Go the extra mile, decimate your running times, build cardio strength and optimise your workouts - the best fitness trackers for Android are perhaps one of the ultimate ways to keep an eye on your health and progress throughout your fitness journey.
Shopping around for the best fitness trackers, however, can be nothing short of a complete nightmare - tomes of baffling tech jargon to pore over, endless options from hundreds of brands - deciding what's best for you isn't easy.
Best Android fitness trackers at a glance:
• Best Android fitness tracker: Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro - View at Amazon
• Best budget Android fitness tracker: Fitbit Inspire 3 Activity Tracker - View at Amazon
• Best Android fitness tracker under £100: Fitbit Charge 5 Activity Tracker - View at Amazon
• Best midrange Android fitness tracker: Garmin Forerunner 245 - View at Amazon
And what's more, not every fitness tracker is compatible with each and every smartphone, with some of the best Apple fitness trackers not working at all with Android phones, and vice versa.
That's why we've gathered some of the most excellent fitness trackers for Android - perfect for a balanced budget, the high-end aficionado who wants every possible feature or the ultra-minimalist runner just after a simple heart rate tracker.
Best Android fitness tracker
Ultra-minimalistic in design, yet filled with a variety of phenomenal tech features from simple accelerometers to electric heart sensors, bioelectrical impedance analysis, barometers and more - the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro is beautiful to wear, elegant to use, and will bear the brunt of even the most intense of exercises.
With a battery life of up to 80 hours on a maximum charge, whatever sport you plan to conquer - weightlifting, running, yoga, and an array of niche sports - you'll find there's almost certainly a program to guide you along with ease.
For larger wristed users, you might find some difficulty in clamping the Watch5 Pro to your wrist - it can be a little finicky (in no small part thanks to the super-silky rubber wrist strap), but once it's on - it's both incredibly comfortable and feels more than a little stylish - it's quite easily one of the best smartwatches for health tracking this year, as well as one of the best smartwatches ever made.
Pros
- Incredibly powerful smartwatch technology
- Stylish and slick
- Great battery life
Cons
- A little uncomfortable to put on with larger wrists
- Android exclusive
| Display: | 1.4-inch (super AMOLED, Sapphire crystal protection) |
| Sensors: | Accelerometer, Barometer, Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis Sensor, Electrical Heart Sensor, Gyro Sensor, Geomagnetic Sensor, Light Sensor, Optical Heart Rate Sensor |
| Battery capacity: | Up to 80 hours |
| Additional features: | GPS, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC |
- Customer review: "It's an excellent but expensive product that I would recommend to anyone who wants on-the-go connectivity with their phone"
Best budget Android fitness tracker
FitbitSimple, affordable, yet perfect for supporting a regular exercise routine - the Fitbit Inspire 3 activity tracker focuses greatly on the essentials of your workout.
Monitor your heart rate, track your speed and record your progress, these admittedly simplistic health and fitness monitoring features are without question the most important - and will provide no end of motivation for your fitness journey.
Design-wise, the Fitbit Inspire 3 is neat, clean and subtle - as well as being much lighter to wear than other fitness trackers (but not quite as light as the increasingly popular smart rings), keeping your arms unencumbered by bulky technology - and your mind firmly on your workout.
Pros
- Plenty of features
- Excellent value
- Comfortable and lightweight
Cons
- Not as feature-dense as other high-end fitness trackers
| Display: | 0.7-inch AMOLED screen |
| Sensors: | Heart rate monitor, pedometer, distance tracking, accelerometer, calorie counting, sleep tracking |
| Battery capacity: | Up to 10 days |
| Additional features: | Skin temperature sensor, water-resistant up to 50 metres |
- Customer review: "I've had the Fitbit Inspire 3 fitness tracker watch for a while and it's great. Reasonably accurate for the price and motivates me to walk more. Battery life is fantastic and is quick to charge. "
Best Android fitness tracker under £100
Simple on the surface, yet brimming with tonnes of great health and fitness tracking features, the Fitbit Charge 5 Activity Tracker has plenty to offer for less than £100.
From the comfortable rubber wrist strap supporting a great range of arm sizes to its slim and intuitive design that's easy to read mid-sprint - the Fitbit Charge 5 greatly exceeds its small price point in its true potential.
Simply sync to your Fitbit app and keep an eye on your health with ease - with ECG functionality, sleep tracking, and energy level monitoring - a greater insight into your own health is simply a tap away.
As for running functionality - this ultra-light fitness tracker is so unobtrusive and comfortable that you'll practically forget it's there.
It's such a simple introduction to your exercise routine and the data you'll gather from a single run is so detailed and thorough - there's simply no drawback in investing in the excellent Fitbit Charge 5 - it's an incredibly worthwhile fitness investment.
Pros
- Ultra-comfortable design
- Good range of fitness tracking features
- Excellent battery life
Cons
- Slightly more awkward to use while you're exercising than others
| Display: | 1.04-inch, AMOLED |
| Sensors: | Optical heart rate tracker, accelerometer, ambient light sensor, built-in GPS receiver |
| Battery capacity: | Up to 7 days |
| Additional features: | Sleep tracking, health metrics app |
- Customer review: "I’ve always wanted one and now I own this little piece of technology I’m very happy. I’ve only had it a short time but so far it’s lived up to expectations."
Best midrange Android fitness tracker
It would be no true roundup without at least one excellent Garmin smartwatch, and the Garmin Forerunner 245 is without question, excellent.
Comfortable, easy to use whilst on the move with some excellent additional features for running without the need to carry a bulky smartphone in your pocket - the Garmin Forerunner 245 running watch can store up to 500 songs, so you can go that extra mile.
Ditching the cumbersome touchscreen controls (which can be almost impossible to use mid-sprint), the Garmin Forerunner 245 utilises a classic five-button control system, so regardless of whatever intensive exercise you're in the midst of - you've always got plenty of control.
In our in-depth Garmin Forerunner 245 review - we delved into the intricacies of what precisely made the Forerunner so brilliant, from its convenient, comfortable design, to its delightful array of health tracking options - it's the perfect running watch to survive and thrive the mishaps and blunders of intense outdoor exercise.
Pros
- Great running watch
- Gorgeously designed
- Light and easy to use
- Can download and install music
Cons
- Lacking the features of high-end fitness trackers
| Display: | 1.2-inch |
| Sensors: | Heart monitoring, running dynamics tracking, incident detection, VO2 Max, Training Status, Recovery Time |
| Battery capacity: | Up to 7 days without GPS, up to 24 hours with GPS |
| Additional features: | Smart notifications, live tracking feature, download up to 500 songs |
- Customer review: "This is a fantastic watch if you're mainly running. The GPS tracking is more accurate than my phone and doesn't usually take long to lock on"
Best value Samsung Android fitness tracker
Samsung has been dominating the fitness tracking industry for years now with their ultra-slick, powerful and often affordable Galaxy watches.
Acting more as an ultra-convenient method of receiving message alerts, controlling music or using contactless on the go than a devoted fitness tracker, the Samsung Galaxy Watch4 is a simply brilliant all-around Samsung smartwatch.
Slim and subtle with the same design ethos as the Samsung Watch5 Pro, the Galaxy Watch4 is perfect for keeping a keen eye on your cardio, tracking your running routes, building your raw strength with workout monitoring, and more.
Pros
- A fantastic array of features
- Slim, comfortable design
- Quick to setup
Cons
- Doesn't quite compete with the Watch5 Pro
| Display: | 1.4-inch (super AMOLED) |
| Sensors: | Accelerometer, barometer, BioActive Sensor, Body Composition, sleep tracking |
| Battery capacity: | Up to 40 hours |
| Additional features: | Bluetooth 5.0, NFC |
- Customer review: "Enjoying using this! Great for tracking steps and workouts! Love the heart rate graphs! Synced to my Galaxy phone easily. Lots more aspects to explore."
Best Android fitness tracker under £50
Perhaps one of the best fitness trackers on the market for less than £50 - the Fitbit Inspire 2 is perfect for keeping your pace high and your spirit strong whilst in the heat of exercise.
With a handful of simple, yet effective sensors to keep an eye on your heart health, the distance you've travelled and some small, but pleasant features such as sleep tracking - the Fitbit Inspire 2 is absolutely spot-on for crushing your fitness goals in an instant.
Pros
- Incredibly affordable fitness tracker on the market
- Easy to use for any age
- Perfect for simple tracking
Cons
- Fairly basic for those passionate about fitness
| Display: | 0.7-inch |
| Sensors: | Optical heart-rate tracker, accelerometer |
| Battery capacity: | Up to 10 days |
| Additional features: | Water-resistant up to 50 metres |
- Customer review: "This is my first Fitbit and for the price, it suits me fine. It tracks my steps, my sleep and my heart rate, it comes with a free 1-year premium, I'm very pleased with it."
Do Android fitness trackers work with iPhones?
While generally there is universal compatibility when it comes to Android fitness trackers, there are certainly some exceptions to this rule.
Samsung's most recent fitness trackers do not support Apple technology; the Samsung Galaxy Watch4, Watch5 and the Watch5 Pro all do not support Apple's iPhones or other Apple OS technology unfortunately.
What's the best fitness tracker for accuracy?
Out of all of the Android fitness trackers, with plenty of competing brands and technologies, there is no clear and leading brand for accuracy - the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro is great for heart rate tracking, Garmin is excellent at step tracking, and Fitbit are reliable for calories burned.
Generally speaking, each brand we've listed is without question accurate enough for your fitness needs.
Apple VS Android - what's the best fitness tracker?
With plenty of variety, shapes and sizes in the Android fitness watch industry, users have much more varied choices available when it comes to picking the very best fitness trackers and smartwatches.
Apple watches, however, are incredibly slick and optimised specifically for use with the iPhone - so you're getting a very streamlined and slick experience - whilst also paying a considerable amount of money for the pleasure.
Again, there's no overall definitive winner when it comes to this debate, the decision is absolutely dependent on you and your preferences.
What's the best fitness tracker for you?
For the beginner fitness enthusiast: If you've just begun your fitness journey and are in need of fitness assistance, then a simple Fitbit Charge 5 might just be for you - these simple devices are perfect for tracking steps, keeping an eye on heartrate and a few other simple features that'll keep your head in the game whilst running.
For intermediate users: For users looking for a little more out of their fitness tracker for Android, the Garmin Forerunner 245 is a sensational choice - with GPS tracking, plenty of sports to monitor and progress in, and messaging functionality, the Garmin Forerunner 245 is an ideal option for you.
For experts: For the ultimate fitness tracking, few fitness trackers are more powerful than the Samsug Galaxy Watch5 Pro - from swimming, to mountain climbing to skiing, there's an endless array of sports to pick from that'll keep you on your toes and busy throughout the year.
Ryan Houghton is a tech writer and reviewer for What's The Best, specialising in PCs and gaming. He is a keen PC gamer and an avid reader.
Subscribe to the What’s The Best Newsletter to keep up to date with more of the latest reviews and recommendations from the rest of the What’s The Best team.