We love any gadget that gives us no choice but to do something good for us, so it always gives us great pleasure to honor the best of the year’s fitness tech, which is exactly what we’re going to do now. We split this category of awards into two categories, the fitness watch/tracker and the more nebulous (but no less important) fitness gadget category. The former is a clean sweep for the market leader in serious fitness tracking while the two devices jostling for the best fitness gadgets serve similar purposes.
Runner-up: Garmin Epix fitness watch/tracker
With the Epix, Garmin gave us something we didn’t think we were allowed to have. It’s a full-featured sport watch with a glorious AMOLED display that doesn’t come at the expense of battery life that adventurers need. While the color display of the Fenix 7 is also quite stunning, it is also a bit thirsty for juice, but you can still expect up to 16 consecutive days of GPS and 42 hours of smartwatch use between charges (or 75 if you tweak the settings). It’s not a plug-hungry Apple Watch.
What will you be looking at on that lovely AMOLED? Well, a host of important information was gathered from the onboard optical heart rate technology and data from over 30 sports modes for starters. Charts that display your progress plus in-depth training guides. The screen, which displays everything clearly regardless of lighting, is what sets this product apart from others. You’ll struggle to go back to a non-AMOLED sports watch once you’ve got the Epix on your wrist.
Garmin Vivosmart 5 received a high recommendation
A deliberately pared-back fitness tracker that is really only interested in tracking exercise is becoming increasingly rare, but the Garmin Vivosmart 5 is one of them. A lack of built-in GPS, an uninspired design, and a fiddly little monochrome display meant it would never be a big winner, but if you just want a lightweight tracker that nails the basics, has a good battery life, and syncs with an excellent (and free) app, then this is a good choice.
Amazfit T-Rex 2, Huawei Watch Fit 2, and Polar Verity Sense also shortlisted
Amazfit’s T-Rex 2 sadly has nothing to do with dinosaurs, but its battery life is almost as awe-inspiring. In the Polar Verity Sense, Huawei combined smartwatch comfort with chest strap accuracy to create a feature-packed wearable that doesn’t break the bank.
Smart scale with Withings Body Cardio: 2017’s fitness gadget
One of our top picks from Withings is their Body Cardio smart scale, which reveals things that a bespectacled doctor could never see. Pulse wave velocity is a key indicator of cardiovascular health Cardio measures body fat and muscle percentage, bone mass, and heart rate.
The stylish scale offers modes for athletes, pregnant women, and even babies, with data synced wirelessly and viewable in the Withings Health Mate app. It’s probably the only scale you’ll ever need. It’s a very expensive scale.
An award-winning smart scale by Eufy: the P2 Pro
The P2 Pro suggests that should change, but the Anker-owned Ufi is probably better known for its smart security cameras than its equally clever scales. Among the 16 measurements, it can take our heart rate and skeletal muscle mass, and we liked the 3D body mapping feature in the app, which is fairly easy to set up and makes it easy to properly analyze your progress.
Also considered: Nike Vapor Next% 2, Swytch eBike Conversion Kit
As another foam-filled running shoe from Nike, the Vapor Next% 2 is good for half- and full-marathons, while the Swytch eBike Conversion Kit helps you convert any old bike to an electric one.
