Fitness trackers are great for increasing general fitness and getting an overview of daily exercise, your own pulse or sleeping behavior. We took a closer look at the following products as part of individual tests. All measure the pulse and monitoring sleep, four devices also have an integrated GPS:

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The question is: which fitness tracker is suitable for whom? The devices are similar, but have individual strengths and weaknesses. In comparison, we show what you should pay attention to when buying.

Fitness and pulse measurement

The good news first: All trackers in the Review accurately determine the daily steps and measure the pulse reliably. If desired, the Fitbit devices regularly remind the user to take a few more steps to achieve the hourly goal. Huawei trackers do something similar: they vibrate when you sit too long, reminding the user of some movement.

All trackers have a daily goal; a minimum amount of steps. When they reach them, they will be notified by a vibration alarm. The Garmin products are particularly interesting here: Their app automatically adjusts the daily goals if desired. Whoever reaches his goal often increases the daily goal; if you don’t make it, you won’t have to go as far for the next few days.

The pulse measurement is carried out on all devices via optical sensors on the wrist. According to a study by Epson isn’t that much less precise than with a heart rate monitoring. In the study, heart rate belts achieved an accuracy of 95.3 percent compared to an EKG. The optical measurement was 95 percent to 93.3 percent. The advantage of optical measurement is the permanent recording of the data. As long as the user wears the tracker, he measures the data. Long-term trends can be created from this. Garmin, for example, uses the information to determine the user’s stress level.

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The Fitbit Inspire HR

training

There are bigger differences in training. Thanks to the integrated GPS function, the Vivosport, Band 2 Pro and Band 3 Pro as well as the Gear Fit 2 Pro measure the distance traveled and plot it on a Google Maps map. For this, GPS eats the battery. The Band 2 Pro suffers particularly here, a 30-minute training course costs almost 50 percent of the battery power in the Review. The successor does much better. Garmins Vivosport lasts significantly longer, permanent training with several hours is not a problem. However, it sometimes took a long time to get a GPS fix. The Gear Fit 2 Pro lies between the other devices.

All trackers are waterproof, at least for use in the swimming pool or in the shower. However, since the optical pulse measurement is suspended under water, you have to rethink if you want to record the pulse. Then you need a Garmin tracker, which can connect to a classic chest strap via Bluetooth.

If you do device training, you should also take a closer look at the two Garmin products. You can automatically recognize and count the repetitions, for example during dumbbell training. In practice, this works pretty well with practice. Fitbit has also introduced these functions in the current models, the training program is called “Weights” and must be added manually via the app.

The GPS-less trackers either try to determine the route by stride length or, better yet, they use the GPS of a smart health connected smartphone. Mi Band 3, Inspire HR or Charge 3 do this very well. Usually you have your smartphone with you in training anyway. The big advantage is that the GPS function does not use the batteries of the small trackers or loads them less.

Displays and controls

Most trackers rely on simple black and white displays. The big advantage is that the displays can be read properly in normal everyday life as well as in sunlight. An exception is the cheap Mi Band 3. Its display is simply too dark.

Control in training is a problem: most touchscreens are not designed for this; control is difficult with sweaty fingers. Unfortunately, this is evident in the Inspire HR. Huawei makes it significantly smarter with the Band 2 Pro and the Band 3 Pro. The displays can be switched through by turning the wrist. This works not only well in everyday life, but also in training.

If you prefer a colored display, you should choose the Huawei Band 3 Pro or the Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro. Both have Oled displays that display content with crisp colors.

Apps

Except for the Samsung tracker, all devices require the installation of an app on a smartphone and the creation of an account. Even the Samsung tracker needs an app and account at the latest when you want to install new functions or evaluate the data. To say the least: This is annoying, especially because Samsung or Huawei want to have several services installed. Garmin and Fitbit, on the other hand, have individual apps that bring everything they need. Unfortunately, creating an account is a necessary evil.

But the apps themselves are very solid across the board. We all liked each other, everyone is a little different. Fitbit, for example, focuses on minimalism. The Xiaomi, Huawei and Samsung apps are similar. The Garmin apps go a little further. At first glance they appear simple, but in the settings they reveal numerous additional functions, such as the management of equipment or live tracking.

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The Fitbit app.

The Samsung tracker goes even further. If you create an account, you can install apps directly on the bracelet, such as Spotify. This means that entire playlists can be loaded directly onto your wrist. In combination with a Bluetooth headset, training can be carried out without the need for a cell phone. Unfortunately, the search for applications is catastrophic, the Samsung store is simply confusing.

All trackers show information from the smartphone on the displays. Incoming chats, emails, calls, everything ends up on your wrist when you give it access.

sleep

We liked the sleep tracking in all apps. Huawei and Fitbit stand out because of their design. All devices have convinced us to monitoring sleep. Of course, you shouldn’t expect a minute-by-minute listing of the respective phase. Even with a professional sleep laboratory, a bracelet cannot compete.

Nevertheless, they provide a very good insight and trend about your own sleeping behavior, especially over a long period of time. How often do you wake up, which phase of sleep lasts for how long and when do you go to bed? The apps prepare the information well, in our opinion the Fitbit and Huawei do the best. But the others also show the quality of sleep well.

Huawei Band 2 Pro and Band 3 Pro woke us up most conveniently thanks to the smart alarm clock: the user defines a time period, and the fitness tracker tries to recognize when the user is already waking up in this area and then vibrates. Unfortunately, this function is missing in all other bracelets. It may be just imagination, but we felt a lot fitter when woken up by the Huawei trackers than the others. It would be desirable if Fitbit, Samsung and Garmin upgraded the feature – all devices have an alarm clock integrated. With the Mi Band 3, the function can be retrofitted via an additional, but paid app.

Battery life

The battery life is divided into two areas: With passive use, i.e. simply wearing the tracker, all devices easily last a week. The exception is the Samsung Gear Fit Pro 2. Compared to the other trackers, the battery life is significantly shorter, it manages around two and a half days. This is due to the significantly larger Oled screen and integrated functions such as WLAN. If you absolutely want Oled, you should rather use the Huawei Band 3 Pro. This has fewer functions, but is just as chic as the Samsung tracker and lasts longer. The Gear Fit 2 Pro stands out a bit from the Review field due to its broad app support, it is more of a hybrid between a fitness tracker and a smartwatch.

The absolute cross-country skier is the Xiaomi Mi Band 3. Once charged, it easily lasts two weeks in a row, even if runtime guzzlers such as frequent pulse measurement and advanced sleep tracking are active.

The Band 2 Pro from Huawei loses the most battery power when using GPS, after almost 30 minutes 50 percent of the battery was gone. The Garmin Vivosport reduced the battery life by half after about 2 hours of GPS tracking while cycling. The Gear Fit 2 Pro performs equally well. It is important to say that all three GPS devices use energy saving functions when the battery life goes down. By the way, the Huawei Band 3 Pro lasts significantly longer than its predecessor.

The batteries are charged using proprietary charging cables. These are different for each model, even the two Garmin trackers use different connectors. All trackers have in common that they charge quickly, the charging process takes from less than one hour to around two hours.

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Fitbit relies on a loading clamp that firmly attaches the Alta HR.

Particularities

The problem of why the trackers are so difficult to compare is their peculiarities. Similar to smartphones, all have strengths and weaknesses. The Gear Fit 2 Pro, for example, uses the Tizen operating system from Samsung. This not only allows the installation of new designs, but also additional applications. Thanks to the WLAN integration, it works completely independently of the smartphone. The Spotify app shows this quite well: Playlists can be saved offline via WiFi. A Bluetooth headset coupled to the tracker then plays the songs during sports – the smartphone can stay at health home while jogging.

The Fitbit Alta HR, on the other hand, relies on style. The tracker offers more design options than anyone else, the bracelets can be replaced without tools and extremely simply. If you don’t feel like black, you can mix the tapes comfortably. The simple and clear app also scored well in the Review. The bracelets are easy to change on all Fitbit devices, but even if the Charge 3 and the Inspire HR can be adjusted so well, they are somewhat less stylish than the Alta HR.

Huawei Band 2 Pro and Band 3 Pro appeal for their versatility. They support running as well as cycling – and switch to a special mode when swimming that prevents accidental inputs. Both trackers are pleasantly cheap for the functions supplied.

The special functions of Mi Band 3 do not come from the provider, but from third-party developers. With the Mi Tools there is a (paid) app that gets a lot more out of the bracelet. By the way, the tracker is now also available with German firmware.

The Garmin devices score with the functions. The apps, for example, dynamically adjust the step goals and support pretty much all sports, including barbell training and yoga. The trackers also work as heart rate monitors, and they can use ANT + to transfer the data to other devices – for example a treadmill or a bike computer.

Overall conclusion

Our Review winner is also the Garmin Vivosport (individual Review). With the device, a very good battery life meets a comprehensive, intelligent app and a good wearing comfort. The tracker with GPS is particularly suitable for athletes to record everyday and training sessions. The price-performance winner is the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 (individual Review). The Huawei Tracker Band 2 Pro (single Review) and the Band 3 Pro from Huawei (single Review) follow. Band 2 Pro in particular has become cheaper with the appearance of its successor, but is still a decent tracker. The app is very good, we particularly liked the sleep data and the intelligent alarm clock.

We recommend the Gear Fit 2 Pro (individual Review) from Samsung to swimmers and anyone who finds a tracker too small but a smartwatch is too big. The Spotify integration in particular makes it an all-rounder for athletes who also has a great display.

The Garmin Vivosmart 3 (individual Review) as well as the three Fitbit trackers Alta HR (individual Review), Charge 3 (individual Review) and Inspire HR (individual Review) are our tips for everyone who simply wants more information about their normal everyday life. All devices provide solid data on movement & Co. and have a very good runtime. The interchangeable wristbands of the Fitbit trackers are a nice way to stand out optically in the uniform range. The advantage of Fitbit Charge 3 and Inspire HR is that Fitbit finally includes an interchangeable wristband, so that you no longer have to pay attention to whether you buy the M or S version.