All of us make plans to improve our health and lifestyle. To get our health on track, we adapt to certain changes in our daily routines. We avoid eating junk food and add more greens to our diet. Some of us prefer working out at the gym or even practicing yoga at home. To get better insights on our activities, we can find several fitness trackers in the market. These help monitor your health and keep you active all day long. If you aren’t familiar with them, through this article, we tell you what you may need to consider before buying one.
How much money do I want to spend?
Fitness bands and trackers are available across price ranges. For starters, who want to get going with easy exercises, consider basic fitness bands that help you get off the couch and boost your confidence. There are fitness bands such as the Fitbit Flex, Amzer FitZer Ka, Hug Fit ID115HR and the Xiaomi Band 2, all selling under Rs. 5,000.
If you are a fitness freak, you may need to consider some of the advance offerings that you can find here. These offer a wide range of tracking features such as multi-sport tracking, monitor sleep stages, GPS support, etc.
What do I want to track?
Before you buy a fitness band, think of all the activities you will be doing. Most of the older models just monitor steps and distance covered. Some of the newer, more advanced fitness trackers include GPS, heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking and more. If you perform basic activities like running and walking, almost any basic fitness bands will do. If you perform activities like swimming, cycling or mountain climbing, you should ideally look for a band that will track activities more accurately.
Beyond this, several other fitness trackers determine a comfortable breathing rate by recording your heart rate. They also teach you to get you breathing at the right pace. Other than just monitoring activities and capturing breathing sessions, the most advanced fitness bands use heart rate to provide details on the quality of sleep. It automatically tracks your sleep duration and lets you review them in stages such light, deep and REM sleep states.
The Garmin VivoSmart 3 and the Fitbit Charge 2 are some of the popular fitness bands that tell you about your cardiovascular fitness (VO2 Max). The cardiovascular levels tell you how well your body uses oxygen.
Do I need a specific design?
Fitness bands come in different shapes and styles. Although, this may not be a very critical factor for many of us. With the increasing demand for fitness bands, wearable manufacturers design them to be more functional and attractive. When choosing one, remember that the fitness band will be worn most of the time. Make sure you choose a design that is comfortable on your wrist.
Fitness bands typically come with rubberized bands. They are simple in design. Some devices come with sports bands with vibrant colors and fancy designs. They can be a good choice for a person with a sporty lifestyle. Some bands also look like smartwatches; the Garmin Fenix 5 is a good example. Others look like a piece of jewellery and a good example of this is the Michael Kors MKA101001.
Display or no display - what to choose?
Whether to choose a band with a display or not, can again be a subjective topic. A lot of fitness bands have a LED display, while others just have LED lights on them. Some of us would like to own fitness bands with displays on them, because we want to keep track of tasks.
You can also find fitness bands with coloured and touchscreen displays. They look more appealing and you can control them with a swipe of your finger. If you still want a fitness band without a display, it will let you sync your phone with it and check progress. There’s not a lot more you might be able to do directly on the fitness band.
What battery capacity should I look for?
All fitness bands need charging. The battery life of fitness bands varies. With most of the Garmin and Fitbit bands, you can expect a battery life of 4 to 7 days. Some fitness bands do not require as much charging. These are equipped with replaceable batteries that can last up to 6 months, such as the Misfit Shine 2 MIS2005.
Do I need to choose a water-resistant band?
As we said earlier, fitness bands are meant to be worn constantly. But should you be wearing them while taking a bath or while going out for a swim? There are fitness bands that are marked as water-resistant. These bands are resistant to sweat, rain and water splashes. If you are looking for water resistant fitness bands, make sure you check before you buy.
Do I need the GPS feature on the fitness band?
Several fitness bands have a built-in GPS feature. If you are out for jogging or cycling, having a GPS built into the fitness band can be useful. It is also useful to track movements, checking weather changes, getting stats on pace and distance covered, etc.
Some of the popular fitness bands with GPS are the Fitbit Surge FB501BKS and the Garmin Fenix 5S.
Other devices such as the Fitbit Charge 2 use the GPS on your phone. This means, you need to pair the fitness band with your phone, to get real-time information on pace and distance you travelled. You need to carry your phone with you to use this feature.
Can I install apps?
Fitness bands and trackers are good in terms of monitoring your daily activities but they do not support any third-party apps. If you are someone who like trying out different apps, you may want to consider a smartwatch. These can be Android Wear supported devices such as the Samsung Gear S3. More premium models are the latest Apple Watch Series 3. Click here to read more about it. Also, don't forget to check out our expert recommendations on what to look for while buying a smartwatch.
Hopefully, these pointers are of help while choosing fitness bands. For more information on offers and new launches, head to one of our Reliance Digital stores. Our experts there will guide you and help you choose the right device for you.
