Smartwatches and wearable devices are great for running, jogging, or working out at the gym, but what about when you want to go swimming? Or standup paddleboarding? Or how about when you're caught in a rainstorm coming home from the supermarket? At times like these, the best waterproof fitness trackers are required.
There are lots of options out there to choose from — devices that track metrics like heart rate, sleep quality, daily steps, calorie count, aerobic activity, and tons of other features. Some are big and bulky like traditional watches, while others are sleek and stylish, like tiny bracelets. Some operate like mini-smartphones on your wrist, capable of playing music, taking photos, sending alerts, setting alarms, and even dialing phone numbers. Others are basically little plastic pedometers that go on your arm. They come at varying price points in every shape, color, and size imaginable.
If you’re one of those water babies who loves to get your exercise in the water, whether that’s doing laps at the pool or splashing around in the lake, you need to get one of these trackers stat. They will help you set achievable targets, monitor your daily progress, and crush your fitness goals.
1Best Value: A 24/7 Smartwatch That Plays Music While You Work Out
TomTom Spark GPS Fitness Watch, $89, Amazon
Whether you're ticking off laps at the pool or rowing crew with the team in the early morning, TomTom's Spark GPS Fitness Watch offers a customizable way to track your daily watersports goals. The sleekly designed smartwatch operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, tracking metrics like time, distance, speed, pace, calories burned, and sleep. It offers real-time information and the ability to sync up to a variety of apps, depending on your preference. The waterproof fitness tracker features a tough, scratch-resistant display, Bluetooth compatibility and, best of all, the option to play music with four gigabytes of storage.
2Best For Your Budget: An Affordable Option That You Can Swim In For Up To 30 Minutes
BADIQI 115 Plus Waterproof Fitness Tracker, $31, Amazon
If you're dying to know how fast you're swimming, how hard you're running, or how many calories you're knocking off at the gym, but you don't want to spend your life savings to find out, this $30 budget option from BADIQI is a stellar choice. The affordable fitness tracker, which comes in eight color options, features 14 different training modes including walking, running, fitness, treadmill, spinning, yoga, dancing, hiking, and more. The high-quality battery charges in an hour and will last five to eight days without having to be recharged. With a waterproof IP67 rating, the device can be fully immersed in water between 15 centimeters and 1 meter deep for up to 30 minutes. If you tend towards long swim sessions or water workouts that exceed half an hour, this isn't the best option. If your in-water workouts are 30 minutes or less, however, this is a fantastic budget choice.
3Best For Motivation: A Clever Fitness Tracker That Tells You When You've Been Sitting Down Too Long
Garmin Vivoactive HR GPS Smartwatch, $172, Amazon
This waterproof GPS smartwatch is engineered with Garmin's Elevate technology that uses a sensor to record your heart rate directly from your wrist, tracking active moments and sending you alerts when you've been sitting too long and should get up and move around. It uses an easy touchscreen interface and can be customized with a whopping 1,300 apps, watch face designs, data fields, and widgets from the company's Connect IQ store. Beyond all that, it can answer calls and send texts, emails, and social media alerts, and it also has a strong battery that lasts eight days.
4Best For Everyday Wear: A Slender, Stylish Model With A Special Swimming Function
Jeystar Fitness Tracker IP 68, $50, Amazon
You want your fitness tracker to be cute as well as functional if you're ever going to wear it, especially once your workout is over. Jeystar's waterproof option comes in a slim and sexy design that looks more like a slender bracelet than a sports watch. It's equipped with a built-in heart rate monitor, pedometer, mileage tracker, alarm clock, and tons of other features that make it technical as well as stylish. The fitness band will not only track your sleep, but also offer an in-depth analysis each morning of how it went, allowing you to make adjustments and determine what factors might be affecting your beauty rest. Perhaps coolest of all, it has a special swimming model function that can count the number of strokes you take, along with time, calories, and distance.
5Best For Customization: A Splurge-Worthy Choice That Offers 80+ Different Sports Modes
Suunto Spartan Trainer Wrist HR, $279-$329, Amazon
Sometimes you gotta splurge a little and this fitness watch from Suunto is a great way to do it. The high-tech sports watch offers just about every feature you could want and then some. Using a biometric analysis, the tracker can determine your optimal heart rate, along with standard metrics like steps, speed, pace, calories, and distance. Its GPS receiver uses satellites to track your activity and also offers outdoor maps of biking and hiking trails (which you can pre-load before your excursion). If you're the adventurous type, you can shift it into over 80 sports modes, from hiking to climbing to backcountry ski touring. Even cooler, it will generate functional data like EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) and PTE (peak training effect), so you can hone in and refine your fitness game. All of those features come in a good-looking, fully waterproof package that looks slick on your wrist and won't ever be compromised by the elements.
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