Want to compare fitness trackers or smartwatches before you buy? Here’s a tool that can help you.
With so many different options, it is not easy to pick the perfect fitness tracker or smartwatch. You don’t want to rush into a decision as this is something that will be sitting on your wrist 24/7.
The right wearable will be based on your individual needs; whether it’s step counting, sleep tracking or 24/7 heart rate tracking, there’s something for everyone. That said, you shouldn’t have to scour the internet for days and weeks to do research and filter down your choices.
Essential reading: Top fitness trackers and health gadgets
We are dedicated to helping consumers make sense of this fast growing market and stay up-to-date on the latest health and fitness tech industry news and product releases. This space is now awash with manufacturers each fighting for a slice of the wearable pie. The choice is bigger than ever.
What’s more, a lot of these devices are on their fourth or fifth generations. While some of these may seem pretty similar, a closer look reveals small but important differences. To this end, we have created a tool which allows you to pick any 10 fitness trackers or smartwatches, and compare them side-by-side to view features, technical specifications and more.
If you were, for example, to pick the Apple Watch Series 5, Fitbit Versa 2, Garmin Vivoactive 4 and Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2, this is what you would get.
| Apple Watch Series 5 | Fitbit Versa 2 | Garmin Vivoactive 4/4S | Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 | |
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| Tech specs | ||||
| Size | 40 mm (band fits 130-200mm wrists) 44 mm (band fits 140-210mm wrists) | Screen size 40 x 40mm Small: Fits wrist 140 mm - 180 mm in circumference Large: Fits wrist 180 mm - 220 mm in circumference | 4: 45.1 x 45.1 x 12.8 mm, Fits wrists with a circumference of 135-200 mm 4S: 40.0 x 40.0 x 12.7 mm, Fits wrists with a circumference of 110-175 mm | 40mm and 44mm variant |
| Material | Aluminium, stainless steel, titanium and ceramic case options. Ion-X strengthened glass; Sapphire crystal and ceramic back | The classic band is made of a flexible, durable material similar to that used in many sports watches, and includes an aluminium watch case and buckle. The woven band is made from a comfortable polyester and includes an aluminium watch case and buckle. | Case material: fiber-reinforced polymer with polymer rear cover Lens material: Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3 Bezel material: stainless steel | Stainless Steel (Bluetooth version) or Lightweight Aluminum design (LTE models) |
| Charging | Wireless charging | USB | USB | WPC based wireless charging |
| Battery | Lithium-ion | Lithium-polymer | Rechargeable lithium-ion | 40mm: 247mAh 44mm: 340 mAh |
| Battery life | 18+ hours | 5+ days. Charge time (0-100%): 2 hours. | 4: Smartwatch mode: Up to 8 days, GPS mode with music: Up to 6 hours 4S: Smartwatch mode: Up to 7 days, GPS mode with music: Up to 5 hours | Between 1 and 2 days (depending on use) |
| Water-resistance | 5 ATM (50 metres) | up to 50 metres (swim-proof) - 5 ATM | 5 ATM | 5 ATM |
| Weight | Case weight: 30.1g (for 40mm version); 36.7g (for 44mm version) | 40 grams | 4: 50.5 g 4S: 40.0 g | 40mm: 26 grams (Aluminium case) 44mm: 30 grams (Aluminium case) |
| Sensor | Ambient light, optical heart rate sensor, Electrical heart sensor, improved accelerometer up to 32 g‑forces, improved gyroscope, GPS (GLONASS, Galileo, and QZSS), barometric altimeter, ambient light sensor, compass | 3-axis accelerometer, Optical heart rate monitor, Altimeter, Ambient light sensor, Vibration motor, Wi-Fi antenna (802.11 b/g/n), Relative SpO2 sensor, temperature sensor, NFC, Built-in microphone | GPS, barometric altimeter, compass, accelerometer, thermometer, heart rate, PulseOx | Heart Rate Monitoring (with 8 Photodiodes), Electrocardiogram (ECG), Accelerometer (measure up to 32g of force), GPS (Glonass,Beidou,Galileo), NFC. There's also an LTE model. |
| Display | Always-On Retina display with Force Touch, LTPO OLED display (1000 nits) | Colour AMOLED touchscreen, 300 x 300 pixel resolution | sunlight-visible, transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP), 260 x 260 pixels (4), 218 x 218 pixels (4S) | Super AMOLED |
| Screen size | 44mm: 977 sq mm display area 40mm: 759 sq mm display area | 1.4 inches | 4: 1.3" (33.0 mm) diameter 4S 1.1" (27.9 mm) diameter | 40mm: 1.2-inch S-AMOLED display (360 x 360 pixels resolution) 44mm: 1.4-inch S-AMOLED display (360 x 360 pixels resolution) |
| Colors | A number of aluminum finishes anodized in silver, gold and space gray. You can also pick up the device in gold stainless steel with a matching Milanese band, joining the silver and space black stainless steel models. | Comes in a number of colours. Also there's a regular and special edition (which comes with an additional woven band and 90 day trial to Fitbit Premium). | 4: Silver Stainless Steel Bezel with Shadow Gray Case and Silicone Band; Slate Stainless Steel Bezel with Black Case and Silicone Band 4S: Light Gold Stainless Steel Bezel with Dust Rose Case and Silicone Band; Rose Gold Stainless Steel Bezel with White Case and Silicone Band; Silver Stainless Steel Bezel with Powder Gray Case and Silicone Band; Slate Stainless Steel Bezel with Black Case and Silicone Band. | Various |
| Other | PLATFORM: watchOS PROCESSOR: S5 with 64-bit dual-core processor, W3 Apple wireless chip MEMORY: 512 RAM, 32GB storage CONNECTIVITY: Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, WiFi, LTE and UMTS cellular radio | - Saves 7 days of detailed motion data, minute by minute - Saves daily totals for the last 30 days - Stores heart rate data at 1-second intervals during exercise tracking and at 5-second intervals all other times | PLATFORM: Home Grown OS PROCESSOR: Unknown MEMORY: 7 timed activities, 14 days of activity tracking data CONNECTIVITY: WiFi, Bluetooth | Operating system: Tizen Processor: Exynos 9110 Dual core 1.15 GHz Memory: 768MB and 1.5GB of RAM (LTE model) Connectivity: Bluetooth® 5.0, Wi-Fi b/g/n, NFC, A-GPS/GLONASS/Galileo/Beidou |
| Activity tracking | ||||
| Steps | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Distance | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Calories burned | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Activity | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Floors | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sleep | Yes (light, deep & REM) | Yes | Yes | |
| Heart rate | Yes | Yes + HRV (premium subscription) | Yes | Yes |
| Stress & recovery | Yes | Yes | ||
| Pulse Ox | Yes | Yes | ||
| Respiration rate | Yes (premium subscription) | Yes | ||
| UV exposure | ||||
| Skin temperature | Yes (premium subscription) | |||
| Galvanic skin response | ||||
| Hydration level | ||||
| Calorie intake | Yes (through the app) | |||
| GPS | Yes (GPS,GLONASS, Galileo, and QZSS) | Yes | Yes | |
| Running features | Watch displays up to 5 metrics during your run (time, distance, current pace and average pace, heart rate, active calories or total calories). | Preloaded running profiles, GPS based distance/time/pace, run workouts, foot pod capable | ||
| Swimming features | Pool swim and open water swim. At the end of a swim, the watch displays the time of day the activity took place, dominant stroke used (auto-detection is used), distance, workout time, pool length, laps completed, average pace, average heart rate, and both active and total calories burned, as well as the weather at your location. | Preloaded swim profiles; Pool swim metrics (lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories); Stroke type detection (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly); Pool swim workouts Swim efficiency (SWOLF) | ||
| Other | - ECG monitor - irregular heart rate detection - low or high heart rate alerts - fall detection | - Guided breathing sessions - Female health tracking | - Body Battery energy monitor - On-screen workout animations - gym workout tracking - music control, find my phone, etc.. - Built in apps for running, golfing, cycling, swimming, snowboarding/skiing, paddle board, rowing, cardio, walking, strength training, rep counting, yoga, eliptical, stair-stepper and more. | - ECG - Fall alerts? - Monitors blood pressure through an optional research app. |
| Non-fitness functions | ||||
| Smartphone notifications | Yes | Call, text and calendar notifications | Yes | Yes |
| On-board music storage | Yes (Stream Apple Music direct to watch) | Yes, 2.5GB (300 songs) + access Pandora, Spotify, Deezer | on-device music storage of up to 500 songs | Yes |
| Connected pay | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| LTE | Yes | Yes (selected models) | ||
| Links | ||||
| Affiliate link* | Amazon | Amazon | Fitbit | Amazon | Garmin> | Amazon | Samsung |
| Read more | Article | Article | Article | Article |
So, if you want a lots of smart functionality you’ll probably opt for the Apple Watch. For a more feature-packed fitness tracking experience, the Fitbit, Garmin or Samsung might fit the bill. None of these look quite right? No problem – there are hundreds and hundreds more to choose from.
The interactive tool can be found on this page for fitness trackers and on this one for smartwatches. We have also introduced similar functionality for heart rate monitors, biometric headphones, connected footware, smart rings, smart scales, smart blood pressure monitors, sports trackers and much, much more.
There are over 1,000 smart gadgets in our database and we are constantly adding more. The full range of options can be seen in our Compare Tool menu option.
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Hi there.
You need to update the specs for the Garmin Vivosmart 4. With the latest firmware that was rolled out a few weeks ago, it now supports Connected GPS. That’s huge, very important.
Regards
Yup, thanks. Updated the review to reflect this but forgot the amend the tech specs.