Want to choose a perfect activity & fitness tracker to empower your new fitness journey in 2025? You really should think twice to avoid wasting money because there are so many options available. Whether you’re a seasoned athlete or a fitness newbie, this ultimate checklist will definitely help you save money.
Follow this guide and choose your best fitness tracker with prioritize features that fit your lifestyles and goals. Let’s get started!
Define Your Fitness Goals
Fitness trackers are available in versatile designs and functionalities, from screenless fitness bands to feature-packed smartwatches. Each with different focuses to meet the needs of specific sports or general everyday workouts. It’s important to know your preferences and pinpoint what matters most in your daily routines. Choosing a fitness tracker that can seamlessly integrate to your lifestyle can greatly improve your workouts and wellness.
Before purchasing a fitness tracker, you should ask yourself:
Prioritize the Features You Need Most
After you’ve known your goals and plan, you can focus on the features that matter most to you. Except for basic functions like activity tracking, multiple workout types, real-time tracking, and long-lasting battery life, advanced fitness tracker might also support GPS positioning and advanced health tracking.
However, not everyone needs all features, and what works for one person may not suit another. If you find the best one that tailored to your needs, you won’t waste your money. Check the most common features below and identify the ones you will use most often and need the most.
1. Activity Tracking & Personalized Goals
Most fitness tracker offers customizable goals and progress tracking on general activities such as:
- Calories: Track the estimated energy expend every day, helping you adjust your diet and exercise plan to balance energy expenditure.
- Steps: Count the number of steps taken every day, revealing your daily activity pattern, including active time, inactive time, and potential movement.
- Distance: Measure the total distance traveled every day, providing context about your overall mobility and can help you track your progress.
Some advanced trackers also provide extra tracking features such as:
- Moderate and high-intensity exercise: Count the time spent in moderate to high-intensity exercises, providing in-depth insight into your workout quality and heart health.
- Active time: Count the time spent in non-sedentary activities, typically standing or light movement, encouraging you to break up long periods of sitting and be more active.
How these metrics are interpreted can vary significantly on brands or devices, some may provide unique insights into your wellness and fitness from different angles. For example, the Apple Watch has an Activity app to track your progress towards your personalized goals like Move, Exercise, and Stand (Roll for wheelchair users). In contrast, the Runmefit watches monitor users’ steps, calories, distance, exercise intensity, and other metrics to generate the MAI score (My Active Indicator). This single metric is designed to provide an overall health snapshot reflecting your energy levels and activity levels.
Therefore, if activity tracking is a priority for you, consider models like Runmefit GTL2 Fitness Tracker, that not only track basic activities like steps, but also provides personalized insight into your fitness and wellness. This might include features such as:
- Detailed activity intensity breakdowns
- Customizable goal setting
- Personal insights and actionable advice
2. Workout Types & Real-Time Tracking
Today, fitness trackers in the market have the capability of tracking various exercises—from running and cycling to strength training and yoga. With real-time tracking, they can provide instant feedback on your current workout and physical state. During exercise, you can continuously monitor your data like heart rate and calories, so as to timely adjust your training plan and intensity to avoid injury and overexertion.
A fitness tracker with multiple workout modes can definitely give you precise key metrics for each workout type, but do you really need all of them? If you want to focus on core features that match your main fitness goals, you can buy a lightweight and simple tracker just like Fitbit Inspire or Runmefit S5 fitness tracker. For example, if your primary workout is running, then a tracker that is good at monitoring pace, heart rate, and distance will be better for you than a tracker packed with 100+ sports modes.
With a simplified, real-time tracking fitness tracker, you can reduce potential distractions caused by too much data. This helps a lot to streamline your workout and make your training more effective. Moreover, these models often provide longer battery life and simpler operation, perfect for everyday use by everyone from kids to seniors.
So, if you prioritize the workout modes, you need to first determine which workouts you do most often, and whether you really need to track multiple workouts. The final decision comes down to your lifestyle and personal preferences.
3. Built-in GPS
A GPS-featured fitness tracker is essential for outdoor activities enthusiasts and adventurers. With built-in GPS, you can map your route, track pace and distance, and return safely without carrying smartphones or GPS devices. Furthermore, when you’re exploring new trails or mapping your exercise routes, a fitness tracker with GPS capability can improve the precision and reliability of your workout data.
Therefore, if outdoor activities like running, cycling, or hiking are part of your fitness routine, pick a fitness tracker equipped with high-precision GPS sensors. Garmin and Coros are known for their accurate GPS capabilities, but they are expensive. While for a budget-friendly option, you can consider the Runmefit GTX2 GPS Outdoor Watch.
4. Water Resistance
Whether you swim or not, make sure the fitness tracker is water-resistant. Smartwatches and fitness trackers come with different levels of water resistance to withstand different conditions such as sweating, raining, swimming and diving. The higher the rating, the wider the range of activities you can enjoy.
You don’t need to worry about water resistance because most fitness trackers today are waterproof. For example, an IP68-rated water-resistant tracker is durable and safe enough for your daily use, keeping your device to work normally in most weather condition and environments. However, if you need to wear these devices while swimming or playing water sports, you’ll need a smart watch or fitness tracker with higher waterproof rating. For example, a 5ATM waterproof rating for swimming or the EN13319 standard for diving activities.
* Remember to follow the manufacturer’s instructions and precautions regarding water resistance.
5. Sleep & Health Metrics Analysis
Beyond exercise tracking, advanced trackers now extend the focus to your overall health. Sleep is an important aspect of fitness, and modern fitness trackers can accurately track sleep to provide detailed insights into the sleep quality and duration, including different sleep stages such as light sleep, deep sleep, and REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep.
In addition to sleep monitoring, these devices continuously measure other key health indicators such as heart rate, blood oxygen levels, stress levels and recovery data. Having a comprehensive view of your physical performance around the clock is invaluable for fine-tuning your training plan, optimizing your recovery and enhancing your overall health.
6. Battery Life
The most popular feature for fitness tracker in 2025 will be long-lasting battery life. A high-performance battery ensures continuous monitoring without frequent charging. This is a key factor to consider if you rely on your tracker for uninterrupted tracking, whether it’s for extended outdoor sessions or daily exercises. This reliability is crucial, especially when you’re outdoors, away from power sources, and need your fitness tracker to work continuously.
However, your choice will depend on your lifestyle, usage habits and features demands. If you’re a tech-savvy person who want a smart watch or fitness tracker with multiple advanced features, like the Apple Watch Series 10, the trade-off might be shorter battery life. Meanwhile, if you’re a person value simplicity and longevity, looking for wearables that doesn’t need to recharge frequently, devices with limited but practical features might be the best option for you. Fitness trackers like the Garmin fenix and Runmefit GTR3 smartwatch can even last up to 10 days or more, making them ideal options for people looking for long-lasting battery life.
Set Your Budget
Now that you have a clear idea of your fitness goals and the features you need most, it’s time to think about your budget. Fitness trackers can vary widely in price, ranging from $50 to $400, depending on the brand and features you choose, so it’s all about finding the right balance between features and cost. Just remember, smartwatches and fitness bands with advanced features like GPS, 4G/5G & LTE connectivity, AMOLED touchscreen displays, and extra sensors, will cost more money and increase your budget.
You need to start by listing your most important features and focus on the ones that are necessary for your goals, so that you’ll really use it. If advanced features will make your workouts more efficient or reduce the need for additional devices, a higher budget might be justified. Investing a little more for better performance and durability can actually save money in the long run, because you won’t need to buy the latest model as often, making it worthwhile for the extra cost.
Budget-friendly Options
If you’re new to fitness tracking and don’t need advanced functions like route mapping, you can save money by going for an entry-level tracker instead of GPS watch. The benefit of buying a basic model at the beginning is that you can spread your investment on fitness equipment over time. When your needs become more specific, you can upgrade your device and avoid wasting money. For example, budget-friendly fitness tracker like the Xiaomi Mi Band or Runmefit S5, priced around $49, offer basic but essential metric tracking with affordable price tag.
Mid-Range Devices
If you want a fitness tracker with more functions, like precise sleep tracking, 24/7 heart rate & blood oxygen levels monitoring, larger screens, or Bluetooth calling, consider set higher budget between $80 and $200. Mid-range models like the Fitbit Charge and Runmefit GTS8 smart watch offers a balanced mix of premium features and affordable prices, perfect for user who want more features without spending too much.
Premium Models
Premium fitness tracker usually provides the most accurate readings, advanced features, and cutting-edge sensors, perfect for advanced user who are looking for the best features and are willing to invest in a high-end device. These feature-rich fitness trackers usually price above $300. They provide comprehensive fitness and health tracking, including ECG (Electrocardiography) monitoring, high-precision GPS positioning, high waterproof ratings, and even HRV (Heart Rate variability) trends & mood tracking. This is good choice for athletes and professionals to maximize their training and health insights.
Final Decision
Choosing the right activity tracker requires a balance between understanding your goals, prioritizing essential features, and sticking to your budget. With all this information, you can make a smart decision that ensures you get the best value for money without spending too much.
Remember, regardless of your budget, your best fitness tracker for 2025 fitness journey is one that fits your lifestyle preferences and supports your fitness goals. Whether you want to stay active or improve your workout performance, there’s a device that fits your needs.
