be worthwhile.

Reviewed by: Jordana Seal

The initial draw of the Oura Ring is undoubtedly the fact it is sleek, small and comes in a range of colours/ metals that can blend with the jewellery you already wear. However, what makes this stand out is the huge range of health insight this tiny gadget captures.

Not only does it monitor daily activity, but it also give you an insight into your stress levels, heart rate, sleep and hormones helping you understand how ‘ready’ you are for the day.

From a fitness perspective I liked that it helped show you when would be the best day to exercise based on your biometrics. However, when I was at the gym or on a run the ring became a bit of a hinderance, sliding off when I was sweating and bashing against weights. It also doesn’t register the type of exercise you are partaking in that well.

The highlight of the device for me, is the insight it gives into your sleep, not only showing you when you hit your REM throughout the night but also alerting you via the app when it is time to wind down for the evening. It also gives you tips on how to improve your sleep, for example ensuring my bedroom was the right temperature.

Overall the app is very comprehensive and helps you understand the components your body needs to avoid stress and move your body accordingly.

For those looking to track their cycle it is very helpful and its predictions are very accurate. While it would be nice if the price point was lower, it is a fantastic tracker that feels like a helpful tool to understand your body better.

Reviewed by Arthur Parashar

From the outside, it does not look as though the Apple Watch Ultra 3 has changed much beyond its predecessor. However, this looks to be the most impressive Apple watch yet.

With a bigger and brighter display, I really enjoyed how easy it was to navigate.

As a newbie to fitness watches, I was impressed by the sheer scale of health tracking. As well as tracking my daily Activity rings (Move, Exercise, Stand), the Ultra 3 also provides detailed morning insights into sleep quality – and monitors heart health, such as ECG, blood oxygen tracking and new hypertension alerts that analyse 30 days of readings for signs of high blood pressure.

From a fitness perspective, I liked how the extra action button on the left side can be used to quickly launch a workout, allowing you to track a range of metrics including distance, pace, running power, training load and heart rate zones. The watch also has 100-metre water resistance and supports diving to 40 metres.

With a battery life of up to 42 hours – including 14 hours of outdoor workout with full GPS and heart rate readings – the Ultra 3 allows for going out further and longer.

Like previous Apple watches, I was able to pair it with my iPhone. This meant I could easily access apps such as Phone, Messages, WhatsApp, Weather, Maps, Calendar and emails all on my wrist. A handy new wrist-flick gesture lets you dismiss notifications that come through.

While it is described as the ultimate sports and adventure watch by Apple, the Ultra 3 does come in at a punchy £749 and only works with an iPhone. For the hefty price tag, there has not been a massive overhaul compared to older Ultra models.

The Ultra 3 comes with one strap of your choice – an Alpine loop, an Ocean band or a Titanium Milanese loop which are sleek – or the less stylish Trail loop which prioritises fitness over aesthetic.

Reviewed by: Sabrina Penty

The Fitbit Charge 6 is the latest fitness tracker launched by Google-owned Fitbit, and as someone completely new to fitness trackers, I’ve found it surprisingly easy and enjoyable to use.

The device has a sleek, lightweight design and offers a wide range of health-tracking features that go beyond simply counting steps. It can provide insights into your sleep quality, stress levels, menstrual cycle, heart rate, and overall activity, helping you build a clearer picture of your overall health and well-being.

It also logs workouts and tracks progress over time, which keeps me motivated as I’ve been able to see improvements and consistency in my fitness.

One feature I particularly like is how well it connects with your phone. You can receive text notifications directly on the device and use Google Maps for navigation, which is useful when you’re out and about or exercising.

Unlike some smartwatches, it doesn’t fully function as a phone replacement. Personally, I see this as a positive as it helps me disconnect from consistently checking my phone while still benefiting from useful features and health tracking.

As a newbie, I have also found the interface straightforward to navigate, which makes the experience way less intimidating if you’re new to wearable fitness technology.

There are some downsides, though. Some of the more advanced insights and features require a paid subscription. That said, you are offered a six-month free trial after purchase.

I also don’t find the standard strap particularly stylish, but there are plenty of alternative bands available online, making it easy to customise the look to your style.

Overall, I think the Fitbit Charge 6 is a great option for anyone looking for an easy-to-use fitness tracker that balances health insights, workout tracking, and useful smart features without becoming overly distracting.

Reviewed by: Arthur Parashar

As smart watches go, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 is as stylish as it gets. With a signature rotating bezel and a sleek leather wristband, this feels like you are wearing a classic watch.

But this goes beyond the powers of a typical watch.

My favourite part of the Samsung Galaxy watch is the huge array of health-focused features on offer.

Samsung’s BioActive sensors can monitor heart rate, sleep quality, blood oxygen, stress levels and body composition. I’ve found this really useful to monitor muscle mass, body water and weight tracking.

The large smartwatch screen makes it easy to navigate around the different functions on the watch. And you can custom create your watchface to show you live data, including the weather and your heart rate.

I’ve also really enjoyed how the Samsung Galaxy automatically starts monitoring any exercise you do. For example, when I went on a long walk or a cycle, it started a workout and summarised how much distance I’d covered, the time I spent and the calories burnt.

Every morning, it also gives a clear summary of your sleep quality – providing an energy score and detecting any interruptions.

As a predominant Apple user, it took some time to adjust to the Android watch. However, when paired with a Samsung Galaxy phone, the watch becomes even easier to use.

While this is a very comprehensive watch, it comes in at a pricey £329 and you cannot pair it with Apple phones.

The watches come with one of four sleek straps, ranging from fabric bands to sportier bands, in an array of different colours.

Reviewed by: Shannon McGuigan

The Garmin Venu 4 marks a meaningful level up from its two predecessors – the Venu 3, which had a plastic case, as well as the Venu 2.

While both offered sleep tracking and all the general perks you expect from a fitness watch, it was a relatively basic affair, rather than a fitness tracker dedicated to any particular type of exercise.

After taking it on several jogs and spin classes, I can certainly recommend it to anyone who enjoys high-intensity/cardio exercise.

Not only does the Venu 4 cover the run-of-the-mill things such as 24/7 heart rate monitoring, step tracking, and GPS, it goes a step further with detailed exercise tracking for a range of workouts – 80, in fact.

And while good old intuition might be great, I found its ability to tell me if my workouts were strained or productive incredibly helpful, especially when figuring out what level of exercise was best for my body.

The feature I found most helpful was its recommendation of recovery periods. It allowed me to give my body time to fully recharge, ensuring I could give it my all in the next spin class or gym session, with a reduced fear of injury.

As someone who struggles with their sleep, I found the watch’s sleep tracker a game-changer. It records your sleep consistency and circadian rhythm, giving you tips on how to get better rest.

Its amazing battery life, as well as its lightness on the wrist also makes it ideal for longer training sessions and even weekends away. You can go for a long jog or cycle knowing it won’t die midway through your session.