We Tested More Than A Dozen Popular Fitness Trackers—Our Favorite Is $120

After testing a dozen fitness trackers, the Fitbit Charge 6 won a gold star for its premium features at an affordable price point of $120. The price also includes a six-month membership to Fitbit Premium, which features a library of cardio and strength training workouts and a monthly analysis of 10 sleep metrics—that’s an easy sell! The Charge 2 was my first ever fitness tracker, so I have a soft spot for the Charge line. Instead of manually recording workouts, it automatically records movement such as walking, swimming, and biking, which is nice instead of fiddling around with a watch interface (although it’s a simple swipe). Speaking of swimming, the tracker can be submerged in water up to 50 meters so I never have to take it off when showering.

It has a sensor on the back of the slim rectangular watch case to track heart rate, which never disrupts my range of motion during weight lifting or mat Pilates. When comparing against higher-end models like the Garmin Vivioactive, my heart rate data matched up, which proves its lower price tag doesn’t equal lower quality. Aside from heart rate, stress levels, period, fertility insights, and sleep are also tracked.

I’m not a fan of wearing a watch to bed, but this model is so lightweight (30 grams) and thin that I barely notice it. It provides a sleep score breakdown of all your cycles and whether or not it was optimal for recovery, which is especially helpful if you’re in the process of training for a race or going hard at the gym. Your duration of sleep is also recorded, but I found it recognizes sedentary activities such as watching TV as sleeping, which got on my nerves slightly. Post-snooze, it delivers a personalized daily readiness score, which shows if you’re ready for a sweat sesh.

It pairs perfectly with Android smartphones, given that Google owns Fitbit (a Google account is also required to set up). It seamlessly interacts with calendar and weather apps, plus you can receive texts, notifications, calls, and access Spotify. Fitbit Pay is built in, too, for easy access to cardless payments.

The biggest con with the Charge 6 is that the battery drains fast. Fitbit says it lasts up to a week, but I found it needs to be charged by day four. It’s not a huge deal, just make sure to carry a charger if you’re traveling. As for the warranty, it lasts one year and provides coverage in the event the hardware is defective, so make sure you don’t lose it!

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